P. G. Wodehouse (15 October 1881 – 14 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humourists of the 20th century. His novels and short stories feature elaborate plots and a unique writing style based on a combination of very formal language, references to classical literature, and contemporary club-room slang. His early novels were mostly school stories, but he later switched to comic fiction, creating several regular characters who became familiar to the public. They include the jolly gentleman of leisure Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeeves. He began the 1930s writing for MGM in Hollywood and moved to France in 1934 for tax reasons. In 1940 he was taken prisoner at Le Touquet by the invading Germans and interned for nearly a year. After his release he made six broadcasts from German radio in Berlin. The talks were comic and apolitical, but they prompted anger and a threat of prosecution in Britain. He never returned to England, living from 1947 until his death in the US.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._G._Wodehouse

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1888:

George Lusk, the chairman of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee in London, received a letter allegedly from Jack the Ripper. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Hell_letter

1932:

Air India (aircraft pictured), the flag carrier airline of India, began operations under the name Tata Airlines. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_India

1965:

Vietnam War protests: At an anti-war rally in New York City, David J. Miller burned his draft card, the first such act to result in arrest under a new amendment to the Selective Service Act. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft-card_burning

2013:

A 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck Bohol in the Philippines, resulting in 222 deaths. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Bohol_earthquake

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

mickle: 1. (archaic, now chiefly Scotland) To a great extent. 2. (obsolete) Frequently, often. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mickle

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Money is a singular thing. It ranks with love as man's greatest source of joy. And with death as his greatest source of anxiety. Over all history it has oppressed nearly all people in one of two ways: either it has been abundant and very unreliable, or reliable and very scarce.   --John Kenneth Galbraith https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Kenneth_Galbraith