U.S. President George Washington crushes the Whiskey Rebellion, Thor Heyerdahl's ship, the "Kon Tiki," reaches the Tuamotu Islands in the South Pacific, and Frances Kelsey is recognized for refusing to allow use of thalidomide in the U.S. Happy birthdays to Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and Ralph Bunche - with a reading from Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's "Frankenstein."

The U.S. drops the first atomic bomb used in warfare on Hiroshima, Japan, the U.S. Voting Rights Act becomes law, and "www" appears as a service for the first time. The birthday club includes: Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Susie Taylor - with a reading of Erich Maria Remarque's "All Quiet On the Western Front."

Some 40 years before the American Revolution, freedom of the press goes on trial in the colonies and the U.S. levies its first income tax. The birthday club includes Guy de Maupassant, Mary Ritter Beard, and Wendell Berry - with a reading from Maupassant's "Bel Ami."

Dom Perignon changes sparkling wine, "The Saturday Evening Post" publishes its first edition, and the Fairness Doctrine is ended in the U.S. Happy birthdays to Nicolas-Jacques Conte, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Robert Hayden - with a reading from Edith Wharton's "The Age of Innocence."

Christopher Columbus sets sail from Spain, the first letter is sent from the Americas to England, and happy birthdays to Ernie Pyle and Leon Uris - with a reading from Pyle's "Here is Your War."

Albert Einstein co-signs a letter to President Roosevelt urging him to develop a nuclear weapon. And it is the birthday of James Baldwin - with a reading from one of his masterworks, "The Fire Next Time."

The UK abolishes slavery, shredded wheat is patented, Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman in the U.S. to get her pilot's license, and happy birthdays to Francis Scott Key and Herman Melville - with a reading from Melville's classic "Moby Dick."

Daniel Defoe is locked in the pillory for three days, it's "Black Tot Day," the U.S. and Soviet Union sign the START 1 Treaty. Happy birthdays of Ignacio Cervantes, Primo Levi, Ahmet Ertegun, and J. K. Rowling - with a reading from Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe."

Samuel de Champlain starts nearly a century of war in New France, Walt Disney releases his first Oscar winner, and happy birthdays to Maria Anna Mozart and Emily Bronte - with a reading from Bronte's "Wuthering Heights."

The understanding of light changes and the world tries to define war crimes and limit them. Happy birthdays to Alexis de Tocqueville and Mary Lee Settle - with a reading from Tocqueville's "Democracy in America."