American writer, poet and literary critic Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. In a year after his birth, Poe was separated from his biological parents and was taken in by John and Frances Allan, a successful merchant in Richmond, Virginia. Though he was never formally adopted, the Allans gave him the name ‘Edgar Allan Poe’. This picture from the Edgar Allan Poe museum in Baltimore, Marlyland. Photo: AFP

It is written that by the age of 13, Poe was prolific writer, but his literary pursuits were never really encouraged by the Allans. Unable to support himself financially, he joined the US military in 1827 and continued working there in the early years of his adulthood. The same year, Poe published his first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems, a 40-page collection of poetry, under the name ‘by a Bostanian’.  This picture is a representation of the tales of Poe at the altar of the Dead at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Photo: AFP

After the death of his elder brother, Poe started focusing on his writing career. From poetry writing, he shifted his attention to prose writing as well. However, it was his poem ‘The Raven’, which appeared in the Evening Mirror in 1845, which was an instant hit and established his fame in the American literature. India has a wide readership of Poe’s works. Since 1955, the nine of his collections have been published in six Indian languages. This picture is of a room thought to be Edgar Allan Poe's bedroom as seen in the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum, Baltimore. Photo: AFP

While working with the likes of John P. Kennedy and Thomas W. White as an editor at well-known magazines, Poe published numerous articles, short stories and reviews, many of which received mixed reviews. He was known for writing scathing critiques of his contemporaries, for which he earned the nickname 'Tomahawk Man'. This picture is of George Dwyer of Washington, DC, touring the Edgar Allan Poe House in Baltimore. Photo: AFP

In 1840, he declared his intentions to start his own journal called ‘The Stylus’, which could never be produced before Poe’s death. For the most time of his life, he was embroiled in a financial crisis and had a history of alcoholism. In the years preceding his death, Poe was known to be living in extreme distress caused by his wife’s death and lived in a cottage in Fordham, New York. He died on October 7, 1849. This photo shows the 'Edgar Allan Poe Cottage' in Bronx, New York where the writer spent last years of his life. Photo: AFP

There’s an interesting legend about an unidentified person or persons, usually described as a shadowy figure dressed in black, who have been visiting Poe’s grave in Baltimore every year in the early hours of January 19, the writer’s birthday. The figure, named as Poe Toaster in the media, would raise a toast in Poe’s memory and vanish into the night leaving three roses and an unfinished bottle of cognac. This picture shows the burial site of Poe at Westminster Hall in Baltimore, Maryland. Photo: AFP