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The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, May 7, 2023

Posted on May 7, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

On this date in 1952, Geoffrey W.A. Dummer first presented the concept of the integrated circuit, also known as the microchip, which is the basis for all modern electronic equipment.

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, May 6, 2023

Posted on May 6, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of Orson Welles, Kenosha, Wisconsin (1915). He made his Broadway debut in Romeo and Juliet at the age of 19. He founded the Mercury Theatre when he was 22. When he was 23, he came out with his famous broadcast of War of the Worlds, which caused great hysteria on the East Coast.

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, May 5, 2023

Posted on May 5, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of journalist Nellie Bly, born Elizabeth Jane Cochran in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania (1864). In 1914, she went to work for the New York Evening Journal as America’s first female war correspondent. She wrote from the front lines of World War I for almost five years. She returned Stateside in 1919 and died of pneumonia in 1922.

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, May 4, 2023

Posted on May 4, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of Agnes Fay Morgan, born in Peoria, Illinois (1884). She studied chemistry in college, and received her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Morgan, with her background in chemistry applied to the field of nutrition, wrote more than 250 scientific papers. She was responsible for much of what we know about the vitamins in food. She also proved the link between vitamin deficiencies and poor health conditions; showed certain vitamins’ effect on hormones; and analyzed the effects of heat and processing on the stability of vitamins and proteins.

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, May 3, 2023

Posted on May 3, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of poet, novelist, and memoirist May Sarton, born Eleanor Marie Sarton in Wondelgem, Belgium, in 1912. “You choose to be a novelist,” she once said, “but you’re chosen to be a poet. This is a gift and it’s a tremendous responsibility.”

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, May 2, 2023

Posted on May 2, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

On this date in 1536, Anne Boleyn, the second wife of England’s King Henry VIII, was arrested for high treason, adultery, and incest. She was intelligent and outspoken, and had educated opinions about politics and religious reform and came to the court of Henry VIII when she was 20 years old, to serve as lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine of Aragon.

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, May 1, 2023

Posted on May 1, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

Today is May Day, the first of May, a date that may have more holidays than any other. It’s the date when many countries celebrate Labor Day, a tradition with its roots in the 19th-century labor movement in the United States.

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, April 30, 2023

Posted on April 30, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of American nonfiction writer and novelist Annie Dillard born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (1945). Her advice: “One of the few things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time…”

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, April 29 2023

Posted on April 29, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of American composer, pianist, and bandleader Duke Ellington, born on this day in Washington, D.C. (1899). He liked to tell his band, “Let’s not pout, gentlemen. It makes bad notes.”

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, April 28 2023

Posted on April 28, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of the writer who once said, “All I want is to be the Jane Austen of South Alabama.” That was Harper Lee (1926), the author of the classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird (1960), which introduced the characters of Scout Finch and her father, lawyer Atticus Finch, to the world.

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