On George R. R. Martin's birthday, here are some interesting facts about Game of Thrones author

George R. R. Martin's 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series has made him a household name ever since it was adapted into HBO's superhit series 'Game of Thrones'. (Photo | AP)

The latest season of 'Game of Thrones' has been telecasted in more than 170 countries and it is perhaps the most pirated show ever. In pic: Weapons from the Game of Thrones. (Photo | AP)

George R. R. Martin's favourite character from 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series is Tyrion Lannister. This very well explains the graph of Tyrion Lannister from Season 1 to the recently concluded Season 7 of 'Game of Thrones'. In pic: Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister in the finale of Game of Thrones Season 7. (Photo | HBO)

Long before 'Game of Thrones' success, George R. R. Martin was an award-winning science fiction author. The commercial failure of his fourth book 'The Armageddon Rag' almost ended his career. Due to this heartbreak, Martin started writing less and eventually started writing for television just to pay his bills. (Photo | AP)

After the disappointment of his fourth novel, Martin worked on various television shows such as 'Beauty and the Beast', 'The Twilight Zone' and 'The Outer Limits' to name a few. Even though he was earning well from his writing stint for television, he did not feel content and gradually went back to writing books. (Photo | Youtube grab of The Outer Limits)

Martin is an avid sports fan. In his college days, he worked as a sportswriter covering baseball for a recreation department in New Jersey. Not only this, he wrote two sci-fi football stories which were published in a daily. (Representational image)

'Game of Thrones' would not have existed without Chess. George R. R. Martin was working as a Chess tournament director in his 20's which gave him enough time to write. He had to work only during the weekends. (Representational image)

Ever since his childhood, Martin has been a comic book enthusiast and is now a proud owner of first edition of comic series like 'Spider Man' and 'The Fantastic Four'. (Representational image)

Those who have read 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series or watched 'Game of Thrones' would know that Martin is a history buff. He even minored in History and now has a huge collection of books in his library tower of two stories. (Representational image)