“Philosopher’s Stone” ranks among top 50 key moments in English literature

Forget franchising potential or the number of weeks on bestseller lists, in a recent rank by The Guardian, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was named as one of “English literature’s 50 key moments”.

This chronological list, described as “not merely a book list, but an attempt to identify some of the hinge moments in our literature” placed the series’ first novel at #50 (1997), while The death of Christopher Marlowe took its place as #1 (1593).

Among the written works listed were William Shakespeare: The Sonnets (#2), The King James Bible (#3), and Charles Darwin: On the Origin of Species (#29). Also included were the first commercially successful typewriter (#34), and the launch of Amazon.com (#49).

What are your thoughts on this list considering the scope of all works and events listed? Are there any you would add or change?