On May 6, 1940, John Steinbeck was awarded the Pulitzer Prize
for his novel The Grapes of Wrath.

The book traces the fictional Joad family of Oklahoma as they
lose their family farm and move to California in search of a
better life. 

One of Steinbeck’s most effective works of social commentary,
the novel also won the National Book Award.

John Ernst Steinbeck Jr.
(February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968)

   
JOHN BELMONT

John Winston Lennon
(9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980)

Lennon was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace
activist who achieved worldwide fame as the founder, co-
songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the
Beatles. His songwriting partnership with Paul McCartney
remains the most successful in history,

Boris Pasternak’s romantic novel, Doctor Zhivago is published
in the United States on September 5, 1958. The book was banned
in the Soviet Union, but still won the Nobel Prize for Literature in
1958.

Boris Leonidovich Pasternak
(29 January] 1890 – 30 May 1960)

Rare vintage 1937 first edition of Steinbeck’s novel.

John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men, the story of the bond
between two migrant workers, is published. He adapted the book
into a three-act play, which was produced the same year. The
story brought national attention to Steinbeck’s work, which had
atarted to catch on in 1935 with the publication of his first novel, 
the successful Tortilla Flat.

John Ernst Steinbeck Jr.
(February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968)

Steinbeck won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature 
"for his realistic and imaginative writings”..

Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 1931 – 26 December 2021)

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Desmond Tutu, South Africa’s Nobel
Peace Prize-winning activist for racial justice and LGBT rights
and retired Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, has died. South
African President Cyril Ramaphosa made the announcement 
Sunday.