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The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, April 7, 2026

Posted on April 7, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of poet William Wordsworth, born in Cockermouth, England (1770). As a young man, he studied at Cambridge and went on long walking tours through the Lake District and the Alps.

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, April 6, 2026

Posted on April 6, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of Merle Haggard, born near Bakersfield, California (1937). It was the height of the Depression, and his parents had moved from Oklahoma to California to look for work.

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, April 5, 2026

Posted on April 5, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of the American crime and suspense writer Robert Bloch, born in Chicago (1917). He wrote many stories, novels, and screenplays, but he is best known for creating the psychopathic killer Norman Bates in his novel Psycho.

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, April 4, 2026

Posted on April 4, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of Marguerite Duras, born in a small village in French Indochina near what is now Saigon, Vietnam (1914). Her parents had left France to teach in Indochina, her dad died, and Duras grew up in poverty.

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, April 3, 2026

Posted on April 3, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of American author, statesman, and short-story writer Washington Irving, born in 1783 in New York City. That same week, the British cease-fire was brokered and the American Revolution ended, and William and Sarah Irving named their youngest child in honor of its most famous general, George Washington.

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, April 2, 2026

Posted on April 2, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

It is the birthday of writer Émile Zola, born in Paris in 1840. His father was an Italian engineer, and he died when Emile was seven, leaving the family to get by on a small pension. Émile’s mother hoped he would become a lawyer, but he failed the qualifying examination, and so he took a series of clerical jobs. He also wrote literary and art reviews for newspapers.

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Posted on April 1, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of science fiction and fantasy author Anne McCaffrey, born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1926. She’s best known for her Dragonriders of Pern series, about Earth colonists on the planet of Pern living in a medieval-ish society with genetically engineered dragons, but it’s far from her only accomplishment.

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Posted on March 31, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

There’s an old joke that goes like this: A bunch of scientists created a huge machine capable of complex calculations and called it UNIVAC. Eager to test their invention, they asked it, “Is there a God?”The vacuum tubes hummed and the tape spools spun for several minutes. Finally, the machine spit out a little card, on which was written, “THERE IS NOW.” On this day in 1951, the Remington Rand Corporation signed a contract to deliver the first UNIVAC computer to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, March 30, 2026

Posted on March 30, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of playwright Sean O’Casey, born John Casey in Dublin, in 1880. Although he grew to have a reputation as a “slum dramatist,” O’Casey was born into a middle-, not working-, class Protestant family. His father died when he was six, however, and money troubles soon followed as his large family moved from tenement to tenement.

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, March 29, 2026

Posted on March 29, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

The last United States combat troops left Vietnam on this date in 1973. Troop strength in the country had peaked at over half a million soldiers in 1969, which was also the year when war protests at home were reaching their highest levels. In the early 1970s, Nixon began to withdraw troops to aid the transfer of the responsibility over to South Vietnam.

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