Edgar Allen Poe Fun Facts

Hey Guys!

So I haven’t done an author fun fact post in awhile, and decided that I was going to do a new post. Today I decided to list some fun facts about Edgar Allen Poe, who was a short story and poems author. I will admit I haven’t read any of his poetry, but they are definitely on my to read list.

Let’s get this list started!

He is credited as being the trailblazer for short stories
He is considered America’s first well known professional writer
His parents are believed to have named him after a Shakespeare character
When he was four his parents died, and he was taken in by a wealthy family
He published his first book when he was 18 years old
When he was 27 he married his first cousin who was only 13 at the time
He dabbled in Cryptography
His last name at birth wasn’t Allen, however he was given the name after the wealthy family took him in after his parents died
His death is still a mystery to this day
He was born on January 19, 1809
His mother was Elizabeth Arnold Poe
Edgars’s father, David, was an alcoholic and abandoned Edgar and his two siblings after Elizabeth’s death. He supposedly died 2 days later
He was obsessed with cats, and even wrote with a cat sitting on his shoulder
He is created for defining the first short story
He originally was going to use a parrot instead of a raven
In 1848 after his wife’s death in 1847, Poe attempted to commit suicide by ingesting opiates