Bloomsday. Has any other novel ever inspired annual celebrations as Ulysses has? James Joyce’s masterwork was banned in America during the 1920s. Then a Republican Judge in New York City read it and ruled that it wasn’t obscene. The rest is literary history.

Ninety years ago this month, American readers were getting their first look at a modern masterpiece written by the Irish author James Joyce; only made possible due to a fascinating court battle.