Handel's Messiah is performed for the first time, the birthday club includes William H. Armstrong, Kate Millett, Bernard MacLaverty, and Bonnie Jo Campbell, and a reading from Millett's "The Loony Bin Trip."

Henry Hudson explores the river named after him in what is now New York, the battle of Quebec ends after three months of siege and 45 minutes of battle, Francis Scott Key witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry and the city of Baltimore, and it is the birthday of Mildred D. Taylor - with a reading from Key's "Defence of Fort M'Henry."

Elizabeth Barrett elopes with Robert Browning, JFK delivers his speech, "We Choose to Go to the Moon," and the birthday club includes H. L. Mencken, Nellie Wong, and Michael Ondaatje - with a reading from Mencken's diary.

Some of the best writing on the attacks of September 11, 2001.

The Washington Post piece: https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/sept-11-novels/2021/09/05/c6b3e5ba-0ce5-11ec-a6dd-296ba7fb2dce_story.html

Ron Charles' website:

TotallyHipVideoBookReview.com

John Smith is named council president of Jamestown colony, Elias Howe is granted a patent for his sewing machine, and the birthday club includes Hanna Webster Foster, Mary Oliver, and Stephen Jay Gould - with a reading from "Southern Horrors," by Ida B. Wells.

The U.S. Congress agrees to the compromise of 1850 and it is the birthday of Leo Tolstoy - with a reading from his landmark work "War and Peace."

Michelangelo's sculpture David was unveiled in Florence, the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance is published, and a reading from Oscar Wilde's "The Portrait of Dorian Gray."

Union General William T. Sherman orders the evacuation of Atlanta, and the birthday club includes C. J. Dennis, Elinor Wylie, Edith Sitwell, Dorothy Marie Donnelly, and Sonny Rollins - with a reading from Sherman's memoirs.

The Pilgrims set sail on the Mayflower, Louisa Ann Swain becomes the first American woman to legally cast a ballot, and the birthday club includes Isabella Leonarda, Jane Addams, and Robert Pirsig - with a reading from Addams' speech to the Chicago Political Equality League.

Russia imposes a tax on beards, the UK declares war on China, and U.S. forces arrest "Tokyo Rose." Happy birthday to Jonathan Kozol - with a reading from Kozol's "Savage Inequalities."