Tomorrow will mark 200 years since February 7, 1812, the day that famous author Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England.

True to British form, the city will hold a street party to celebrate the bicentenary.

But the celebrations will not stop there, or in Portsmouth for that matter. A USA Today article reports that Prince Charles will attend a wreath-laying at Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey, and countries around the world will hold a 24-hour Dickens read-a-thon, “from Australia to Zimbabwe, with readings from Oliver Twist in India and A Christmas Carol in Kazakhstan.

And Dickens is reinventing the birth date, week and month. With many people popularly celebrating their birthday for a period longer than the allocated 24 hours, Dickens will be celebrated throughout the remainder of 2012 and certainly beyond.

Later in the year, the Museum of London will open a Dickens and London exhibition, using “original artifacts, projections and a soundtrack to explore Dickens’ ties to the city and how it inspired so much of his work.”

The National Portrait Gallery in London is also holding an exhibition called Charles Dickens: Life & Legacy, which is on through April 12.

Although the Charles Dickens Museum (the author’s actual former home) will be closed for the remainder of the year, there will be even more celebrations when it opens for Christmas 2012.

Celebrations will also cross the pond where, in New York, the Morgan Library & Museum will offer free admission through February 12 to Charles Dickens at 200, featuring letters and manuscripts written by the famed author.

Visitors on cheap flights to London can add these celebrations to the long list of events going on in city this year, including the 2012 Olympic Games and Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee.

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Source: USA Today
Flickr Photo Credit: freeloosedirt