Edgar Allan Poe
"How They Croaked"
BIO
Born: January 19, 1809
Boston, Massachusetts
Died: October 7, 1849
Baltimore, Maryland
He was just 40 years old when he died of apparent alcohol poisoning. Later experts discovered that he may have been bitten by a rabid animal instead.
History
Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Eliza and David Poe. David left the family when Edgar was very young, leaving three children and their mother by themselves. When Edgar was three years old his mother died of tuberculosis. He was separated from his brother and sister and sent to live with a woman named Fanny and her husband John Allan. John and Edgar never got along. When Fanny died, of tuberculosis, Edgar was twenty and John kicked him out of the house. Even his first girlfriend and wife, both, died of tuberculosis. All of these bad things and misery led Edgar Allan Poe to writing dark stories. He wrote to cope with all of the loses he experienced.
Writer And Poet
Some of his most popular and creepy works are:
- "The Tell-Tale Heart"
- "The Cask Of Amontillado"
- "The Masque Of The Red Death"
- "The Fall of the House of Usher"
- "Ligeia"
Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe
The Poe Family
Tuberculosis
Edgar Allan Poe was considered a disaster magnet. His biological mother died of tuberculosis when he was only three years old, so did his first girlfriend, his stepmom Fanny, his older brother, and later his wife. Edgar Allen Poe's time was filled with tuberculosis and with no vaccines or antibiotics at the time, there was no way to cure it.
Lagacy
Edgar Allan Poe was known for his interesting and weird stories. He was obsessed with death and all things creepy. Here are a few of his works:
"The Raven" (1845)
"The Masque of the Red Death" (1850)
"The Pit and the Pendulum" (1850)
Important Events Timeline
1812 - War Of 1812
This was a very significant war fought between America And Britain.
1816 - "Year Without Summer"
The whole year of 1816 had absolutely no season of summer. It was cold the entire year.
This was an important event because "The Star Spangled Banner" became America's national anthem and is very important to the country.
1845 - Florida becomes the 27th state of the USA on March 3rd.
This contributes to the growth of the United States of America.
1839 - Louis Dagurre invents the daguerreotype and photography is born.
The invention of photography was a great beginning to all of the new technology that we have today.
How Poe Croaked
After Edgar Allan Poe's wife, Virginia, died of tuberculosis he sent him into a downward spiral. He didn't have enough money to keep himself stabilized, no one wanted to be around him because he was a heavy alcoholic and he felt defeated. Poe took one last attempt at finding work by taking a job in New York City but he got lost on his way and disappeared for six days.
Six days later they found him wasted at a bar, on election day. They took him to the drunk ward at the hospital to sleep of the alcohol but it never wore off. By the second day, he was jumpy and on edge and everything that came out of his mouth was all nonsense. Doctors assumed Poe was still drunk (even though the alcohol should have been out of his system by then). The day after, he refused to drink any water and, at three in the morning, the next day he died.
Cause of death
- Refuses to drink water or eat food
- Nausea and fatigue
- Twitching
- Talking gibberish
- Fever
Extra Facts
- Today, Edgar Allan Poe would be 206 years old.
- He is credited for defining the modern short story.
- He originally wanted to use a parrot instead of a raven in "The Raven".
- After his wife died he tried to commit suicide but failed and took a picture of himself right after (right).
- Four days before his death he was found at a polling place on voting day.
- Only seven people went to his funeral.
Vocabulary
Belligerent: Hostile and aggressive.
Erratic: Not even or regular in pattern or movements; unpredictable.
Delirious: In an acutely disturbed state of mind from illness or intoxication--wild excitement or ecstasy.
Realm: A community or territory over which a sovereign rules; it is commonly used to describe a kingdom or other monarchical or dynastic state.