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The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Posted on April 23, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of Roy Orbison (1936), born in Vernon, Texas, to Orbie Lee, a mechanic, and Nadine, a nurse. His father gave him a guitar on his sixth birthday, and by the time he was seven, he knew that music was his calling. He later said, “I was finished, you know, for anything else.” He studied geology in college, planning to work in the oil fields if he couldn’t make a living playing his guitar, but when his classmate Pat Boone signed a big record deal, it only strengthened his resolve to make a go of music.

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, April 22, 2024

Posted on April 22, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of Enlightenment philosopher Immanuel Kant, born in Königsberg, Prussia, in 1724. His father was a saddle maker. He studied theology, physics, mathematics, and philosophy at university, and worked for a time as a private tutor; he made very little money, but it gave him plenty of time for his own work.

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, April 21, 2024

Posted on April 21, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of Charlotte Brontë, born in Thornton, Yorkshire, England, in 1816, the third of six children. The family moved to nearby Haworth in 1820, when Charlotte was four, because her father had been appointed the town’s minister, and there she grew up on the Yorkshire moors.

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, April 20, 2024

Posted on April 20, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It was on this day in 1939 that Billie Holiday recorded the song “Strange Fruit,” which describes the lynching of a black man in the South. The song began as a poem written not by Holiday, but by a Jewish schoolteacher from the Bronx named Abel Meeropol (using the pseudonym Lewis Allan) who was deeply disturbed by a picture he saw of a lynching.

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, April 19, 2024

Posted on April 19, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

On this spring day in 1944, three months before the family was found and arrested, Anne Frank wrote in her diary: “Is there anything more beautiful in the world than to sit before an open window and enjoy nature, to listen to the birds singing, feel the sun on your cheeks and have a darling boy in your arms?”

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, April 18, 2024

Posted on April 18, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

On this day in 1775, Paul Revere made his famous ride from Boston to Lexington to warn the patriots that the British troops were on the march. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow commemorated the historic occasion in a ballad, “Paul Revere’s Ride.”

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, April 17, 2024

Posted on April 17, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

According to legend, it was on this day in 1397 that Geoffrey Chaucer recited The Canterbury Tales to the court of Richard II. Although there is no evidence that this actually happened, it is easy to imagine the scene, in part because of a famous painting of Chaucer reciting his poetry to the court, painted in the early 15th century.

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Posted on April 16, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of the filmmaker and actor Charlie Chaplin, born in London (1889). He started out as a vaudeville actor in a comedy troupe. When Chaplin arrived in Hollywood, he was shocked to see how little rehearsal went into each movie. Hollywood directors at the time filmed each scene in a single take, refusing to waste money on extra film.

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, April 15, 2024

Posted on April 15, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of Henry James, author of 20 novels, 112 stories, 12 plays, and several books of travel and criticism, born in New York City (1843). His father was a friend of Thoreau, Emerson, and Hawthorne, and the family traveled throughout Europe. When James was in his 20s and writing short stories, he moved to Europe because he could live cheaply there and felt at home as an outsider.

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, April 14, 2024

Posted on April 14, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It was on this day in 1828 that Noah Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language was published. Webster put together the dictionary because he wanted Americans to have a national identity that wasn’t based on the language and ideas of England. And the problem wasn’t just that Americans were looking to England for their language; it was that they could barely communicate with each other because regional dialects differed so drastically.

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