This Day in History: <br />George Orwell’s '1984' Is Published June 8, 1949 The vision of Orwell's final novel <br />of a bleak, dystopian future<br />would set the tone for the genre. "Big Brother is watching you" <br />would universally come to stand <br />for oppressive authoritarianism. Orwell would die of <br />tuberculosis in 1950. The book became the <br />number one seller again, just days <br />after President Donald Trump's inauguration. Echoing the concept of "doublespeak" in the novel, <br />Trump contradicted photo and video evidence by <br />exaggerating the attendance <br />numbers of his inauguration. Since its publication, '1984' <br />has sold more than 30 million copies.
