Calendar of Literary Facts

1838

Ralph Waldo Emerson delivers his “Divinity School Address” at Harvard Divinity School
Edgar Allan Poe publishes The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, of Nantucket
The Daguerre method of photography is developed
American Indians living in the eastern United States embark on the “Trail of Tears”: a forced migration to land west of the Mississippi
The Dutch Boers defeat the Zulus in the Battle of Blood River in Natal
The First Afghan War is fought, with British troops massacred during their retreat from Kabul
Henry Adams is born (February 16)