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Le Père Goriot is an 1835 novel by French novelist and playwright HonorÊ de Balzac, included in the Scènes de la vie privÊe section of his novel sequence La ComÊdie humaine. Widely considered as Balzac's most important novel, it marks the first serious use by the author of characters who had appeared in other books, a technique that distinguishes Balzac's fiction and makes La ComÊdie humaine unique among bodies of work. It is also noted as an example of his realist style, using minute details to create character and subtext. Set in Paris in 1819, Le Père Goriot follows the intertwined lives of three characters: the elderly doting Goriot; a mysterious criminal-in-hiding named Vautrin; and a naive law student named Eugène de Rastignac. The story takes place during the Bourbon Restoration, which brought about profound changes in French society; the struggle of individuals to secure upper-class status is ubiquitous in the book. The novel was released to mixed reviews. Some critics praised the author for his complex characters and attention to detail; others condemned him for his many depictions of corruption and greed. A favorite of Balzac's, the book quickly won widespread popularity and has often been adapted for film and the stage. (more...)

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March 15: Ides of March; National Day in Hungary (1848); Hōnen Matsuri in Japan

• 1820 – Primarily due to its vulnerability to foreign invasions, the exclave of Massachusetts known as Maine was given its own U.S. statehood.
• 1877 – Cricketers representing England and Australia began the first match in Test cricket at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
• 1906 – Charles Rolls and Henry Royce founded the British automobile manufacturing company Rolls-Royce.
• 1943 – World War II: German forces recaptured Kharkov after four days of house-to-house fighting against Soviet troops, ending the month-long Third Battle of Kharkov (German infantrymen pictured).
• 1972 – The Godfather, a gangster film based on the novel of the same name by Mario Puzo and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, was released.
• 1985 – The company Symbolics became the first ever entity, individual or party to register a .com top-level domain name: symbolics.com.

More anniversaries: March 14 – March 15 – March 16