J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit is first published (1937), and Malta becomes independent from the United Kingdom (1964). Born on this day: Shinzo Abe, H.G. Wells and Stephen King. Died: Arthur Schopenhauer, Charles V and Sir Walter Scott.
33 events, 64 births and 52 deaths on this date.
Bilbo Baggins, a homebody hobbit, joins a wizard and thirteen dwarves to win back treasure guarded by the dragon Smaug. Tolkien's children's fantasy won critical praise and a Carnegie Medal nomination, and has since sold over 100 million copies.
Strebe at English Wikipedia · Public domainMalta gained full independence from Britain while choosing to stay within the Commonwealth. The island had been under British rule since the early nineteenth century, serving as a major base for the Mediterranean Fleet.
On this day in 1984, the small sultanate of Brunei, on the north coast of Borneo, became a full member of the United Nations. It had gained independence from Britain just months earlier, in January, and was then the last of the British protectorates in the region to take a seat.
Masashi Kishimoto's ninja story about Naruto Uzumaki, an isolated boy who dreams of becoming Hokage, began its run in Weekly Shōnen Jump. It went on to sell more than 250 million copies worldwide.
Smith later said an angel directed him to ancient writings on golden plates. He said he translated them into the Book of Mormon, published in 1830, which helped launch the Latter Day Saint movement.
Lucian Rose Foster · Public domain
Western Roman Emperor Valentinian III had his powerful general Aetius killed, acting on the urging of a eunuch and a senator who saw him as a rival. The murder left the Western court without its most capable military commander just as Attila's Huns were threatening the empire.
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Shinzo Abe was a Japanese politician who led the country twice, in the mid-2000s and again through most of the 2010s, making him its longest-serving prime minister. He was assassinated in 2022 while campaigning in Nara.
内閣官房内閣広報室 · CC BY 4.0
Wells was an English writer whose science fiction, including The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds, imagined time travel, alien invasion and aircraft long before they were commonplace. Many call him the father of science fiction.
George Charles Beresford · Public domain
Stephen King, dubbed the King of Horror, is an American author whose debut, Carrie, launched his career in 1974. He has since written suspense, crime, fantasy and science fiction, and many of his novels, including The Shawshank Redemption and Stand by Me, became films.
Kevin Payravi · CC BY-SA 4.0
The German philosopher who argued that a blind, irrational will drives the world, and that much of our suffering comes from it. His major work, The World as Will and Representation, won little notice in his lifetime but went on to shape later thinkers and artists.
Johann Schäfer · Public domain
Charles V ruled a vast patchwork of lands spanning central Europe, Spain, the Low Countries and the Americas, and he gave up his crowns in the 1550s. He died at the monastery of Yuste in Spain, having spent his final years there in retirement.
Attributed to Titian · Public domain
Scottish novelist, poet and historian who wrote the Waverley novels, once among the most widely read books in Europe. He is remembered as a founder of the historical novel.
Henry Raeburn · Public domain
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