Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809, in Boston, Massachusetts. His parents were both actors who died before he was three years old, and he was raised as a foster child in Richmond, Virginia. His rich foster father, John Allan, sent him to the best schools, and he excelled at the University of Virginia, but he got into some gambling debts, and Allan refused to pay them, so Poe was forced to leave school. He joined the army and was even admitted to the United States Military Academy, but again was forced to leave because he didn’t have the money to stay. He struggled with alcoholism and depression.

His first few sets of poetry didn’t receive much attention. He edited many literary journals for a period of about ten years, and it was during these years that he really established himself as a poet, short story author, and editor. Some of his best-known poems, including “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Raven,” were published during this time. He became one of the first to write horror and detective fiction. He’s often credited as the architect of the modern short story.

When his wife died of tuberculosis in 1847, his alcoholism and depression worsened. On October 3, 1849, he was found semi-conscious, and he died four days later of “acute congestion of the brain.” It was discovered later that he may have had rabies.