Yesterday, February 8^th, was the 183^rd birthday of Jules Verne, the French author. Considered by many to be the founder of the science fiction genre, Verne is famous for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, A Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Around the World in Eighty Days. Verne is the third-most translated author in the world, and has been referred to as the “Father of Science Fiction” alongside Hugo Gernsback and H.G. Wells.

Verne wrote novels which focused on space, air and water travel long before air travel and effective submarines were invented, and before any sort of space travel had even been considered in a realistic way. Some of his books have since been made into movies. It is certainly incredible to note the rapid development of technology since Verne’s birth less than two centuries ago.