Elements of Style is 50 years old

There aren't a lot of reference books that I'd consider wishing Happy Birthday too. But Strunk & White's classic "Elements of Style" is one that I'm happy to include in that list.

This from the Associated Press:

ITHACA, N.Y. (AP) _ History's famous word collaborators include Gilbert and Sullivan, Lennon and McCartney, Woodward and Bernstein.

But while those pairs were contemporaries, William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White worked four decades apart, yet the little known turn-of-the-century Cornell University English professor and his universally famous student produced a classic that has become one America's most influential and best-known guides on grammar and usage.

"Strunk and White's The Elements of Style" has sold more than 10 million copies since its initial publication in April 1959. Its present-day publisher, Longman Publishers, has put out a special black leather-bound, gold-embossed edition in tribute of the 50th anniversary.

-You can read the whole story here.

And if you want a bit more background on the book, here's a Wikipedia article about it.