O. Henry - 10 Facts You Probably Didn't Know

• O. Henry was a pseudonym (pen name) for one of the American short story writers, William Sydney Porter.
•  His was born in Greensboro, North Carolina in the year 1862.
•  William Porter only went  to school until he was 15 years old.
• He dropped out of school so he could work at his uncle’s drugstore.
•  While in his 20’s Porter became both a clerk and bank teller and moved to Texas.
• He did not write professionally until he was in his 30’s.
• O. Henry was accused of embezzling funds from the First National Bank of Austin, Texas in when he was 34. After being accused of this, Porter fled to Honduras.
• Learning his wife was dying, O. Henry returned to be with her, and then after she died he turned himself in.
• The sentence was 5 years (it was a small amount of funds embezzled), of which O. Henry served 3 at a jail in Ohio.
• O. Henry died in the year 1910, nearly 10 years after his release from prison.