1. Information on the Tragic Life of Edgar Alan Poe

2. Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809, in Boston, Massachussetts, to parents who were actors. His parents died when he was a toddler, so Edgar was taken into the home of a merchant, John Allan, who raised him. Never legally adopted, Poe took Allan's name for his middle name.

3. Poe attended the University of Virginia (1826), but was expelled for not paying his gambling debts. This led to a quarrel with John Allan, who later disowned him. Poe joined the U.S. Army as a common soldier under assumed name and age. In 1830, Poe entered West Point but was dishonorably discharged the next year for intentional neglect of his duties.

4. In 1836, Poe married his 13-year-old cousin Virginia Clemm. The marriage certificate said she was 21. However, she burst a blood vessel in 1842, and remained a virtual invalid until her death from tuberculosis five years later. After the death of his wife, Poe began to lose his struggle with drinking and drugs.

5. Poe suffered from bouts of depression and madness, and he attempted suicide in 1848. After his wife died, he was romantically involved with several women, and was engaged to two of them. One engagement lasted only a month – because he wouldn’t quit drinking. In September of 1849, he disappeared for three days after a drink at a birthday party and on his way to visit his new fiancée in Richmond. He turned up in a delirious condition in a Baltimore gutter and died on October 7, 1849. Mystery still surrounds his death.

6.  Mardi Gras = Fat Tuesday  The last day before Lent starts  Carnival is the season from Epiphany to Ash Wednesday (“carn” means meat or flesh in Latin)  Mardi Gras is a time to have fun before Lent, a time of sacrifice  It is celebrated in Catholic countries