British novelist Charles Dickens was born on 7th February, 1812, in Portsmouth, England. Over the course of his writing career, he wrote the beloved classic novels Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations. He became known for his remarkable characters, his mastery of prose in the telling of their lives and his depictions of the social classes, morals and values of his times. On 9th June, 1870, Dickens died of a stroke in Kent, England, leaving his final novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, unfinished. He achieved critical and popular international success in his lifetime and was honored with burial in Westminster Abbey.