Trivia

Went to sea in his youth, as a cabin boy aboard the whaler 'Acushnet' (1841-42). He deserted his ship at the Marquesas Islands and lived among cannibals. Boarded the Australian whaler 'Lucy Ann' and left at Papeete, for a while becoming a beachcomber. Returned to the U.S. signed on as a seaman aboard the frigate 'United States' (1843-44). His early book "Typee" (1846) is based on these experiences.

Ancestor of musician Richard Melville Hall who records under the name Moby after his novel 'Moby Dick'.

Worked as a customs inspector on New York docks from 1866 to 1885.

In 2010, a species of extinct giant sperm whale, Livyatan melvillei, was named in honor of Melville. The paleontologists who discovered the fossil were fans of Moby-Dick and dedicated their discovery to the author.

American poet and novelist, whose best-known work, "Moby Dick" (1851), became basis for several films.

Born at 11:30pm-LMT

Pictured on a 20¢ US commemorative postage stamp issued in his honor, 1 August 1984.

Children: Malcolm Melville, born February 16 1849; Stanwix Melville, born October 22 1851; Elizabeth Melville, born 1853; and Frances Melville, born March 2 1855.

The ubiquitous cartoon character "Nude Dude", who advertised the eponymous brand of truss in comic books and men's magazines in the 1950s, was based on a linocut portrait of Herman Melville from the cover-art of his 1849 novel "Redburn". The complete title of the autobiographical bildungsroman cum adventure tale, published in two volumes in 1849, was "Redburn: His First Voyage, Being the Sailor-Boy, Confessions and Reminiscences of the Son-of-a-Gentleman, In the Merchant Service".

"Moby Dick" at the Lookingglass Theatre Company with The Actors Gymnasium in Chicago, Illinois was awarded the 2015 Joseph Jefferson Equity Award for Large Play Production.