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The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, October 5, 2026

Posted on October 5, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

The first televised presidential address aired on this date in 1947. President Harry Truman broadcast the speech from the White House, and his subject was food conservation.

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, October 4, 2026

Posted on October 4, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

This date marks the first formal run of the Orient Express in 1883. The train was the brainchild of Georges Nagelmackers, a Belgian banker’s son.

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, October 3, 2026

Posted on October 3, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of American novelist Thomas Wolfe (1900), born in Asheville, North Carolina. Wolfe’s mother operated a busy boarding house called “The Old Kentucky Home.” His father was a gravestone carver.

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, October 2, 2026

Posted on October 2, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

The comic strip Peanuts made its debut 65 years ago on this date in 1950. The strip’s creator, Charles M. Schulz, was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1922 and grew up next door in St. Paul.

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, October 1, 2026

Posted on October 1, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

t’s the birthday of William Timothy O’Brien, better known as Tim O’Brien, born in Austin, Minnesota (1946). O’Brien grew up on the shores of Lake Okabena, and part of his book The Things They Carried (1990) was set there.

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, September 30, 2026

Posted on September 30, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of American writer Truman Capote, born Truman Persons in New Orleans (1924). When he was 17, he dropped out of school and got a job as an errand boy in the art department at The New Yorker magazine.

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, September 29, 2026

Posted on September 29, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of Victorian novelist Elizabeth Gaskell, born in London (1810), the author of Cranford (1853), North and South (1855), and Mary Barton (1848).

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, September 28, 2026

Posted on September 28, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

W.C. Handy published “Memphis Blues” on this date in 1912. William Christopher Handy came from northern Alabama, the son of a Methodist preacher who didn’t approve of secular music.

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, September 27, 2026

Posted on September 27, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of the man often called the “father of the American cartoon,” Thomas Nast, born in Landau, Germany (1840). His father had socialist leanings and found the political climate of Germany unpleasant.

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, September 26, 2026

Posted on September 26, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

The poet Thomas Stearns Eliot, better known as T.S. Eliot , was born on this day in 1888, in St. Louis, Missouri, where he spent the first 18 years of his life.

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