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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.

Frédéric François Chopin was born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin, on March 1, 1810, in Zelazowa Wola, Masovia region, Duchy of Warsaw, Poland. His father, named Mikolaj (Nicolas) Chopin, was a Frenchman who came to Poland from Lorraine, and eventually became professor at Warsaw Lyceum. His mother, named Tekla Justina Krzyzanovska, was a relative of Polish Countess Ludwika Skarbkowa, owner of the Zelazowa Wola estate.

From 1816-1822 Chopin studied piano under professional musician Wojcech Zywny. He wrote his first piano compositions at the age of 7. In 1820, then ten-year-old Chopin moved with his parents to Warsaw. There he gained a reputation as a "second Mozart" for his piano playing. From 1823-1826 Chopin studied at the Warsaw Lyceum. In 1824 he was influenced by the Jewish folklore and composed Mazurka in A minor, called "The Jewish" by Chopin himself. From 1826-1830 he studied at the Warsaw Conservatory under pianist Wilhelm Wurfel and composer Josef Elsner. In 1829 Chopin attended a performance of Niccolò Paganini in Warsaw. In the same year Chopin gave solo concerts in Vienna and premiered his Piano Concerto No.1 in F minor. In 1830 he premiered his Piano Concerto No.2 in E minor at the National Theatre in Warsaw. He visited Vienna again in November of same year and played his two piano concertos with great success. After Vienna he continued his concert tour to Munich and Stuttgart. There he learned of the invasion of the Russian Army in Poland, and composed the Etude in C minor, called Revolutionary. Chopin chose the status of a political exile and finally emigrated to Paris, France.

From 1830-1849 Chopin established himself as composer and piano player in Paris. There he changed his name into Frédéric François Chopin. In Paris he met Franz Liszt, who initiated a friendship, and they played together in several concerts, but later became rivals. Chopin formed personal friendship with composer and critic Hector Berlioz. His other personal friends were Felix Mendelssohn and Vincenzo Bellini. In 1835 he made a trip to Dresden and Karlsbad, where he visited with his relatives and accompanied them to Poland. He became seriously ill with bronchial asthma on his way back to Paris. In 1836 he proposed to a seventeen-year-old Polish girl, named Maria Wodzinska, and she accepted. Their engagement lasted for several months, but was called off in 1837 by her mother after a certain manipulative influence by George Sand.

In October of 1836, in Paris Chopin met George Sand at a party hosted by Marie d'Agoult, mistress of Franz Liszt. Initially Chopin commented on Sand: "What an antipathetic woman". In June of 1837 Sand wrote in a letter to her friend about her agenda to abandon another affair in order to start a relationship with Chopin. George Sand was strongly attracted to Chopin, she destroyed his engagement to Maria Wodzinska, and dominated his life for nine years. Chopin and Sand had a turbulent relationship. In 1839, during their first winter vacation together on Mallorca, Sand took along her children from her previous marriage. At Mallorca Chopin did not have a decent piano to practice, while he was composing his 'Raindrop' prelude. Sand witnessed the completion of Chopin's greatest masterpiece, the cycle of 24 Preludes. He had to struggle with a poor rental piano and became unhappy and fell ill, but received little help from local doctors. Later Chopin enjoyed a better environment at Sand's estate in Nohant. There his creativity flourished during the summers of 1839 until 1843. At that time Chopin composed many important works. However, Chopin and Sand were not a good match, and eventually their differences prevailed. Sand was a pipe smoker and a flamboyant party goer. Chopin suffered from bronchial asthma and tuberculosis and needed a quiet solitude for his music. In George Sand's violent quarrel with her daughter Solange, Chopin defended the daughter. Sand left Chopin.

In February of 1848 Chopin gave his last concerts in Paris. He went to England and Scotland in November of 1848, and fell ill there. He gave his last concerts in London while being severely ill. He returned to Paris, but was unable to teach or perform for several months during 1849. Shortly before he died, sensing the end was near, Chopin had requested that Requiem by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart be sung at his funeral service at the Church of the Madeleine. He also requested that his heart be removed and brought in an urn to Warsaw, Poland. Chopin died on October 17, 1849, but could not be buried for two weeks, because the church did not allow female singers for the Mozart's Requiem. At last, the church relented and the funeral was held on October 30, 1849. A crowd of four thousand attended the ceremony. Composer Berlioz, artist Delacroix, poet Adam Mickiewicz, singer Viardot, were present among many others from cultural circles - but notably absent was George Sand. Chopin's heart was dispatched in an urn to Warsaw, and his body was laid to rest in the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris, France.

Johann Strauss Sr. was born on March 14, 1804, in Vienna, Austria. His father owned a small inn on the river Danube, and his mother was innkeeper, she died when he was seven years old. Strauss studied music with Johann Polichansky and also was an apprentice of a bookbinder. He joined a string quartet that grew into a small orchestra playing Viennese waltzes and German dances. Strauss became the leader of the orchestra, then he eventually became conductor of another orchestra. In 1825 he formed his own orchestra and began writing waltzes and other dancing music for his band.

In 1825 Strauss Sr. married Maria Ann Streim in the parish church of Liechtenthal in Vienna. They had three sons. Their elder son Johann Strauss became the most famous composer of waltzes and operettas. Their younger sons 'Josef Strauss' and Eduard Strauss deputized for their famous brother Johann Strauss when he was ailing. They continued the legacy of the Strauss Family Dynasty. In 1834 Strauss Sr. took on a mistress, named Emilie Trambusch, with whom he had eight children.

During the 1830's and 1840's Strauss Sr. became one of the most well known dance composers in Vienna. He wrote mostly waltzes, polkas, and marches, and also absorbed influences from his concert tours in other countries, where he picked up tunes of quadrille and gigue. Strauss Sr. toured with his band to France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, England and Scotland. His 1837 trip to France brought him highest international acclaim and proved his popularity with all audiences. Influential critic and composer Hector Berlioz promoted Strauss' popularity, helping his ambitious plan to perform his music in England for the coronation of Queen Victoria in 1838. After that Strauss made many more concert tours to England with his orchestra.

In Vienna he established himself at the Sperl-Ballroom as the most popular dancing music composer. He became the first entertainer to start charging a fixed entrance fee to his concerts instead of an old practice of passing around a collection plate. In 1845 his son Johann Strauss debuted at the Dommayer's Casino and immediately became his competitor. Strauss Sr. was jealous about his son's talent and success and refused to play ever again at the Dommayer's Casino. In 1848 Strauss Sr. composed his most famous piece of music titled Radetzky March. It was dedicated to Austrian Field Marshal Radetzky and remained a popular march among the soldiers. The tradition among officers was to start clapping and stomping their feet when the chorus was played. This tradition is carried over today when Radetzky March is played in classical music venues in Vienna.

Strauss Sr. survived a divorce suit which was started by his wife Maria Anna in 1844, and allowed his sons to actively pursue an independent musical career. He died from scarlet fever on September 25, 1849, in Vienna, and was laid to rest in Zentralfriedhof in Vienna, Ausria.

The youngest of the talented Brontë siblings, Anne was born January 17th, 1820 to Rev. Patrick Brontë and Maria Branwell Brontë. Her mother died of cancer when she was only a year old, and growing up Anne was especially close to her elder sister Emily Brontë. Along with their other sister, Charlotte Brontë and their only brother, Branwell Brontë, Anna and Emily invented the imaginary realms of Gondal and Angria, which absorbed most of their childhoods on the lonely Moors.

Despite her fragile health, Anne worked as a governess for some years before her brother, Branwell, entered the service of the same family she worked for. He was supposed to tutor the family's elder sons, but was dismissed in 1845 after having an affair with his employer's wife. Anne also resigned her position, and took up writing with her sisters, publishing "Poems" in 1846, a compilation of the Brontë girls' poetry. Encouraged by her literary success, Anne published two more novels, "Agnes Grey" and "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall".

After her brother Branwell and sister Emily died within three months of one another in 1848, Anne herself came down with consumption. She was taken to the seaside, which she adored, by her sole surviving sister Charlotte, in the hopes of finding a cure. Anne Brontë died at Scarborough in 1849, a victim of tuberculosis.

Though he died very young, Petôfi is the best nown Hungarian poet and is something of a national institution. He was born as the son of butcher István Petrovics and Mária Hrúz, a Slovak maid, in the Great Hungarian plains. As a young man, he became an actor and joined several theater companies but was not successful in this job and stayed quite poor. His fame began to rise when he started to publish his poems in Pest (now Budapest) newspapers. They became an immediate success due to their fresh and seemingly "simple" tone. His life's legend became even more romantic when he fell in love with a rich girl, Júlia Szendrey, and married her in 1847 in spite of her parents' disapproval. When the 1848 revolution broke out, Petôfi was enthusiastic about it and wrote a series of still well-known revolutionary poems. But his enthusiasm was not taken seriously politically. So he joined the army fighting against the Hapsburg rule and he disappeared (and probably died) in the lost Segesvár battle in 1849.

Hokusai Katsushika was born on 31 October 1760 in Tokyo, Japan. He died on 10 May 1849 in Tokyo, Japan.

He spent his childhood on an estate in Tennessee that was owned by his grandfather. Polk studied law at the University of North Carolina and became active in politics early on, where he appeared as an opponent of bank and land speculators. In the presidential campaign of 1824 he supported the candidacy of Andrew Jackson, who was a friend of his father. In 1825 Polk was elected as a Democratic Jackson supporter to the US House of Representatives, of which he was a member until 1839 and for which he served as speaker from 1835.

From 1839 to 1841 Polk rose to the position of governor of Tennessee, but failed to be re-elected to that office in 1841 and 1843. In 1844 he was chosen as the Democratic presidential candidate, who managed to unite the different branches of the Democrats under his leadership during the election campaign and achieve an electoral victory. The new US President of the United States included in his cabinet, among others, the future President James Buchanan and other ministers who largely represented the different tendencies of the Democratic Party. Nevertheless, he became distant from a democratic faction around Martin Buren. His domestic policy was characterized by successful reforms in the area of financial administration, for which he created an independent treasury.

The greatest successes of his presidency, however, were linked to the foreign policy field. In the conflict with Great Britain over jointly occupied Oregon, he achieved an extension of US territory up to the 49th parallel through the British-American treaty of June 15, 1846. Polk achieved a further increase in territory through the annexation of Texas, which, however, provoked a war with neighboring Mexico in May 1846, which the USA won in April 1848 with the capture of Mexico City. In the subsequent peace negotiations, Polk secured Mexico's renunciation of New Mexico, California and Texas in exchange for $15 million. The war thus resulted in a considerable consolidation of US territory.

On the other hand, during the war against Mexico, an opposition movement against Polk's foreign policy had emerged, partly within the Democrats. In its policy against slavery in the newly acquired southern territories, it anticipated the conflicts that would later lead to the American Civil War. Although James Knox Polk was a principled supporter of slavery, he sought to achieve an intra-party compromise by partially banning it. In 1848, Polk was no longer available as a presidential candidate in accordance with a pre-agreement within the party. Rather, he now supported the election campaign of the Democrat Lewis Cass, who, however, suffered a defeat.

James Knox Polk, who was already in poor health during his presidency, died just three months after leaving the presidential chair on June 15, 1849 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Maria Edgeworth was born on 1 January 1768 in Black Bourton, Oxfordshire, England, UK. Maria was a writer, known for Ficciones (1971). Maria died on 22 May 1849 in Edgeworthstown, County Longford, Ireland, UK [now Republic of Ireland].

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.

Otto Nicolai was born on 9 June 1810 in Königsberg, East Prussia, Prussia [now Kaliningrad, Russia]. He was a writer, known for Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (1965), The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec (2010) and Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (1918). He died on 11 May 1849 in Berlin, Prussia [now Germany].

Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich of Russia was born on 8 February 1798 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich of died on 9 September 1849 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.

James Justinian Morier was born on 15 August 1782 in Izmir, Turkey. James Justinian was a writer, known for The Adventures of Hajji Baba (1954). James Justinian died on 19 March 1849 in Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK.

Katsushika Hokusai was born in 1760 in Japan. He was a writer, known for The Pearl Driver's Tale (2020), Princes and Princesses (2000) and The Line King: The Al Hirschfeld Story (1996). He died on 10 May 1849 in Japan.

Charles Edward Horn was born on 21 June 1786 in St Martin-in-the-Fields, London, UK. Charles Edward is known for Inside Straight (1951), Appendex 4 (2023) and Alice in Wonderland (1999). Charles Edward died on 21 October 1849 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Max Schneckenburger was born on 17 February 1819 in Talheim, Kingdom of Württemberg [now Baden-Württemberg, Germany]. He was married to Luise. He died on 3 May 1849 in Burgdorf, Switzerland.

Dionisio Aguado was born on 8 April 1784 in Spain. Dionisio died on 29 December 1849 in Spain.