Today's reading: "Blizzard" by May Sarton from COLLECTED POEMS (1930-1993), published by W.W. Norton & Co.
Today is Presidents' Day.
It's Chinese New Year today, marking the lunar year 4694.
Iceland celebrates Bun Day today.
Fasching is celebrated in Austria and Germany today.
The Battle Creek Toasted Cornflake Co. began selling its instant breakfast cereal on this day in 1906.
Author Carson McCullers was born on this day in 1917.
It's the birthday of novelist Kay Boyle, born in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Polish astronomer Nicolas Copernicus was born on this day.
Thomas A. Edison received a patent for his invention of the phonograph in 1878.
Vaudeville actor Ed Wynn signed on to do a radio show in 1922.
It's the birthday of Polish novelist and essayist, Adolf Rudnicki, born in 1912.
Today's reading: "Song of Myself" (excerpts from first lines of poem) by Walt Whitman.
It's the first day of the Zodiac period called Pisces.
French writer Voltaire was born on this day in 1694.
In 1962 John Glenn became the first astronaut to orbit Earth.
Today's reading: "Back from Vacation" by John Updike from COLLECTED POEMS, published by Alfred A. Knopf.
Today is Ash Wednesday, marking the beginning of Lent.
Black leader Malcolm X was shot dead on this day in 1965.
President Nixon landed in Peking in 1972, a historic visit which marked the thawing of U.S./China relations.
It's the birthday of writer and poet W.H. Auden born in 1907.
Jazz singer and pianist Nina Simone was born on this day in 1934.
Alice Freeman Palmer, president of Wellesley College at age 27, was born in 1855.
It's the birthday of The New Yorker magazine which first appeared in 1925.
Film critic and writer Pauline Kael was born in 1919.
It's the birthday of French fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy.
After 37 years of construction the Washington Monument was dedicated in 1885.
German bacteriologist August von Wassermann was born in 1866.
It's the birthday of film director Sam Peckinpah
famous for his westerns.
Spanish musician Andres Segovia was born on this day.
French-born author Anais Nin was born on this day.
Today's reading: "Problems with Hurricanes" by Victor Hernandez Cruz from RED BEANS, published by Coffee House Press.
George Washington was born on this day in 1732 in Bridges Creek, Virginia.
English agriculturist Jethro Tull (first to plant crops in rows) died on this day in 1741.
The first classified personal column was published in a newspaper in 1886.
Frank W. Woolworth opened the first dimestore in Utica, New York in 1879.
It's the birthday of poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, born in Rockland, Maine in 1892.
Today's reading: "Incidents in the Life of My Uncle Arly" by Edward Lear from OXFORD BOOK OF AMERICAN HUMOROUS VERSE.
In 1991 the Allied forces launched attack against Iraqi forces.
It's the birthday of George Frederich Handel, born in 1685 in Saxony, Germany.
American educator W.E.B. DuBois was born on this day in 1868.
It's the birthday of Emma Willard who established one of the first female seminaries.
Today's reading: "Abecedary" by Thomas Disch from ABCDEFGHIJKLMNO..., published by Anvil Press.
It's the birthday of Wilhelm Carl Grimm (Brothers Grimm) born in Hanua, Germany in 1786.
Baseball player Honus Wagner was born in 1874.
Author August Derleth was born in Sauk City, Wisconsin in 1909.
"Flying Scotsman" steam engine went into service in 1923.
Today's reading: "Man and Wife" by L.E. Sissman from HELLO DARKNESS, published by Atlantic Monthly Press.
It's the birthday of singer Enrico Caruso born in Naples, Italy in 1873.
Novelist Anthony Burgess is born in Manchester in 1917.
Cassius Clay beat Sonny Liston in 1964 fight.
Film director Ingmar Bergman was born in 1918.
