"Conan Doyle harbored such a compulsive need for adventure that it almost killed him on several occasions. He loved hot-air ballooning and racing fast cars (though, luckily, never at the same time), and as a young man, he made a habit of embarking on absurdly dangerous voyages. In 1880, while traveling on an Arctic whaling ship, he fell overboard into the icy waters so often that the captain nicknamed him “The Northern Diver.” Conan Doyle was also an ardent patriot who wrote impassioned defenses of Britain’s involvement in unpopular wars. In fact, after World War I broke out in 1914, Conan Doyle tried to enlist in the British Army. Of course, at age 55, he was considered too old to serve."
Check it out. Pretty wild stuff. Oh, and one more thing. THIS figures...stay classy Philadelphia.