Something for the Batman Fans: MPR's The Writer's Almanac  

It's the birthday of the writer Washington Irving, born in New York City (1783). He is known as the "first American man of letters" and is best known for the short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle." He spent most of his time working with his brother and a friend on editing a literary journal called Salmagundi. In an essay he wrote for it, he referred to New York City as "the renowned and ancient city of Gotham." As far as anyone knows, this was the first time the word "Gotham" had been used to describe the city.