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Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809, in Boston, Massachusetts. His father, named David Poe Jr., and his mother, named Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe, were touring actors. Both parents died in 1811, and Poe became an orphan before he was 3 years old. He was adopted by John Allan, a tobacco merchant in Richmond, Virginia, and was sent to a boarding school in London, England. He later attended the University of Virginia for one year, but dropped out and ran up massive gambling debts after spending all of his tuition money. John Allan broke off Poe's engagement to his fiancée Sarah Royster. Poe was heartbroken, traumatized, and broke. He had no way out and enlisted in the army in May of 1827. At the same time Poe published his first book, "Tamerlane and Other Poems" (1827). In 1829, he became a West Point cadet, but was dismissed after 6 months for disobedience. By that time he published "Al Aaraf" (1929) and "Poems by Edgar A. Poe" (1831), with the funds contributed by his fellow cadets. His early poetry, though written in the manner of Lord Byron, already shows the musical effects of his verses.

Poe moved in with his widowed aunt, Maria Clemm, and her teenage daughter, Virginia Eliza Clemm, whom he married before she was 14 years old. He earned respect as a critic and writer. In his essays "The Poetic Principle" and "The Philosophy of Composition," Poe formulated important literary theories. But his career suffered from his compulsive behavior and from alcoholism. He did produce, however, a constant flow of highly musical poems, of which "The Raven" (1845) and "The Bells" (1849) are the finest examples. Among his masterful short stories are "Ligeia" (1838), "The Fall of the House of Usher"(1839) and "The Masque of the Red Death". Following his own theory of creating "a certain unique or single effect", Poe invented the genre of the detective story. His works: "The Murder in the Rue Morgue" (1841) is probably the first detective story ever published.

Just when his life began to settle, Poe was devastated by the death of his wife Virginia in 1847. Two years later he returned to Richmond and resumed a relationship with his former fiancée, Sarah Royster, who, by that time, was a widow. But shortly after their happy reconciliation he was found unconscious on a street in Baltimore. Poe was taken to the Washington College Hospital where Doctor John Moran diagnosed "lesions on the brain" (the Doctor believed Poe was mugged). He died 4 days later, briefly coming in and out of consciousness, just to whisper his last words, "Lord, help my poor soul." The real cause of his death is still unknown and his death certificate has disappeared. Poe's critic and personal enemy, named Rufus Griswold, published an insulting obituary; later he visited Poe's home and took away all of the writer's manuscripts (which he never returned), and published his "Memoir" of Poe, in which he forged a madman image of the writer.

The name of the woman in Poe's poem "Annabel Lee" was used by Vladimir Nabokov in 'Lolita' as the name for Humbert's first love, Annabelle Leigh. Nabokov also used in 'Lolita' some phrases borrowed from the poem of Edgar Allan Poe. "The Fall of the House of Usher" was set to music by Claude Debussy as an opera. Sergei Rachmaninoff created a musical tribute to Poe by making his favorite poem "The Bells" into the eponymous Choral Symphony.

Abraham Lincoln was an American politician from Kentucky. He was the second presidential candidate of the then-new Republican Party, following John Charles Frémont (1813 - 1890). He served as President of the United States from 1861 to 1865, during the American Civil War. He was assassinated in April 1865, the first of four American presidents to be assassinated during their term in office.

In February 1809, Lincoln was born in a one-room log cabin, located on the Sinking Spring Farm . The Farm itself was located near the modern city of Hodgenville, Kentucky, which was incorporated in 1836. Lincoln was the second child born to the illiterate farmer Thomas Lincoln (1778-1851) and his first wife Nancy Hanks (1784-1818). Both of his parents were born in Virginia.

Lincoln was a namesake grandson of Captain Abraham Lincoln (1744 - 1786), a military veteran of the American Revolutionary War. The senior Abraham was born in Pennsylvania, and settled in the areas of modern Kentucky in 1781. He was shot by an unnamed Native American in May 1786, while working in his field. The Lincoln family were descendants of Samuel Lincoln (1622 - 1690), an English weaver who had settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1637.

Lincoln's father Thomas bought or leased various farms in Kentucky, but lost most of his land in court disputes over property titles. In 1816, the Lincoln family settled in Indiana, which at the time had a more reliable and surveying system. Indiana was a "free-state", having abolished slave-holding in 1816. This suited Thomas' religious beliefs. He had joined the Separate Baptists, a religious group which forbade its members to own slaves.

In October 1818, Lincoln's mother Nancy died due to milk sickness. She had ingested milk cow containing the poison tremetol. She was 34-years-old at the time of her death. Lincoln was only 9-years-old at the time. The boy's primary caregiver for a while was his older sister Sarah Lincoln (1807 - 1828), who took over most household duties.

In December 1819, Lincoln's father married his second wife Sarah Bush (1788 - 1869). She was a widow, with three children of her own from a previous marriage. Lincoln grew close to his stepmother, and started calling her mother. By that time, Lincoln was old enough to start working in the farm. He reportedly never liked the physical labor, and his family regarded him as particularly lazy.

Lincoln received little formal schooling, relying on brief tutoring by itinerant teachers. He learned to read at the age of 7, but was not trained to write for several years. However, he became a bibliophile and spend most of his free time "reading, scribbling, writing, ciphering, writing Poetry, etc" He was largely self-educated, reading on a variety of topics.

As a teenager, Lincoln was "tall, strong, and athletic". He was trained in the "catch-as-catch-can" style of wrestling, a grappling style, and had a career as an amateur wrestler. He earned his reputation in the sport by defeating the leader of "the Clary's Grove Boys", a local gang of troublemakers.

In 1830, the Lincoln family moved to Macon County, Illinois. By that time, Lincoln was 21-years-old, legally entering adulthood. His relationship with his father Thomas became difficult, as young Lincoln craved for financial independence. In 1831, Thomas and most of his family settled in a new homestead, located in Coles County, Illinois. Lincoln decided not to follow them, and started living on his own. He settled for a few years in New Salem, Illinois.

In 1831, Lincoln and his partner Denton Offutt purchased a general store in New Salem. Lincoln gained a reputation of honesty, when he realized that he had accidentally overcharged a customer and voluntarily returned the money to him. By 1832, the general store had failed. The partnership was dissolved.

Also In 1832, Lincoln stood as a candidate for the Illinois General Assembly. He was an unlikely candidate, as he was rather poor and lacked political connections. He received 277 votes, nearly every vote in the village of New Salem. He lost the election as he was unknown outside this village.

In the early 1830s, Lincoln worked as New Salem's postmaster, and then as county surveyor. He aspired to become a lawyer, and read law on his own. He extensively studied legal texts in order to qualify. He later claimed that he was entirely self-taught. In 1834, Lincoln sought election to the Illinois General Assembly again. This time, he stood as a candidate for the powerful Whig Party and won the election. He served four terms in the General Assembly.

Lincoln's first known romantic relationship involved Ann Rutledge (1813 - 1835), a local woman who was reputedly engaged to another man. Rutledge died in August 1835, during a typhoid epidemic. She was only 22-years-old at the time of her death. Lincoln became severely depressed following her death. Biographers think that he wrote the poem "The Suicide's Soliloquy"(1838), to record his own suicidal thoughts during this period.

In 1836, Lincoln was admitted to the Illinois bar, and moved to Springfield Illinois to practice law. He started his career as a lawyer by practicing law under experienced lawyer John Todd Stuart (1807 - 1885), who happened to be a long-time friend of Lincoln. Lincoln gained a reputation as a formidable trial lawyer in cases involving cross-examinations.

In his political career in the 1830s, Lincoln championed the construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, which connected the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. He later served as a Canal Commissioner. He voted to expand suffrage to all white males, not only white landowners. He adopted a "free soil" policy, vocally opposing both slavery and abolitionism. He favored the plan of the Whig party leader Henry Clay (1777 - 1852) to use freedmen in the colonization of Liberia.

In 1839, Lincoln became romantically interested in Mary Todd (1818 - 1882), a daughter of the wealthy businessman Robert Smith Todd (1791-1849). They were engaged in 1840, and were married in 1842. They had four sons. Mary had a higher social standing than Lincoln, being part of the gentry in Springfield, Illinois. She had reputedly rejected several suitors. Her most notable suitor before Lincoln was the successful lawyer Stephen Arnold Douglas (1813 -1861).

In 1842, Lincoln's last term in the Illinois General Assembly ended. In 1843, he sought the Whig nomination for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. He lost the nomination to John Jay Hardin (1810 - 1847), but convinced party officials to not renominate Hardin in the next election. Lincoln won the Whig nomination in 1846, and went on to win the election. He served as a congressman from 1847 to 1849. During this time, Lincoln was the only Whig in the Illinois delegation.

During his term in congress, Lincoln proposed a bill to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, and to compensate slave owners for the loss of property. The bill failed to gain sufficient support, even from his own party. Lincoln spoke out against the country's involvement in the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), warning that the price of glory would be "showers of blood".

Lincoln did not seek renomination to Congress in the 1848 election, honoring a 1846 pledge to serve a single term. He supported Zachary Taylor's campaign to win the Whig nomination for the presidency. When Taylor won the presidential election, Lincoln expected political favors from the new president. Taylor offered to Lincoln an appointment as secretary or governor of the Oregon Territory, which was at that time a stronghold of the Democratic Party. Lincoln declined the offer, as it would require him to abandon his legal career in Illinois. He resumed life as a lawyer.

During the 1850s, Lincoln was one of Illinois' leading lawyers. He appeared before the Illinois Supreme Court in 175 cases, and was the sole counsel in 51 of these cases. He solidified his reputation as a defense lawyer in two murder trials. In the trial of Duff Armstrong (1833-1899), Lincoln was able to prove that a key eyewitness was actually lying about what he had seen. Lincoln found that the witness stood at too great a distance in nighttime conditions to have seen anything. In the trial of Simeon Quinn "Peachy" Harrison (a cousin of Lincoln), Lincoln was able to convince a judge that the dying declaration of the murder victim should not be excluded as hearsay, That declaration was that the victim had actively provoked Harrison into attacking, helping the defense's case.

In 1854, Lincoln resumed his active participation in political life by speaking out against the controversial Kansas-Nebraska Act, a law that repealing the Missouri Compromise (1820), and would allow for the expansion of slavery to the new territories of Kansas and Nebraska. The Whig Party split in two due to its factions' different reactions to the new law. The Party's anti-slavery faction helped establish the new Republican Party, which also attracted anti-slavery politicians from the Free Soil Party, the Liberty Party, and the Democratic Party.

In 1854, Lincoln stood as a Whig candidate to the United States Senate. He was not able to secure the election, but managed to convince his supporters to vote for Lyman Trumbull (1813 - 1896), an anti-slavery Democrat with similar views to their own. Trumbull won the election. In 1856, Lincoln formally joined the Republican Party. At the June 1856 Republican National Convention, Lincoln was one of the candidates for the party's nomination for Vice President of the United States. Lincoln received 110 votes, finishing second among the candidates. The vice-presidential nomination was instead won by William Lewis Dayton (1807 - 1864).

In 1858, Lincoln stood as a Republican candidate for the United States Senate. His opponent was Stephen Arnold Douglas, a leading Democrat politician. The Senate campaign featured seven debates between Lincoln and Douglas, which attracted nationwide attention. The candidates argued extensively over the legal and moral status of slavery in the United States. In this elections, the Republican Party won the popular vote, but the Democratic Party won more seats. The legislature re-appointed Douglas to the Senate. But Lincoln had become nationally famous, and he was often mentioned by the press as a likely presidential candidate.

In 1860, Lincoln received early endorsements as a presidential candidate. In the 1860 Republican National Convention, he secured the party's nomination. His most significant rival for the nomination was William Henry Seward (1801-1872), who finished second among the various candidates. Only Lincoln and Seward received over 50 votes from delegates. The party's nomination for vice president was secured by Hannibal Hamlin (1809 - 1891), a former Democrat who had opposed slavery for most of his career.

In the 1860 United States presidential election, the Democratic Party was split into two rival factions, which nominated different candidates. In the election, Lincoln received 1,866,452 votes, or 39.8% of the popular vote. In the electoral college, he received 180 votes, winning the election. Lincoln every one of the free Northern states, plus California and Oregon in the recently annexed Western United States. He received no votes at all in 10 of the 15 slave states.

Lincoln started his presidency in March 1861. By that time, 7 states had already seceded from the Union in reaction to his victory (in chronological order: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas). The American Civil War started in April 1861 with the Battle of Fort Sumter, a bombardment of a Union fort located near Charleston, South Carolina. On April 15, Lincoln called on the states to send a total of 75,000 volunteer troops to recapture forts, protect Washington, and "preserve the Union". In Baltimore rioting crowds started attacking Union forces. Lincoln suspended the right of habeas corpus in select areas, allowing the government forces to confine people without formal trials. Thousands of suspected Confederate sympathizers were confined.

Lincoln soon established his executive control over the Union's war effort, and helped shape its military strategy, He expanded his war powers, and exercising "unprecedented authority" over the country. He had the full support of the Republican-controlled Congress, as well as popular support in states loyal to the Union. His political opposition consisted of two different factions, the Copperheads and the Radical Republicans. The Copperheads were a faction of the Democratic Party which demanded a compromise on the matter of slavery, and a peace settlement with the Confederates. The Radical Republicans were a faction of the Republican Party which demanded the "permanent eradication of slavery", and rejected any ideas concerning compromises with slave-owners.

In September 1862, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared the emancipation of slaves in 10 Confederate states. The Proclamation took effect on January 1, 1863. By the spring of 1863, Lincoln had started recruiting "black troops" in massive numbers. By the end of the year, 20 regiments of African Americans from the Mississippi Valley had been recruited by the Union.

Lincoln ran for re-election in the 1864 United States presidential election. He united the main factions of the Republican Party and the War Democrats (a pro-Union faction of the Democratic Party) into a coalition known as Union Party. The remaining factions of the Democratic Party made the mistake of nominating retired general George Brinton McClellan (1826 - 1885) as their presidential candidate. McClellan held a grudge against Lincoln, but rejected any ideas concerning peace with the Confederates. Meaning that the Copperheads could see little difference between him and Lincoln.

Lincoln won the presidential election with 2,218,388 votes, representing 55.0% of the popular vote. 78% of Union soldiers. voted fort him, as they did not want a compromise to end the War. Lincoln won 212 electoral votes, and had the support of 22 out of the Union's 25 states. His new vice-president was Andrew Johnson (1808 - 1875), a prominent War Democrat.

In 1865, the Union seemed to be winning the American Civil War. On April 14, 1865, Lincoln and his wife attended Ford's Theatre in Washington D.C. They wanted to see a performance of the then-popular British play "Our American Cousin" (1858) by Tom Taylor (1817 - 1880). During the performance, Lincoln was assassinated by the well-known actor John Wilkes Booth (1838 - 1865). Booth was a Confederate sympathizer, and hoped to turn the tide of the War. Lincoln was 56-years-old at the time of his death.

Lincoln's corpse was returned for burial to Springfield, Illinois, where he had lived for decades. On May 4, 1865, Lincoln was interred at the Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield. The Lincoln Tomb later became a state historic site. His wife and three of their four sons were later buried there as well.

Historians tend to rank Lincoln among the top Presidents of the United States. Due to his violent death, he came to be regarded as "a national martyr". Several political factions trace their origins to Lincoln's ideas and policies. He has been described as "a classical liberal" of the 19th-century, and is well-regarded for his policies favoring trade and business.

Nikolai (Mykola) Gogol was a Russian humorist, dramatist, and novelist of Ukrainian origin. His ancestors were bearing the name of Gogol-Janovsky and claimed belonging to the upper class Polish Szlachta. Gogol's father, a Ukrainian writer living on his old family estate, had five other children. He died when the Gogol was 15. Young Gogol was fond of the drama class at his high school in Nezhin, Ukraine. He was strongly influenced by his religious mother, as well as by the enchanting beauty of the Ukrainian folklore. He also called himself a "free Cossac".

At age 18 Gogol moved to St. Petersburg, became a student, and later a professor of history at the St. Petersburg University. His short stories, set in St. Petersburg, became a success. His play "Revizor" (1836, The Inspector General) had its premiere in St. Petersburg attended by the Tzar Nickolai I. But it also made him many powerful enemies who hated his satire on the corrupt Russian society. It was his friend Alexander Pushkin who suggested to him the subject for "Revizor". Pushkin also suggested the main idea of "The Dead Souls" (1842), a bitter satirical story of a crook, who was buying the names of dead surfs from various greedy landlords, for a tax-evasion scheme. In his other famous story "Shinel" (1842, The Overcoat) a poor clerk is intimidated both by thieves and by the government. Gogol's discontent against the slavery and social injustices in Russia caused him trouble. He escaped to Europe for 12 years, returning to Russia briefly to publish the 1st part of "The Dead Souls".

His religious beliefs were used by the State-controlled Orthodox Church to place guilt on him and to cause interruption of his literary work. In 1848 he made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. After his return to Russia, he settled in Moscow, where he fell under the control of the fanatical Orthodox priest, Konstantinovskii, who demanded that Gogol quit writing and destroy the manuscript of the 2nd part of "The Dead Souls". Torn by his inner conflict with guilt and being under the pressure from the fanatical priest, Gogol burned his manuscript. He died nine days later in pain without having any food during his last days. In the 1931 excavation of his tomb, his body was found lying face down, which caused suspicion that Gogol was buried alive.

His style involves the elements of the fantastic and grotesque, with the taste for the macabre and absurd, following the tradition of E.T.A. Hoffmann. Fyodor Dostoevsky proclaimed, "We all came out from under his Overcoat", referring to Gogol's influence on Russian writers. Sometimes compared with Franz Kafka, Gogol had such followers, as Yevgeni Zamyatin, Vladimir Nabokov, and Mikhail A. Bulgakov.

Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 1809 - 4 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonies, concertos, piano music, organ music and chamber music. His best-known works include the overture and incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream, the Italian Symphony, the Scottish Symphony, the oratorio St. Paul, the oratorio Elijah, the overture The Hebrides, the mature Violin Concerto and the String Octet. The melody for the Christmas carol "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" is also his. Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words are his most famous solo piano compositions.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr was an American jurist and legal scholar who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932. He is one of the most widely cited U.S. Supreme Court justices and most influential American common law judges in history, noted for his long service, concise, and pithy opinions-particularly for opinions on civil liberties and American constitutional democracy-and deference to the decisions of elected legislatures. Holmes retired from the court at the age of 90, an unbeaten record for oldest justice on the Supreme Court. He previously served as a Brevet Colonel in the American Civil War, in which he was wounded three times, as an associate justice and chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, and as Weld Professor of Law at his Alma mater, Harvard Law School. His positions, distinctive personality, and writing style made him a popular figure, especially with American progressives.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson was a popular English poet. He served as Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom for 42 years (term 1850-1892). He often wrote poetry based on mythology. Among his most famous works was the "Idylls of the King" (printed in updated versions, 1859-1885), a collection of narrative poems based on Arthurian legends. It was the most famous Victorian era-version of the legends, and remains popular. His poems typically reflect intense feelings of "grief, melancholy, and loss", as Tennyson struggled with depression throughout his life.

In 1809, Tennyson was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire. Somersby is a small village, located within a range the low hills known as the Lincolnshire Wolds. His father was the Anglican clergyman George Clayton Tennyson (1778-1831). George served as the rector of Somersby (term 1807-1831), the rector of Benniworth (term1802-1831) the rector of Bag Enderby, and the vicar of Grimsby. He was shrewd at managing his money and fairly affluent throughout his career. Tennyson's mother was Elizabeth Fytche (1781-1865), daughter of another clergyman.

In 1816. Tennyson started his education at the King Edward VI Grammar School, an all-boys grammar school located in Louth. It had been established in 1551, with financing provided by Edward VI of England (1537-1553, reigned 1547-1553). Tennyson finished his schooling there in 1820.

George Tennyson was an amateur poet, and encouraged his sons to write their own poetry. In 1826, at age 17, Alfred Tennnyson co-wrote a poetry collection with two of his older brothers, These brothers were Frederick Tennyson (1807-1898) and Charles Tennyson Turner (1808-1879) ,who went on to have literary careers of their own.

In 1827, Tennyson started his tertiary education at the Trinity College of Cambridge. While there, he joined a local intellect society, the Cambridge Apostles. Tennyson met and befriended fellow poet Arthur Hallam (1811-1833) and aspiring clergyman William Henry Brookfield (1809-1874).

In 1829, Tennyson won the Chancellor's Gold Medal, a prestigious literary award granted by the University of Cambridge. In 1830, Tennyson published "Poems Chiefly Lyrical", his first solo poetry collection. Its popularity helped him build a reputation as a promising writer. Among the poems included was "Mariana", a narrative poem about a woman who is isolated from society and has suicidal thoughts. The poem was loosely inspired by the play "Measure for Measure" (1604) by William Shakespeare, but rejected the play's happy ending. It was the first poem about social isolation Tennyson ever published, and the theme would appear frequently in his future poems.

In 1831, George Tennyson died at the age of 53. Alfred Tennyson dropped out of College and returned home to the rectory. He had to financially support his widowed mother. The Tennyson family was granted permission to keep using the rectory, even after George's death. At about this point, Tennyson arranged his sister Emilia engagement to his best friend Arthur Hallam.

In 1833, Tennyson published a second poetry collection under the generic title "Poems". It included the earliest version of "The Lady of Shallott", which would later become one his most famous poets. However this collection met with harsh criticism, and Tennyson's reputation suffered. He did not dare publish anything for the next decade, though he privately continued writing poems.

In September 1833, Arthur Halam died of cerebral hemorrhage during his vacation in Vienna. Halam was only 22-years-old, and his death surprised his family and friends. Tennyson mourned him, and started writing poets in his memory. The most important of them was "In Memoriam A.H.H.", first published in 1850. It contained Tennyson's thoughts on mortality, and also his thoughts on the then-popular scientific theory of the "transmutation of species". Tennyson wondered whether life was guided by the inherent cruelty of nature, and explored the implications of natural selection a decade before scientist Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882) wrote on the same topic.

In 1837, Tennyson and his family moved away from the rectory. He settled in Beech Hill Park, within the village of High Beach. The location was deep within Epping Forest, an ancient woodland in Essex. In wintertime, Tennyson had access to a frozen pond. He enjoyed skating there. His new house was not far from London, and he could socialize with friends who lived there. His needy mother, however, demanded his presence at home. She prevented him from ever spending the night in London.

In the late 1830s, Tennyson befriended Dr. Allen, the administrator of a local asylum. Allen also managed an ecclesiastical wood-carving enterprise, and convinced Tennyson to invest in it. When this business venture failed, Tennyson lost much of the family fortune. In 1840, Tennyson moved to London.

In May 1842, Tennyson published a new poetry collection under the generic title "Poems". Some of the poems had been published before, others were brand new. Its sales were surprisingly good, and he also earned profits from its reprint in the United States. By 1846, Tennyson had earned more than 600 pound pounds sterling from this single work. This helped him escape serious financial difficulties, which had lasted for years. His critical reputation also improved, with some critics viewing as the leading poet of his generation.

In 1850, Tennyson was appointed as the new Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom. He succeeded the Romantic poet William Wordsworth (1770-1850), who died from pleurisy earlier that year. He was reportedly only chosen because the older poet Samuel Rogers (1763 - 1855) had refused his appointment to the position.

In June 1850, Tennyson married his childhood acquaintance, the hymn-writer Emily Sellwood. Emily was better at at conducting business tasks than her husband, and she became Tennyson's business manager. They would have two sons. A difficult second pregnancy left Emily with permanent health problems.

From 1851 to 1853, Tennyson and his family lived in Chapel House, a Georgian brick house located in Twickenham. The house has been preserved as a Grade II-listed building. It is considered of historical significance due to its connection to Tennyson. Other famous figures resided there during the 20th century.

In 1853, Tennyson rented Farringford House, a country house located in the Isle of Wight. In 1856, he bought the country house from its previous owners. He lived there until 1869. The place eventually attracted tourists who wanted to meet Tennyson, much to his annoyance. He moved out in 1869, but continued to use Farringford as his winter home.

In December 1854, Tennyson published the narrative poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade". It commemorated an ill-fated cavalry charge during the Battle of Balaclava (October 1854), where about 110 British soldiers were killed and other 161 wounded due to their blind obedience to an order by a superior. It became one of Tennyson's most famous poems, inspiring sequels and adaptations by other writers and musicians.

In 1865, Tennyson was offered the rank of baronet by the government, but denied the honor. In 1868, he was offered the same rank, but again denied the honor. In 1883, the Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone (1809 - 1898) offered him the rank of a baron, and Tennyson took the offer. In 1884, he was officially appointed as the 1st Baron Tennyson. It was a new hereditary title that would be inherited by his descendants. From this point Alfred became known under the name "Lord Tennyson". Tennyson was reportedly the first person to be raised to a British peerage for their writing.

Tennyson continued writing well into his old age. He tried to become a playwright as well, though his plays were not considered particularly memorable. His last major work was the play "The Foresters" (1892), featuring incidental music by Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900). It was unpopular in the United Kingdom, but met with success in the United States.

Tennyson died in October 1892, at the age of 83. He was buried at Westminster Abbey. He left an estate of 57,206 pounds sterling. His eldest son Hallam Tennyson (1852-1928) succeeded him as the 2nd Baron Tennyson. Hallam published a biography of his father in 1897. Hallam is mainly remembered for a brief term as the Governor-General of Australia (term 1903-1904).

Tennyson was succeeded as Poet Laureate with Alfred Austin (1835 - 1913), a poet chiefly noted as a nature-lover. Austin was widely considered to be inferior to Tennyson. Tennyson's fame has far outlasted many of his contemporaries, and he is among the relatively few Victorian era-writers whose works remain popular with the wider public.

Charles Robert Darwin FRS FRGS FLS FZS (12 February 1809 - 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist and biologist, best known for his contributions to evolutionary biology.His proposition that all species of life have descended from a common ancestor is now widely accepted and considered a fundamental concept in science. In a joint publication with Alfred Russel Wallace, he introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection, in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in selective breeding. Darwin has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history, and he was honored by burial in Westminster Abbey.

J.H. Ingraham was born on 26 January 1809 in Portland, Maine, USA. He was a writer, known for The Ten Commandments (1956). He died on 18 December 1860 in Holly Springs, Mississippi, USA.

William Gladstone was a British statesman and Liberal politician.

In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four terms beginning in 1868 and ending in 1894. He also served as Chancellor of the Exchequer four times. Gladstone was born in Liverpool. He first entered the House of Commons in 1832, beginning his political career as a High Tory, a grouping which became the Conservative Party under Robert Peel in 1834.

Juliusz Slowacki (French: Jules Slowacki; 4 September 1809 - 3 April 1849) was a Polish Romantic poet. He is considered one of the "Three Bards" of Polish literature - a major figure in the Polish Romantic period, and the father of modern Polish drama. His works often feature elements of Slavic pagan traditions, Polish history, mysticism and orientalist. His style includes the employment of neologisms and irony. His primary genre was the drama, but he also wrote lyric poetry. His most popular works include the dramas Kordian and Balladyna and the poems Beniowski, Testament Maj and Anhelli.

Sebastian Iradier was born on 20 January 1809 in Sauciego, Álava, Euskadi, Spain. He was a composer, known for Matchstick Men (2003), Soul Kitchen (2009) and The House of the Spirits (1993). He died on 6 December 1865 in Vitoria, Euskadi, Spain.

Fredrik Pacius was born on 13 March 1809 in Hamburg, Germany. He was a composer, known for Blyge Anton (1940), Helmikuun manifesti (1939) and Portraits of Women (1970). He was married to Nina Lucia Martin. He died on 8 January 1891 in Helsinki, Finland.

Timothy Shay Arthur was born on 6 June 1809 in Newburgh, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for Ten Nights in a Bar-Room (1931), Ten Nights in a Bar Room (1921) and Ten Nights in a Barroom (1913). He was married to Eliza Alden. He died on 6 March 1885 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

Federico Ricci was born on 22 October 1809 in Naples, Italy. He is known for Ricci: Crispino e la Comare (2016). He died on 10 December 1877 in Conegliano, Veneto, Italy.

Mariano José de Larra was born on 24 March 1809 in Madrid, Spain. He was a writer, known for Los libros (1974). He was married to Josefa Wetoret Velasco. He died on 13 February 1837 in Madrid, Spain.

J.B. Buckstone was born on 14 September 1809 in Hoxton, London, England, UK. J.B. was a writer, known for Married Life (1921) and Jack Sheppard (1912). J.B. was married to Anne Maria Honeyman and Isabelle Copeland. J.B. died on 31 October 1879 in Sydenham, London, England, UK.

Antonio Somma was born on 28 August 1809 in Udine, Kingdom of Italy [now Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy]. He was a writer, known for Masked Ball (1917), The Metropolitan Opera HD Live (2006) and How Much Do You Love Me? (2005). He died on 8 August 1864 in Venice, Veneto, Italy.

Otto Lindblad was born on 31 March 1809 in Karlstorp, Jönköpings län, Sweden. He is known for Walpurgis Night (1935), Nyordning på Sjögårda (1944) and Karl Fredrik Reigns (1934). He was married to Emma Andersson. He died on 26 January 1864 in Mellby, Sweden.

Charles d'Albert was born on 25 February 1809 in Altona, Hamburg, Germany. Charles died on 26 May 1886 in London, England, UK.

Federico Ricci was born on 22 October 1809 in Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies [now Campania, Italy]. He was a writer and composer, known for Wings (1927), Crispino e la comare: 'Vuoi tornare...' (1908) and Crispino e la comare: 'Una volta un ciabattino' (1908). He died on 10 December 1877 in Conegliano, Veneto, Italy.