Herman Melville: 10 things you need to know about the Moby-Dick author

From the Daily Mirror:  Herman Melville: 10 things you need to know about the Moby-Dick author 

To mark the 161st anniversary of the publication of Moby-Dick, Google created a doodle (on Oct 18) to celebrate the book and author Herman Melville.
Here are 10 things you need to know about the novelist...
1. Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet
2. He was born on August 1st 1819 in New York City
3. In 1841 Herman joined a whaling ship voyage but deserted the ship and spent three weeks living among the Typee natives and wrote a book about his experience which became a bestseller
4. In 1847 he married Elizabeth Shaw - the daughter of the chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court - and the couple had four children
5. Herman wrote the novel Moby-Dick, also known as The Whale, which was first published in 1851 

  6. The book is considered to be one of the Great American Novels ever written
7. It tells of the adventures of sailor Ishmael and his voyage on the whaleship Pequod, commanded by the vengeful Captain Ahab who is hunting a whale called Moby-Dick who previously destroyed Ahab’s boat and bit off his leg
8. There have been numerous movies made about Moby Dick with the part of Captain Ahab being played by several actors including John Barrymore, Gregory Peck, Patrick Stewart and William Hurt
9. Herman Melville died at his New York home on September 28, 1891, aged 72
10. After his death the "Melville Revival" took place and it's reported that he became the first writer to have his works published by the Library of America