Robert McNamara's 19th Century History

Poe's Peculiar Life - Edgar Allan Poe, one of the most influential American authors of the 19th century, was only 40 years old when he died, disoriented and intoxicated, in Baltimore in 1849. During his relatively short writing career he played a major role in establishing the short story as a literary form as well as helping to launch the genres of macabre tales, science fiction, and even detective stories. Poe’s life was always troubled. The orphaned son of actors, he was raised by a foster father with whom he had many problems. As a young man he briefly attended the University of Virginia, served in the U.S. Army, and was expelled from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He had many problems trying to support himself with his writing. And his personal problems were legendary. A drinking problem and apparent mental instability was not helped when his young wife, to whom he was deeply devoted, died a slow and agonizing death……

Casey At the Bat - The baseball poem "Casey At the Bat" became a sensation in the late 1800s after being published anonymously in a San Francisco newspaper. Its author expected his words to be quickly forgotten, but his verses secured an enduring place in American culture when a comic actor chanced to recite the poem onstage. The reaction from a New York City audience was overwhelming. And the actor DeWolf Hopper would go on to recite the story of "the mighty Casey" before thousands of other audiences over a span of decades.  The poem was written by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, a young journalist working….

John Philip Sousa - John Philip Sousa become one of the most admired Americans at the end of the 19th century as the music he wrote became closely associated with public displays of patriotism. Known as "The March King," Sousa was hailed for writing popular compositions such as "Stars and Stripes Forever" and "Semper Fidelis." Besides being a prolific composer, Sousa also became extremely popular as a the leader of performing musicians. He conducted the United States Marine Band in the 1880s, turning an overlooked ensemble into one of the best-known military bands on earth. When Sousa left the Marine Band in 1892 to form his own orchestra, the news merited a front-page story in the New York Times. In the 1890s Sousa and his orchestra toured extensively and became one of the biggest draws in American show business……

Jenny Lind - When the “Swedish Nightingale,” opera star Jenny Lind, sailed into New York Harbor in 1850 the city went crazy. A massive crowd of more than 30,000 New Yorkers greeted her ship. And what makes that especially astounding is that no one in America had ever heard her voice. Who could make so many people so excited about someone they had never seen and never heard? Only the great showman, the Prince of Humbug himself, Phineas T. Barnum.