Writer's Almanac Archives - Page 284 of 291 - Garrison Keillor

Albums APHC Clips Audio Events Prairie Home Archives Songs Writer's Almanac

Writer's Almanac

To subscribe to the Writer’s Almanac Anniversary Episode email, which includes the unedited text and audio from one daily anniversary episode selected from the archive, click here >>>

To browse archived episodes of The Writer’s Almanac from before 2017, click here >>>

• • • • •

To support The Writer’s Almanac Anniversary Episodes newsletter, please consider “buying” a donation here >>>

You can also buy a paid subscription to the Anniversary Episode newsletter here >>>

Checks may be made out to Prairie Home Productions, LLC and mailed to:

Prairie Home Productions
P.O. Box 2090
Minneapolis, MN 55402

(Note: donations to LLCs are not tax-deductible)

• • • • •

The Writer’s Almanac for August 6, 2018

Posted on August 6, 2018 - Writer's Almanac

It was on this day in 1964 during a speech in Congress that Senator Ernest Gruening of Alaska said, “All Vietnam is not worth the life of a single American boy.” But the next day, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, authorizing expanded military action in Vietnam.

The Writer’s Almanac for August 5, 2018

Posted on August 5, 2018 - Writer's Almanac

The New York Daily News debuted the comic strip “Little Orphan Annie” on this day in 1924. It ran for 86 years and inspired a radio show, a Broadway musical, film adaptations, mass-marketed books, and merchandise including everything from lunchboxes to curly wigs.

The Writer’s Almanac for August 4, 2018

Posted on August 4, 2018 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of jazz musician Louis Armstrong, born 1901. Growing up in New Orleans, Armstrong listened to pioneers like cornetist King Oliver, who gave Armstrong his big break by letting him play in the Creole Jazz Band in Chicago in 1922.

The Writer’s Almanac for August 3, 2018

Posted on August 3, 2018 - Writer's Almanac

On this date in 1527, the first known letter from the New World to the Old was sent to King Henry VIII of England. The letter writer, Master John Rut, was on an expedition to find the Northwest Passage, a northerly route to Asia through or around North America.

The Writer’s Almanac for August 2, 2018

Posted on August 2, 2018 - Writer's Almanac

“You write in order to change the world, knowing perfectly well that you probably can’t, but also knowing that literature is indispensable to the world. The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter, even but a millimeter, the way people look at reality, then you can change it.”
–James Baldwin, born this day in 1924

The Writer’s Almanac for August 1, 2018

Posted on August 1, 2018 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of Maria Mitchell, the first acknowledged female astronomer, born in 1818 on the island of Nantucket in Massachusetts. In 1849, she was awarded a gold medal from the king of Denmark for the comet she discovered, which became known as “Miss Mitchell’s Comet.”

The Writer’s Almanac for July 31, 2018

Posted on July 31, 2018 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series. She was on a train in 1990 when she suddenly got the idea for a novel. “I was looking out of the window at some cows, I believe and I just thought: ‘Boy doesn’t know he’s a wizard — goes off to wizard school.'”

The Writer’s Almanac for July 30, 2018

Posted on July 30, 2018 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of Emily Brönte, best known for her only novel Wuthering Heights (1848). It’s a passionate, tragic love story written by a woman who, as far as it is known, rarely spoke to anyone other than her immediate family members.

The Writer’s Almanac for July 29, 2018

Posted on July 29, 2018 - Writer's Almanac

Vincent Van Gogh died on this date in 1890. The mysterious circumstances around his death were the subject of the 2017 experimental animated art film “Loving Vincent,” whose 65,000 frames are actually individual oil paintings in the style of Van Gogh.

The Writer’s Almanac for July 28, 2018

Posted on July 28, 2018 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of Earl Tupper, inventor of Tupperware. At first, he sold his product through department and hardware stores, without much success: people couldn’t figure out how to make the lids work unless someone demonstrated it for them. Thus, the birth of Tupperware Home Parties, headed by home products distributor Brownie Wise, in 1951.

Load next posts