#OTD in 1938.
Orson Welles broadcasts a radio adaptation of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds, causing a massive panic in some of the audience in the United States.
The War of the Worlds at PG:
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/36
literature
Book launch
Ali Smith: GLYPH
29 Jan, Portobello Bookshop, Edinburgh, & online – ticketed
Ghosts don’t exist.
They don’t. End of.
Story, however.
It is haunting.
Everything tells it.
GLYPH is Ali Smith’s most soulful, playful & vital novel yet, a work of lightness that goes deep to counter the forces currently flattening the modern world. Smith will be in conversation with Jess Orr.
https://www.theportobellobookshop.com/events/ali-smith-glyph
Becoming Beatrice
Dante adored her so much that he cast her as his guide in the Divine Comedy. But who was Beatrice Portinari?
By: Emily Zarevich
https://daily.jstor.org/becoming-beatrice/
Divine Comedy at PG
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1004
"If one cannot state a matter clearly enough so that even an intelligent twelve-year-old can understand it, one should remain within the cloistered walls of the university and laboratory until one gets a better grasp of one's subject matter."
Margaret Mead died #OTD in 1978.
In November 1848.
William Makepeace Thackeray's novel The History of Pendennis begins its serial publication. The publication was paused for 3 months following the author’s illness after the September 1849 part.
The History of Pendennis at PG:
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/7265
“To Eat This Big Universe as Her Oyster”
Margaret Fuller and the First Major Work of American Feminism
By Randall Fuller via @publicdomainrev
https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/margaret-fuller-and-the-first-major-work-of-american-feminism/?utm_source=newsletter
In November 1850
A new edition of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Poems is published by Chapman & Hall in London, including in volume 2 her Sonnets from the Portuguese.
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/21161
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2002
In the public domain soon, in libraries now
The Penn Libraries, where I work, has first editions of many of the works featured in my #PublicDomainDayCountdown . From today through Public Domain Day, the Libraries social media will feature photos of some distinctive books from 1930.
By John Mark Ockerbloom
https://everybodyslibraries.com/2025/12/26/in-the-public-domain-soon-in-libraries-now/
#OTD in 1850.
Charles Dickens's novel David Copperfield concludes serial publication and on November 14 appears complete in book form from Bradbury and Evans in London.
The 29 Best (Old) Books We Read in 2025
https://lithub.com/the-29-best-old-books-we-read-in-2025/
"Wuthering Heights" at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=Wuthering+Heights
"The Country of the Pointed Firs" at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=The+country+of+the+pointed+firs
#OTD in 1895
Thomas Hardy's last completed novel, Jude the Obscure is published by Osgood, McIlvaine, and Co. in London, dated 1896, on completion of an expurgated serialization under the title Hearts Insurgent in Harper's Magazine.
#OTD in 1902
Leo Tolstoy's drama The Power of Darkness (written in 1886) has its Russian-language première at the Moscow Art Theatre by Konstantin Stanislavski with some success, although Stanislavski is self-critical.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Darkness
The Power of Darkness at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26661
HAPPY PUBLIC DOMAIN DAY! And Happy New Year!
Books published in 1930 will enter the U.S. public domain, such as:
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett: This novel introduced the world to the famous detective Sam Spade.
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner: A masterpiece of American literature.
The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie: This was the first novel to feature the beloved character Miss Marple.
"Man is free at the instant he wants to be."
French writer, deist and philosopher Voltaire was born #OTD in 1694. He established himself as one of the leading writers of the enlightenment.
Books by Voltaire at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/913
#OTD in 1748.
The first instalment of Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, also known as Fanny Hill, is published anonymously by John Cleland to raise money to free himself from the London debtors' prison. It is considered by some to be the first modern erotic novel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Hill
Memoirs of Fanny Hill at PG:
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/25305
What was your favorite book from PG's catalog in 2025?
Edited 254d ago
Top 10 Most Read Pieces from 2025
via @publicdomainrev
It’s that time in December when we inevitably end up asking the question: what, exactly, captured people’s attention over the past year? The list below is one answer.
https://publicdomainreview.org/blog/2025/12/top-10-most-read-pieces-from-2025/
Virginia Faulkner: Writer, Editor and... Ghostwriter?
Brad Bigelow on the Collaborative Process That Produced Polly Adler’s A House is Not a Home
https://lithub.com/virginia-faulkner-writer-editor-and-ghostwriter/
More about Virginia Faulkner:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Faulkner
https://neglectedbooks.com/?p=10900
Abby Morton Diaz was born #OTD in 1821.
Born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, she became involved in the reform movements of the 19th century, particularly those related to women's suffrage, education, and labor.
Abby Morton Diaz at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/2166
In November 1887.
Arthur Conan Doyle's first detective novel, A Study in Scarlet, is published in Beeton's Christmas Annual by Ward Lock & Co. in London, introducing the consulting detective Sherlock Holmes & his friend & chronicler Dr. Watson.
#OTD In 1397, Chaucer tells the Canterbury Tales for the first time at the court of Richard II.
https://lithub.com/lit-hub-daily-april-17-2026/
"Canterbury Tales" at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=Canterbury+Tales
In November 1874.
After completing a four-year prison sentence for thefts and frauds at Waldheim, Saxony, Karl May has his first story, "Die Rose von Ernstthal" ("The Story of Rose Ernstthal"), published.
8 Famous Women Writers Who Wrote Under Male Pseudonyms.
Historically, women faced barriers to publication and prejudicial attitudes, leading some to adopt male pseudonyms.
https://www.thecollector.com/famous-women-writers-under-male-pseudonyms/
the rain has stopped
but still it’s falling
under the trees
—Alan Spence
published in CLEAR LIGHT, @canongatebooks 2012
https://canongate.co.uk/books/94-clear-light/
#Scottish #literature #InternationalHaikuPoetryDay #poem #poetry #haiku #HaikuDay
#OTD in 1910.
Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy dies of pneumonia aged 82 at Astapovo railway station, after a day's train journey south, fleeing from his home.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Tolstoy
Books by Leo Tolstoy at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/136
![Leo Tolstoy in his office. CREATED/PUBLISHED: [1908 May]; CREATOR: Prokudin-Gorskii, Sergei Mikhailovich, 1863-1944, photographer. REPOSITORY: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.](/proxy/post_attachment/518491/e7b27576ac.jpeg "Leo Tolstoy in his office. CREATED/PUBLISHED: [1908 May]; CREATOR: Prokudin-Gorskii, Sergei Mikhailovich, 1863-1944, photographer. REPOSITORY: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.")