Donald Sobol is probably, apart from my parents, a big reason I have a mind that works. R.I.P. Encyclopedia Brown. Your 25¢ per day + expenses brought justice to those who had little other hope. And bravo for expensing an occasional sundae to the adults, too.
And of course how could they call it the FIRST Battle of Bull Run when there hadn't been a SECOND ONE YET?
Encyclopedia Brown Boy Detective was one of the first books I actually owned as a child (I lived close to a library), actually getting it from my school's Reading is Fundamental Days. I must have read that book over and over again, always forcing myself to try and "forget" how the mystery was solved so I could reread them and try to pick up the "clues"
I always wondered why that boy behind Bugs Meanie had only a floating head with no body. But it's still way better than the red cover they have for it now.
According to Amazon and Wikipedia, "The Case of the Civil War Sword" was part of the very first Encyclopedia Brown book, which probably explains why we remember it.
Well, World War I was referred to as "the first world war" as early as 1914 [1] and the term was fairly popular even before World War II, so there is some precedent.
And of course how could they call it the FIRST Battle of Bull Run when there hadn't been a SECOND ONE YET?