Agatha Christie was born on September 15, 1890 in Torquay, England as Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller to Frederick and Clara Miller. She was the youngest of three. She married Colonel Archibald Christie in 1914, a Royal Flying Corps pilot. While he was away during World War I, she worked at a local hospital as a nurse. Agatha gave birth to her daughter, Rosalind, on August 5, 1919. She published her first novel in 1920, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, which features Hercule Poirot. After her mother’s death in 1926, Agatha disappeared. One night, she left her daughter at home with the maids and went out. The next morning, they found her car several miles away. The police found her ten days later at a hotel under the name of her husband’s mistress. To this day, no one really knows why she disappeared. Some speculate that she left to gain her husband’s affections back, to publicize her recent novel, or that she experienced a form of amnesia called fugue. She divorced her husband two years later. She married an archaeologist named Max Mallowan in 1930 and spent several months each year on expeditions with him until World War II. She passed away on January 12, 1976 at the age of 85. She wrote more than 70 mystery, drama, and non-fiction novels. She created characters such as Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, and Tommy and Tuppence. Her play, The Mousetrap, opened in 1952 and is still showing in London today with over 25,000 performances.
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