Rudyard Kipling died on January 18th 1936, in hospital in
London, not long after his 70th birthday. Incidentally, January 18th is also
the date on which Kipling got married – in 1892.
He might have lived longer if the source of his suffering
and illness had been correctly diagnosed and suitably treated much earlier.
I was amused to read that Rudyard Kipling's death was
prematurely reported in a magazine to which he immediately wrote, "I've
just read that I am dead. Don't forget to delete me from your list of
subscribers."
King George V, who was also born in 1865 and who was a
personal friend of Kipling’s, died two days later, on 20th January 1936. He too
might have lived longer, but perhaps by a few hours only, if he had not
received a certain treatment: his death was deliberately speeded up with a
lethal injection from his doctor so that the announcement could appear in the
morning papers.
