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Writer's Almanac

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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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The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, April 25, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, April 25, 2022

“Behind the screen of the ordinary can be found unique and wonderful things.” –Ted Kooser, poet, celebrating his 83rd birthday today.

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The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, April 24, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, April 24, 2022

On this day in 1916, the Easter Rising began in Dublin. While it failed as a rebellion, it galvanized a movement. Five years later the Republic of Ireland achieved independence.

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The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, April 23, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, April 23, 2022

It’s the birthday of the American writer Barry Hannah (1942). He said, “I loved the life, the secret life, of the typewriter when the house was quiet.”

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The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, April 22, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, April 22, 2022

Two things fill the mind with ever-increasing wonder and awe … the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me.” – Immanuel Kant, born on this day in 1724.

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