'It's an obvious fact'

 

“Aman should keep his little brain attic stocked with all the furniture that heis likely to use, and the rest he can put away in the lumber-room of hislibrary, where he can get it if he wants it.” –Arthur ConanDoyle
Born in Scotland on this date in 1859, Doyle was noted for his "good use of his brain's furnishings" and as his iconic literary creation Sherlock Holmes once commented, “There is nothingmore deceptive than an obvious fact.”  
Originally a physician (I always thought that heresembled what I imagined Holmes' sidekick Dr. Watson to look like), Doyle wrote his first Holmesbook, A Study in Scarlet, in 1887. It was the first of just four novels he wrote about Holmes and Dr. Watson, but he“filled out” the Holmes library with over 50 short stories featuring hisfamous detective.    The Sherlock Holmesstories are generally considered milestones in the field of crime fiction.   The tales spawned many dozens (if not more)of uses of Holmes by other writers and in movies and televisionprograms.  He also brought Deerstalkerhats and Meerschaum pipes into vogue.  Doyle, who died in 1930,          was a prolific writerwhose other works included fantasy and science fiction, plays, romances,poetry and historical novels.  
Among the many sayings Doyle created and which have become part of the lexicon is, “Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, nomatter how improbable, must be the truth.” Words to both solve mysteries and live by.