Georgia becomes the last state needed to ratify the 13th Amendment - ending slavery in the US, President Theodore Roosevelt states his corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, and the Irish Free State is born. The birthday club includes Cornelia Meigs, Ira Gershwin, and Stephen Wright - with a reading from Edith Wharton's "The House of Mirth."

Mary McLeod Bethune establishes the National Council of Negro Women, the Montgomery Bus Boycott begins, and the birthday club includes Christina Rosetti, Walt Disney, Little Richard, and Joan Didion - with a reading from Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights."

North Carolina ratifies the 13th Amendment, the "Million-Dollar Quartet" records their only session, and the Free Speech Movement begins in Berkeley. And happy birthday to Rainer Maria Rilke - with a reading from his "Letters to a Young Poet."

The birthday club includes Octavia Hill, Joseph Conrad, and Gussie Davis - with a reading from Kate Chopin's "The Awakening."

Sweden becomes the first country to protect freedom of the press, and the birthday club includes David Macaulay, Elizabeth Berg, T. C Boyle, George Saunders, and Ann Patchett - with a reading from Robert Louis Stephenson's "Treasure Island."

The U.S. holds its first draft lottery since World War II, and the birthday club includes Jan Brett, Candace Bushnell, and Jo Walton - with a reading from Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein."

Ann Hodges gets hit by a meteor and the birthday club includes Samuel Clemens, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Shirley Chisholm, and Allan Sherman - with a reading from Clemens' "Pudd'nhead Wilson."

The Beatles release "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," Atari releases Pong, and happy birthdays to Louisa May Alcott, C. S. Lewis, and Madeleine L'Engle - with a reading from Alcott's "Little Women."

The Times of London switches to steam-powered presses, and happy birthdays to Berry Gordy and Rita Mae Brown - with a reading from Sarah Orne Jewett's "The Country of the Pointed Firs."

The American Statistical Association is founded, "Also Sprach Zarathustra" premiers, and happy birthdays to Charles A. Beard and Gail Sheehy - with a reading from Alexandre Dumas' "The Count of Monte Christo."