Entertainment / Harry Potter Harry Potter Turns 20. Here's How the Internet Is Celebrating Facebook, Google getting in on the action By Evann Gastaldo, Newser Staff Posted Jun 26, 2017 6:41 PM CDT Copied Four of the 30 copies of the six Harry Potter books remain on a shelf at the Crawfordsville District Public Library in Crawfordsville, Ind., Wednesday, July 18, 2007. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy) The first book in JK Rowling's Harry Potter series was released on June 26, 1997. A roundup of the celebration surrounding the series' 20th anniversary: Facebook has added a fun "easter egg" for anyone who includes the words "Harry Potter," "Gryffindor," "Slytherin," "Ravenclaw," or "Hufflepuff" in their posts, the Next Web reports. Google also got in on the fun, allowing fans to take a Google Earth tour of the locations that inspired Rowling and the producers of the Potter films, Variety reports. Huffington Post has a list of more small ways to celebrate the day, from making your own butterbeer to trying your hand at the New York Times' Potter-themed crossword puzzle. You can listen to the first story NPR ever aired about the Potter series here. The first book was released in the UK as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone; in the US, the title was changed to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The Huffington Post delves into the reasoning behind the switch. Variety looks at the best scenes and plotlines from the books that didn't make it into the movies. Quartz has a list of the worst names from the series. ("The Fat Lady"? Really?) Entertainment Weekly rounds up the 10 most highlighted lines in the Kindle editions of the books. Even ESPN is getting in on the celebration; it has a list of the top five sporting moments from the series. (More Harry Potter stories.) Report an error