Douglas Adams was a cult British comic radio dramatist, musician and
author, most notably of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series.
Hitchhiker's began on radio and developed into a "trilogy" of five
books (which had sold more than fifteen million copies by the time of
Adams' death) as well as a television series, a computer game and a
feature film that was completed only after Adams's death. In addition,
Douglas Adams also wrote or co-wrote three stories of science fiction
staple Doctor Who and served the series as Script Editor during the
seventeenth season. His other written works include the Dirk Gently
novels, co-author credits on two Liff books and Last Chance to See,
which was also based on a radio series. Towards the end of his life,
he was a sought-after lecturer on topics including technology and the
environment. Since his death at the age of 49, he is still widely
revered in science fiction and fantasy circles.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Adams
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1689:
Glorious Revolution: Instead of James Francis Edward Stuart the Prince
of Wales acceding to the throne, his sister Mary and her husband
William were proclaimed co-rulers of England.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_II_of_England)
1880:
Thomas Edison observed the Edison Effect, which later formed the basis
of John Ambrose Fleming's vacuum tube diodes.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermionic_emission)
1881:
Hubertine Auclert, a leading French suffragette in Paris, launched the
feminist newspaper La Citoyenne.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubertine_Auclert)
1945:
The RAF Bomber Command began the strategic bombing of Dresden in
Saxony, Germany, resulting in a lethal firestorm which killed tens of
thousands of civilians.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Dresden_in_World_War_II)
1984:
Konstantin Chernenko succeeded the late Yuri Andropov as General
Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konstantin_Chernenko)
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Wikiquote of the day:
"Life is what it is, and you take what's handed, and you work as hard
as you can, and hopefully you'll be successful, but I just don't spend
too much time worrying about that." -- Jerry Springer
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jerry_Springer)