January 29: The $9 Poem That Made Poe Immortal

On January 29, 1845, Edgar Allan Poe published The Raven in The Evening Mirror. He earned exactly $9. Within weeks, the poem made him the most famous writer in America. Children chased him through the streets flapping their arms and cawing. He turned around, said "nevermore," and they ran away screaming. He died broke four years later.

The Magazine That Rejected It and Gave Him Charity Instead

Poe first brought The Raven to his former employer at Graham's Magazine. The editor rejected the poem and gave Poe $15 out of pity, treating the submission as a cry for help. Poe then sold it to The American Review for $9. They published it under the fake name "Quarles" before The Evening Mirror ran it under Poe's real name.

He Almost Used a Parrot Instead of a Raven

Poe originally considered making the poem's mysterious visitor a parrot. He chose a raven because the bird better suited the melancholy tone. The real inspiration came from Charles Dickens' novel Barnaby Rudge, which featured a talking raven named Grip. That stuffed raven now sits in Philadelphia's Free Library.

His Wife Was Dying While He Wrote It

While Poe crafted the poem's haunting verses about lost love, his wife Virginia was suffering from tuberculosis in the next room. The grief in the poem was painfully real. Virginia would die two years later. Poe never recovered from the loss.

Abraham Lincoln Discovered It Through a Parody About a Skunk

Parodies flooded in within weeks. The Owl, The Whippoorwill, The Turkey, and The Polecat all mimicked the poem's structure. Abraham Lincoln found The Polecat so hilarious that he looked up the original. He ended up memorizing every word of The Raven and recited it for the rest of his life.

An NFL Team, a Simpsons Episode, and 180 Years of Pop Culture

When Baltimore got an NFL franchise in 1996, over 33,000 fans voted on the name. Ravens won overwhelmingly, honoring Poe who lived, died, and remains buried in the city. The team mascots were originally named Edgar, Allan, and Poe. In 1990, The Simpsons adapted the poem for their first Treehouse of Horror, with James Earl Jones narrating and Bart as the raven. Creator Matt Groening feared it would be pretentious. Nearly 15 million households watched. Teachers still use the clip in classrooms today.