Fun Facts Friday: Jules Verne

Author and futurist Jules Verne was born on this day, 8 February, 1828 (d: 24 March, 1905) in Nantes, France. Verne is considered the father of general Science Fiction and recently been credited with “fathering” the steampunk genre. Verne wrote some of the most famous books in the worked, such as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Journey To The Center Of The Earth, and Around The World In 80 Days.

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Books by Jules Verne*

Fun Facts about Jules Verne:

1. Verne is the second most translated author in the world (the first is Agatha Christie).
2. Jules Verne wrote more than 70 books (54 of them compromising the Voyages Extraordinaires)
3. In 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Captain Nemo travels the world in a giant electric submarine, the Nautilus. Several modern submarines are powered by electricity, granted they’re not as huge as the Nautilus (with formal dining room, library, etc.) but they are not that different from the one Verne described.
   In 1886, the first electric powered submarine was name The Nautilus.
4. One of the weapons described in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a gun which shoots balls in which “electricity is forced to a very high tension” and delivers a strong electrical jolt.
   A taser?
5. Before Verne started writing stories he wrote lyrics for operas (libretti).
6. Verne counted among his friends novelists Alexandre Dumas and Victor Hugo who also advised him on writing.
7. In the article , In the Year 2889 which Verne wrote in 1889 he predicted that “Instead of being printed, the Earth Chronicle is every morning spoken to subscribers, who, from interesting conversations with reporters, statesmen and scientists, learn the news of the day.”
   Thirty one years later the first newscast was broadcasted and the first TV news broadcast was 28 years later.
8. The same article, Verne wrote of “atmospheric advertisements” which were “reflected from the clouds”. The way Verne described these ads is very similar to what we call skywriting.
9. Jules Verne published at least one book a year for over 40 years.
10. In 1863 Verne wrote Paris In The 20th Century. The novel was based in the 20^th Century and featured such visions as high speed trains, calculators, glass skyscrapers and even a worldwide communication network (one might say a World Wide Web). However, Verne’s publisher thought the book was too pessimistic (the protagonist couldn’t find happiness and found a sad end) and didn’t publish it. Verne’s great grandson discovered the book in 1989.

Books by Jules Verne*

This post was first published as Fun Facts Friday: Jules Verne on 8 February, 2013.

Zohar – Man of la Book
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account