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History Daily

The Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe

History Daily

Airship | Noiser | Wondery

History

4.42.1K Ratings

🗓️ 3 October 2023

⏱️ 17 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

October 3, 1849. American author Edgar Allan Poe is seen in public for the last time when he’s found delirious in a gutter in Maryland, just a few days before he dies under mysterious circumstances.


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Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:03.7

Listen with Wondry Plus in the Wondari app,

0:06.0

or you can get all of history daily plus other fantastic history podcasts at intohistory.com.

0:20.8

It's the early hours of January 19th, 1950, at Westminster Barion ground in Baltimore, Maryland.

0:27.6

A journalist from the Baltimore Sun blows into his hands trying to keep his fingers warm.

0:32.5

It's a bitterly cold night and he should be tucked in his warm bed,

0:36.4

but tonight he's on the trail of a story.

0:39.2

The journalist has heard rumors of odd happenings that take place overnight in this graveyard.

0:44.5

Every year on the anniversary of author Edgar Allan Poe's birth, some unknown person sneaks

0:50.0

into the cemetery and leaves behind the same objects on Poe's grave, a partial bottle of cognac

0:55.8

and three roses. Tonight the reporter wants to witness exactly what happens so he can reveal it

1:01.3

to all in his newspaper column. The journalist holds his breath as a figure appears out of the gloom,

1:08.2

carrying a flashlight. The figure is dressed in a long black coat,

1:12.8

black wide-brinned hat and white scarf. And as the journalist ducks behind a tree,

1:17.6

the black clad figure heads straight for Poe's grave. He kneels and then carefully arranges

1:23.6

three roses on the grave stone. Then he stands, pulls a bottle from his coat,

1:28.5

and pours some of his contents into a glass. Then he raises his glass and clinks it against Poe's

1:34.2

headstone as though toasting the dead author. He tips his head back, downs the cognac and one gulp,

1:40.1

and then puts the bottle an empty glass on the grave. Then the dark figure turns and walks away

1:46.5

without a backward glance. The journalist emerges from his hiding place with his brow furrowed,

1:52.4

as he struggles to understand exactly what he just witnessed.

1:59.5

Years will pass and no one will ever uncover the identity of Edgar Allen Poe's annual birthday

...

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