The most popular character of all time is without a doubt Sherlock Holmes. His name and details about his past have been explored by fans for over 100 years now. There’s very little about him that hasn’t already been analyzed, but here are 7 things you probably didn’t know about Sherlock Holmes.

Sherlock Holmes was based on a real-life person

One of the most interesting facts about the famous detective is that he was inspired by a real-life doctor named Joseph Bell. Doyle described the doctor as “one of the most remarkable men” he had ever met, and was impressed by his ability to read details about people’s personal lives just by observing them for less than an hour. The two became friends, and Doyle paid tribute to his friend by naming another character in the books Dr. Joseph Bell.

The first Sherlock Holmes story was published in 1887

The first Sherlock Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet, was published in 1887 and introduced us to the brilliant detective and his assistant Watson. However, at first it didn’t seem like it would become such a popular book – it received mixed reviews from critics and readers alike. Nevertheless, Doyle continued to write more stories about the detective duo until they

Sherlock Holmes is one of the most popular characters in all of fiction. The master sleuth has been portrayed by seventy actors in over two hundred and fifty films, and there are no signs of his popularity slowing down. His stories have been translated into forty-five languages and there is a Sherlock Holmes museum in London. Here are seven things you probably didn’t know about him:

Sherlock Holmes was inspired by a real doctor who lived in Edinburgh. In 1877, author Arthur Conan Doyle was studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh Medical School when he met Dr Joseph Bell. Dr Bell had an incredible ability to make very accurate observations about people based on only small details, just like Holmes! Doyle said that Dr Bell was his model for Sherlock Holmes.

Although he was an incredibly intelligent man, Sherlock Holmes would have most likely failed the entrance exam for Cambridge University today. The entrance exam is now so difficult that even A* students struggle with it!

Sherlock Holmes was addicted to cocaine and morphine. He used seven percent solution (a strong dose) of cocaine during periods when he wasn’t working on any cases, and he took morphine when he needed to think clearly about a case or when he couldn’t sleep.

The name “

The original Sherlock Holmes stories were written in the late 19th century. As a result, they are full of references to things and customs that have long since vanished from English life.

But while it is often easy to identify these references (at least at the original time when they were written), there are many other minor details within the stories that can still easily be overlooked today. This can lead many people to believe that their interpretation of the stories is definitive, and that Sherlock Holmes must therefore be interpreted in this way too.

However, often this can give rise to some rather odd conclusions about Sherlock Holmes as a character, and indeed about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself!

Below are 7 things you probably didn’t know about Sherlock Holmes:

Sherlock Holmes is the most popular fictional character of all time. He’s been featured in every medium imaginable, including television, movies, radio, and even opera. Sherlockians, as his fans are known, have studied and cataloged every detail of the great detective’s life and career. Here are some things you may not know about the world’s most famous detective…

1. The first actor to play Sherlock Holmes was William Gillette.

In 1899 the American actor William Gillette (1853-1937) appeared in a stage version of A Study In Scarlet that he had adapted from Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel of the same name. The play was a hit, and over the next thirty years Gillette would perform as Holmes in over 1500 performances on stage. He also made motion pictures playing Holmes in 1916 (Sherlock Holmes), 1922 (Sherlock Holmes), and 1929 (The Return Of Sherlock Holmes).

2. Sherlock Holmes never said “Elementary, my dear Watson”… or “Come at once if convenient—if inconvenient come all the same”… or “When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

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It’s been over 125 years since Sherlock Holmes first appeared in his creator’s novel “A Study in Scarlet.” Since then, he has also appeared in dozens of books and hundreds of films.

Today, everyone knows the basic facts about the world’s most popular fictional character: he lives at 221B Baker Street, is a detective, and is considered by many to be the most brilliant mind of his era. But there are plenty of other things you may not know about this great hero.

Everyone knows about Sherlock Holmes, but not everyone knows everything about the famous detective. Here are a few interesting facts about the character that might surprise you:

1) He was one of the first fictional characters to be featured in a comic strip.

2) The name Sherlock Holmes was inspired by a cricketer from Scotland named, who played for the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).

3) In 1999, Sherlock Holmes was voted as the greatest literary character of all time by the American Booksellers Association (ABA).

4) The first person to play Sherlock Holmes on screen was William Gillette in 1899. Gillette was an American actor who was friends with Conan Doyle and helped him write several plays featuring his famous character; he also designed his own deerstalker hat and curved pipe.

5) One of the most iconic features of Sherlock Holmes is his pipe. However, Conan Doyle only mentioned it four times in all of his novels and short stories combined.

6) Speaking of pipes, Sherlock Holmes didn’t actually smoke tobacco in a pipe. Instead, he smoked shag tobacco in a Persian slipper, which he called a “briar”.

7) The name Moriarty came from Jack Moriarty

1. Holmes’s creator, Arthur Conan Doyle, was a huge fan of Edgar Allan Poe’s detective C. Auguste Dupin and named Holmes after him.

2. Sherlock Holmes is the most portrayed literary human character in film and television history, having been played by over 70 actors in over 200 films.

3. The first Sherlock Holmes story, “A Study in Scarlet” was published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual of 1887 and sold only 19 copies before going out of print.

4. The most popular British TV show in the UK is Sherlock, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as Dr John Watson.

5. In 2012, the International Astronomical Union officially named a newly discovered crater on Mercury after Arthur Conan Doyle because he was born on May 22nd, the same day that MESSENGER probe discovered it.

6. There are many societies dedicated to studying and celebrating Sherlock Holmes around the world including The Baker Street Irregulars in New York City as well as societies in Japan, France and Australia to name a few!

7. The fictional 221B Baker Street address of Sherlock Holmes has become so famous that it has been turned into a tourist attraction complete with waxworks of all