7 Curious Facts About Charles Dickens

Follow Us! 7 Curious Facts About Charles Dickens One. Dickens always slept facing north, because he thought it would help him battle his incessant insomnia. Dickens also wrote while facing north because he felt it would stimulate his creativity. Two. Charles Dickens was almost killed in a train accident! In June of 1865, Dickens was on his way to deliver the latest installment of the novel Our Mutual Friend to his publisher when the train he was riding in derailed. Dickens escaped unharmed, but many passengers were injured and ten where killed. Dickens assisted in tending to the wounded and helped free other passengers who were trapped. Another curious fact about this event that we unearthed here at Writer’s Relief: Dickens died five years later—to the day—after this railway incident. Three. The Oxford English Dictionary credits Dickens for coining several words and phrases in his work. Examples include “abuzz”, “the creeps”, “flummox”, and “devil-may-care”. The staff here at Writer’s Relief is all abuzz over this information! Four. Charles Dickens and his wife, Catherine, had ten children, and Dickens had a nickname for each child. These nicknames included Chicken Stalker, Lucifer Box, and Skittles. One can only assume how Charles’s children earned these imaginative nicknames! Five. Dickens was fascinated with hypnotism and often experimented on his wife, children, and friends. He believed hypnotism could be used to cure physical ailments and anxieties. Six. Some...