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Writer's Almanac

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The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, November 10, 2026

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, November 10, 2026

It’s the birthday of a man whom Pope Leo X called “the wild boar in the vineyard”: monk and theologian Martin Luther, born in Eisleben in what is now Germany (1483).

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The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, November 9, 2026

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, November 9, 2026

It was on this day in 1989 that the Berlin Wall came down in Germany. After World War II, Germany was divided into four parts, each occupied by one of the major Allied powers — France, England, the United States, and the Soviet Union.

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The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, November 8, 2026

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, November 8, 2026

It’s the birthday of the woman whose novel about a headstrong, spoiled Southern belle named Scarlett O’Hara became an international sensation. Margaret Mitchell was born in Georgia (1900).

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The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, November 7, 2026

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, November 7, 2026

It’s the birthday of Canadian songstress and painter Joni Mitchell (1943), born Roberta Joan Anderson in Fort Macleod, Alberta, Canada, to a grocer and a schoolteacher.

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The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, November 6, 2026

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, November 6, 2026

Today is the birthday of the “March King,” John Philip Sousa, born in Washington, D.C., in 1854. He began studying music when he was six. And over the course of his life, he studied voice, violin, flute, piano, trombone, cornet, baritone, and alto horn, as well as composition.

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The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, November 5, 2026

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, November 5, 2026

It’s the birthday of poet Ella Wheeler Wilcox, born in Johnstown, Wisconsin (1850). She said, “I do not remember when I did not expect to be a writer,” and by age 14, she was publishing in magazines.

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The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, November 4, 2026

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, November 4, 2026

It’s the birthday of the poet C.K. Williams, born in Newark, New Jersey (1936). His two greatest passions in high school were girls and basketball. He was a good basketball player, 6 feet 5 inches, and he was recruited to play in college.

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The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, November 3, 2026

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, November 3, 2026

It’s the birthday of the photographer Walker Evans, born in St. Louis, Missouri (1903). His father was a wealthy advertising executive, and Evans spent most of his childhood in boarding schools.

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The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, November 2, 2026

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, November 2, 2026

It’s the birthday of astronomer Harlow Shapley, born in Nashville, Missouri (1885). He was the first scientist to realistically estimate the size of the Milky Way galaxy.

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The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, November 1, 2026

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, November 1, 2026

It’s the birthday of novelist and short-story writer Stephen Crane, born in Newark, New Jersey (1871). As a young man, he considered becoming a professional baseball player.

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