John Steinbeck died on 20 December 1968 in New York City, aged 66. An American writer from Salinas, California, Steinbeck wrote about ordinary people, particularly workers and migrants, in his home state. His novels include Of Mice and Men, East of Eden and The Grapes of Wrath, which portrays a family of dispossessed farmers fleeing the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1940. He also wrote Tortilla Flat and Cannery Row, and studied marine biology with his friend Ed Ricketts. In World War II he worked as a war correspondent. His travel book Travels with Charley recounts a trip across America with his dog. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962.
Before and after
- 17 September 1968Birth of Anastacia
- 11 October 1968Launch of Apollo 7
- 18 October 1968Bob Beamon's long jump of 8.90 metres
- 5 November 19681968 United States presidential election
- 20 December 1968Death of John Steinbeck
- 21 December 1968Launch of Apollo 8
- 24 December 1968Apollo 8 orbits the Moon and photographs Earthrise
- 31 December 1968First flight of Tupolev Tu-144
- 1969Discovery of the Murchison meteorite
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The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.