Edgar Allan Poe

19 January 1809 – 7 October 1849

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was an American writer, poet and critic, a central figure of American Romanticism famed for macabre tales such as 'The Tell-Tale Heart' and the poem 'The Raven'. He is widely credited with inventing the modern detective story and died in Baltimore under circumstances that remain unexplained.

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Well-documented people whose lives overlapped with Edgar Allan Poe.

Life events

Born in Boston, Massachusetts
19 January 1809

Edgar Poe was born in Boston to actors David and Elizabeth Poe; orphaned young, he was taken in by John and Frances Allan of Richmond, Virginia.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Birth ✓
Attended the University of Virginia
February 1826 – December 1826

Poe enrolled at the University of Virginia in 1826 but left after one year amid gambling debts and estrangement from John Allan.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Enlisted in the U.S. Army and published Tamerlane
27 May 1827

In 1827 Poe enlisted in the U.S. Army under an assumed name and anonymously published his first collection, Tamerlane and Other Poems.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Briefly attended West Point
July 1830 – February 1831

Poe entered the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1830 but deliberately secured his own dismissal by court-martial in 1831.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Worked as editor and critic for literary magazines
1835 – 1845

From 1835 Poe worked for periodicals including the Southern Literary Messenger, Burton's Gentleman's Magazine and Graham's Magazine, gaining renown as a fierce critic.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Married his cousin Virginia Clemm
16 May 1836

Poe married his thirteen-year-old cousin Virginia Clemm in Richmond in 1836; her death from tuberculosis in 1847 devastated him.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Published 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue'
April 1841

Poe's 1841 tale 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue', featuring detective C. Auguste Dupin, is generally regarded as the first modern detective story.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Published 'The Raven'
29 January 1845

'The Raven' appeared in the New York Evening Mirror in January 1845 and brought Poe instant national fame, though little money.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Died in Baltimore, Maryland
7 October 1849

Poe was found delirious in Baltimore on 3 October 1849 and died four days later at age 40; the cause of his death has never been established.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Death ✓