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
_______________________________ 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
_____________________________ 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
___________________________ 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
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