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."

Lavinia Ream is commissioned to create a statue of Abraham Lincoln, the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified, Pres. Hoover orders the removal of the "Bonus Army" from Washington, and the IRA says it will no longer use weapons or violence to end British rule - with a reading from "The Death of the Heart," by Elizabeth Bowen.

Things head south for the actual MacBeth, Robespierre is arrested, researchers prove insulin regulates blood sugar, Bugs Bunny appears in a Merry Melodies short for the first time - with a reading from Elizabeth Barrett Brownings' "The House of Clouds."

The U.S. Post Office is created, the first book on Esperanto was published, and the major world powers signed the Potsdam Declaration. Happy birthdays to quite a trio: George Bernard Shaw, Carl Jung, and Gracie Allen - with a reading from Shaw.

Mozart finishes his 40th Symphony, Jack London sails from San Francisco for gold in the Yukon, and JFK says any attack on West Berlin would be treated as an attack on the U.S. Happy birthday to Anne Applebaum - with a reading from her book "Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism."

O. Henry gets out of prison, the Kellogg-Briand Pact goes into effect, SCOTUS rules Pres. Nixon could not ignore a subpoena for the White House tapes. Happy birthdays to Alexandre Dumas and Zelda Fitzgerald - with a reading from one of Zelda's letters to F. Scott Fitzgerald.

The Ford Motor Co. sells its first car, Chinese Communists meet for the first time to overthrow capitalism, and Phillippe Petain is put on trial in France for treason. Happy birthday to Raymond Chandler - and a reading from Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's "The Last Man."

Katherine Lee Bates starts writing the poem that would become "America the Beautiful." And happy birthday to Emma Lazarus - with a reading of her poem "The New Colossus."

The first showdown in America's Wild West, the Scopes "Monkey" Trial ends with a verdict of guilty, and a reading from Willa Cather's "My Mortal Enemy."

Humans walk on the moon for the first time, and happy birthdays to Gregor Mendel, Tom Crean, Edmund Hillary, and Julie Bindel. Today's episode includes a reading of "Invictus," by William Ernest Henley.