Edgar Allan Poe

1809 – 1849 · died at about 40^[1][2]

Literature

Fun Facts About Edgar Allan Poe

• Edgar Allan Poe left West Point by getting court-martialed on purpose, refusing to attend formations, classes, and church.^[1]
• Poe enlisted in the U.S. Army as a private under the name Edgar A. Perry, claiming to be 22 when he was actually 18.^[1]
• From 1949 to 2009, an unknown visitor nicknamed the Poe Toaster left a bottle of cognac and three roses at Poe's original grave marker every January 19.^[1]
• Poe's 1848 essay Eureka included a cosmological theory that presaged the Big Bang theory by 80 years.^[1]
• Poe's first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems, was credited only to 'a Bostonian', and only twelve copies are believed to survive.^[1]
• Poe's literary rival Rufus Wilmot Griswold became his literary executor and tried to destroy his reputation; letters Griswold offered as proof were later revealed as forgeries.^[1]
• Edgar Allan Poe was alive at the same time as Napoleon Bonaparte — their lives overlapped for 12 years (1809–1821).^[1][2][3][4]
• Edgar Allan Poe shares a birthday with James Watt: both were born on January 19.^[1][2][5][6]

Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely regarded as one of the central figures of Romanticism and Gothic fiction in the United States and of early American literature. Poe was one of the country's first successful practitioners of the short story, and is generally considered to be one of the pioneers of the detective fiction genre. In addition, he is credited with contributing significantly to the emergence of science fiction. He is the first well-known American writer to earn a living exclusively through writing, which resulted in a financially difficult life and career.^[1]

Contemporaries

Hokusai

40 yr overlap

Jacob Grimm

40 yr overlap

Michael Faraday

40 yr overlap

Charles Babbage

40 yr overlap

Victor Hugo

40 yr overlap

Hans Christian Andersen

40 yr overlap

Abraham Lincoln

40 yr overlap

Charles Darwin

40 yr overlap

Ralph Waldo Emerson

40 yr overlap

George Sand

40 yr overlap

Mary Shelley

40 yr overlap

Carl Friedrich Gauss

40 yr overlap

Their World

Questions About Edgar Allan Poe

When was Edgar Allan Poe born?

Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809, and died on October 7, 1849.

How old was Edgar Allan Poe at death?

Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809, and died on October 7, 1849, at age 40.

What was Edgar Allan Poe known for?

Edgar Allan Poe was known for: Master of the macabre, The Raven. Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely regarded as one of the central figures of Romanticism and Gothic fiction in the United States and of early American literature. Poe was one of the country's first successful practitioners of the short story, and is generally considered to be one of the pioneers of the detective fiction genre. In addition, he is credited with contributing significantly to the emergence of science fiction. He is the first well-known American writer to earn a living exclusively through writing, which resulted in a financially difficult life and career.

Who was alive at the same time as Edgar Allan Poe?

Edgar Allan Poe's closest contemporary was Hokusai. Their lives overlapped for 40 years.