Oct. 16: Oscar Wilde, Irish author

BORN OCTOBER 16:

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish playwright, novelist, essayist, and poet. He wrote (among others) The Picture of Dorian Gray; The Importance of Being Earnest; and The Ballad of Reading Gaol; also, the very un-child-like fairy tales "The Happy Prince"; "The Nightingale and the Rose"; and "The Selfish Giant."

Wilde was not as clever as he thought: when the father of one of his lovers accused him (correctly) of homosexuality, Wilde sued him for criminal libel--and lost. Evidence brought forth in the trial led to Wilde's criminal conviction for "gross indecency," and he was jailed for two years.

He died in self-imposed exile, of meningitis, at age 46.

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