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Edgar Allan Poe is born
Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. -
Poe's sister is born
Rosalie Mackenzie Poe was best known as the younger sister of American author Edgar Allan Poe. After the deaths of their parents, the children were split up. -
Poe's parents die
Poe's father and mother, Elizabeth Arnold Poe and David Poe both professional actors, died before the poet was three years old. -
Poe writes his first poem
A fifteen-year-old Edgar Allan Poe pens his first known poem: "Last night, with many cares & toils oppres'd,/ Weary, I laid me on a couch to rest." -
Poe enlists in the U.S Army and shortly after his first book is published
Poe enlists in the U.S. Army under the name "Edgar A. Perry." Shortly after, his first book—a poetry collection entitled Tamerlane and Other Poems—is published. -
Poe's older brother dies
Edgar's older brother Henry dies of either tuberculosis or cholera at the age of 27. -
Poe marries his thirteen yeear old cousin, Virginia Clemm
Poe—now 27 years old—marries his thirteen-year-old cousin, Virginia Clemm, at a ceremony in Richmond, Virginia. -
Poe writes his first novel "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym"
Poe's first novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, is published. -
Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque
Poe's story collection Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque is published in two volumes. -
Poe publishes the poem, The Raven
One of his most famous poems. -
Poe's wife Virginia dies of tuberculosis at their home in the Bronx
The loss of his wife sends Poe into a downward spiral of alcoholism. -
Edgar Allan Poe dies
After being found unconscious in a Baltimore gutter, Edgar Allan Poe is taken to the hospital and pronounced dead of causes still unknown. He is buried at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Baltimore.
