John Ronald Reuel Tolkien
(3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973
    
    
    

English writer and philologist J.R.R. Tolkien was the author of
the high fantasy works The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

The great success of these two books led directly to a popular resurgence of the genre. This has caused him to be popularly
identified as the "father" of modern fantasy literature—or, more 
precisely, of high fantasy.   
    

A 1843 first edition of the classic book "A Christmas Carol"
by Charles Dickens.

Fox News) – "A Christmas Carol," a globally celebrated timeless
tale of heartwarming human redemption crafted as a haunting
holiday ghost story, was published in London on this day in
history, Dec. 19, 1843. 

Except for the biblical narrative of the birth of Christ itself, "A
Christmas Carol" may be the world’s most well-known and
most frequently retold tale of the holiday.

English author Dickens, 31 years old at the time, had recently
gained literary celebrity following the release of "Sketches by
Boz," "The Pickwick Papers" and "Oliver Twist."

"’A Christmas Carol’ was written over a few short weeks to
ensure its publication before Christmas 1843, but its message
has stood the test of time," notes the Charles Dickens Museum
of London. 

Charles John Huffam Dickens
( 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870)

February 1, 1884: The first portion, or fascicle, of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), considered the most comprehensive and accurate dictionary of the English language, was published. Today, the OED
is the definitive authority on the meaning, pronunciation and history
of over half a million English words, past and present.

James Murray, first editor of the OED.

New Chronicles of Rebecca – originally checked out from Boise’s Carnegie Public Library in 1910! – was recently returned. With a
fine of two cents per day for 111 years, whoever checked out this
book would owe $803–thank goodness the Boise Public Libraries
are now fine free!

That’s what the Boise Public Library let its patrons know when a
book returned to its facility more than a century later.

The book in question – the "New Chronicles of Rebecca" by Kate Douglas
Wiggin is the sequel to Wiggin’s first fictional novel "Rebecca of Sunnybrook 
Farm." Both books were published in the early 20th century (1903 and1907) 
(and followed the life of Rebecca Rowena Randall, who  grows up in rural
Maine.

According to the book’s internal library slip, the book had been borrowed
a total of 15 times before it went missing from the Carnegie Public Library.

On November 29, 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed
a special commission to investigate the assassination of
President John F. Kennedy, which had occurred a week earlier,
on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas.

Johnson issued an Executive Order appointing the President’s
Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy which
became referred to as the Warren Commission, after its leader,
Chief Justice Earl Warren.

Gerald Ford (left) looks on as Chief Justice Earl Warren
presents the Commission’s report to President Lyndon
Johnson.