Author: Matt Gilligan / Source: did you know?
Edgar Allan Poe just celebrated his 210th birthday on January 19, and the troubled writer’s works remain as popular as ever.
In his 40 years on this planet (1809-1849), Poe wrote such unforgettable classics as The Pit and the Pendulum, The Tell-Tale Heart, and The Murders in the Rue Morgue, just to name a few.
Here are 5 facts about the life and work of the great Edgar Allan Poe.
1. The original “Balloon Boy”
Remember that weird Balloon Boy hoax back in 2009? Well, that little kid was just following the footsteps of Edgar Allan Poe. The writer made up a story in 1844 for the New York Sun about a man and several passengers that flew a balloon from England to South Carolina in 75 hours.
This would have been the first time a person flew a balloon across the Atlantic Ocean so it was pretty big news. Poe made up all kinds of small details that gave the story a realistic feel. The editors of the newspaper figured out the story was a hoax two days later and issued an apology to readers. What an imagination…
2. He played around with cryptography
Among other things, Poe liked to dabble in cryptography, writing and cracking codes. He started in 1839 when he asked readers of his Philadelphia newspaper to send him codes that he could crack. He published the codes and his progress on them and the results were popular among readers.
He was such a good cryptographer that he even offered to work for the administration of President John Tyler…that didn’t happen, though.
3. He didn’t get the “Allan” until later
Poe’s parents were professional actors and his father left the family when the boy was…
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