Matthew Plunkett

May 22: Sherlock Holmes Day
It's Sherlock Holmes Day. Why today? Because the master detective's creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, was born on this day in 1859 in Edinburgh, Scotland. If your a fan of the Holmes stories, you may know that Sherlock was a bit of a sybarite, indulging in stimulative chemicals, pipe tobacco, and booze. He possessed a wide palate when it came to drinking, showing an appreciation for beer, wine, brandy and whisky. But what about Sir Arthur? Did the man behind the legend like a drink? He did. He started drinking port, claret and beer in his early teens while in boarding school and expanded from there. In fact, if you examine his memoirs, it appears Conan merely passed his own drinking and smoking habits to Sherlock. Write about what you know, a wise man once said, and Conan took this sage advice to heart.