14 facts you probably didn't know about Roald Dahl
He wasn't always an author.
Today (13th September) we are celebrating Roald Dahl Day on what would have been his 100th birthday.
Here are some facts you probably don't know about the highly acclaimed children's author.
1. Early days Roald's parents were Norwegian but moved to Wales, he was born in Cardiff on 13 September 1916.
2. Bilingual Roald spoke Norwegian at home with his family.
3. School He went to school in Cardiff, Weston-Super-Mare and Derbyshire. His teachers thought he wasn't particularly good at writing, one even went as far as saying, "I have never met a boy who so persistently writes the exact opposite of what he means. He seems incapable of marshalling his thoughts on paper!"
4. Family Roald married actress Patricia Neal in 1953 and had five children with her. They divorced in 1983. Roald Dahl and Patricia Neal on their wedding day | © PA Images
5. Plane crash In 1940 Roald was in a serious plane crash which left him with a fractured skull, broken nose and temporarily blinded.
6. Previous careers Before becoming a writer Roald was a fighter pilot and a spy.
7. Writing space Roald used to write his books in a shed in his garden, specifically between 10am - 12pm and 4pm - 6pm. Roald Dahl's writing shed | © PA Images
8. New words His books were full of unusual words, some of which have made it into the dictionary this year, including scrumdiddlyumptious.
9. First book Many think that James and the Giant Peach was Roald's first book, but it was in fact The Gremlins which inspired the film directed by Steven Spielberg which is loosely based on the book.
10. Sophie Dahl The character Sophie in The BFG was named after his granddaughter Sophie who is now an author and former model. Sophie Dahl | © PA Images
11. No beards Roald's book The Twits came about because he didn't like beards.
12. James and the Giant... Originally the book was going to be called James and Giant Cherry featuring a cherry pushed along a river by water boatmen.
13. Chocolate Factory inspiration His inspiration for Charlie and Chocolate Factory came from eating chocolate as a child. The chocolate was sent from Cadbury's to his school for testing.
14. Grave goods Roald died on 23rd November 1990, he was buried with a power saw, HB pencils, chocolate, red wine and his snooker cues which were some of his favourite items.