Discovery of X-ray radiation, the U.S. Endangered Species Act, and happy birthdays to Catharine Maria Sedgwick and Charlie Pierce - and a reading from "The Importance of Being Earnest," by Oscar Wilde.

The Flushing Remonstrance, Charles Darwin sets sail on the HMS Beagle, the play "Show Boat" premiers, and happy birthdays to Cokie Roberts and Sarah Vowell - and a reading from J. M. Barrie's "Peter Pan."

Beatlemania begins, the first Kwanzaa, dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the birthday club includes Mary Somerville, Henry Miller, and David Sedaris - and a reading from "A Vindication of the Rights of Women," by Mary Wollstonecraft.

Happy birthday to Sir Isaac Newton and Carlos Castaneda - and a reading from The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

"A Visit from St. Nicholas" by Clement Clarke Moore

Jane Austen publishes "Emma," the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act, and happy birthdays to Norman Maclean and Jorma Kaukonen - and a reading from Maclean's "A River Runs Through It."

Beethoven performs the greatest concert of his career, U.S. President Harry Truman issues an executive order that gave WW2 refugees precedence in U.S. visa applications, China’s communist-party chairman Mao Zedong forcibly relocates millions of teenagers, Doctors Without Borders is founded, Berlin's Brandenburg Gate reopens, Lech Walesa is elected Poland's President - with a reading from Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment."

Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House" premiers, the first crossword, and happy birthdays to Maria Cadilla and Frank Zappa - with a reading from Henrik Ibsen's "An Enemy of the People."

South Carolina secedes from the United States, Captain America makes his first appearance, and the film "It's a Wonderful Life" premieres - with a reading from Eugene Debs' statement to the court.

Thomas Paine publishes his first pamphlet titled "American Crisis," and happy birthdays to Carter Woodson and Edith Piaf - with a reading from Woodson's "The Mis-Education of the Negro."