On this date in 2003, “The Da Vinci Code” was released

On March 18, 2003, Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code” was released.  While there have been numerous debates about the content of the novel, it did spend an astounding 136 consecutive weeks on the New York Times Bestseller Fiction list and sold over 81 million copies.  The book’s protagonist was portrayed by Tom Hanks in the 2006 movie adaptation.