American playwright Eugene Gladstone O’Neill was born on October 16, 1888, in New York City, New York. The son of a traveling actor, O’Neill spent much of his youth at the St. Aloysius Academy for Boys, a Catholic boarding school in the Bronx. It was here O’Neill discovered his love of reading and found great comfort in books. O’Neill went on to attend Princeton University for one year. There are several reasons given for his short stay, one of which claims he threw a beer bottle into Professor Woodrow Wilson’s window. After leaving school, O’Neill spent several years at sea. He had a deep respect for the sea and it would later serve as inspiration for several of his plays. During these early years, he dabbled with writing, contributing poems and articles for the New London Telegraph.