1. “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe is published in the New York Evening Mirror, January 29, 1845
2. Robert Frost reads “The Gift Outright” at John F. Kennedy’s inaugural, January 20, 1961
3. Martin Luther King delivers his “I Have A Dream” speech, August 28, 1963
4. Dead Poets Society, starring Robin Williams, released, June 9, 1989
5. Neil Armstrong’s moon landing speech, July 20, 1969
6. “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” first played at flag-raising ceremony on Fort Warren, May 12, 1861
7. Lincoln’s “Gettysburg address,” November 19, 1863
8. Cassius Clay, boxer and poet, defeats Sonny Liston, heavyweight champion, February 25, 1964
9. “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus recited at the Statue of Liberty’s Dedication, October 28, 1886
10. The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan released, May 27, 1963
11. “The Star-Spangled Banner” first published, in Baltimore, September 20, 1814
12. Sylvia Plath’s suicide in England, February 11, 1963
13. Japan wins Russo-Japanese War, starting Haiku rage in the West, September 5, 1905
14. “Old Ironsides” by Oliver Wendell Holmes published in Boston Daily Advertiser, September 16, 1830
15. Jack Kerouac reads his poetry on Steven Allen show (with Allen on piano), November 16, 1959
16. James Russell Lowell delivers “Ode” at Harvard Commemoration, July 21, 1865
17. Mick Jagger reads Shelley’s “Adonais” at Brian Jones’ memorial in England, July 5, 1969
18. Ella Wheeler Wilcox publishes her most famous poem in New York Sun, the year she publishes controversial Poems of Passion, February 25, 1883
19. Dana Gioia publishes his essay, “Can Poetry Matter?” in The Atlantic, May, 1991
20. “Mary Had A Little Lamb” by Sarah Josepha Hale published, May 24, 1830
21. Actor Jimmy Stewart reads poem “I’ll Never Forget A Dog Named Beau” on the Tonight Show, making Johnny Carson cry, July 28, 1981
22. Ronald Regan’s Challenger Disaster Speech, January 28, 1986
23. Maya Angelou reads “On the Pulse of Morning” at Bill Clinton inaugural, January 20, 1993
24. Longfellow’s “Song of Hiawatha” published, November 10, 1855
25. Ezra Pound wins Bollingen Prize with NY Times headline: “Pound In Mental Clinic Wins Prize for Poetry Penned In Treason Cell,” February 20, 1949
26. “Rapture” by Blondie released, January 12, 1981
27. “The Music Man” by Meredith Wilson opens, December 19, 1957
28. Elizabeth Alexander reads “Praise Song for the Day” at Barack Obama’s inaugural, January 20, 2009
29. Publisher Horace Liveright makes offers for works by Pound, Eliot, and Joyce, January 3, 1922.
30. Favorite Poem Project launched by poet laureate Robert Pinsky, April 1, 1997
