Dickens' pet inspired Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Raven'

Peruse the works of spooky 19th-century writer Edgar Allen Poe

Edgar Allen Poe is one of the central figures of Gothic and Romantic literature of the 19th century, penning famous short stories like "The Tell-Tale Heart" and the long poem "The Raven." This digital library collects over 130 of his works in one...

Fans loved a minor character, so Dickens made him a major part of 'Pickwick'

Dickens' first serialized novel, "The Pickwick Papers," was selling modestly until he introduced the wisecracking Sam Weller, a cockney character that working-class readers instantly loved. In response to the attention, Dickens made Weller a central figure in the book, turning the series into a bestseller.

Dickens' live readings sometimes used visual projectors that predated cinema

Dickens was interested in adapting his work in various forms. With his live readings, he sometimes used a 'magical lantern,' a popular tool that projected moving slides. In addition, some stage plays of Dickens' work that included ghost scenes used the magical lantern to cast apparitions on stage.

Dickens' unfinished 'Edwin Drood' inspired a Broadway musical

Dickens died before finishing "The Mystery of Edwin Drood." That means that the mystery at the center of the story was never revealed. Rather than finishing the narrative for Dickens, a 1985 musical adaptation—written by Rupert Holmes, who also wrote "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)"—allowed audiences to vote on how the story ends. The Broadway production won five Tony Awards, including best musical.

Charles Dickens' novels inspired a young Norman Rockwell

Rockwell is considered a narrative painter who tells stories through his portraits of everyday Americans. The interest in using images to tell stories began at a young age, when his father read Dickens aloud to him while the young Norman illustrated the books’ scenes.

'The Dark Night Rises' was inspired by 'A Tale of Two Cities'

The 2012 Batman film makes several allusions to the Dickens novel, with one character even holding a copy of the book in a final scene. Director Christopher Nolan and his brother (and screenwriter) Jonathan Nolan frame Gotham as a place of inequity, much like Dickens does with London and Paris. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Poet Geoffrey Chaucer inspired the modern, romantic version of Valentine's Day

In the 1380s, the "Canterbury Tales" author wrote "The Parliament of Fowls," a 700-line poem about birds that choose their mates on St. Valentine's Day. The poem argued that romantic love—for fowls and humans alike—was an ideal, and linked the holiday with that sentiment.

'Dracula' was inspired by a seafood-induced nightmare

Bram Stoker, the author of the classic horror novel, said that a dinner of "dressed crab" led to unsettling dreams about "a vampire king rising from the tomb." He'd revisit that vision, eventually creating the iconic titular vampire.

Dickens' 'Christmas Carol' emphasized charity as central component of the holiday

During Dickens' time, Christmas was primarily associated with celebration, but "A Christmas Carol" defined the holiday as an opportunity to give to others. Dickens hoped that the story—with the miserly Scrooge experiencing a change of heart when he realizes he should care for the less fortunate—would convince readers to recognize they should do the same.

Twain ruthlessly criticized other writers

The writer was known for lambasting popular writers of his time, including Jane Austen and Robert Louis Stevenson. One of his most famous takedowns is “Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offences,” an essay that simultaneously mocks Cooper’s popular adventure tales and satirizes the pretentiousness of literary criticism. Remarking on Cooper’s novel “The Deerslayer,” Twain wrote, “its conversations are—oh! Indescribable; its love-scenes odious; its English a crime against the language.”

The Ramones' 'Pet Sematary,' the theme song for the Stephen King novel of the same name, was written while the band was admiring the writer's collection of horror memorabilia.

The Dracula character, now seen as the vampire archetype, was inspired by a seafood-induced nightmare its creator experienced.

Stephen King's basement inspired a Ramones classic

The horror writer was a fan of the band and invited them to his home in Maine. While hanging out in the basement, Dee Dee Ramone, the band's bassist, stole away with a copy of King's "Pet Sematary" and wrote a song about it. The song appeared in the film adaptation of the book, which began shooting a month later.

Why Percival Everett decided to reimagine 'Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'

Percival Everett's novel "James"—a retelling of Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Jim, an escaped slave—was one of the most acclaimed books of 2024. In this interview, Everett explains why he decided to rework the classic American novel and why he felt it was necessary to infuse his own with a different voice.

Hear 2 literature professors unpack the legacy of 'Animal Farm'

The University of Oxford's David Dwan—a professor of English literature and intellectual history—is an Orwell scholar who has written about the author's politics, especially as they relate to "Animal Farm." In this conversation with Dr. Nathan Waddell, from the University of Birmingham, UK, Dwan explores how framing the novella as a beast fable both made it more accessible and allowed it to be overly simplified.

Calvin Coolidge had many animals—including a White House raccoon

Calvin Coolidge and First Lady Grace Coolidge adopted a raccoon named Rebecca, initially intended for Thanksgiving dinner. Instead, she became a beloved pet, roaming the White House lawn with a handmade collar reading "White House Raccoon."

American short story writer Flannery O'Connor raised 40 peacocks, which became potent symbols for her fiction's elegant violence

Emily Dickinson was a prolific baker

Dickinson scholars have collected her recipes for gingerbread, doughnuts, and more, noting that she often wrote poems on the backs of them. The Emily Dickinson Museum says that the kitchen "was a space of creative ferment for her, and that the writing of poetry mixed in her life with the making of delicate treats."

Famed poet TS Eliot rejected the manuscript for George Orwell's political fable 'Animal Farm,' writing that its criticism of authoritarianism was not 'the right point of view.'

O'Connor raised 40 peacocks, which became symbols for her fiction

O'Connor was drawn to peacocks because of their dichotomy—people were drawn to the beauty of their feathers but turned off by the ugliness of their behavior. It was an apt symbol for her fiction and the birds featured prominently on several of her books' covers.

A live bald eagle named Peter once lived at the original Philadelphia Mint

During the day, he flew around the city, but at night he slept soundly in the first-ever US Mint building. Although he died at some point in the early to mid-1800s, mint artists still study him today when designing new eagle imagery for coins. Luckily, that’s not too difficult, given that mint employees pitched in to stuff him at the time of his death.

'Moby-Dick' was inspired by a real whale named Mocha Dick

A story in an 1839 issue of the Knickerbocker magazine detailed an encounter with Mocha Dick, named after his color and the generic name used at the time for whales. Melville read the account before starting his famous novel.

The secret life of urban crows

Crows are believed to have intelligence on par with a seven-year-old child and demonstrate complex behaviors, from problem-solving with tools to recognizing human faces.

Harvard drowned rats for this?

Harvard's 1950s rat study was ethically questionable, but scientifically profound. One rescue attempt made rats swim 40x longer. The finding: hope isn't poetic, it's biological.

Meet Icarus the Second, the first English pig to fly

"When pigs fly" is an ironic phrase meant to express disbelief or impossibility, though it isn't as true today as it may once have been. This article details how a piglet dubbed "Icarus the Second" took flight in November 1909. Stashed in a basket...

See a list of six famous people with animals named in their honor

The bird Polioptila attenboroughi, the spider Spintharus barackobamai, and the water beetle Grouvellinus leonardodicaprioi are just a few of the creatures named after celebrities.

Why TikTok loves Rainer Maria Rilke

It seems like an odd fit: A social media app known for bite-sized videos and a long-dead Austrian poet. Despite the odds, Rilke, especially his famous "Letters to a Young Poet," has become an unexpected trend on TikTok, where influencers share his wisdom on creativity and self-discovery.

An 18th-century woman tricked doctors into believing she gave birth to rabbits

Mary Toft was a poor servant in Surrey who reportedly sought fame and money by perpetuating the story of her "monstrous birth." After having a miscarriage a month earlier, Toft claimed to still be pregnant and called obstetrician John Howard to witness her give birth to animal parts, including a cat without a liver, a rabbit’s head, the legs of a cat, and nine dead baby rabbits. Eventually, after fooling the court physicians of King George I, she confessed to orchestrating the births.

Rome's legendary founders Romulus and Remus were raised by a she-wolf

Romulus and Remus escaped slaughter by drifting downriver in a basket. Once ashore, the two were nurtured by a wolf and woodpecker, growing strong enough to build Rome. This story may date back to the fourth century BCE and contains Roman and Greek elements.

Mark Twain spent decades feuding with the US Postal Service, convinced its costs and regulations were bureaucratic overreach.

The Brothers Grimm were lawyers before they were storytellers, but became interested in fairy tales as they began investigating how rules and customs had been passed down through cultures.

The first robot in literature may have been a 'mechanical man' in 1907's 'Ozma of Oz,' a book in L Frank Baum's 'Wizard of Oz' series.

In 1915, workers recovered a submarine-like vessel from the Chicago River, prompting fears of German espionage

The tragic Pulitzer Prize-winning image 'The Vulture and the Little Girl' (1993) generated controversy, raised concerns about ethics in photography, and eventually led to the photographer's death.

Clever Hans was a 1900s horse that was believed to be able to solve math equations, tell time, and read and comprehend German, until a psychology student discovered how he got his answers.

Many legends about George Washington, including his supposed wooden teeth and the story of cutting down the cherry tree, lack evidence.

Salvador Dalí believed he was his own dead brother, who had died nine months before he was born

During the French Revolution, a botanist's letter asking about "dear Rhus" (poison ivy) was intercepted, leading authorities to suspect he was conspiring with the Russians.

Before writing 'Walden,' transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau nearly burned down his hometown with a campfire that grew out of control.

Watch a 1934 short film starring jazz legend Cab Calloway, a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance's music scene

Some Pokémon have been named after real and fictional organisms, while some real-world species have been named after Pokémon, such as Chilicola charizard and Binburrum zapdos.

After the Boston Tea Party, colonists switched to coffee, which became the main morning drink for revolutionaries.

The 19th-century painters of the Hudson River School were among the first American romantics, with portraits that displayed the natural beauty of the young country.

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

El Niño, Spanish for 'the boy,' was named after Jesus Christ because the phenomenon resembled the weather changes observed around Christmastime.

'Silent' fireworks have gained more interest in recent years as a quieter celebratory option.

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'

Hotels in Cannes, the glamorous city on the French Riviera, hire hawks to ward off seagulls during the city's famous film festival.