E. W. Hornung (1866–1921) was an English author and poet who wrote the
A. J. Raffles series of stories about a gentleman thief in late 19th-
century London. After school in the UK, Hornung spent two years in
Australia before returning to London. His first known work was published
in 1887; his Australian experiences strongly influenced his early
writing. In 1898 he wrote "In the Chains of Crime", which introduced
Raffles and his sidekick, Bunny Manders; the characters were based
partly on his friends Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas, and also on
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, the characters created by Hornung's
brother-in-law, Arthur Conan Doyle. The death of Hornung's son in the
First World War brought an end to Hornung's storytelling, and led the
writer to join the YMCA, initially in England, then in France, where he
helped run a canteen and library and published two collections of
poetry. After the war, he wrote more poetry and an account of his time
in France. Hornung's fragile constitution was weakened by the stress of
his war work, and he died at the age of 54. Although much of Hornung's
work has fallen into obscurity, his Raffles stories continue to be
popular, and have inspired numerous film and television adaptations.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._W._Hornung>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1265:
Summoned by Simon de Montfort (pictured), the first English
parliament held its first meeting in the Palace of Westminster.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Montfort%27s_Parliament>
1576:
León in Guanajuato, Mexico, was founded by order of Viceroy
Martín Enríquez de Almanza of New Spain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le%C3%B3n,_Guanajuato>
1843:
Honório Hermeto Carneiro Leão, Marquis of Paraná, became the
de facto first prime minister of the Empire of Brazil.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hon%C3%B3rio_Hermeto_Carneiro_Le%C3%A3o,_Marquis_of_Paran%C3%A1>
1945:
World War II: Germany began the evacuation of 1.8 million
people from East Prussia, an operation which took nearly two months to
complete.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evacuation_of_East_Prussia>
1990:
The Soviet Red Army violently cracked down on Azeri pro-
independence demonstrations in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_January>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
casuistry:
1. The process of answering practical questions via interpretation of rules
or cases that illustrate such rules, especially in ethics.
2. (pejorative) A specious argument designed to defend an action or
feeling.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/casuistry>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
There's this beautiful ocean of bliss and consciousness
that is able to be reached by any human being by diving within, which is
really peaceful and harmonious and can be enlivened by the group
process. … This is all about establishing peace. Right now, we gotta
get peace back in the world. Peace is a real thing.
--David Lynch
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Lynch>