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The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, January 17, 2026

Posted on January 17, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

Captain James Cook and his crew on HMS Resolution were the first Europeans to sail below the Antarctic Circle on this date in 1773. Cook made three exploratory voyages to uncharted areas of the Pacific, making maps as he went. In 1772, he was commissioned by the Royal Society to go in search of the rumored Terra Australis, a hypothetical continent that was first suggested by Aristotle.

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, January 16, 2026

Posted on January 16, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of novelist, essayist, and cultural critic Susan Sontag, born Susan Rosenblatt in New York City (1933). She grew up in Tucson and Los Angeles. She graduated from high school when she was 15, went to the University of California at Berkeley for a semester, and then transferred to the University of Chicago.

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, January 15, 2026

Posted on January 15, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., born on this day in Atlanta (1929). He is best known for his work as a leader during the civil rights movement and his commitment to nonviolence. On April 4th, 1967, King delivered a speech called “Beyond Vietnam,” in which he strongly denounced America’s involvement in the Vietnam War.

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, January 14, 2026

Posted on January 14, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

On this date in 1943, Franklin Roosevelt completed the first airplane journey by a sitting president. He needed to get to the Casablanca Conference in Morocco to discuss strategy with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. German U-boats were making sea travel too perilous, so his advisors agreed — somewhat reluctantly — that air travel was the best option.

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, January 13, 2026

Posted on January 13, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of novelist and short-story writer Lorrie Moore, born in Glens Falls, New York (1957). She said of her childhood: “There was acting, and dressing up. We’d play music, and write crappy songs. We’d draw and paint, and fancy ourselves as artistic. It was part of being a girl in the ’60s that you were creative.”

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, January 12, 2026

Posted on January 12, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of Jack London, born in San Francisco (1876). His mother was Flora Wellman, a spiritualist from a wealthy family, but the identity of his father is not known. He was probably the son of William Chaney, a radical thinker who popularized astrology in America. Flora and William certainly lived together, and in his memoirs, Chaney claimed that she was his wife.

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, January 11, 2026

Posted on January 11, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of historian Bernard DeVoto, born in Ogden, Utah (1897). He loved the wide spaces and big skies of the West, but he felt like an outsider in his hometown — he was raised Catholic in a Mormon town, and he was too bookish and unathletic to feel comfortable there. He studied English at Harvard.

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, January 10, 2026

Posted on January 10, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of poet Philip Levine, born in Detroit, Michigan (1928). He started working in auto factories at the age of 14. Some of his high school teachers convinced him to apply for college, so he went to enroll at a local college, Wayne State University. When they asked him if he wanted a bachelor’s, he had never heard of it — he thought they were referring to a type of apartment, and he told them he already had a place to live.

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, January 9, 2026

Posted on January 9, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of President Richard Milhous Nixon, born in Yorba Linda, California (1913). He grew up poor in a Quaker family in the town of Whittier, where his family ran a grocery store and gas station. He won a scholarship to Harvard, but his parents needed his help in the store, so he attended a local college. He went on to Duke University School of Law, then returned to Whittier to work as an attorney.

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, January 8, 2026

Posted on January 8, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans, which took place on this day in 1815. It was the last major battle of the War of 1812, won with the help of a pirate named Jean Lafitte. The war of 1812 had started for a variety of complicated reasons, but mainly because the United States refused to put up with British control of the Atlantic Ocean while the British were fighting a war with France.

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