It is the birthday of Ida B. Wells and the anniversaries of the publishing of J. D. Salinger's classic novel "The Catcher in the Rye" and the launching of Apollo 11, the first space mission that carried people to the moon. This episode includes a reading from Well's speech "Lynch Law in America."

Finding the Rosetta Stone, the Spanish Inquisition ends, Alzheimers is named, and the birthday club includes Clement Clark Moore and Iris Murdoch - with a reading from Murdoch's "The Sea, The Sea."

It is Bastille Day, U.S. President John Adams signed the Sedition Act, Chicago experiences its second catastrophic fire in three years, and it's the birthday of Woody Guthrie - with a reading from his song "Pretty Boy Floyd."

The birthday club includes Margaret Murray: the "Grandmother of Wicca," journalist George Weller, and Cameron Crowe - with a reading from Crowe's memoir "The Uncool."

It is "Thoreau-Neruda" Day! And it's the birthday of author and editor Doris Grumbach. This episode includes a reading from Thoreau's essay "Walking."

America's most famous duel, between Burr and Hamilton, takes place, "To Kill A Mockingbird" is published, a mid-air disaster leaves an indelible legacy, and the birthday club includes E. B. White and Jhumpa Lahiri - with a reading from White's "Here Is New York."

French King Louis XVI declares war on Great Britain to help the American colonists win their independence from the British and the birthday club includes Marcel Proust and Mary McLeod Bethune - with a reading from her magazine piece "My Last Will and Testament."

The Mozart Family Grand Tour begins, the 14th Amendment is ratified, the Russell-Einstein Manifesto goes public, and it's the birthday of Oliver Sacks - with a reading from his book "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales."

The Wall Street Journal publishes its first edition, the Dow Jones Industrial Average hits its lowest point in the 20th Century, and the Nixon Administration changes how it would work with indigenous people in the U.S., and it's the birthday of science historian Margaret Rossiter - with a reading from Matilda Joslyn Gage's "Woman as Inventor."

In New York City, riots break out against abolition of slavery, the U.S. begins its first military draft, the Ziegfeld Follies begin a 20-year run, and bakeries start selling sliced bread - with a reading from Countee Cullen's poem "Bread and Wine."