It’s lost to history when this dentist precisely decided his practice was too dull and that writing should be his life's pursuit.

He may have been pulling a tooth or drilling a cavity, but as the 19th Century ended, Dr. Zane Grey knew he was bored and depressed with his current life.

In the years that followed, despite publishers’ rejections and struggles with his mental health, Zane Grey became one of the most popular Western novelists in history. He was born this week, January 31, 1872.