- His most famous creation, the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, is the most portrayed fictional character in movies.
- The public furor over the death of Holmes in "The Final Problem" was tremendous, and "The Strand" magazine (in which the Holmes stories were published) was besieged by mobs demanding the return of Sherlock Holmes. Doyle was tired of writing about Holmes, and wanted to get back to writing historical fiction. "The Strand" actually had to bribe Doyle with the equivalent of $1 million for each Sherlock Holmes short story. This was more than any writer had ever been paid up to that time.
- Only used Sherlock Holmes' nemesis, Prof. Moriarty, in one short story.
- The day he finished the "final" Holmes story, "The Final Problem," his diary entry was pretty succinct: "Killed Holmes."
- Became a fervent anti-war activist after his son Kingsley, a British soldier, died of wounds received in the Battle of the Somme in World War I.
- Was on the same cricket team as "Peter Pan" author J.M. Barrie.
- Very nearly refused a knighthood from Queen Victoria (for a book he had written on the Boer War) because he was convinced that he was being honored for his Sherlock Holmes stories.
- In addition to writing detective stories, he proved to be a capable amateur detective himself. One of his cases in which he proved a convicted person to be innocent led to the British system for appealing criminal cases.
- Was a spiritualist who was ridiculed for bringing a message to Harry Houdini from Houdini's mother. The message was in English, a language she never knew.
- Was an ophthalmologist, started writing Sherlock Holmes because his practice was not doing well.
- After his death an unfinished Sherlock Holmes story was found among his papers. It dealt with a murderer who used stilts to commit his crime. G.K. Chesterton later used the idea successfully, although he conceived it independently of Doyle.
- Published a newspaper article in which he expressed a belief that Harry Houdini accomplished his illusions by disintegrating. Houdini responded in anger that he did not disintegrate anything.
- After the deaths of several of his loved ones, he became a devout believer in spiritualism and made his rationalist character, Prof. Challenger, follow the same route. His friend Harry Houdini unsuccessfully tried to show him spiritualism was phony by debunking spirit mediums, but to no avail. Doyle instead started to believe that Houdini himself had psychic powers, which he used to "disrupt" others, and perform some of his most hard-to-figure-out magic tricks.
- Although widely remembered as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, he also wrote several notable historical fiction novels. He actually preferred writing these kinds of books over mysteries.
- Had a reputation among his friends as a practical joker, and is considered by historians as the most likely person responsible for the infamous Piltdown Man fossil hoax.
- Was of Irish descent on both his parents' sides.
- Said that the character of Sherlock Holmes was inspired by Dr. Joseph Bell, for whom Doyle had worked as a clerk at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Like Holmes, Bell was noted for drawing major conclusions from the smallest observations (in one case he deduced a man's recent discharge from military service from the way he removed his hat; and the location of his service from the nature of his medical complaint). Sir Henry Littlejohn, lecturer on Forensic Medicine and Public Health at the Royal College of Surgeons, is also cited as a source for Holmes. Littlejohn served as Police Surgeon and Medical Officer of Health of Edinburgh, providing for Doyle a link between medical investigation and the detection of crime.
- Was an accomplished sportsman who played cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club in London, and also was a founder and first goal keeper for his local football team, Portsmouth F.C., while living in Portsmouth. He played as either goalkeeper or right-back between 1884-90, initially under the pseudonym A.C. Smith.
- For many years a story circulated that he was a track-and-field official at the 1908 Summer Olympic Games in London and was one of the officials who helped drag Italian marathoner Dorando Pietri across the finish line, causing him to be disqualified from winning the Gold Medal in favor of American Johnny Hayes. That proved not to be true, but he did write a special report on the 1908 Olympic Marathon race.
- Attended Stonyhurst College, a renowned Jesuit institution in Lancashire, England.
- When Alan Arnold wrote the novelization for Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), he wrote, "Although there have been many so-called Sherlock Holmes 'pastiches', no-one can make the attempt without devoting study to Sir Arthur Conan's stories. In doing so one gains a respect for them and their creator which is quite profound. I cannot adequately describe their ability to suspend one's disbelief; it is a form of magic. They are myths which linger in the consciousness. They are for handing on to new generations who inevitably become, in turn, devotees. If this narrative is held to have integrity, it will encourage the process. That thought was in the minds of the men who made the film. Along with the actors, they all respected the creator of Sherlock Holmes. I drew on other sources. Although in my youth I lived in Cairo, I was not then sufficiently mature to appreciate its wonders or to learn much about its incomparable history. My feeling throughout has been one of the deepest respect for the writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, for the creator as much as for his creations. I share with the purists an admiration for Holmes's qualities. One that is sometimes overlooked is that he was a Victorian and Edwardian gentleman. 'We live in a utilitarian age', he once told Watson. 'Chivalry is a Mediaeval conception'. But, then, he was as much the great detective as he was the Mediaeval knight. That is how I think of him".
- Was created a Knight Bachelor in the 1902 King's Honours List, apparently for his services on the publication of the book, "The War in South Africa: The Cause and its Conduct.". In July of that year he had been appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Surrey.
- Born at 4:55 a.m. or 5:08 a.m. LMT.
- He based the character of Prof. . James Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes' most famous nemesis, on real-life crime boss Adam Worth, a man once dubbed "the Napoleon of Crime".
- In the early 20th century, he allied himself to Roger Casement (1864-1916). Casement was an Irish diplomat who investigated human rights abuses both in British colonies and in other countries. Doyle aided Casement's efforts to publicize the abuses in the Congo Free State. Casement was later executed for supporting the Easter Rising in Ireland and trying to gain German funding for the Irish rebels. Doyle tried to save Casement's life, by claiming that his ally had gone insane. His efforts failed.
- Father of Adrian Conan Doyle and Jean Conan Doyle.
- Brother-in-law of E.W. Hornung.
- Biography/bibliography in: "Contemporary Authors". New Revision Series, Vol. 131, pages 104-123. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2005.
- Lived in Birmingham (UK) from 1878-81.
- Sold the first Sherlock Holmes novel, "A Study in Scarlet", to the publishing house Ward, Lock & Co.. It only paid him 25 pounds sterling for the rights.
- Attempted to dissuade publishers from demanding more Sherlock Holmes stories by asking for larger sums of money as his fee. To his surprise, many publishers were willing to pay handsomely to gain rights to a lucrative series of mysteries.
- Twice sought election to the British Parliament, first in 1900 and again in 1906. He failed both times. He was running as a candidate for the Liberal Unionist Party (1886-1912), a centrist party that never received more than 14% of the popular vote.
- Started writing Sherlock Holmes stories in 1886, and they began being published by 1887. By November 1891 he e was fed up with Holmes and thinking of killing off the character. He wrote to his mother about his thoughts, and she wrote back that this would be a mistake. He did kill Holmes in 1893, but the demand for new Holmes stories never ceased. He wrote a new Holmes novel in 1901, and "resurrected" the character in 1903. He continued publishing Holmes stories until 1927.
- In his autobiography, he explained that he wanted Sherlock Holmes to be different than previous literary detectives. He wanted Holmes to solve cases based on his own skills, not merely to exploit "the folly" of the criminals.
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