Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle is best known for creating the iconic detective character Sherlock Holmes, but was also a British physician and well-known public figure. Born on 22 May 1859 in Edinburgh, Scotland, Doyle studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh. It was during this time that he started his foray into writing by submitting short stories for publications. His first story was published in Chamber’s Edinburgh Journal and was titled “The Mystery of Sasassa Valley.” 

Doyle continued to pursue both writing and medicine. In 1880, during his fourth year of medical school he served as a ship’s surgeon aboard a whaling vessel and then after graduation in 1881 he was a ship’s medical officer on a steamer traveling to West Africa. It was these adventures at sea that inspired his 1883 short stories “The Captain of the Polestar and Other Tales.” Doyle eventually settled in Portsmouth in south of England and practiced medicine while continuing his writing. 

In 1885 Doyle married Louisa Hawkins, a sister of one of his patients. Together they had two children, Mary Louise (born 1889) and Arthur Alleyne Kingsley, who they called Kingsley (born 1892). Unfortunately, his wife Louisa contracted tuberculosis and passed away in 1906 from the disease. In 1907 Doyle married Jean Elizabeth Leckie, a woman he had previously known prior to his wife’s death. Jean and Doyle had three children together, Denis Percy Stewart (born 1909), Adrian Malcolm (born 1910), and Jean Lena Annette (born 1912). 

Doyle’s first significant work, "A Study in Scarlet," introduced Sherlock Holmes and his friend Dr. John Watson, marking the beginning of a series that would become immensely popular. It was published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual in 1887. The character of Holmes, with his brilliant deductive reasoning and forensic skills, captured the public’s imagination. Doyle wrote four novels and fifty-six short stories featuring Holmes, cementing his place in literary history.

Despite his success with Sherlock Holmes, Doyle viewed his historical novels, such as The White Company, as his more serious work. However, the detective stories overshadowed his other literary efforts, much to his frustration. In an attempt to focus on other writing, he famously killed off Holmes in "The Final Problem" in 1893, only to resurrect him due to public demand.

Doyle's contributions extended beyond fiction. He had a keen interest in spiritualism, sparked by the deaths of those close to him during WWI. The war cemented his beliefs in an afterlife and spiritual communication. He wrote extensively on the subject and became a prominent advocate for spiritualist beliefs, which sometimes put him at odds with the scientific community and his contemporaries. He campaigned for various social issues, including justice for the wrongly accused, and was knighted in 1902 for his work in a field hospital during the Boer War and his pamphlet defending the British army's actions. 

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's legacy endures, primarily through the ever-popular Sherlock Holmes, whose adventures continue to be adapted into numerous films, television series and other media. But Doyle valued his 15-year medical career and said in 1910 to the entering medical school class at St. Mary’s Hospital in London, “medicine tinges the whole philosophy of life and furnishes the whole basis of thought.” And he later said to his mother, “the title I value the most is that of ‘Doctor’.” 

"The Adventure of the Dancing Men" is one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes short stories, featured in The Return of Sherlock Holmes. The tale begins with Hilton Cubitt seeking Holmes' help after his wife, Elsie, becomes distressed upon receiving mysterious drawings of stick figures, resembling dancing men. These peculiar drawings are made up of little stick figures in various poses, each holding flags or waving arms, which form a secret cipher.

Holmes, with his keen deductive skills, identifies the figures as a code and sets out to decipher them. Using frequency analysis and context clues, he translates the stick figures into letters of the alphabet, enabling him to decode the message and solve the mystery. 

This story showcases Holmes' extraordinary analytical abilities and his mastery of code-breaking. "The Adventure of the Dancing Men" remains a popular and classic example of Doyle's talent for blending mystery and suspense and is even one of Doyle’s own favorite Holmes stories. 

The Rubber Boom in the Amazon, spanning 1870 to 1918, was a period of significant economic growth and social change driven by the high demand for rubber. The Amazon Basin became the epicenter of rubber extraction due to the abundant presence of Hevea brasiliensis, or the rubber tree.

The global demand for rubber surged with the advent of the industrial revolution, particularly for use in bicycle and automobile tires. This demand catapulted the Amazon region into an economic frenzy as rubber, referred to as "black gold," became a highly sought-after commodity. The rubber tappers, or seringueiros, were central to this industry. These workers extracted latex by making incisions in the bark of rubber trees, collecting the sap, and then processing it into rubber.

Major cities like Manaus and Belém flourished, transforming into booming urban centers. Manaus, in particular, became a symbol of opulence, with its grand opera house, electric streetcars, and modern amenities that starkly contrasted the surrounding jungle. The wealth generated from rubber export was immense, yet it was unevenly distributed. The primary beneficiaries were the rubber barons, who controlled vast tracts of land and the labor force, often under harsh conditions.

The Rubber Boom in the Amazon not only brought economic growth and urban development but also led to devastating consequences for indigenous populations, amounting to what many historians and anthropologists describe as genocide.

As the demand for rubber skyrocketed, rubber barons and entrepreneurs encroached deeper into the Amazon rainforest, which was home to numerous indigenous groups. These indigenous communities, such as the Huitoto, Bora, Andoque, and Witoto people, faced brutal exploitation and violence. They were often forced into labor under horrific conditions to meet the increasing rubber production demands. Those who resisted or failed to meet quotas were subjected to extreme violence, including torture, mutilation, and execution. Women and children were not spared, facing sexual violence and enslavement. In addition, the introduction of diseases, to which indigenous people had no immunity, further decimated their populations. 

The Putumayo region in Colombia and Peru became notorious for the atrocities committed against the indigenous people. The Peruvian Amazon Company (PAC), managed by Julio César Arana, was one of the worst offenders. Reports and testimonies collected by British diplomat Roger Casement revealed the extent of the brutality. Casement's 1912 report documented widespread brutalities, including forced labor, starvation, beatings, and mass killings. The Putumayo region is only one example of these crimes, but estimates put the PAC responsible for the most extreme offense of the deaths of around 40,000 indigenous natives. 

The legacy of this period continues to influence the social and cultural landscape of the Amazon, with many indigenous groups still fighting for recognition and rights for the atrocities committed against their ancestors.

Sources:

https://www.facs.org/for-medical-professionals/news-publications/news-and-articles/bulletin/2022/03/sir-arthur-conan-doyle-md-ophthalmologist-author-and-defender-of-justice/

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/houdini-conan-doyle/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Arthur-Conan-Doyle

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Conan_Doyle

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventure_of_the_Dancing_Men

https://sherlock-holm.es/stories/pdf/a4/1-sided/danc.pdf

https://www.survivalinternational.org/articles/3282-rubber-boom

https://sammlung-digital.lindenmuseum.de/en/chapter/historical-background-the-rubber-boom_7557

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putumayo_genocide

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peruvian_Amazon_Company#Reports_of_abuse

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_rubber_cycl