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Edgar Allan Poe Museum

The Poe Museum

Richmond, VA

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Timeline of Edgar Allan Poe’s Life

Historical Timeline

1842
Jan 1842
P. T. Barnum Introduced First Hoax

P. T. Barnum Introduced First Hoax

1842: Showman P. T. Barnum introduced his first hoax to the public. Barnum sewed the bodies of apes onto the tails of fish and advertised them as mermaids from Fiji. Barnum was a circus showman and hosted many variety shows. He was known for his publicity stunts and exploitation of people in his care.
1844
May 1844
First Telegraph Sent

First Telegraph Sent

May 24th, 1844: The first telegraph was sent. Samuel Morse sent a coded telegram consisting of dots and dashes from Baltimore to Washington D.C.

1845
Mar 1845
Stephen Perry Invented the Rubber Band

Stephen Perry Invented the Rubber Band

March 17th, 1845: British businessman Stephen Perry receives the patent for the first rubber band.

May 1845
Fredrick Douglass Published Memoir

Fredrick Douglass Published Memoir

 May 1st, 1845: Formerly enslaved man Fredrick Douglass published his memoir “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.” The memoir helped to fuel the abolitionist movement in the United States. Douglass was known as a powerful orator, an abolitionist, and also a supporter of the suffrage movement for women.

May 1845
The Franklin Expedition Set Sail

The Franklin Expedition Set Sail

May 19th, 1845: The Franklin Expedition set sail for the Northwest Passage, the previously uncharted path from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean via the Arctic. The ships were likely caught in ice and wrecked. All 128 men onboard the ships were never seen again.

1846
Sep 1846
Neptune Discovered

Neptune Discovered

September 23rd, 1846: German Astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle was the first person to discover the planet Neptune. Although previous astronomers predicted Neptune’s presence, Galle was the first to knowingly view it.

1847
Jan 1847
Deadliest Year of the Irish Potato Famine

Deadliest Year of the Irish Potato Famine

1847: Ireland experienced the most deadly year of the Irish Potato Famine. Throughout The Great Famine, over 1 million people died, and around 2.1 million people emigrated from Ireland.

Feb 1847
The Donner Party Found

The Donner Party Found

February 19th, 1847: Rescuers find the Donner Party. The Donner party was a group of 87 pioneers attempting to shorten their trek along the Oregon Trail by taking a shortcut. The group was caught in multiple snowstorms and was stuck in deadly winter conditions for months. Some resulted to cannibalism to avoid starvation. Of the 87 members, only 48 survived.

1848
Feb 1848
Communist Manifesto Published

Communist Manifesto Published

February 21st, 1848: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published “The Communist Manifesto.” They argued that capitalism would be replaced with Socialism and eventually Communism. The pamphlet called for the “forcible overthrow of all social conditions.” 

Jul 1848
Seneca Falls Convention

Seneca Falls Convention

July 19-20th, 1848: The Seneca Falls Convention met. It was the first Woman’s Rights convention in America. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott were among the organizers. One of their main goals was to secure women’s right to vote.

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Poe Timeline

1842
Mar 1842
Poe Met Dickens

Poe Met Dickens

March 1842: Edgar Allan Poe met Charles Dickens after Poe publicly — and correctly — predicted the ending to one of Dickens’ stories.

May 1842
Poe Published Major Stories

Poe Published Major Stories

1842: Poe published the following stories: “The Masque of the Red Death” (May), “The Pit and the Pendulum” (October), and “The Mystery of Marie Rogêt” (November).

1843
Jan 1843
Poe Published More Major Stories

Poe Published More Major Stories

1843: Poe published the following stories: “The Tell-Tale Heart” (January), “The Gold Bug” (June), and “The Black Cat” (August).

1844
Apr 1844
Poe Published a Hoax

Poe Published a Hoax

April 13th, 1844: Edgar Allan Poe wrote a false news story which was originally presented as a true story of a man crossing the Atlantic Ocean in three days via a giant gas balloon. The story was retracted two days later and given the name “The Balloon-Hoax.”

1845
Jan 1845
Poe Published “The Raven”

Poe Published “The Raven”

January 1845: The American Review published Poe’s poem, “The Raven”. Although “The Raven” made Edgar Allan Poe a household name, he only earned $15 from the original publication.

1846
Nov 1846
Poe Published “The Cask of Amontillado”

Poe Published “The Cask of Amontillado”

November 1846: Edgar Allan Poe, his wife Virginia, and his mother-in-law Maria moved to Fordham New York, an area now a part of the Bronx. Poe published “The Cask of Amontillado” (November) which is a story about a man seeking revenge on his enemy by fatally bricking him up inside a wall.

1847
Jan 1847
Virginia Clemm Poe Died

Virginia Clemm Poe Died

January 30th, 1847: Edgar Allan Poe’s wife Virginia died of tuberculosis at the age of 24. In December, Poe published the poem “Ulalume,” a tragic story of a man visiting the grave of his love.

1848
May 1848
Poe Continued Writing

Poe Continued Writing

1848: Poe wrote philosophical essay “Eureka” and poem “The Bells.”

1849
Jul 1849
Poe Returned to Richmond and Proposed

Poe Returned to Richmond and Proposed

July 1849: Edgar Allan Poe returned to Richmond and became engaged to his childhood romance, Elmira Royster, who was a wealthy widow.

Sep 1849
Poe’s Left Richmond for a Trip

Poe’s Left Richmond for a Trip

September 27th, 1849: Edgar Allan Poe left Richmond on a boat to Baltimore. From Baltimore, he planned to go to Philadelphia to see a client, then travel to New York to gather his things and take his mother-in-law Maria and their possessions back to Richmond to permanently live with Elmira.

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10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Sunday
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Richmond, VA 23223
804.648.5523
info@poemuseum.org

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