Happy birthdays to Charlotte Bronte and John Muir - with a reading from Bronte's "Jane Eyre."

The Spanish-American War begins, Enoch Powell gives his "River of Blood" speech and happy birthday to Gro Harlem Brundtland - with a reading from her introduction to "Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future."

The Netherlands recognize the U.S. as an independent nation, Mae West is sentenced to jail for obscenity - and a reading from Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God."

The birthday club includes James McHune Smith, Kathy Acker, and Susan Faludi - with a reading from Anne Bronte's "Agnes Grey."

Christopher Columbus signs the "Capitulations of Santa Fe," and the birthday club includes Thornton Wilder, Cynthia Ozick, and Nick Hornby - with a reading from Wilder's "The Bridge of San Luis Rey."

U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt creates the Natural Bridges National Monument in the state of Utah. The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. writes his open letter from Birmingham Jail - and a reading from Dr. King's letter.

Samuel Johnson publishes "A Dictionary of the English Language," a conference leads to the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and it is the birthday of Henry James - and a reading from James' "The Portrait of a Lady."

The Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage, and the birthday club includes Jean Pierre-Bloch and Loretta Lynn - with a reading from "The Origins of Totalitarianism," by Hannah Arendt.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is founded, and the the birthday club includes Samuel Beckett, Eudora Welty, Seamus Heaney, and Christopher Hitchens - with a reading from Beckett's "Waiting for Godot."

Jonas Salk's polio vaccine is found to be "safe and effective," and the birthday club includes Beverly Cleary, Tom Clancy, and Amy Ray - with a reading from Baruch Spinoza's "Ethics."