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O. Henry

American short story writer (1862–1910)

  • Fame66.9
  • Momentum3.0
  • Wikipedia32.6K
Source-basedStable
Lived 1862–1910, aged 48United States
United States flagUnited StatesWritersWriter / Author
  • Wikipedia
    69 languages
    Cross-language footprint
  • Era
    1862–1910
    Aged 48
  • Known for
    2012
    2009
Summary
Updated 2026-06-09

O. Henry built a second act out of prison time — embezzlement sent him to the Ohio Penitentiary, where he started writing the twist-ending short stories that made his name. The scandal became the engine.

Biography

About

Born William Sydney Porter in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1862, he worked as a pharmacist before moving to Texas in 1882, settling in Austin and marrying Athol Estes. While drafting for the Texas General Land Office and later working at the First National Bank of Austin, he began sketching characters for short stories and published a weekly called The Rolling Stone. In 1895 an embezzlement charge sent him fleeing to Honduras, where he started writing Cabbages and Kings and coined "banana republic." He surrendered when he learned his wife was dying of tuberculosis, cared for her until her de…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from O. Henry

O. Henry
said
Turn up the lights — I don't want to go home in the dark.
— Last words, quoting a 1907 song by Harry Williams. (5 June 1910) Quoted in O. Henry Biography, ch. 9, Charles Alphonso Smith (1916).
O. Henry
said
Perhaps there is no happiness in life so perfect as the martyr's.
— "The Country of Elusion" in The Trimmed Lamp (1907)
O. Henry
said
Not very long ago some one invented the assertion that there were only "Four Hundred" people in New York City who were really worth noticing.
— Preface
O. Henry
said
One dollar and eighty-seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas.
— "The Gift of the Magi" - Full text online
O. Henry
said
There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl. So Della did it.
— "The Gift of the Magi"
via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA
Where to find them

Platforms

By the numbers

Score breakdown

The six component signals behind the Fame score, and their ranks across the leaderboards.

Fame
Stable
66.9
Composite of search demand, mentions, audience & graph footprint.
Score components
Momentum3.0
Historical25.2
Now attention12.3
Source confidence65.0
Completeness75.0
Global rank
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Country rank
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Category rank
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Receipts

Sources

  • Wikipedia
    wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
    High confidence
  • Wikidata
    wikidata · wikidata.org
    High confidence
  • Pantheon 2.0
    database · pantheon.world
    High confidence