Thanks for joining me for another episode of Today in History. I’m Sen, your host.

As usual, I recommend listening to today’s historical events twice.

The first time through, don’t worry about understanding individual words and phrases. Imagine you’re listening to a piece of music. This is a great way to train your English listening skills. And, you’ll probably still find that you pick up some of the general meaning anyway.

So, what happened on this day in history?

On July 7th, 1864, Isabelo de los Reyes was born in Vigan City, in the Philippines. Among other things, he was a prolific writer, labor activist and politician. He strongly influenced Philippine society, particularly during Spanish colonial rule, and was so dubbed the Father of Philippine Folklore, of the Philippine Independent Church and of Filipino Socialism.

On the same day in 1915, African-American poet and novelist Margaret Walker was born in Alabama in the United States. She is best known for her 1942 poetry collection “For My People”, which won the Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition, making her the first Black woman to win a national writing prize in the U.S. She subsequently became a part of the Black Chicago Renaissance, a literary and cultural arts movement among African Americans living in the city.

On July 7, 1981, Sandra Day O’Connor was appointed as the first female member of the Supreme Court of the United States. She served for 25 years, and in 2009 was merited with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Now rewind, and have a second listen. This time, focus more on the meaning. That’s it for today. But if you’re interested in more historical facts, then be sure to check out tomorrow’s episode of Today in History.