The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug was released in theaters in the US.
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Pope Celestine V resigned after just five months in the job to return to his life as an ascetic hermit.
The first music store in America was opened in Philadelphia by Michael Hillegas.
The Beatles signed on with their first formal manager, Brian Epstein.
New Zealand made history by passing the world’s first tobacco ban.
A civil rights protest march in Washington, D.C., took place.
