 |
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1809
Edgar Poe born in Boston to actors David and Eliza Poe, 19 January |
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1809
Abraham Lincoln born
Alfred Tennyson born
JAMES MADISON
President
(1809–17)
1810
Frédéric Chopin born
P. T. Barnum born
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1811
Eliza Poe, on theatrical tour, dies in Richmond, 8 December
Edgar is
taken in by John and Frances Allan |
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1811
Richmond Theater burns; Gilbert Hunt, a slave, saves a dozen lives, 26 December
Harriet
Beecher Stowe born
1812
War of 1812 (1812–15)
Charles Dickens born
1814
“The Star Spangled Banner” composed
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1815
In England with the Allans (1815–20)
Attends school in London
and suburban Stoke-Newington |
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1815
Napoleon defeated at Waterloo
1817
Henry David Thoreau born
William Wirt, Sketches of the Life and Character of
Patrick Henry
JAMES MONROE
President (1817–25)
1819
University of Virginia founded
Washington Irving, The Sketch Book (1819–20)
Walter
Scott, Ivanhoe
Herman Melville born
Walt Whitman born
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1821
Continues schooling in Richmond (1821–25)
Shows aptitude
for Latin, poetry, acting and swimming |
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1822
Liberia established by the American Colonization Society
1823
Monroe Doctrine
1824
Lafayette tours the U.S.
Lord Byron dies
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1825
Secretly engaged to Sarah Elmira Royster |
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1825
Erie Canal opens
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS
President (1825–29) |
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1826
Student at the University of Virginia
Excels in ancient and modern
languages
Incurs gambling debts
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1826
Thomas Jefferson dies
James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans |
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1827
Quarrels with John Allan
Leaves for Boston
Enlists in U.S.
Army as “Edgar A. Perry”
Publishes Tamerlane and Other Poems in Boston
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1827
Ludwig van Beethoven dies
1828
Jules Verne born
Construction begins on Baltimore & Ohio,
first American
railroad |
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1829
Frances Allan dies, 28 February
Poe transferred to Fortress
Monroe, Virginia
Promoted to Sergeant Major
Discharged from the army in March
Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor
Poems
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1829
ANDREW JACKSON
President (1829–37)
1830
Godey’s Lady’s Book begins publication
Emily Dickinson born |
|
1831
Expelled from West Point in February
Lives in Baltimore with aunt,
Maria Clemm, and her daughter, Virginia
Poems: Second Edition contains “To Helen” |
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1831
Nat Turner’s Insurrection
1832
Virginia General Assembly defeats abolition bill
John Pendleton Kennedy, Swallow
Barn
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1833
“MS. Found in a Bottle” (short story) wins literary prize; is published
in Baltimore Saturday Visitor,
19 October
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1833
Knickerbocker magazine begins publication
Edwin Booth born |
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1834
John Allan dies, 27 March |
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1834
Southern Literary Messenger begins publication
Cyrus McCormick’s
reaper
James Abbot McNeill Whistler born
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1835
“Hans Pfaal” (first modern science fiction story) published
in Richmond’s Southern Literary Messenger, March issue
Moves to Richmond in mid-summer to join Messenger
editorial staff
Courts cousin, Virginia Clemm
Brings Virginia and her mother to Richmond
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1835
Augustus Baldwin Longstreet, Georgia Scenes
William Gilmore Simms,
The Yemassee
Samuel L. Clemens born
John Marshall dies |
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1836
Marries Virginia Clemm (age 13) in Richmond, 16 May
Increases
Messenger circulation |
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1836
Battle of the Alamo
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature
William
Holmes McGuffey, first Eclectic Reader
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1837
Resigns from Messenger
Moves to New York, January |
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1837
Victoria becomes Queen of England
Nathaniel Hawthorne, Twice-Told
Tales
Baltimore Sun begins publication
MARTIN VAN BUREN
President (1837–41)
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1838
Moves to Philadelphia
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym (novel)
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1838
Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America translated into
English
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1839
Becomes assistant editor of Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine in
June
The Conchologist’s First Book
(scientific textbook)
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1839
John D. Rockefeller born
Charles Darwin, Journal . . . of H.M.S. Beagle
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1840
Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque (2 vols.) includes “The Fall
of the House of Usher”
Quarrels with editor of Burton’s, leaves in May
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1841
Becomes editor of Graham’s Magazine in February
“Murders
in the Rue Morgue”
(first modern detective story) |
|
1841
Brook Farm established
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON
President (March–April
1841)
JOHN TYLER
President (1841–45)
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|
1842
Publishes stories:
“The Pit and the Pendulum”
“The
Masque of the Red Death”
“The Mystery of Marie Rogêt”
Interviews Charles Dickens in March
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1842
Potato famine in Ireland
Rufus W. Griswold, Poets and Poetry of America |
|
1843
Publishes stories:
“The Tell-Tale Heart”
“The Gold
Bug”
“The Black Cat”
Publishes critical essay:
“The Rationale of Verse” |
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1843
First telegraph line
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Poems
Henry
James born
Moses Ezekiel born
|
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1844
Moves to New York City
Lectures on “The Poets and Poetry of
America”
“The Balloon Hoax” (satirical story)
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1845
Publishes “The Raven” in the New York Evening Mirror, 29 January
Publishes
Tales in July
Publishes The Raven and Other Poems in November |
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1845
Mexican War (1845–46)
Texas and Florida become U.S. states
U.S.
Naval Academy opens
Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
JAMES KNOX POLK
President
(1845–49)
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1846
Moves to Fordham, New York
“The Cask of Amontillado”
(story)
“The Philosophy of Composition” (critical essay)
several Poe stories translated,
critically acclaimed in France
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1846
Smithsonian Institution founded
Herman Melville, Typee
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1847
Virginia Clemm Poe dies, 30 January
Poe falls ill
Completes
“Ulalume” (poem)
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1847
Mormons establish Salt Lake City
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline
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1848
Eureka (philosophical essay)
Reads “The Poetic Principle”
(critical essay) to audience of 1,800
Writes “The Bells” (poem) |
|
1848
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels,
The Communist Manifesto
James
Russell Lowell, A Fable for Critics
Seneca Falls, New York
Women’s Rights Convention
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1849
In Richmond to lecture and see friends in mid-summer
Engaged to widow
Sarah Elmira (Royster) Shelton, former fiancée
Leaves Richmond for New York, 27 September
Found delirious
in Baltimore, 3 October
Dies, 7 October
Poems appear posthumously:
“The Bells”
“Annabel
Lee”
“El Dorado” |
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1849
California Gold Rush
ZACHARY TAYLOR
President (1849–50)
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