Chaitra’s Comments (group member since Apr 29, 2012)

Chaitra’s comments from the Crazy Challenge Connection group.

Congrats, Amanda!

Congrats, Amanda!

NEW CHALLENGE ALERT!!!

This month’s crazy challenge is one based on interesting or major events that happened on every day of the year. Check out This Day in History.

NEW CHALLENGE ALERT!!!

For the last country of the world this year, we’re heading to Central Europe. Join us in Croatia!

December

1, 1865: Shaw University, the first historically black university in the southern United States, is founded in Raleigh, North Carolina.
🗓️Read a book at least partially set in a university (tell us which).

2, 1804: At Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself Emperor of the French.
🗓️Read a book in which a coronation occurs.

3, 1994: Sony releases the PlayStation game console in Japan.
🗓️Read a book whose author’s first or last initial is in SONY.

4, 1865: North Carolina ratifies the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution, abolishing slavery in the state.
🗓️Read a book in which slavery exists.

5, 1766: In London, auctioneer James Christie holds his first sale.
🗓️Read a book in which the main character attends an auction.

6, 1534: The city of Quito in Ecuador is founded by Spanish settlers led by Sebastián de Belalcázar.
🗓️Read a book set in a location beginning with a letter in QUITO (tell us the location).

7, 1842: First concert of the New York Philharmonic, founded by Ureli Corelli Hill.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows a musical instrument (post the cover).

8, 1660: A woman (either Margaret Hughes or Anne Marshall) appears on an English public stage for the first time, in the role of Desdemona in a production of Shakespeare's play Othello.
🗓️Read a book written by a male author with a female main character.

9, 1946: The subsequent Nuremberg trials begin with the Doctors' Trial, prosecuting physicians and officers alleged to be involved in Nazi human experimentation and mass murder under the guise of euthanasia.
🗓️Read a book whose main character has something to do with the medical field (tell us what they are).

10, 1768: The first edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica is published.
🗓️Read a nonfiction book that teaches you something you didn’t know (tell us what).

11, 1936: Edward VIII's abdication as King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, and Emperor of India, becomes effective.
🗓️Read a book in which a scandal occurs (tell us how your book fits).

12, 2024: Indian Grandmaster Gukesh Dommaraju becomes the World Chess Champion in a tournament held in Singapore, making him the 18th and the youngest champion in chess history.
🗓️Read a book in which a game of chess is played.

13, 1972: Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt begin the third and final extra-vehicular activity (EVA) or "Moonwalk" of Apollo 17. To date they are the last humans to set foot on the Moon.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows the moon (post the cover).

14, 1782: The Montgolfier brothers first test fly an unmanned hot air balloon in France; it floats nearly 1.6 mi.
🗓️Read a light book (your interpretation; tell us how your book fits).

15, 1871: Sixteen-year-old telegraphist Ella Stewart keys and sends the first telegraphed message from Arizona Territory at the Deseret Telegraph Company office in Pipe Spring.
🗓️Read a book with teen main characters.

16, 1971: The United Kingdom recognizes Bahrain's independence, which is commemorated annually as Bahrain's National Day.
🗓️Read a book set in a Middle Eastern country (tell us which).

17, 497 BC: The first Saturnalia festival was celebrated in ancient Rome.
🗓️Read a book that you received as a gift.

18, 2018: A meteor exploded over the Bering Sea with a force over 10 times greater than the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945.
🗓️Read a book set in a country that has land within the Arctic Circle (tell us where your book is set).

19, 1606: The ships Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery depart England carrying settlers who founded, at Jamestown, Virginia, the first of the thirteen colonies that became the United States.
🗓️Read a book in which the main character moves and settles in a new location.

20, 1940: Captain America Comics #1, containing the first appearance of the superhero Captain America, is published.
🗓️Read a superhero comic book (>300 pages, or as many books as it takes to make up 300 pages).

21, 2012: Festivities are held in parts of Mesoamerica to commemorate the conclusion of b’ak’tun 13, a roughly 5,126-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar whose passing many New Age spiritualists had earlier held to portend a variety of cataclysmic or transformative events.
🗓️Read a book marked “Apocalyptic” or “Post Apocalyptic” on the GR main page.

22, 1944: World War II: Battle of the Bulge: German troops demand the surrender of United States troops at Bastogne, Belgium, prompting the famous one word reply by General Anthony McAuliffe: "Nuts!"
🗓️Read a book whose title contains an exclamation mark.

23, 1815: The novel Emma by Jane Austen is first published.
🗓️Read a book whose title is a person’s name.
24, 1997: Toshiro Mifune, Chinese-Japanese actor known for his portrayals of Samurai characters, dies.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking character is a samurai or a knight.

25, 336: First documentary sign of Christmas celebration in Rome.
🗓️Read a book set during Christmas.

26, 1898: Marie and Pierre Curie announce the isolation of radium.
🗓️Read a book whose title contains a chemical element.

27, 1945: The International Monetary Fund is created with the signing of an agreement by 29 nations.
🗓️Read a book you paid money for.

28, 1895: The Lumière brothers perform for their first paying audience at the Grand Cafe in Boulevard des Capucines.
🗓️Read a book in which a movie is being made.

29, 2003: The last known speaker of Akkala Sami dies, rendering the language extinct.
🗓️Read a book in which a language other than the book’s language is used (tell us which other language is used and why).

30, 1922: The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is formed.
🗓️Read a book set in the USSR.

31, 1907: The first ever ball drop in Times Square.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows a ball shaped object (post the cover).

November

1, 1512: The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo, is exhibited to the public for the first time.
🗓️Read a book with a ceiling shown on the cover (roof won’t do, the interior must be seen; post the cover).

2, 1889: North Dakota and South Dakota are admitted as the 39th and 40th U.S. states.
🗓️Read a book set in one of the Dakotas (tell us where your book is set).

3, 1838: The Times of India, the world's largest circulated English language daily broadsheet newspaper is founded as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce.
🗓️Read a book in which an important character is a print journalist (tell us who).

4, 1677: The future Mary II of England marries William, Prince of Orange; they later jointly reign as William and Mary.
🗓️Read a book whose title follows the format _________ and ____________.

5, 2007: The Android mobile operating system is unveiled by Google.
🗓️Read a book in which a smartphone is important to the plot (tell us how your books).

6, 1947: Meet the Press, the longest running television program in history, makes its debut on NBC Television.
🗓️Read a book in which all the words of the title begin with a letter in MEET THE PRESS (all words count, 3 words minimum).

7, 1944: Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected for a record fourth term as President of the United States.
🗓️Read a book in which a real US President is a speaking character (tell us which one).

8, 1895: While experimenting with electricity, Wilhelm Röntgen discovers the X-ray.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows anything that runs on electricity (post the cover).

9, 1938: Kristallnacht occurs, instigated by the Nazis using the killing of German diplomat Ernst vom Rath by Herschel Grynszpan as justification.
🗓️Read a book whose title has the words Crystal or Night (plurals okay).

10, 1989: Germans begin to tear down the Berlin Wall.
🗓️Read a book set in Germany before 1989 (tell us when your book is set).

11, 1992: The General Synod of the Church of England votes to allow women to become priests.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking female character is a priest.

12, 1927: Leon Trotsky is expelled from the Soviet Communist Party, leaving Joseph Stalin in undisputed control of the Soviet Union.
🗓️Read a book set in a dictatorship (real or fantasy; tell us which).

13, 1850: Scottish novelist, poet and essayist Robert Louis Stevenson is born.
🗓️Read a book marked “Adventure” on the main GR page.

14, 1960: Ruby Bridges becomes the first black child to attend an all-white elementary school in Louisiana.
🗓️Read a book whose main character is a student.

15, 1864: Union General William Tecumseh Sherman begins his March to the Sea through Georgia towards the city of Savannah.
🗓️Read a book set in the state of Georgia.

16, 1974: The Arecibo message, an interstellar radio message carrying basic information about humanity and Earth, is broadcast from Puerto Rico to the globular cluster Messier 13.
🗓️Read a book with aliens in it.

17, 1947: American scientists John Bardeen and Walter Houser Brattain observe the basic principles of the transistor, a key element for the electronics revolution of the 20th century.
🗓️Read a book in which computers are an important part of the plot (tell us how your book fits).

18, 326 & 1626: The old & new St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is consecrated.
🗓️Read a book on your TBR that is similar to another book on your TBR (as close as possible; tell us both books and how your book fits).

19, 1863: American Civil War: U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address at the dedication ceremony for the military cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
🗓️Read a book published at least four score and seven years ago (87 years from the day your book is read; tell us when your book was published).

20, 1820: An 80-ton sperm whale attacks and sinks the Essex (a whaling ship from Nantucket, Massachusetts) 2,000 mi from the western coast of South America.
🗓️Read a book based on true events (tell us how your book fits if not obvious).

21, 1905: Albert Einstein's paper that leads to the mass–energy equivalence formula, E = mc², is published in the journal Annalen der Physik.
🗓️Read a book whose title and/or author’s name contains at least one E, an M and two Cs.

22, 1995: Pixar's Toy Story, the first entirely computer-animated feature-length film, is released.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows a child’s toy (post the cover).

23, 534 BC: Thespis of Icaria becomes the first recorded actor to portray a character on stage.
🗓️Read a book in which a stage play is performed.

24, 1989: After a week of mass protests against the Communist regime known as the Velvet Revolution, Miloš Jakeš and the entire Politburo of the Czechoslovak Communist Party resign from office. This brings an effective end to Communist rule in Czechoslovakia.
🗓️Read a book whose title contains a type of cloth.

25, 1833: A massive undersea earthquake, estimated magnitude between 8.7 and 9.2, rocks Sumatra, producing a massive tsunami all along the Indonesian coast.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows something underwater (post the cover).

26, 2003: The Concorde makes its final flight, over Bristol, England.
🗓️Read a book in which a flying machine is shown clearly on the cover (post the cover).
27, 1895: At the Swedish–Norwegian Club in Paris, Alfred Nobel signs his last will and testament, setting aside his estate to establish the Nobel Prize after he dies.
🗓️Read a book written by a Nobel Prize winner (tell us the year your author won).

28, 1967: The first pulsar (PSR B1919+21, in the constellation of Vulpecula) is discovered by two astronomers Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Antony Hewish.
🗓️Read a book about astronomy.

29, 1972: Atari releases Pong, the first commercially successful video game.
🗓️Read a book in which someone plays a video game.

30, 1786: The Grand Duchy of Tuscany, under Pietro Leopoldo I, becomes the first modern state to abolish the death penalty (later commemorated as Cities for Life Day).
🗓️Read a book in which a character is on death row.

October

1, 1861: Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management is published, going on to sell 60,000 copies in its first year and remaining in print until the present day.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows the interior of a house (post the cover).

2, 1967: Thurgood Marshall is sworn in as the first African-American justice of the United States Supreme Court.
🗓️Read a book with a courtroom scene important to the plot.

3, 2457 BC: Gaecheonjeol, a date traditionally regarded by Koreans as the date for the founding of the Korean race. This is the day that Hwanung purportedly descended from heaven to live with mankind.
🗓️Read a book in which a legend is important to the plot.

4, 2006: WikiLeaks, the non-profit publisher of leaked media, is launched.
🗓️Read a book in which some information is leaked (tell us how your book fits).

5, 1984: Marc Garneau becomes the first Canadian in space.
🗓️Read a book written by a Canadian author.

6, 1927: Opening of The Jazz Singer, the first prominent "talkie" movie.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking character is a musician (tell us who and what their medium is).

7, 1919: KLM, the flag carrier of the Netherlands, is founded. It is the oldest airline still operating under its original name.
🗓️Read a book in which a main word of the title and author’s first and last names begin with consecutive letters.

8, 1982: After its London premiere, Cats opens on Broadway and runs for nearly 18 years before closing on September 10, 2000.
🗓️Read a book whose cover prominently shows a cat (post the cover).

9, 2012: Pakistani Taliban attempt to assassinate outspoken schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai.
🗓️Read an autobiography.

10, 1964: The Tokyo Summer Olympics opening ceremony is the first to be relayed live by satellites.
🗓️Read a book set in the summer.

11, 1890: In Washington, D.C., the Daughters of the American Revolution is founded.
🗓️Read a book whose title contains a familial relationship word.

12, 1773: America's first insane asylum opens.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking character has been in an mental health asylum (tell us who).

13, 1983: Ameritech Mobile Communications launches the first US cellular network in Chicago.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows an electronic communication device on the cover (computer, mobile phone etc., post the cover).

14, 1884: George Eastman receives a U.S. Government patent on his new paper-strip photographic film.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking character is a photographer (tell us who).

15, 1793: Queen Marie Antoinette of France is tried and convicted of treason.
🗓️Read a book with cake on the cover (post the cover).

16, 1940: The Million Man March, a large gathering of African-American men, takes place in Washington, D.C. About 837,000 attend.
🗓️Read a book whose author is an African American man.

17, 1933: Albert Einstein flees Nazi Germany and moves to the United States.
🗓️Read a book in which Albert Einstein is mentioned (tell us the line and the location).

18, 1963: Félicette, a black and white female Parisian stray cat, becomes the first cat launched into space.
🗓️Read a book in which a cat is important to the plot.

19, 1469: Ferdinand II of Aragon marries Isabella I of Castile, a marriage that paves the way to the unification of Aragon and Castile into a single country, Spain.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows something related to a wedding (post the cover).

20, 1973: The Sydney Opera House is opened by Elizabeth II after 14 years of construction.
🗓️Read a book with a shell-shaped object on the cover (post the cover).

21, 2021: A shooting occurs on the set of the film Rust, in which actor Alec Baldwin discharged a prop weapon which had been loaded, killing the director of photography, Halyna Hutchins, and injuring director Joel Souza.
🗓️Read a book in which someone is shot accidentally (tell us who).

22, 1836: Sam Houston is inaugurated as the first President of the Republic of Texas.
🗓️Read a book whose author has a gender-neutral name (Sam is both a male and female name for example).

23, 1868: Having taken the shogunate's seat of power at Edo and declared it his new capital as Tokyo, Mutsuhito, later known as Emperor Meiji, proclaims the start of the new Meiji era.
🗓️Read a book whose title has changed since publication for whatever reason (tell us both titles).

24, 2008: "Bloody Friday" saw many of the world's stock exchanges experience the worst declines in their history, with drops of around 10% in most indices.
🗓️Read a book with blood shown prominently on the cover (post the cover).

25, 2001: Microsoft releases Windows XP, which becomes one of Microsoft's most successful operating systems.
🗓️Read a book with a window shown prominently on the cover (post the cover).

26, 1881: Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday participate in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona.
🗓️Read a book marked Western on the main GR page.

27, 1932: American poet and novelist Sylvia Plath is born.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking character is a poet (tell us who).

28, 1453: Ladislaus the Posthumous, so known because he was the posthumous son of Albert of Habsburg with Elizabeth of Luxembourg, is crowned king of Bohemia in Prague.
🗓️Read a book in which the main character has lost a parent.

29, 1969: The first-ever computer-to-computer link is established on ARPANET, the precursor to the Internet.
🗓️Read an electronic book (either kindle or other electronic book, or an audiobook. Anything you need an internet connection to download and read; tell us what your book is).

30, 1938: Orson Welles broadcasts a radio adaptation of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds, causing a massive panic in some of the audience in the United States.
🗓️Listen to an audiobook narrated by a favorite narrator.

31, 2011: The global population of humans reaches seven billion. This day is now recognized by the United Nations as the Day of Seven Billion.
🗓️Read a book whose publication date is a 7th of any month of any year (tell us the date your book was published).

September

1, 1772: The Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa is founded in San Luis Obispo, California.
🗓️Read a book set in the state of California.

2, 1901: Vice President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt utters the famous phrase, "Speak softly and carry a big stick" at the Minnesota State Fair.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking character speaks softly but carries a big stick (tell us who).

3, 1939: World War II: France, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia declare war on Germany after the invasion of Poland, forming the Allied nations.
🗓️Read a book set during the years of WWII.

4, 1972: The Price Is Right premieres on CBS. It currently is the longest running game show on American television.
🗓️Read a book in which a TV show is filmed.

5, 1960: Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay) wins the gold medal in the light heavyweight boxing competition at the Olympic Games in Rome.
🗓️Read a book in which someone fights with their hands (either professionally as a boxer or just fights on the streets; tell us who).

6, 1997: The funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales takes place in London. Well over a million people line the streets and 21⁄2 billion watch around the world on television.
🗓️Read a book in which a funeral takes place.

7, 1921: In Atlantic City, New Jersey, the first Miss America Pageant, a two-day event, is held.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking character is considered beautiful.

8, 1504: Michelangelo's David is unveiled in Piazza della Signoria in Florence.
🗓️Read a book with a nude or implied nude figure on the cover (post the cover).

9, 1972: In Kentucky's Mammoth Cave National Park, a Cave Research Foundation exploration and mapping team discovers a link between the Mammoth and Flint Ridge cave systems, making it the longest known cave passageway in the world.
🗓️Read a book in which an important scene is set in a cave.

10, 2008: The Large Hadron Collider at CERN, described as the biggest scientific experiment in history, is powered up in Geneva, Switzerland.
🗓️Read a book in which a scientific experiment is performed.

11, 1792: The Hope Diamond is stolen along with other French crown jewels when six men break into the house where they are stored.
🗓️Read a book in which a gemstone is shown prominently on the cover (post the cover).

12, 1992: NASA launches Space Shuttle Endeavour on STS-47 which marked the 50th shuttle mission. On board are Mae Carol Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, Mamoru Mohri, the first Japanese citizen to fly in a US spaceship, and Mark Lee and Jan Davis, the first married couple in space.
🗓️Read a book with at least two authors credited on the cover.

13, 1985: Super Mario Bros. is released in Japan for the NES, which starts the Super Mario series of platforming games.
🗓️Read a book whose main character works a blue collar job (tell us what they do).

14, 2001: Historic National Prayer Service held at Washington National Cathedral for victims of the September 11 attacks. A similar service is held in Canada on Parliament Hill, the largest vigil ever held in the nation's capital.
🗓️Read a book in which a prayer service is held for whatever reason (tell us how your book fits).

15, 1835: HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin aboard, reaches the Galápagos Islands. The ship lands at Chatham or San Cristobal, the easternmost of the archipelago.
🗓️Read a book with a ship on the cover (post the cover).

16, 1992: The trial of the deposed Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega ends in the United States with a 40-year sentence for drug trafficking and money laundering.
🗓️Read a book in which drug trafficking is part of the plot.

17, 2013: Grand Theft Auto V earns more than half a billion dollars on its first day of release.
🗓️Read a bestselling book.

18, 1837: Tiffany & Co. (first named Tiffany & Young) is founded by Charles Lewis Tiffany and Teddy Young in New York City. The store is called a "stationery and fancy goods emporium".
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows jewelry prominently shown on the cover.

19, 1985: Tipper Gore and other political wives form the Parents Music Resource Center as Frank Zappa, John Denver, and other musicians testify at U.S. Congressional hearings on obscenity in rock music.
🗓️Read a book that has obscenity of some sort in it (tell us how your book fits).

20, 1973: Billie Jean King beats Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes tennis match at the Houston Astrodome.
🗓️Read a book in which the male and female main characters have a contentious relationship.

21, 1780: American Revolutionary War: Benedict Arnold gives the British the plans to West Point.
🗓️Read a book in which the main character either betrays someone or is betrayed.

22, 1692: Martha Corey, Mary Eastey, Alice Parker, Mary Parker, Ann Pudeator, Wilmot Redd, Margaret Scott, and Samuel Wardwell are hanged, the last of those to be executed in the Salem witch trials.
🗓️Read a book that has witches.

23, 1215: Mongolian emperor Kublai Khan is born.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows a gold object prominently (post the cover).

24, 1890: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially renounces polygamy.
🗓️Read a book by a Mormon author or which has a speaking character who is a Mormon.

25, 1890: The United States Congress establishes Sequoia National Park.
🗓️Read a book whose title contains a type of tree.

26, 1933: As gangster Machine Gun Kelly surrenders to the FBI, he shouts out "Don't shoot, G-Men!", which becomes a nickname for FBI agents.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking character who is an FBI agent (tell us who).

27, 1962: Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring is published, inspiring an environmental movement and the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
🗓️Read a book marked Nature or Environment in the main GR page.

28, 2014: The 2014 Hong Kong protests, called the Umbrella Revolution, begin in response to restrictive political reforms imposed by the National People’s Congress in Beijing.
🗓️Read a book with an umbrella shown on the cover (post the cover).

29, 1829: The Metropolitan Police of London, later also known as the Met, is founded.
🗓️Read a book set in England that is a police procedural.

30, 1935: The Hoover Dam, astride the border between the U.S. states of Arizona and Nevada, is dedicated.
🗓️Read a book set in the state of Arizona or Nevada (tell us where your book is set).

August

1, 1965: Frank Herbert's novel, Dune was published for the first time. It was named as the world's best-selling science fiction novel in 2003.
🗓️Read a science fiction book.

2, 1939: Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard write a letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt, urging him to begin the Manhattan Project to develop a nuclear weapon.
🗓️Read a book in which the Manhattan Project is mentioned (tell us how your book fits if not obvious).

3, 1859: The American Dental Association is founded in Niagara Falls, New York.
🗓️Read a book with teeth shown on the cover (post the cover).

4, 1693: Date traditionally ascribed to Dom Perignon's invention of champagne; it is not clear whether he actually invented champagne, however he has been credited as an innovator who developed the techniques used to perfect sparkling wine.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking character owns or works at a vineyard (tell us who).

5, 1926: Harry Houdini performs his greatest feat, spending 91 minutes underwater in a sealed tank before escaping.
🗓️Read a book in which an important character is a performing artist of some sort (tell us who and what they do).

6, 2012: NASA's Curiosity rover lands on the surface of Mars.
🗓️Read a book in which the main character works for an alphabet company (CIA, FBI, NASA etc., tell us who the MC works for).

7, 1947: Thor Heyerdahl's balsa wood raft, the Kon-Tiki, smashes into the reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands after a 101-day, 4,300 mi journey across the Pacific Ocean in an attempt to prove that pre-historic peoples could have traveled from South America.
🗓️Read a book set on an island (tell us where your book is set).

8, 1969: At a zebra crossing in London, photographer Iain Macmillan takes the iconic photo that becomes the cover image of the Beatles' album Abbey Road.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows a busy city road (post the cover).

9, 1897: The first International Congress of Mathematicians is held in Zürich, Switzerland.
🗓️Read a book in which mathematics is important (tell us how if not obvious).

10, 1835: P. T. Barnum begins his career as a showman and circus entrepreneur by exhibiting Joice Heth, an octogenarian African slave whom he claims was George Washington's nursemaid.
🗓️Read a book set at least partially in a circus or carnival.

11, 1929: Babe Ruth becomes the first baseball player to hit 500 home runs in his career with a home run at League Park in Cleveland, Ohio.
🗓️Read a book whose page count is > 500 pages (tell us how many pages).

12, 1865: Joseph Lister, British surgeon and scientist, performs the first antiseptic surgery.
🗓️Read a book in which a surgery is performed (tell us what kind of surgery).

13, 1905: Norwegians vote to end the union with Sweden.
🗓️Read a book set either in Norway or Sweden (tell us where your book is set).

14, 1885: Japan's first patent is issued to the inventor of a rust-proof paint.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows something that is rusted (post the cover).

15, 1057: King Macbeth of Scotland is killed at the Battle of Lumphanan by the forces of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada.
🗓️Read a book whose author’s last name contains a Mc or a Mac.

16, 1977: Elvis Presley, the king of Rock and Roll, dies at his Graceland estate.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking character has substance abuse issues (tell us who).

17, 1876: Richard Wagner's Götterdämmerung, the last opera in his Ring cycle, premieres at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus.
🗓️Read the last book of a completed series (tell us the series).

18, 2005: A massive power blackout hits the Indonesian island of Java; affecting almost 100 million people, it is one of the largest and most widespread power outages in history.
🗓️Read a book set in South East Asia (tell us where your book is set).

19, 2010: Operation Iraqi Freedom ends, with the last of the United States brigade combat teams crossing the border to Kuwait.
🗓️Read a book with a war in it.

20, 1962: The NS Savannah, the world's first nuclear-powered civilian ship, embarks on its maiden voyage.
🗓️Read a book in which a sea voyage forms part of the plot.

21, 1911: The Mona Lisa is stolen by Vincenzo Peruggia, a Louvre employee.
🗓️Read a book in which an important scene is set in a museum.

22, 1639: Madras (now Chennai), India, is founded by the British East India Company on a sliver of land bought from local Nayak rulers.
🗓️Read a book set in India.

23, 1973: A bank robbery gone wrong in Stockholm, Sweden, turns into a hostage crisis; over the next five days the hostages begin to sympathize with their captors, leading to the term "Stockholm syndrome".
🗓️Read a book in which a hostage is held for however long.

24, 2023: Japan officially begins discharging treated radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean, sparking international concerns and condemnation.
🗓️Read a book that deals with climate in any way.

25, 1944: World War II: Paris is liberated by the Allies.
🗓️Read a book set in France during WWII.

26, 1910: Mother Teresa, nun, missionary, Catholic saint and Nobel Laureate, is born.
🗓️Read a book whose main character is a nun or a missionary.

27, 1955: The first edition of the Guinness Book of Records is published in Great Britain.
🗓️Read a book whose title contains a superlative word (something that ends with -est).

28, 1963: March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gives his I Have a Dream speech.
🗓️Read a book that deals with civil rights.

29, 1966: The Beatles perform their last concert before paying fans at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
🗓️Read a book in which the main character attends or plays in a concert.

30, 1835: Australia: Melbourne, Victoria is founded.
🗓️Read a book set in Australia.

31, 1888: Mary Ann Nichols is murdered. She is the first of Jack the Ripper's confirmed victims.
🗓️Read a book with a serial killer in it.

July

1, 1520: Spanish conquistadors led by Hernán Cortés fight their way out of Tenochtitlan after nightfall.
🗓️Read a book set in Mexico.

2, 1979: The United States issues the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin, making Anthony the first woman to be depicted on U.S. currency.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows money of some sort (post the cover).

3, 1938: United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicates the Eternal Light Peace Memorial and lights the eternal flame at Gettysburg Battlefield.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows a man made light source (post the cover).

4, 1776: The United States Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Second Continental Congress.
🗓️Read a book of your choice.

5, 1937: Spam, the luncheon meat, is introduced into the market by the Hormel Foods Corporation.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows a savory dish on the cover (post the cover).

6, 1885: Louis Pasteur successfully tests his vaccine against rabies on Joseph Meister, a boy who was bitten by a rabid dog.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking character is gravely ill (tell us who and what they have).

7, 2019: Led by Megan Rapinoe, the U.S. women's football (soccer) team defeats the Netherlands to win its fourth World Cup.
🗓️Read a book in which a professional sport is played (tell us which).

8, 1932: The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its lowest level of the Great Depression, closing at 41.22.
🗓️Read a book in which the stock market is discussed for any reason (tell us how your book fits).

9, 1762: Catherine the Great becomes Empress of Russia following the coup against her husband, Peter III.
🗓️Read a book in which an empress, a queen or a princess is an important character (tell us who and what they are).

10, 1942: World War II: An American pilot spots a downed, intact Mitsubishi A6M Zero on Akutan Island (the "Akutan Zero"), which the US Navy then uses to learn the aircraft's flight characteristics.
🗓️Read a book in which someone figures out how to use unknown technology (tell us how your book fits).

11, 1893: The first cultured pearl is obtained by Kōkichi Mikimoto.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows a pearl (either by itself or in jewelry, post the cover).

12, 1543: King Henry VIII of England marries his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr, at Hampton Court Palace.
🗓️Read a book whose author is a Henry or a Catherine (reasonable variations okay).

13, 1814: The Carabinieri, the national gendarmerie of Italy, is established.
🗓️Read a book set in Italy.

14, 1960: Jane Goodall arrives at the Gombe Stream Reserve in present-day Tanzania to begin her study of chimpanzees in the wild.
🗓️Read a book whose main character is a scientist.

15, 1799: The Rosetta Stone is found in the Egyptian village of Rosetta by French Captain Pierre-François Bouchard during Napoleon's Egyptian Campaign.
🗓️Read a translated book (tell us the source language and the language of your book, if not English).

16, 1994: The comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 is destroyed in a head-on collision with Jupiter.
🗓️Read a book whose title contains a cardinal number (9 or nine).

17, 1918: Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his immediate family and retainers are executed by Bolshevik Chekists at the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg, Russia.
🗓️Read a book in which a political execution occurs (tell us who, use spoilers if needed).

18, 1976: Nadia Comăneci becomes the first person in Olympic Games history to score a perfect 10 in gymnastics at the 1976 Summer Olympics.
🗓️Read a book that you give a perfect 10 to.

19, 1903: Maurice Garin wins the first Tour de France.
🗓️Read a book set in France.

20, 1848: The first Women's Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York, a two-day event, concludes.
🗓️Read a book in which women’s rights are part of the plot (tell us how your book fits).

21, 356 BC: The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, is destroyed by arson.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows any of the current seven wonders of the world (post the cover).

22, 2013: Prince George of Wales is born.
🗓️Read a book marked “Childrens” or “Middle Grade” on the main GR page.

23, 1962: Telstar relays the first publicly transmitted, live trans-Atlantic television program, featuring Walter Cronkite.
🗓️Read a book that has been made into a TV show (tell us which if not immediately obvious).

24, 1567: Mary, Queen of Scots, is forced to abdicate and be replaced by her one-year-old son James VI.
🗓️Read a book whose title contains a female name.

25, 2007: Pratibha Patil is sworn in as India's first female president.
🗓️Read a book whose author’s first and last initial are the same letter.

26, 1882: The Republic of Stellaland, a short-lived Boer Republic, is founded in Southern Africa.
🗓️Read a book set in a country that no longer exists as it did when the book was set (tell us where your book is set).

27, 1940: The animated short A Wild Hare is released, introducing the character of Bugs Bunny.
🗓️Read a book in which an anthropomorphic animal is part of the plot (tell us the animal if not obvious).

28, 2018: Australian Wendy Tuck becomes the first female skipper to win the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.
🗓️Read a book in which the main character travels to several different places over the course of the plot (tell us where they travel).

29, 2021: The International Space Station temporarily spins out of control, moving the ISS 45 degrees out of attitude, following an engine malfunction of Russian module Nauka.
🗓️Read a book set in near space (the planets as opposed to the stars).

30, 2003: Three years after the death the last Pyrenean ibex, Celia, a clone of her is born only to subsequently die from lung defects. Within minutes, the Pyrenean ibex becomes the first and so-far only species to have ever gone de-extinct as well as go extinct twice.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows a horned/antlered animal (post the cover).

31, 781: The oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows a painting (post the cover).

June

1, 1495: A monk, John Cor, records the first known batch of Scotch whisky.
🗓️Read a book with alcohol on the cover (post the cover).

2, 1924: U.S. President Calvin Coolidge signs the Indian Citizenship Act into law, granting citizenship to all Native Americans born within the territorial limits of the United States.
🗓️Read a book whose author or main character is a Native American.

3, 1844: The last pair of great auks is killed.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows at least two of the same object (post the cover).

4, 1917: The first Pulitzer Prizes are awarded.
🗓️Read a book whose author has won a Pulitzer prize (tell us the year, the category and the book that won, if you’re not reading it).

5, 1883: The first regularly scheduled Orient Express departs Paris.
🗓️Read a book written by Agatha Christie.

6, 2002: A near-Earth asteroid estimated at ten meters in diameter explodes over the Mediterranean Sea between Greece and Libya. The explosion is estimated to have a force of 26 kilotons, slightly more powerful than the Nagasaki atomic bomb.
🗓️Read a science non-fiction book mentioning asteroids.

7, 1906: Cunard Line's RMS Lusitania is launched from the John Brown Shipyard, Glasgow, Scotland.
🗓️Read a book in which an important scene is set on board an ocean liner.

8, 793: Vikings raid the abbey at Lindisfarne in Northumbria, commonly accepted as the beginning of Norse activity in the British Isles.
🗓️Read a book in which Vikings are mentioned (tell us the line and location in the book).

9, 1965: The Viet Cong commences combat with the Army of the Republic of Vietnam in the Battle of Đồng Xoài, one of the largest battles in the Vietnam War.
🗓️Read a book whose title contains an X somewhere (only title, not subtitle).

10, 1793: The Jardin des Plantes museum opens in Paris. A year later, it becomes the first public zoo.
🗓️Read a book set at least partially in Paris.

11, 1892: The Limelight Department, one of the world's first film studios, is officially established in Melbourne, Australia.
🗓️Read a book that has a speaking character who is a movie actor (tell us who).

12, 1817: The earliest form of bicycle, the dandy horse, is driven by Karl von Drais.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows a bicycle (post the cover).

13, 1971: The New York Times begins publication of the Pentagon Papers, the United States Department of Defense history of the United States' political and military involvement in Vietnam.
🗓️Read a book (fiction or not) that describes military action of any kind. (tell us how your book fits).

14, 1928: Argentinian-Cuban physician, author, guerrilla leader and politician, Ernesto “Che” Guevara was born.
🗓️Read a book whose main character is referred to by a nickname (tell us the name and the nickname).

15, 1896: One of the deadliest tsunamis in Japan's history kills more than 22,000 people.
🗓️Read a book in which a natural disaster occurs (tell us what).

16, 2010: Bhutan becomes the first country to institute a total ban on tobacco.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking character smokes tobacco (tell us who).

17, 1631: Mumtaz Mahal dies during childbirth. Her husband, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan I, will spend the next 17 years building her mausoleum, the Taj Mahal.
🗓️Read a book with a white building prominently shown on the cover (post the cover).

18, 1858: Charles Darwin receives a paper from Alfred Russel Wallace that includes nearly identical conclusions about evolution as Darwin's own, prompting Darwin to publish his theory.
🗓️Read a book whose author or main character is a Charles, Darwin, Alfred, Russell or a Wallace.

19, 1865: Over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, slaves in Galveston, Texas, United States, are officially informed of their freedom. The anniversary was officially celebrated in Texas and other states as Juneteenth. On June 17, 2021, Juneteenth officially became a federal holiday in the United States.
🗓️Read a book set during a summer-time holiday (tell us which).

20, 1840: Samuel Morse receives the patent for the telegraph.
🗓️Read a book in which a telegraph or morse code is used for whatever reason.

21, 2004: SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately funded spaceplane to achieve spaceflight.
🗓️Read a book in which a space flight occurs.

22, 1633: The Holy Office in Rome forces Galileo Galilei to recant his view that the Sun, not the Earth, is the center of the Universe in the form he presented it in, after heated controversy.
🗓️Read a book in which the Catholic Church plays an important role.

23, 1961: The Antarctic Treaty System, which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and limits military activity on the continent, its islands and ice shelves, comes into force.
🗓️Read a book set at least partially in Antarctica.

24, 1374: A sudden outbreak of St. John's Dance causes people in the streets of Aachen, Germany, to experience hallucinations and begin to jump and twitch uncontrollably until they collapse from exhaustion.
🗓️Read a book in which mental health or illness is part of the plot.

25, 1978: The rainbow flag representing gay pride is flown for the first time during the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking character is LGBTQ+. (tell us who).

26, 2012: American director and screenwriter Nora Ephron dies.
🗓️Read a book that has a meet-cute in it.

27, 1905: During the Russo-Japanese War, sailors start a mutiny aboard the Russian battleship Potemkin.
🗓️Read a book whose title is one-word long and begins with a letter in POTEMKIN (all words count).

28, 1859: The first conformation dog show, in which individual purebred dogs are evaluated for how well they conform to the breed type for their breed, is held in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.
🗓️Read a book set in England and whose cover shows a dog (post the cover).

29, 1613: The Globe Theatre in London, built by William Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, burns to the ground.
🗓️Read a play (bonus for Shakespeare; disregard the 150 page count rule for this one).

30, 1864: U.S. President Abraham Lincoln grants Yosemite Valley to California for "public use, resort and recreation".
🗓️Read a book set in a national park (tell us where your book is set).

May

1, 1840: The Penny Black, the first official adhesive postage stamp, is issued in the United Kingdom.
🗓️Read a book with letter paraphernalia on the cover (envelope, letter, stamps etc.)

2, 1536: Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, is arrested and imprisoned on charges of adultery, incest, treason and witchcraft.
🗓️Read a book in which someone commits adultery, incest, treason or witchcraft (tell us who and what they commit).

3, 1953: Two men are rescued from a semitrailer that crashed over the side of the Pit River Bridge before it fell into the Sacramento River. Amateur photographer Virginia Schau photographs "Rescue on Pit River Bridge", the first and only winning submission for the Pulitzer Prize for Photography to have been taken by a woman.
🗓️Read a book whose cover is a photograph (not a painting or illustration; post the cover).

4, 2018: The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is held at St George's Chapel, Windsor, with an estimated global audience of 1.9 billion.
🗓️Read a book in which a wedding occurs.

5, 1891: The Music Hall in New York City (later known as Carnegie Hall) has its grand opening and first public performance, with Tchaikovsky as the guest conductor.
🗓️Read a book that is predominantly white or black (post the cover).

6, 1889: The Eiffel Tower is officially opened to the public at the Universal Exposition in Paris.
🗓️Read a book with the Eiffel Tower on the cover (post the cover).

7, 1718: The city of New Orleans is founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville.
🗓️Read a book set in the state of Louisiana.

8, 1886: Pharmacist John Pemberton first sells a carbonated beverage named "Coca-Cola" as a patent medicine.
🗓️Read a book in which someone drinks a branded soda (bonus for Coca Cola; tell us which).

9, 1960: The Food and Drug Administration announces it will approve birth control as an additional indication for Searle's Enovid, making Enovid the world's first approved oral contraceptive pill.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking character is trying to be or is pregnant.

10, 1773: The Parliament of Great Britain passes the Tea Act, designed to save the British East India Company by reducing taxes on its tea and granting it the right to sell tea directly to North America. The legislation leads to the Boston Tea Party.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows tea things (post the cover).

11, 868: A copy of the Diamond Sūtra is published, the earliest dated and printed book known.
🗓️Read a book in which religion is an important part of the plot.

12, 1328: Antipope Nicholas V, a claimant to the papacy, is consecrated in Rome by the Bishop of Venice.
🗓️Read a book whose title contains words that mean the opposite of each other.

13, 1989: Large groups of students occupy Tiananmen Square and begin a hunger strike.
🗓️Read a book set in China.

14, 1918: Cape Town Mayor, Sir Harry Hands, inaugurates the Two-minute silence following the death of his eldest son Reginald Hands.
🗓️Read a book in which someone dies and is mourned.

15, 2004: Arsenal F.C. go an entire league campaign unbeaten in the English Premier League, joining Preston North End F.C. with the right to claim the title "The Invincibles".
🗓️Read a book in which an important character is a huge fan of a sports team (tell us who and which team).

16, 1929: In Hollywood, the first Academy Awards ceremony takes place.
🗓️Read a book that has been made into an award winning movie (tell us the movie and which award it has won, if not obvious).

17, 1875: Aristides wins the first Kentucky Derby with the jockey Oliver Lewis.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows a horse (post the cover).

18, 1980: Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington, United States, killing 57 people and causing $3 billion in damage.
🗓️Read a book set in the state of Washington.

19, 1962: A birthday salute to U.S. President John F. Kennedy takes place at Madison Square Garden, New York City. The highlight is Marilyn Monroe's rendition of "Happy Birthday".
🗓️Read a book in which the main character celebrates a birthday.

20, 1570: Cartographer Abraham Ortelius issues Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the first modern atlas.
🗓️Read a book marked “travel” on the main GR page.

21, 1927: Charles Lindbergh touches down at Le Bourget Field in Paris, completing the world's first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking character is an aviator.

22, 1762: Trevi Fountain is officially completed and inaugurated in Rome.
🗓️Read a book in which a water feature is shown on the cover (post the cover).

23, 1995: The first version of the Java programming language is released.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking character is a coder.

24, 1883: The Brooklyn Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows a bridge (post the cover).

25, 1977: Star Wars is released in US theaters.
🗓️Read a Star Wars book.

26, 1998: The first "National Sorry Day" is held in Australia. Reconciliation events are held nationally and attended by over a million people.
🗓️Read a book in which the main character is sorry about something they did and atone for their actions (tell us how your book fits).

27, 1703: Tsar Peter the Great founds the city of Saint Petersburg.
🗓️Read a book whose title or author’s name has a Saint or St.

28, 585 BC: A solar eclipse occurs, as predicted by the Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling Cyaxares in the Battle of the Eclipse, leading to a truce. This is one of the cardinal dates from which other dates can be calculated. It is also the earliest event of which the precise date is known.
🗓️Read a book set in an ancient civilization (tell us when your book is set, anything BC is fair game).

29, 1953: Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay become the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest, on Tenzing Norgay's 39th birthday.
🗓️Read a book in which someone climbs a mountain.

30, 1539: In Florida, Hernando de Soto lands at Tampa Bay with 600 soldiers with the goal of finding gold.
🗓️Read a book set in the state of Florida.

31, 2005: It is publicly revealed that former FBI official Mark Felt is “Deep Throat,” the anonymous informant at the center of the Watergate scandal that involved U.S. President Richard Nixon's administration.
🗓️Read a book in which espionage occurs.

April

1, 1976: Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak found Apple Computer, Inc.
🗓️Read a book in which an important character owns an Apple product (tell us who and what they own).

2, 1800: Ludwig van Beethoven leads the premiere of his First Symphony in Vienna.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking character has a disability (tell us who and what they have).

3, 2016: The Panama Papers, a leak of legal documents, reveals information on 214,488 offshore companies.
🗓️Read a book in which finance and/or financial fraud is part of the plot (tell us how your book fits).

4, 1968: Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated by James Earl Ray at a motel in Memphis, Tennessee.
🗓️Read a book set during the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

5, 1614: In Virginia, Native American Pocahontas marries English colonist John Rolfe.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking female character’s first name is the name of a Disney princess (tell us the name, and the Disney movie if not obvious).

6, 1896: In Athens, the opening of the first modern Olympic Games is celebrated, 1,500 years after the original games are banned by Roman emperor Theodosius I.
🗓️Read a book set in Greece.

7, 1933: Prohibition in the United States is repealed for beer of no more than 3.2% alcohol by weight, eight months before the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution. (Now celebrated as National Beer Day in the United States.)
🗓️Read a book set during the years of Prohibition (for the purpose of this task: 1920-1933, inclusive. Tell us when your book is set).

8, 1820: The Venus de Milo is discovered on the Aegean island of Milos.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows a statue (post the cover).

9, 1942: World War II: The Battle of Bataan ends and the Bataan Death March – the forcible transfer of 72,000 to 78,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war from the Bataan peninsula to Camp O’Donnell - begins.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows a person walking (post the cover).

10, 1972: Tombs containing bamboo slips, among them Sun Tzu's Art of War and Sun Bin's lost military treatise, are discovered by construction workers in Shandong.
🗓️Read a book in which a construction project is being undertaken (tell us what).

11, 1951: The Stone of Scone, the stone upon which Scottish monarchs were traditionally crowned, is found on the site of the altar of Arbroath Abbey. It had been taken by Scottish nationalist students from its place in Westminster Abbey.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows something made of stone (post the cover).

12, 1961: The Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to travel into outer space and perform the first crewed orbital flight, Vostok 1.
🗓️Read a book whose author’s or main character’s first name begins with a Y (tell us the MC’s name if using that option).

13, 1699: The Sikh religion is formalized as the Khalsa – the brotherhood of Warrior-Saints – by Guru Gobind Singh in northern India, in accordance with the Nanakshahi calendar.
🗓️Read a book in which the main character has or is serving in any branch of any military (tell us where they served).

14, 1935: The Black Sunday dust storm, considered one of the worst storms of the Dust Bowl, sweeps across the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles and neighboring areas.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows some kind of bad weather (post the cover).
15, 2019: The cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris in France is seriously damaged by a large fire.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows a place of worship (post the cover).

16, 73: Masada, a Jewish fortress, falls to the Romans after several months of siege, ending the First Jewish–Roman War.
🗓️Read a book written by a Jewish author (post the link to the author’s GR page).

17, 1986: An alleged state of war lasting 335 years between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly declared peace bringing an end to any hypothetical war that may have been legally considered to exist.
🗓️Read a book whose story is told by an unreliable narrator.

18, 2018: King Mswati III of Swaziland announces that his country's name will change to Eswatini.
🗓️Read a book set in a country in Africa (tell us where your book is set).

19, 1770: Marie Antoinette marries Louis XVI in a proxy wedding.
🗓️Read the 16th book in a series (tell us the series name). If you do not read series books, read a book with an intact 16 in the year the book was first published (tell us the year of publication).

20, 2008: Danica Patrick wins the Indy Japan 300 becoming the first female driver in history to win an Indy car race.
🗓️Read a book with a car prominently shown on the cover (post the cover).

21, 1960: Brasília, Brazil's capital, is officially inaugurated. At 09:30, the Three Powers of the Republic are simultaneously transferred from the old capital, Rio de Janeiro.
🗓️Read a book set in the capital city of any country (tell us where your book is set).
22, 1915: World War I: The use of poison gas in World War I escalates when chlorine gas is released as a chemical weapon in the Second Battle of Ypres.
🗓️Read a book in which someone is poisoned, gas or otherwise (tell us who),

23, 1985: Coca-Cola changes its formula and releases New Coke. The response is overwhelmingly negative, and the original formula is back on the market in less than three months.
🗓️Read a less successful book from a successful author (it doesn’t have to be sales related; a comparison of GR rating is fine).

24, 1916: Ernest Shackleton and five men of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition launch a lifeboat from uninhabited Elephant Island in the Southern Ocean to organise a rescue for the crew of the sunken Endurance.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows snow or ice (post the cover).

25, 1953: Francis Crick and James Watson publish "Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid" describing the double helix structure of DNA.
🗓️Read a book in which DNA is important to the plot (tell us how your book fits).

26, 1986: The Chernobyl disaster occurs in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.
🗓️Read a book in which a nuclear fallout occurs.

27, 2011: The 2011 Super Outbreak devastates parts of the Southeastern United States, especially the states of Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Tennessee. Two hundred five tornadoes touched down on April 27 alone, killing more than 300 and injuring hundreds more.
🗓️Read a book set in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia or Tennessee (tell us where your book is set).

28, 1881: Billy the Kid escapes from the Lincoln County jail in Mesilla, New Mexico.
🗓️Read a book in which someone escapes captivity (tell us who).

29, 1945: Dachau concentration camp is liberated by United States troops.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking character has been imprisoned in a concentration camp (tell us who).

30, 1927: The Federal Industrial Institute for Women opens in Alderson, West Virginia, as the first women's federal prison in the United States.
🗓️Read a book in which an important character is in or has been in prison (tell us who).

March

1, 1872: Yellowstone National Park is established as the world's first national park.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows a beautiful landscape (post the cover).

2, 1903: In New York City the Martha Washington Hotel opens, becoming the first hotel exclusively for women.
🗓️Read a book which is mostly set in a hotel, inn or B&B.

3, 1923: US magazine Time publishes its first issue.
🗓️Read a book that has appeared on the 100 Must-Read Books of any year on the Time magazine (tell us which year).

4, 1519: Hernán Cortés arrives in Mexico in search of the Aztec civilization and its wealth.
🗓️Read a book in which an important character is an explorer of distant lands (tell us who).

5, 1953: Joseph Stalin, the longest serving leader of the Soviet Union, dies at his dacha in Moscow after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage four days earlier.
🗓️Read a book in which Joseph Stalin is mentioned (tell us the line and the location).

6, 1869: Dmitri Mendeleev presents the first periodic table to the Russian Chemical Society.
🗓️Read a book in which a character references the periodic table for whatever reason.

7, 1989: Iran and the United Kingdom break diplomatic relations after a fight over Salman Rushdie and his controversial novel, The Satanic Verses.
🗓️Read a banned book.

8, 2017: The Azure Window, a natural arch on the Maltese island of Gozo, collapses in stormy weather.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows an arched shape (post the cover).

9, 1959: The Barbie doll makes its debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York.
🗓️Read a book whose cover is predominantly pink (post the cover).

10, 2023: Silicon Valley Bank collapses due to a run on its deposits, in the second largest bank failure in US history. Its operations are taken over by the FDIC.
🗓️Read a book in which an important scene is set in a financial institution.

11, 1784: The signing of the Treaty of Mangalore brings the Second Anglo-Mysore War to an end.
🗓️Read a book that is set in the town or state that you were born (tell us where the book is set).

12, 2020: The United States suspends travel from Europe due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
🗓️Read a book set during a pandemic (tell us which, it can be fictional).

13, 1964: Kitty Genovese is murdered in New York City, prompting research into the bystander effect due to the false story that neighbors witnessed the killing and did nothing to help her.
🗓️Read a book in which someone spreads a false story for whatever reason (tell us how your book fits).

14, 1900: The Gold Standard Act is ratified, placing the United States currency on the gold standard.
🗓️Read a book whose title contains a color.

15, 44 BC: The assassination of Julius Caesar, the dictator of the Roman Republic, by a group of senators takes place on the Ides of March.
🗓️Read a book published on the ides of any month (15th of the month of March, May, July, October and 13th of every other month; tell us the date your book is published).

16, 1968: Vietnam War: My Lai massacre occurs; between 347 and 500 Vietnamese villagers are killed by American troops.
🗓️Read a book set in a location beginning with a letter in MYLAI (tell us the location).

17, 1973: The Pulitzer Prize–winning photograph Burst of Joy is taken, depicting a former prisoner of war being reunited with his family, which came to symbolize the end of United States involvement in the Vietnam War.
🗓️Read a book that makes you happy.

18, 1940: Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini meet at the Brenner Pass in the Alps and agree to form an alliance against France and the United Kingdom.
🗓️Read a book set in a mountainous region (tell us where).

19, 1918: The US Congress establishes time zones and approves daylight saving time.
🗓️Read a book that shows a sunlit scene on the cover (post the cover).

20, 1616: Sir Walter Raleigh is freed from the Tower of London after 13 years of imprisonment.
🗓️Read a book set in London.

21, 1970: San Diego Comic-Con, the largest pop and culture festival in the world, hosts its inaugural event.
🗓️Read a comic book or graphic novel (>300 pages, or as many books to make 300 pages).

22, 1784: The Emerald Buddha, considered the sacred protector of Thailand, is moved with great ceremony to its current location in Wat Phra Kaew, Thailand.
🗓️Read a book whose cover is emerald green (post the cover).

23, 2001: The Russian Mir space station is disposed of, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji.
🗓️Read a book whose title contains the word PEACE or WORLD (reasonable variations okay).

24, 2008: Bhutan officially becomes a democracy, with its first ever general election.
🗓️Read a book set in a country in South Asia (tell us where your book is set).

25, 421: Italian city Venice is founded with the dedication of the first church, that of San Giacomo di Rialto on the islet of Rialto.
🗓️Read a book with a body of water on the cover (post the cover).

26, 1812: A political cartoon in the Boston-Gazette coins the term "gerrymander" to describe oddly shaped electoral districts designed to help incumbents win reelection.
🗓️Read a book marked Humor on the GR main page.

27, 1912: First Lady Helen Taft and the Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador, plant two Yoshino cherry trees on the northern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., the origin of the National Cherry Blossom Festival.
🗓️Read a book set in spring.

28, 1979: A coolant leak at the Three Mile Island's Unit 2 nuclear reactor outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania leads to the core overheating and a partial meltdown.
🗓️Read a book with a unit of distance in its title.

29, 1984: The Baltimore Colts load its possessions onto fifteen Mayflower moving trucks in the early morning hours and transfer its operations to Indianapolis.
🗓️Read a book in which the main character moves their residence for whatever reason.

30, 1867: Alaska is purchased from Russia for $7.2 million, about two cents/acre, by United States Secretary of State William H. Seward.
🗓️Read a book set in Alaska.

31, 1959: The 14th Dalai Lama crosses the border into India and is granted political asylum.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking character is a refugee seeking asylum in a different country (tell us who).

February

1, 1884: The first volume (A to Ant) of the Oxford English Dictionary is published.
🗓️Read a book which makes you reach for the dictionary (tell us at least one word you had to look up, and what it means).

2, 1887: In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, the first Groundhog Day is observed.
🗓️Read a book set in the state of Pennsylvania.

3, 1637: Tulip Mania collapses within the Dutch Republic.
🗓️Read a book with flowers prominently shown on the cover (post the cover).

4, 1703: In Edo (now Tokyo), all but one of the Forty-seven Ronin commit ritual suicide as recompense for avenging their master's death in what comes to be called the Ako Vendetta.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking character commits suicide (tell us who).

5, 1939: Generalísimo Francisco Franco becomes the 68th "Caudillo de España", or Leader of Spain.
🗓️Read a book whose main character’s first name begins with an F (tell us the name).

6, 1952: Elizabeth II becomes Queen of the United Kingdom and her other Realms and Territories and Head of the Commonwealth upon the death of her father, George VI. At the exact moment of succession, she was in a tree house at the Treetops Hotel in Kenya.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows the top of a tree (post the cover).

7, 1497: In Florence, Italy, supporters of Girolamo Savonarola burn cosmetics, art, and books, in a "Bonfire of the vanities”.
🗓️Read a book whose cover prominently shows fire (post the cover).

8, 1587: Mary, Queen of Scots is executed on suspicion of having been involved in the Babington Plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.
🗓️Read a book whose series name begins with a letter in BABINGTON PLOT (tell us the series, ignore A, An and The).

9, 1986: Halley's Comet last appeared in the inner Solar System.
🗓️Read a book whose author’s last name contains double consonants.

10, 1996: IBM supercomputer Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov in chess for the first time.
🗓️Read a book with a mostly deep blue cover (post the cover).

11, 2001: A Dutch programmer launched the Anna Kournikova virus infecting millions of emails via a trick photo of the tennis star.
🗓️Read a book in which a virus (computer or biological) plays an important plot (tell us how your book fits).

12, 1947: Christian Dior unveils a "New Look", helping Paris regain its position as the capital of the fashion world.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows a fashionably dressed person (post the cover).

13, 2004: The Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics announces the discovery of the universe's largest known diamond, white dwarf star BPM 37093. Astronomers named this star "Lucy" after The Beatles' song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".
🗓️Read a book whose main character or an author is a Lucy.

14, 2005: YouTube is launched by a group of college students, eventually becoming the largest video sharing website in the world and a main source for viral videos.
🗓️Read a book in which someone makes a video.

15, 1949: Gerald Lankester Harding and Roland de Vaux begin excavations at Cave 1 of the Qumran Caves, where they will eventually discover the first seven Dead Sea Scrolls.
🗓️Read a book whose location begins with a letter in QUMRAN CAVES (tell us the location).

16, 2006: The last Mobile army surgical hospital (MASH) is decommissioned by the United States Army.
🗓️Read a book whose title contains the letters M, A, S, H in any word, in any order.

17, 1959: Project Vanguard: Vanguard 2: The first weather satellite is launched to measure cloud-cover distribution.
🗓️Read a book whose cover prominently shows clouds (post the cover).

18, 1911: The first official flight with airmail takes place from Allahabad, United Provinces, British India (now India), when Henri Pequet, a 23-year-old pilot, delivers 6,500 letters to Naini, about 6.2 mi away.
🗓️Read an epistolatory book (the book needn’t be completely an exchange of letters, but at least a few important scenes need to be related in letters).

19, 1985: William J. Schroeder becomes the first recipient of an artificial heart to leave the hospital.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows a heart shaped object (post the cover).

20, 1872: The Metropolitan Museum of Art opens in New York City.
🗓️Read a book in which an important character is an artist (tell us who and their medium).

21, 1842: John Greenough is granted the first U.S. patent for the sewing machine.
🗓️Read a book in which the main character has something to do with clothing (tell us what they are).

22, 2022: Twosday, the name given to Tuesday, February 22, 2022, at 2:22:22, occurs.
🗓️Read book #2 of a series that also has at least 2 twos in its publication year or number of pages (tell us the series and the publication year or the number of pages).

23, 1455: Traditionally the date of publication of the Gutenberg Bible, the first Western book printed with movable type.
🗓️Read a book marked Classic on its main GR page.

24, 1607: L'Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi, one of the first works recognized as an opera, receives its première performance.
🗓️Read a book in which angels, demons, Satan, ghosts or spirits are characters (tell us which your book has).

25, 1836: Samuel Colt is granted a United States patent for his revolver firearm.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows a firearm (post the cover).

26, 1616: Galileo Galilei is formally banned by the Roman Catholic Church from teaching or defending the view that the earth orbits the sun.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows the sun (post the cover).

27, 2004: Shoko Asahara, the leader of the Japanese doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo, is sentenced to death for masterminding the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack.
🗓️Read a book in which a cult forms an important part of the plot.

28, 1993: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) agents raid the Branch Davidian church in Waco, Texas with a warrant to arrest the group's leader David Koresh, starting a 51-day standoff.
🗓️Read a book whose main character or author is a David (maybe first or last name; tell us the MC’s full name if using that option).

29, 2020: Luxembourg becomes the first country in the world to render public transport free nationwide.
🗓️Read a book in which the main character uses some form of public transport (tell us what they use).

I'll do everything.

This Day in History

Duration: Dec 01, 2025 - ?
Completed: 0/366

January

1, 153 BC: For the first time, Roman consuls begin their year in office on January 1.
🗓️Read the first book of a series (tell us the series).

2, 1492: The Emirate of Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, surrenders.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking character is a practicing Muslim (tell us who).

3, 1957: The Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows a clock or watch (post the cover).

4, 2010: The Burj Khalifa, the current tallest building in the world, officially opens in Dubai.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows a tall building (a tower will do, post the cover).

5, 2024: Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 makes an emergency landing at Portland International Airport after a door plug blows off the Boeing 737 MAX 9 operating the flight. There are no fatalities, but the accident prompts the 737 MAX to be grounded and renews scrutiny on Boeing's manufacturing and design issues.
🗓️Read a book in which the main character flies in a commercial aircraft (tell us where they’re going).

6, 1907: Maria Montessori opens her first school and daycare center for working class children in Rome, Italy.
🗓️Read an adult book in which an elementary school aged child is an important part of the plot.

7, 2015: Two gunmen commit mass murder at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris, executing twelve people and wounding eleven others.
🗓️Read a book whose title follows the format I Am _____ or We Are ________.

8, 1940: World War II: Britain introduces food rationing.
🗓️Read a book in which the main character cooks either professionally or for themselves.

9, 1960: President of Egypt Gamal Abdel Nasser opens construction on the Aswan Dam by detonating ten tons of dynamite to demolish twenty tons of granite on the east bank of the Nile.
🗓️Read a book that is set close to a river (tell us which river).

10, 1863: The Metropolitan Railway, the world's oldest underground railway, opens between Paddington and Farringdon, marking the beginning of the London Underground.
🗓️Read a book in which the main character takes the train (bonus for a subway).

11, 1569: First recorded lottery in England.
🗓️Sort your TBR by random and read one of the first five books that show up.

12, 1967: Dr. James Bedford becomes the first person to be cryonically preserved with intent of future resuscitation.
🗓️Read a book in which a scientific first of some kind occurs (tell us how your book fits).

13, 1898: Émile Zola's J'accuse…! exposes the Dreyfus affair, a political scandal in which Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a 35-year-old Alsatian French artillery officer of Jewish descent, was wrongfully convicted of treason for communicating French military secrets to the German Embassy in Paris.
🗓️Read a book marked Espionage on the main GR page.

14, 1973: Elvis Presley's concert Aloha from Hawaii is broadcast live via satellite, and sets the record as the most watched broadcast by an individual entertainer in television history.
🗓️Read a book set in Hawaii.

15, 1936: The first building to be completely covered in glass, built for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company, is completed in Toledo, Ohio.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows something made of glass (post the cover).

16, 1605: The first edition of the Book One of Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes is published in Madrid, Spain.
🗓️Read a book that shows a windmill, a horse, a donkey or a knight on the cover (post the cover).

17, 2007: The Doomsday Clock is set to five minutes to midnight in response to North Korea's nuclear testing.
🗓️Read a book marked “Thriller” or “Politics” in its main GR page.

18, 2008: The Euphronios Krater is unveiled in Rome after being returned to Italy by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
🗓️Read a book with a vase, bowl or urn on the cover (post the cover).

19, 1883: The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires, built by Thomas Edison, begins service at Roselle, New Jersey.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows electrical wires (post the cover).

20, 1993: British actress and humanitarian Audrey Hepburn dies.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows a woman wearing a black dress (post the cover).

21, 1895: Cristóbal Balenciaga, Spanish fashion designer and founder of Balenciaga, is born.
🗓️Read a book in which the main character wears branded clothes or accessories (tell us at least one brand they use).

22, 1992: Rebel forces occupy Zaire's national radio station in Kinshasa and broadcast a demand for the government's resignation.
🗓️Read a book in which a radio broadcast is heard.

23, 1986: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts its first members: Little Richard, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley.
🗓️Read a book whose author shares a name with one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inaugural members above.

24, 1989: Notorious serial killer Ted Bundy, with over 30 known victims, is executed in the electric chair at the Florida State Prison.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows a chair prominently (post the cover).

25, 1924: The 1924 Winter Olympics opens in Chamonix, in the French Alps, inaugurating the Winter Olympic Games.
🗓️Read a book set in winter.

26, 2009: Nadya Suleman gives birth to the world's first surviving octuplets.
🗓️Read a book whose main character has more than two kids (tell us how many kids they have).

27, 1996: Germany first observes the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
🗓️Read a book in which an older character remembers their younger days.

28, 1813: Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is first published in the United Kingdom.
🗓️Read Pride and Prejudice or any book that is a retelling/adaptation of it.

29, 1891: Liliʻuokalani is proclaimed the last monarch and only queen regnant of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

🗓️Read a book whose title contains a quotation mark.
30, 1948: Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated in his home compound.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking character is one you would consider great.

31, 1901: Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters premieres at Moscow Art Theatre in Russia.
🗓️Read a book in which the female main character has at least one sister.

December

1, 1865: Shaw University, the first historically black university in the southern United States, is founded in Raleigh, North Carolina.
🗓️Read a book at least partially set in a university (tell us which).

2, 1804: At Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself Emperor of the French.
🗓️Read a book in which a coronation occurs.

3, 1994: Sony releases the PlayStation game console in Japan.
🗓️Read a book whose author’s first or last initial is in SONY.

4, 1865: North Carolina ratifies the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution, abolishing slavery in the state.
🗓️Read a book in which slavery exists.

5, 1766: In London, auctioneer James Christie holds his first sale.
🗓️Read a book in which the main character attends an auction.

6, 1534: The city of Quito in Ecuador is founded by Spanish settlers led by Sebastián de Belalcázar.
🗓️Read a book set in a location beginning with a letter in QUITO (tell us the location).

7, 1842: First concert of the New York Philharmonic, founded by Ureli Corelli Hill.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows a musical instrument (post the cover).

8, 1660: A woman (either Margaret Hughes or Anne Marshall) appears on an English public stage for the first time, in the role of Desdemona in a production of Shakespeare's play Othello.
🗓️Read a book written by a male author with a female main character.

9, 1946: The subsequent Nuremberg trials begin with the Doctors' Trial, prosecuting physicians and officers alleged to be involved in Nazi human experimentation and mass murder under the guise of euthanasia.
🗓️Read a book whose main character has something to do with the medical field (tell us what they are).

10, 1768: The first edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica is published.
🗓️Read a nonfiction book that teaches you something you didn’t know (tell us what).

11, 1936: Edward VIII's abdication as King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, and Emperor of India, becomes effective.
🗓️Read a book in which a scandal occurs (tell us how your book fits).

12, 2024: Indian Grandmaster Gukesh Dommaraju becomes the World Chess Champion in a tournament held in Singapore, making him the 18th and the youngest champion in chess history.
🗓️Read a book in which a game of chess is played.

13, 1972: Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt begin the third and final extra-vehicular activity (EVA) or "Moonwalk" of Apollo 17. To date they are the last humans to set foot on the Moon.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows the moon (post the cover).

14, 1782: The Montgolfier brothers first test fly an unmanned hot air balloon in France; it floats nearly 1.6 mi.
🗓️Read a light book (your interpretation; tell us how your book fits).

15, 1871: Sixteen-year-old telegraphist Ella Stewart keys and sends the first telegraphed message from Arizona Territory at the Deseret Telegraph Company office in Pipe Spring.
🗓️Read a book with teen main characters.

16, 1971: The United Kingdom recognizes Bahrain's independence, which is commemorated annually as Bahrain's National Day.
🗓️Read a book set in a Middle Eastern country (tell us which).

17, 497 BC: The first Saturnalia festival was celebrated in ancient Rome.
🗓️Read a book that you received as a gift.

18, 2018: A meteor exploded over the Bering Sea with a force over 10 times greater than the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945.
🗓️Read a book set in a country that has land within the Arctic Circle (tell us where your book is set).

19, 1606: The ships Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery depart England carrying settlers who founded, at Jamestown, Virginia, the first of the thirteen colonies that became the United States.
🗓️Read a book in which the main character moves and settles in a new location.

20, 1940: Captain America Comics #1, containing the first appearance of the superhero Captain America, is published.
🗓️Read a superhero comic book (>300 pages, or as many books as it takes to make up 300 pages).

21, 2012: Festivities are held in parts of Mesoamerica to commemorate the conclusion of b’ak’tun 13, a roughly 5,126-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar whose passing many New Age spiritualists had earlier held to portend a variety of cataclysmic or transformative events.
🗓️Read a book marked “Apocalyptic” or “Post Apocalyptic” on the GR main page.

22, 1944: World War II: Battle of the Bulge: German troops demand the surrender of United States troops at Bastogne, Belgium, prompting the famous one word reply by General Anthony McAuliffe: "Nuts!"
🗓️Read a book whose title contains an exclamation mark.

23, 1815: The novel Emma by Jane Austen is first published.
🗓️Read a book whose title is a person’s name.
24, 1997: Toshiro Mifune, Chinese-Japanese actor known for his portrayals of Samurai characters, dies.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking character is a samurai or a knight.

25, 336: First documentary sign of Christmas celebration in Rome.
🗓️Read a book set during Christmas.

26, 1898: Marie and Pierre Curie announce the isolation of radium.
🗓️Read a book whose title contains a chemical element.

27, 1945: The International Monetary Fund is created with the signing of an agreement by 29 nations.
🗓️Read a book you paid money for.

28, 1895: The Lumière brothers perform for their first paying audience at the Grand Cafe in Boulevard des Capucines.
🗓️Read a book in which a movie is being made.

29, 2003: The last known speaker of Akkala Sami dies, rendering the language extinct.
🗓️Read a book in which a language other than the book’s language is used (tell us which other language is used and why).

30, 1922: The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is formed.
🗓️Read a book set in the USSR.

31, 1907: The first ever ball drop in Times Square.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows a ball shaped object (post the cover).

November

1, 1512: The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo, is exhibited to the public for the first time.
🗓️Read a book with a ceiling shown on the cover (roof won’t do, the interior must be seen; post the cover).

2, 1889: North Dakota and South Dakota are admitted as the 39th and 40th U.S. states.
🗓️Read a book set in one of the Dakotas (tell us where your book is set).

3, 1838: The Times of India, the world's largest circulated English language daily broadsheet newspaper is founded as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce.
🗓️Read a book in which an important character is a print journalist (tell us who).

4, 1677: The future Mary II of England marries William, Prince of Orange; they later jointly reign as William and Mary.
🗓️Read a book whose title follows the format _________ and ____________.

5, 2007: The Android mobile operating system is unveiled by Google.
🗓️Read a book in which a smartphone is important to the plot (tell us how your books).

6, 1947: Meet the Press, the longest running television program in history, makes its debut on NBC Television.
🗓️Read a book in which all the words of the title begin with a letter in MEET THE PRESS (all words count, 3 words minimum).

7, 1944: Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected for a record fourth term as President of the United States.
🗓️Read a book in which a real US President is a speaking character (tell us which one).

8, 1895: While experimenting with electricity, Wilhelm Röntgen discovers the X-ray.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows anything that runs on electricity (post the cover).

9, 1938: Kristallnacht occurs, instigated by the Nazis using the killing of German diplomat Ernst vom Rath by Herschel Grynszpan as justification.
🗓️Read a book whose title has the words Crystal or Night (plurals okay).

10, 1989: Germans begin to tear down the Berlin Wall.
🗓️Read a book set in Germany before 1989 (tell us when your book is set).

11, 1992: The General Synod of the Church of England votes to allow women to become priests.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking female character is a priest.

12, 1927: Leon Trotsky is expelled from the Soviet Communist Party, leaving Joseph Stalin in undisputed control of the Soviet Union.
🗓️Read a book set in a dictatorship (real or fantasy; tell us which).

13, 1850: Scottish novelist, poet and essayist Robert Louis Stevenson is born.
🗓️Read a book marked “Adventure” on the main GR page.

14, 1960: Ruby Bridges becomes the first black child to attend an all-white elementary school in Louisiana.
🗓️Read a book whose main character is a student.

15, 1864: Union General William Tecumseh Sherman begins his March to the Sea through Georgia towards the city of Savannah.
🗓️Read a book set in the state of Georgia.

16, 1974: The Arecibo message, an interstellar radio message carrying basic information about humanity and Earth, is broadcast from Puerto Rico to the globular cluster Messier 13.
🗓️Read a book with aliens in it.

17, 1947: American scientists John Bardeen and Walter Houser Brattain observe the basic principles of the transistor, a key element for the electronics revolution of the 20th century.
🗓️Read a book in which computers are an important part of the plot (tell us how your book fits).

18, 326 & 1626: The old & new St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is consecrated.
🗓️Read a book on your TBR that is similar to another book on your TBR (as close as possible; tell us both books and how your book fits).

19, 1863: American Civil War: U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address at the dedication ceremony for the military cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
🗓️Read a book published at least four score and seven years ago (87 years from the day your book is read; tell us when your book was published).

20, 1820: An 80-ton sperm whale attacks and sinks the Essex (a whaling ship from Nantucket, Massachusetts) 2,000 mi from the western coast of South America.
🗓️Read a book based on true events (tell us how your book fits if not obvious).

21, 1905: Albert Einstein's paper that leads to the mass–energy equivalence formula, E = mc², is published in the journal Annalen der Physik.
🗓️Read a book whose title and/or author’s name contains at least one E, an M and two Cs.

22, 1995: Pixar's Toy Story, the first entirely computer-animated feature-length film, is released.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows a child’s toy (post the cover).

23, 534 BC: Thespis of Icaria becomes the first recorded actor to portray a character on stage.
🗓️Read a book in which a stage play is performed.

24, 1989: After a week of mass protests against the Communist regime known as the Velvet Revolution, Miloš Jakeš and the entire Politburo of the Czechoslovak Communist Party resign from office. This brings an effective end to Communist rule in Czechoslovakia.
🗓️Read a book whose title contains a type of cloth.

25, 1833: A massive undersea earthquake, estimated magnitude between 8.7 and 9.2, rocks Sumatra, producing a massive tsunami all along the Indonesian coast.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows something underwater (post the cover).

26, 2003: The Concorde makes its final flight, over Bristol, England.
🗓️Read a book in which a flying machine is shown clearly on the cover (post the cover).
27, 1895: At the Swedish–Norwegian Club in Paris, Alfred Nobel signs his last will and testament, setting aside his estate to establish the Nobel Prize after he dies.
🗓️Read a book written by a Nobel Prize winner (tell us the year your author won).

28, 1967: The first pulsar (PSR B1919+21, in the constellation of Vulpecula) is discovered by two astronomers Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Antony Hewish.
🗓️Read a book about astronomy.

29, 1972: Atari releases Pong, the first commercially successful video game.
🗓️Read a book in which someone plays a video game.

30, 1786: The Grand Duchy of Tuscany, under Pietro Leopoldo I, becomes the first modern state to abolish the death penalty (later commemorated as Cities for Life Day).
🗓️Read a book in which a character is on death row.

October

1, 1861: Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management is published, going on to sell 60,000 copies in its first year and remaining in print until the present day.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows the interior of a house (post the cover).

2, 1967: Thurgood Marshall is sworn in as the first African-American justice of the United States Supreme Court.
🗓️Read a book with a courtroom scene important to the plot.

3, 2457 BC: Gaecheonjeol, a date traditionally regarded by Koreans as the date for the founding of the Korean race. This is the day that Hwanung purportedly descended from heaven to live with mankind.
🗓️Read a book in which a legend is important to the plot.

4, 2006: WikiLeaks, the non-profit publisher of leaked media, is launched.
🗓️Read a book in which some information is leaked (tell us how your book fits).

5, 1984: Marc Garneau becomes the first Canadian in space.
🗓️Read a book written by a Canadian author.

6, 1927: Opening of The Jazz Singer, the first prominent "talkie" movie.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking character is a musician (tell us who and what their medium is).

7, 1919: KLM, the flag carrier of the Netherlands, is founded. It is the oldest airline still operating under its original name.
🗓️Read a book in which a main word of the title and author’s first and last names begin with consecutive letters.

8, 1982: After its London premiere, Cats opens on Broadway and runs for nearly 18 years before closing on September 10, 2000.
🗓️Read a book whose cover prominently shows a cat (post the cover).

9, 2012: Pakistani Taliban attempt to assassinate outspoken schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai.
🗓️Read an autobiography.

10, 1964: The Tokyo Summer Olympics opening ceremony is the first to be relayed live by satellites.
🗓️Read a book set in the summer.

11, 1890: In Washington, D.C., the Daughters of the American Revolution is founded.
🗓️Read a book whose title contains a familial relationship word.

12, 1773: America's first insane asylum opens.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking character has been in an mental health asylum (tell us who).

13, 1983: Ameritech Mobile Communications launches the first US cellular network in Chicago.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows an electronic communication device on the cover (computer, mobile phone etc., post the cover).

14, 1884: George Eastman receives a U.S. Government patent on his new paper-strip photographic film.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking character is a photographer (tell us who).

15, 1793: Queen Marie Antoinette of France is tried and convicted of treason.
🗓️Read a book with cake on the cover (post the cover).

16, 1940: The Million Man March, a large gathering of African-American men, takes place in Washington, D.C. About 837,000 attend.
🗓️Read a book whose author is an African American man.

17, 1933: Albert Einstein flees Nazi Germany and moves to the United States.
🗓️Read a book in which Albert Einstein is mentioned (tell us the line and the location).

18, 1963: Félicette, a black and white female Parisian stray cat, becomes the first cat launched into space.
🗓️Read a book in which a cat is important to the plot.

19, 1469: Ferdinand II of Aragon marries Isabella I of Castile, a marriage that paves the way to the unification of Aragon and Castile into a single country, Spain.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows something related to a wedding (post the cover).

20, 1973: The Sydney Opera House is opened by Elizabeth II after 14 years of construction.
🗓️Read a book with a shell-shaped object on the cover (post the cover).

21, 2021: A shooting occurs on the set of the film Rust, in which actor Alec Baldwin discharged a prop weapon which had been loaded, killing the director of photography, Halyna Hutchins, and injuring director Joel Souza.
🗓️Read a book in which someone is shot accidentally (tell us who).

22, 1836: Sam Houston is inaugurated as the first President of the Republic of Texas.
🗓️Read a book whose author has a gender-neutral name (Sam is both a male and female name for example).

23, 1868: Having taken the shogunate's seat of power at Edo and declared it his new capital as Tokyo, Mutsuhito, later known as Emperor Meiji, proclaims the start of the new Meiji era.
🗓️Read a book whose title has changed since publication for whatever reason (tell us both titles).

24, 2008: "Bloody Friday" saw many of the world's stock exchanges experience the worst declines in their history, with drops of around 10% in most indices.
🗓️Read a book with blood shown prominently on the cover (post the cover).

25, 2001: Microsoft releases Windows XP, which becomes one of Microsoft's most successful operating systems.
🗓️Read a book with a window shown prominently on the cover (post the cover).

26, 1881: Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday participate in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona.
🗓️Read a book marked Western on the main GR page.

27, 1932: American poet and novelist Sylvia Plath is born.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking character is a poet (tell us who).

28, 1453: Ladislaus the Posthumous, so known because he was the posthumous son of Albert of Habsburg with Elizabeth of Luxembourg, is crowned king of Bohemia in Prague.
🗓️Read a book in which the main character has lost a parent.

29, 1969: The first-ever computer-to-computer link is established on ARPANET, the precursor to the Internet.
🗓️Read an electronic book (either kindle or other electronic book, or an audiobook. Anything you need an internet connection to download and read; tell us what your book is).

30, 1938: Orson Welles broadcasts a radio adaptation of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds, causing a massive panic in some of the audience in the United States.
🗓️Listen to an audiobook narrated by a favorite narrator.

31, 2011: The global population of humans reaches seven billion. This day is now recognized by the United Nations as the Day of Seven Billion.
🗓️Read a book whose publication date is a 7th of any month of any year (tell us the date your book was published).

September

1, 1772: The Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa is founded in San Luis Obispo, California.
🗓️Read a book set in the state of California.

2, 1901: Vice President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt utters the famous phrase, "Speak softly and carry a big stick" at the Minnesota State Fair.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking character speaks softly but carries a big stick (tell us who).

3, 1939: World War II: France, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia declare war on Germany after the invasion of Poland, forming the Allied nations.
🗓️Read a book set during the years of WWII.

4, 1972: The Price Is Right premieres on CBS. It currently is the longest running game show on American television.
🗓️Read a book in which a TV show is filmed.

5, 1960: Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay) wins the gold medal in the light heavyweight boxing competition at the Olympic Games in Rome.
🗓️Read a book in which someone fights with their hands (either professionally as a boxer or just fights on the streets; tell us who).

6, 1997: The funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales takes place in London. Well over a million people line the streets and 21⁄2 billion watch around the world on television.
🗓️Read a book in which a funeral takes place.

7, 1921: In Atlantic City, New Jersey, the first Miss America Pageant, a two-day event, is held.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking character is considered beautiful.

8, 1504: Michelangelo's David is unveiled in Piazza della Signoria in Florence.
🗓️Read a book with a nude or implied nude figure on the cover (post the cover).

9, 1972: In Kentucky's Mammoth Cave National Park, a Cave Research Foundation exploration and mapping team discovers a link between the Mammoth and Flint Ridge cave systems, making it the longest known cave passageway in the world.
🗓️Read a book in which an important scene is set in a cave.

10, 2008: The Large Hadron Collider at CERN, described as the biggest scientific experiment in history, is powered up in Geneva, Switzerland.
🗓️Read a book in which a scientific experiment is performed.

11, 1792: The Hope Diamond is stolen along with other French crown jewels when six men break into the house where they are stored.
🗓️Read a book in which a gemstone is shown prominently on the cover (post the cover).

12, 1992: NASA launches Space Shuttle Endeavour on STS-47 which marked the 50th shuttle mission. On board are Mae Carol Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, Mamoru Mohri, the first Japanese citizen to fly in a US spaceship, and Mark Lee and Jan Davis, the first married couple in space.
🗓️Read a book with at least two authors credited on the cover.

13, 1985: Super Mario Bros. is released in Japan for the NES, which starts the Super Mario series of platforming games.
🗓️Read a book whose main character works a blue collar job (tell us what they do).

14, 2001: Historic National Prayer Service held at Washington National Cathedral for victims of the September 11 attacks. A similar service is held in Canada on Parliament Hill, the largest vigil ever held in the nation's capital.
🗓️Read a book in which a prayer service is held for whatever reason (tell us how your book fits).

15, 1835: HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin aboard, reaches the Galápagos Islands. The ship lands at Chatham or San Cristobal, the easternmost of the archipelago.
🗓️Read a book with a ship on the cover (post the cover).

16, 1992: The trial of the deposed Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega ends in the United States with a 40-year sentence for drug trafficking and money laundering.
🗓️Read a book in which drug trafficking is part of the plot.

17, 2013: Grand Theft Auto V earns more than half a billion dollars on its first day of release.
🗓️Read a bestselling book.

18, 1837: Tiffany & Co. (first named Tiffany & Young) is founded by Charles Lewis Tiffany and Teddy Young in New York City. The store is called a "stationery and fancy goods emporium".
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows jewelry prominently shown on the cover.

19, 1985: Tipper Gore and other political wives form the Parents Music Resource Center as Frank Zappa, John Denver, and other musicians testify at U.S. Congressional hearings on obscenity in rock music.
🗓️Read a book that has obscenity of some sort in it (tell us how your book fits).

20, 1973: Billie Jean King beats Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes tennis match at the Houston Astrodome.
🗓️Read a book in which the male and female main characters have a contentious relationship.

21, 1780: American Revolutionary War: Benedict Arnold gives the British the plans to West Point.
🗓️Read a book in which the main character either betrays someone or is betrayed.

22, 1692: Martha Corey, Mary Eastey, Alice Parker, Mary Parker, Ann Pudeator, Wilmot Redd, Margaret Scott, and Samuel Wardwell are hanged, the last of those to be executed in the Salem witch trials.
🗓️Read a book that has witches.

23, 1215: Mongolian emperor Kublai Khan is born.
🗓️Read a book whose cover shows a gold object prominently (post the cover).

24, 1890: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially renounces polygamy.
🗓️Read a book by a Mormon author or which has a speaking character who is a Mormon.

25, 1890: The United States Congress establishes Sequoia National Park.
🗓️Read a book whose title contains a type of tree.

26, 1933: As gangster Machine Gun Kelly surrenders to the FBI, he shouts out "Don't shoot, G-Men!", which becomes a nickname for FBI agents.
🗓️Read a book in which a speaking character who is an FBI agent (tell us who).

27, 1962: Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring is published, inspiring an environmental movement and the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
🗓️Read a book marked Nature or Environment in the main GR page.

28, 2014: The 2014 Hong Kong protests, called the Umbrella Revolution, begin in response to restrictive political reforms imposed by the National People’s Congress in Beijing.
🗓️Read a book with an umbrella shown on the cover (post the cover).

29, 1829: The Metropolitan Police of London, later also known as the Met, is founded.
🗓️Read a book set in England that is a police procedural.

30, 1935: The Hoover Dam, astride the border between the U.S. states of Arizona and Nevada, is dedicated.
🗓️Read a book set in the state of Arizona or Nevada (tell us where your book is set).