Interesting Facts About Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle circa 1890

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is the writer behind the Sherlock Holmes novels and classics like The Lost World. He led quite an interesting life. He was a medical doctor, a wonderful novelist, a patriot, innovator and spiritualist. The story of his life is a long and intriguing tale, but we do not have room here to tell it all. So, listed here are some of the more interesting facts about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

After Sir Arthur Conan Doyle killed off Sherlock Holmes in The Final Problem, the Strand lost 20,000 readers overnight. The Strand had been publishing all of the Sherlock stories and that many people at least were reading it just for Sherlock Holmes. Doyle later wrote a prequel and eventually brought back the popular hero.

Despite being a very astute and academic man, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle believed in fairies and ghosts. He even joined the British Society for Psychical Research. He and the other members would investigate supposed psychic happenings at the scene of the occurrence. He was often convinced that sightings of ghosts and such were real.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle attempted to enlist in the army twice and was not accepted. The first time he was around 40 years old and was too unfit. So, instead of walking away, he served as a medical professional in Africa during the Boer War. He wrote a highly regarded chronicle of his experience and his opinion of the British Armed Forces.

The second time Sir Arthur Conan Doyle tried to enlist was during the second World War, this time he was 55 years old. He was not accepted, but this did not deter him. Instead of serving, he got together a volunteer battalion of around one hundred men.

Another interesting fact about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is that he was brilliant. Years before world War II broke out, he wrote articles about what he was sure to be an impending war with Germany. His warnings were largely disregarded. He also wrote letters to the government when he saw the heavy losses that the Navy was taking. In his letters he suggested that the Navy devise inflatable rubber tubes and inflatable boats, he also suggested body armor for the troops. This was before any of these things were being used.

Yet another interesting fact about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is that he and Harry Houdini were friends. What is interesting about this were the conditions of their friendship. Harry Houdini was attempting to contact his mother from beyond the grave and along the way he developed a disdain for mediums. So Doyle offered to have his wife automatically write for him (she was a supposed medium). Harry Houdini viewed the pages as false, but the friendship lasted.

So there you have only some of the interesting facts there are to learn about this classic author. There are several great biographies written about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, if you would like to learn more. 

Sources

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Biography, sherlockholmesonline.org/biography/index.htm