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The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, June 3, 2025

Posted on June 3, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of poet Allen Ginsberg (1926). He was born in Newark, New Jersey, and grew up in Paterson. His father, Louis, was a poet and high school teacher; his mother, Naomi, was a communist and a paranoid schizophrenic. Naomi and Allen were very close; when she was in the grip of her delusions, he was the only one she trusted, and he often accompanied her to her therapy appointments.

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, June 2, 2025

Posted on June 2, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

On this day in 1692, the Court of Oyer and Terminer convened in Salem Town, Massachusetts, beginning what would become known as the Salem Witch Trials. The hysteria had begun in Salem Village (now Danvers, Massachusetts) in January of that year; a few preteen and teenage girls, including the daughter of Samuel Parris, the village’s minister, began acting strangely and having fits, insisting that they were being poked and pinched.

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, June 1, 2025

Posted on June 1, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

In 1824, Carnot published one of the first physics books written for general audiences, called Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire. It explained, in laymen’s terms, the principles of converting heat to energy. Carnot argued that the real power behind an engine lay in the temperature difference between its hottest and coolest elements, and that the use of gas or fluid was irrelevant.

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, May 31, 2025

Posted on May 31, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of the man who said: “The public is a thick-skinned beast, and you have to keep whacking away at its hide to let it know you’re there.” That’s the poet Walt Whitman, born in West Hills, New York (1819). Throughout his long career as a poet, Whitman constantly revised and republished his great work, Leaves of Grass —a total of nine editions were published during his lifetime.

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, May 30, 2025

Posted on May 30, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It was on this day in 1431 that Joan of Arc was burned at the stake for heresy in Rouen, France. She was an ordinary French peasant girl, living during the Hundred Years War between France and England. When she was still a teenager, she heard the voice of God telling her to join the battle and help defeat the English army. She performed a series of apparent miracles and persuaded the French army to let her command a group of soldiers.

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, May 29, 2025

Posted on May 29, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

On this day in 1914, Edgar Lee Masters published the first poem of what would later be published as The Spoon River Anthology (1915). Masters was a lawyer in Chicago when he began writing short poems about the townspeople of “Spoon River,” a fictional place he based on his hometown of Lewiston, Illinois.

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, May 28, 2025

Posted on May 28, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of author Ian Fleming, born in London in 1908. His family enjoyed wealth and social standing; his father Valentine was a Member of Parliament and when he died in World War I, Winston Churchill wrote his obituary. Casino Royale (1953) was the first of his many “James Bond” novels, which featured the playboy spy — code name “007” — and a host of fast cars, nifty gadgets, and hot women.

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, May 27, 2025

Posted on May 27, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It was on this day in 1937 that the Golden Gate Bridge opened to the public. The idea of the bridge was first broached in 1869 by Joshua Norton, an emigrant from London who had lost his fortune investing in Peruvian rice. Driven mad by misfortune, he declared himself “Emperor of the United States” and issued a decree calling for a bridge to cross the mile-wide channel between the San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The immaculate blue bay was christened Chrysopylae in 1846, which means “Golden Gate” in Greek.

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, May 26, 2025

Posted on May 26, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of astronaut Sally Ride, born in Los Angeles (1951). When she was young, her teachers used to wheel big black-and-white televisions into the classrooms so that students could watch the space launches, and Ride was fascinated by the space program.

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, May 25, 2025

Posted on May 25, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of the man who said, “Live in the sunshine, swim in the sea, drink the wild air.” That’s Ralph Waldo Emerson, born in Boston (1803). His father, who died when he was eight, was a Unitarian minister, as were many of Emerson’s family members before him. He was a quiet and well-behaved young man, not an exceptional student.

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