May 22
DOYLE DAY
He was a doctor without any patients. That’s how Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, born on this day in 1859 at Edinburgh Scotland, began to write. You see, while he was waiting for patients, of which there were hardly any, he was so bored that he started writing short stories. The stories earned him some, but not much money; then Dr. Doyle wrote his first novel centering around the character who became the world’s best-known detective, Sherlock Holmes.
It was 1887 and the novel was titled, A Study in Scarlet. Arthur Conan Doyle (he wasn’t a Sir, yet) was on his way to success. In fact, he eventually became one of the highest-paid short-story writers of the times.
Doyle’s tales of Sherlock Holmes solving crimes with his amazing ability to use reason and observation have delighted millions of readers for over one hundred years. Holmes appeared in 56 short stories and three more novels, The Sign of Four, The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Valley of Fear.
Critic Christopher Morley once said, “Perhaps no fiction character ever created has become so charmingly real to his readers (as Sherlock Holmes).”
Put that in your meerschaum and smoke it!
Those Were the Days, the Today in History service from 440 International
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