The Writer’s Almanac for September 5, 2018

It was on this day in 1957 that Jack Kerouac published On the Road, which told the story of Kerouac’s & his friend Neal Cassady’s hitchhiking adventures from 10 years before.

The Writer’s Almanac for September 4, 2018

Twenty years ago on this day, Google was incorporated as a company. In June of 2006, just under eight years after that, “Google” was added to the Oxford English Dictionary as a verb.

The Writer’s Almanac for September 3, 2018

Today is Labor Day, a national holiday created by President Grover Cleveland in 1894 to appease an angry workforce after he’d sent 12,000 federal troops to break up the Pullman Strike.

The Writer’s Almanac for September 2, 2018

It was on this day in 1901 that Theodore Roosevelt uttered his famous words “Speak softly and carry a big stick”––at where else but the Minnesota State Fair.

The Writer’s Almanac for September 1, 2018

On this day in 1773, Phillis Wheatley published Poems on Various Subjects Religious and Moral, the first book ever published by a former American slave.

The Writer’s Almanac for August 31, 2018

It was on this day in 1422 that Henry VI became King of England at the age of nine months. In 1423, the year after he ascended to the throne, English nobles from around the land swore loyalty to their toddler king. They also set up a regency council to make government decisions until he was old enough to do so.

The Writer’s Almanac for August 30, 2018

It’s the birthday of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, born Mary Godwin in London, England (1797). Her work Frankenstein (1818) is considered the first science fiction novel ever written.

The Writer’s Almanac for August 29, 2018

It’s the birthday of philosopher John Locke, who said, “The actions of men are the best interpreters of their thoughts.”

The Writer’s Almanac for August 28, 2018

It was on this day in 1971 that Alice Waters opened her Berkeley restaurant Chez Panisse. It had a set menu: pâté en croûte, salad, duck with olives — and for dessert, an almond tart. It all cost $3.95.

The Writer’s Almanac for August 27, 2018

It’s the birthday of philosopher Georg Hegel, who wrote, “Genuine tragedies in the world are not conflicts between right and wrong. They are conflicts between two rights.”

With a poem by Tony Hoagland.