The Gold Ring causes the gold panic, the leader of the Church of Latter Day Saints says he has a vision to ban polygamy, Atlanta is convulsed by white people attacking people of color, and it's F. Scott Fitzgerald's birthday - with a reading from his landmark work "The Great Gatsby."

Signing the Karlstad Treaty dissolves the union of Norway and Sweden, and the birthday club includes John Lomax, Ray Charles, Bruce Springsteen, and Ani Defranco - with a reading from Lomax's Collector Notes from "Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads."

The last executions of people found guilty of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony and U.S. President Abraham Lincoln releases his preliminary version of the Emancipation Proclamation. The birthday club includes Elizabeth Simcoe, Eric Baker, and Joan Jett - with a reading from Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels."

Benedict Arnold betrays George Washington and the American colonists, and the birthday club includes H. G. Wells, Allen Lane, Chuck Jones, and Stephen King - with a reading from Wells' "The Time Machine."

Magellan sets sail, the Battle of the Sexes hits the tennis court, "don't ask, don't tell" ends, and happy birthday to Upton Sinclair - with a reading from his landmark book "The Jungle."

U.S. President George Washington publishes his farewell address, and the birthday club includes Sadie Delany, Rachel Fields, and William Golding - with a reading from "Death Comes for the Archbishop," by Willa Cather.

Tiffany and Young opens its doors and the New-York Daily Times publishes its first edition - both became NYC landmarks, now known as Tiffany & Co. and the New York Times. Booker T. Washington gives his Atlanta Exposition Speech and CBS starts broadcasting. Today's reading is from L. M. Montgomery's "Anne of Green Gables."

The U.S. Constitution is approved and the Union and Confederate Armies fought the terrible battle of Antietam. The birthday club includes William Carlos Williams, John Creasey, Elizabeth Enright, Mary Stewart, and Hank Williams - with a reading from Enright's "Thimble Summer."

Signing of the Montreal Protocol and the birthday club includes Francis Parkman, Miriam Benjamin, and H. A. Rey - with a reading from Parkman's "The Oregon Trail."

The HMS Beagle - with Charles Darwin aboard - lands on the Galápagos Islands and the 16th St. Church is bombed in Birmingham, Alabama. Happy birthday to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - with a reading from her "We Should All Be Feminists."