Today in History
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1849: Edgar Allen Poe dies
Edgar Allen Poe died in the Washington College Hospital today after a strange affliction drove him to madness. Poe was found in the Baltimore streets on October 3, and was taken to the hospital shortly. He was frantic and delusional, and never regained coherency before his death.
“Poe became famous in literary circles, and infamous for long sodden bouts with whiskey. His loyal friend was his mother-in-law. She nursed him to sobriety, nodded agreeably to his hundredth promise, and never left his side,” eulogized The Lawton Constitution on July 27, 1976. “The world had turned its back on the genius. But not Maria Clemm. He was sent to Washington Hospital. He survived four days in screaming delirium. Edgar Allen Poe died on Sunday, Oct. 7, 1849.”
NOTE: Edgar Allen Poe remains one of the most important figures in American literary history. From poems such as The Raven and Lenore to short stories including The Fall of the House of Usher and The Masque of the Red Death, Poe’s style and voice has influenced countless authors and poets since.
Links to the Past
The Raven
The Fort Wayne Times, November 22, 1849
Poe The Epitome Of Tragic Genius
The Lawton Constitution, July 27, 1976
B-b-but, it’s only a story
The Chronicle Telegram, October 27, 1978
Trek to Baltimore for Poe’s birthday celebration
The Capital, January 21, 1994
Baltimore celebrating Poe’s 194th birthday
The Frederick News-Post, January 16, 2003
The Chronicle Telegram
October 27, 1978
First 2008 Nobel announced
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been announced, to be split between Harald zur Hausen, from Germany, for his discovery of human papilloma viruses causing cervical cancer, and Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier, from France, for their discovery of HIV, the human immunodeficiency virus.
Harald zur Hausen, a German medical scientist, specializes in the origins of cancer caused by virus infections. In 1976, he published a paper on the human papilloma virus (HPV), linking it to cervical cancer. Because of his discovery, a vaccine was developed which, when given to women between the ages of 11 and 26, protect them from HPV for the rest of their lives. NOTE: Cervical cancer causes 233,000 deaths per year.
Luc Montagnier and Francoise Barre-Sinoussi were asked to help work on the cause of AIDS. Montagnier had been speculating on a possible retrovirus, and his team explored that idea fully. In 1983, they discovered a retrovirus they named LAV, for lymphadenopathy-associated virus. The actual discovery of HIV was contested; an American team led by Robert Gallo also claimed the discovery in 1984, saying that their discovery (named HTLV-IIIB) was the true cause of AIDS and that LAV was a close-but-not-identical match. The Office of Scientific Integrity at the National Institutes of Health commissioned a group to analyze the archival samples, ending in conclusion that LAV and HTLV-IIIB were the same. NOTE: In 1986, both the French and the American names for the virus were dropped for HIV, human immunodeficiency virus.
Links to the Past
Spreading venereal disease may contribute…
The Daily Intelligencer, September 21, 1983
Cervical cancer vaccine ‘promising’
The Frederick County Leader, February 23, 2001
AIDS virus may not be fatal to everyone…
Syracuse Herald Journal, May 29, 1992
Researchers link retrovirus to AIDS
Syracuse Herald-Journal, August 26, 1983
French Say New AIDS Virus Found in Europe
Casa Grande Dispatch, November 8, 1986
Casa Grande Dispatch
November 8, 1986
2001: U.S. invades Afghanistan
The U.S. and Britain began Operation Enduring Freedom today, invading Afghanistan with the purpose of capturing Osama bin Laden, removing the Taliban government, and destroying the terrorist organization, al-Qaeda. “U.S. and British forces attacked standard targets: command posts, air defenses, aircraft, electrical plants and terrorist training bases, in bombing and cruise-missile attacks that Pentagon officials signaled could last a week or more,” explained the Indiana Gazette on October 8, 2001. “But that is the easy part. The more difficult task will be hunting down Osama bin Laden and helping the anti-Taliban foes within Afghanistan to install a new regime. In effect, the airstrikes were a conventional start to an entirely unconventional conflict.” NOTE: To this date, Osama bin Laden has not been captured.
The Post-Standard
October 8, 2001
Idaho State Journal
October 27, 1959
1916: Georgia Tech defeats Cumberland University
“Georgia Tech established a world’s record for the highest number of points ever rolled up in a football game on October 7, when Cumberland was swamped, 222 to 0,” reported the Fresno Morning Republican on October 26, 1916. “The game was a romp for the Jackets from the beginning. In the first quarter Tech started out on their run of points, piling up 63. At the beginning of the second period practically a new team was sent in and they, not to be outdone by their team-mates, ran up another 63 points before the close of the period, making the score at the end [of period 126 to 0. In the third] period 54 more points were added, and in the last quarter 42. Tech tired out a good deal towards the close of the game, otherwise the score would have been larger than it was.”
The Syracuse Herald
October 10, 1916