Fans Celebrate the 20th Anniversary of 'Harry Potter'

Ready to feel old? Harry Potter is 20. That's right, the boy who lived has lived done so for 20 years.

Twenty years ago today, on June 26th, 1997, J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Sorcerer’s Stone to us Yankees) hit the bookstores across the UK. Famously written at a coffee shop in Edinburgh, Scotland, her manuscript was initially rejected by at least a dozen of publishers before catching the eyes of Bloomsbury, giving way to what is now indisputably recognized as the best-selling book series in history. To date, the Harry Potter franchise has sold over 500 million copies worldwide in 73 different languages.

The internet, as you can imagine, is as happy as a Hippogriff for Harry's birthday, and to celebrate, Facebook has cast a spell over their code. When Facebook users post "Harry Potter" or anyone of the Hogwarts house names (Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin), a wand animation plays, invoking some of that magic that everyone likes so much.

Interesting how they included Hufflepuff despite the fact that no one cares about Hufflepuff, though. But that's probably because a YouGov survey has discovered that England is a nation of Hufflepuffs. 54% of Brits and 52% of Potter fans should be Hufflepuffs. However, even though, they abide by Hufflepuff's credo of "hard work, patience, justice and loyalty," it turns out they all want to be Gryffindors. Who could blame them? Gryffindors have all the fun.

Can you believe we've been having these conversations for 20 years. Next year, a copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone will be able to drink a real beer. Until then, kickback a frosty mug of butterbeer. Happy birthday, Harry Potter, you old so-and-so.