1809 : Edgar Allan Poe is born
On this day in 1809, poet, author and literary critic Edgar Allan Poe
is born in Boston, Massachusetts.
By the time he was three years old, both of Poe's parents had died,
leaving him in the care of his godfather, John Allan, a wealthy
tobacco merchant. After attending school in England, Poe entered the
University of Virginia (UVA) in 1826. After fighting with Allan over
his heavy gambling debts, he was forced to leave UVA after only eight
months. Poe then served two years in the U.S. Army and won an
appointment to West Point. After another falling-out, Allan cut him
off completely and he got himself dismissed from the academy for rules
infractions.
Dark, handsome and brooding, Poe had published three works of poetry
by that time, none of which had received much attention. In 1836,
while working as an editor at the Southern Literary Messenger in
Richmond, Virginia, Poe married his 13-year-old cousin, Virginia
Clemm. He also completed his first full-length work of fiction, Arthur
Gordon Pym, published in 1838. Poe lost his job at the Messenger due
to his heavy drinking, and the couple moved to Philadelphia, where Poe
worked as an editor at Burton's Gentleman's Magazine and Graham's
Magazine. He became known for his direct and incisive criticism, as
well as for dark horror stories like "The Fall of the House of Usher"
and "The Tell-Tale Heart." Also around this time, Poe began writing
mystery stories, including "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and "The
Purloined Letter"--works that would earn him a reputation as the
father of the modern detective story.
In 1844, the Poes moved to New York City. He scored a spectacular
success the following year with his poem "The Raven." While Poe was
working to launch The Broadway Journal--which soon failed--his wife
Virginia fell ill and died of tuberculosis in early 1847. His wife's
death drove Poe even deeper into alcoholism and drug abuse. After
becoming involved with several women, Poe returned to Richmond in 1849
and got engaged to an old flame. Before the wedding, however, Poe died
suddenly. Though circumstances are somewhat unclear, it appeared he
began drinking at a party in Baltimore and disappeared, only to be
found incoherent in a gutter three days later. Taken to the hospital,
he died on October 7, 1849, at age 40. ;D