Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) was an American writer and journalist. His
distinctive writing style, characterized by economy and understatement,
influenced 20th-century fiction, as did his apparent life of adventure
and the public image he cultivated. He produced most of his work
between the mid-1920s and the mid-1950s, and his career peaked in 1954
when he won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Hemingway's fiction was
successful because the characters he presented exhibited authenticity
that reverberated with his audience. Many of his works are classics of
American literature. After leaving high school he worked for a few
months as a reporter, before leaving for the Italian front to become an
ambulance driver during World War I, which became the basis for his
novel A Farewell to Arms. His first novel, The Sun Also Rises, was
written in 1924. After divorcing Hadley Richardson in 1927 Hemingway
married Pauline Pfeiffer; they divorced following Hemingway's return
from covering the Spanish Civil War, after which he wrote For Whom the
Bell Tolls. Martha Gellhorn became his third wife in 1940, but he left
her for Mary Welsh Hemingway after World War II, during which he was
present at D-Day and the liberation of Paris. Shortly after the
publication of The Old Man and the Sea in 1952 Hemingway went on safari
to Africa, where he was almost killed in a plane crash that left him in
pain or ill-health for much of the rest of his life. Hemingway had
permanent residences in Key West, Florida, and Cuba during the 1930s
and 40s, but in 1959 he moved from Cuba to Idaho, where he committed
suicide in the summer of 1961.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1757:
Seven Years' War: British forces under Robert Clive defeated troops
under Siraj ud-Daulah at the Battle of Plassey, allowing the British
East India Company to annex Bengal.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Plassey>
1887:
The Parliament of Canada passed the Rocky Mountains Park Act, creating
Banff National Park as Canada's first national park.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banff_National_Park>
1919:
Estonian War of Independence: Estonian troops engaged the forces of the
Pro-German Government of Latvia near Cēsis, Latvia, recapturing the
area four days later.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wenden_%281919%29>
1946:
Canada's largest onshore earthquake, measuring 7.3 Mw, struck Vancouver
Island, but only caused two casualties since there were no heavily
populated areas near its epicenter.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1946_Vancouver_Island_earthquake>
1961:
The Antarctic Treaty, which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific
preserve and bans military activity on the continent, came into force.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_Treaty_System>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
raccoon (n):
1. A nocturnal omnivore, originally of Northern America, typically with
a mixture of grayish fur, a mask-like marking around the eyes, and a
striped tail.
2. Any mammal of the genus Procyon
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/raccoon>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
I've woven them a garment that's prepared
out of poor words, those that I overheard,
and will hold fast to
every word and glance
all of my days, even in new mischance,
and if a gag should bind my
tortured mouth,
through which a hundred million people shout,
then let them pray
for me, as I do pray
for them, this eve of my remembrance day.
--Anna Akhmatova
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anna_Akhmatova>