What If

H. G. Wells was born on this day in 1866. He wrote The Time Machine, the best science-fiction novel (and one of the best novels period) ever written, in my opinion. The War of the Worlds is pretty stunning, too. These were called "scientific romances" when first published, since the SF label hadn't been invented yet.

The Time Machine ends with this remarkable sentence: "And I have by me, for my comfort, two strange white flowers--shrivelled now, and brown and flat and brittle--to witness that even when mind and strength had gone, gratitude and a mutual tenderness still lived on in the heart of man."