Trivia of the day

Question: Who is credited with having invented the modern detective story?

Answer: Edgar Allan Poe

Although better known for his poetry and macabre short stories, Poe created the genre of detective fiction in The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841), The Mystery of Marie Roget* (1842), and The Purloined Letter (1845).

*This is itself credited with being the first murder mystery to be based upon a real crime.