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Writer's Almanac

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The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, May 5, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, May 5, 2022

It’s the birthday of the journalist Nellie Bly, born Elizabeth Jane Cochran in 1864. She became famous for feigning mental illness and exposing conditions in an asylum.

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The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, May 4, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, May 4, 2022

On this day in 1675, England’s King Charles II commissioned the Royal Greenwich Observatory and appointed the position of Astronomer Royal.

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The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, May 3, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, May 3, 2022

Today is the birthday of poet, novelist, and memoirist May Sarton, born in Belgium in 1912.

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The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, May 2, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, May 2, 2022

“You know more than you think you do.” The parenting advice of the baby boomer generation came from Dr. Benjamin Spock, born on this day in 1903.

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The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, May 1, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, May 1, 2022

On this date in 1840, the first official adhesive postage stamp was issued in Great Britain. Called the Penny Black, it was an engraved profile of Queen Victoria on a black background.

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The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, April 30, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, April 30, 2022

It’s the 77th birthday of author Annie Dillard. She won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.”

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The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, April 29, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, April 29, 2022

“Jazz has always been like the kind of a man you wouldn’t want your daughter to associate with” — Edward Kennedy aka Duke Ellington, born 4/29/1899.

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The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, April 28, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, April 28, 2022

“You can make a killing in the theater, but not a living.”—Robert Anderson, playwright, born on this day 1917.

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The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, April 27, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, April 27, 2022

It’s the birthday of Mary Wollstonecraft, born in 1759. Her book “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman” is one of the earliest books of feminist philosophy.

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The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, April 26, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, April 26, 2022

Ornithologist John James Audubon was born on this day in 1785, his masterpiece “Birds of America” contained 435 life-sized hand-colored plates of birds.

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