James Boswell died today – 212 years ago

Scottish biographer James Boswell was born on October 29, 1740 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He died on May 19, 1795 in London, England. Edinburgh is not pronounced “e-din-burg,” as you might suppose. It’s pronounced “Ed-in-burra,” as you probably would never suppose. (Now you can impress your friends.) A high point of the city – literally – is the Edinburgh Castle at about 250 feet. A low point of the city is the river bed of the Water of Leith which eventually flows into an estuary called the Firth of Forth. (How’s that for a little tongue-twister?) I was in Edinburgh in 2003, in case you wanted to know. It’s a neat city.

P.S. British Prime Minister William E. Gladstone, born on December 29, 1809, died in 1898... Welsh writer T. E. Lawrence, born on August 15, 1888, died in 1935... U.S. poet Ogden Nash, born on August 19, 1902, died in 1971... English writer Sir John Betjeman, born on August 28, 1906, died in 1984... Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, born on July 28, 1929, died in 1994.