- Was a dedicated fan of Mark Twain and went out of his way to meet him when in America.
- According to his widow, the name of the "Jungle Book" character "Mowgli" is pronounced "MAU-glee", not "MOH-glee".
- Became friends with a French soldier whose life had been saved when a copy of "Kim" he was carrying stopped a bullet.
- After his son John was killed in battle during World War I, he worked for the War Graves Commission and created the inscription "A soldier of the Great War--Known Unto God" for the graves of soldiers who could not be identified.
- Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907. He was both the youngest (42) and the first English-speaking writer to win the prize.
- He spoke Hindi as his first language, having been taught the tongue from the cradle by his Indian ayah.
- He declined the Poet Laureateship, the Order of Merit and a knighthood.
- He was originally a strong supporter of Britain's involvement in World War I, but his attitude changed completely after his son John, a soldier in the British army, was killed in the Battle of Loos.
- He was the first Briton to win the Pulitzer Prize for Literature.
- In 1995 his poem "If ..". was voted England's favorite poem.
- Notable poems include "If ...", "The White Man's Burden" and "Tommy Atkins".
- His widow left their house, "Batemans", in Burwash, Sussex, as a gift to the nation. It is now open to the public.
- Wrote two short stories, "With the Night Mail" and "As Easy As A.B.C.", which are considered two of the earliest works of contemporary science fiction.
- Politically, he was very right-wing; he admired Benito Mussolini during the 1920s. However, in 1935 he called Mussolini a deranged and dangerous egomaniac.
- Called his son John "Jack".
- Used connections to get his son Jack a place in the army after he was rejected due to being severely short-sighted.
- Children: Josephine Kipling, born December 1892; Elsie Kipling, born 1896; and John Kipling, born 1897.
- Rector of St Andrews University, 1922-25.
- His writings were banned in the Soviet Union in 1939 following the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.
- He was a cousin of British prime minister Stanley Baldwin,.
- Born at 4:53pm-LMT
- His writings have often been denounced as supportive of imperialism and colonialism.
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