Twenty years to the day after the first book in the Harry Potter series was published, fans gathered online and in the real world to express their enduring love for J.K. Rowling's magical creation.
Since "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" came out in 1997, with a first print run of just 500 copies, the series of seven novels has sold 450 million copies worldwide in 79 languages and spawned a blockbuster movie franchise.
The book appeared in the United States a year later as "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone".