Joseph Addison was an English essayist, poet, playwright, and politician born in 1672 in Milston, United Kingdom. He co-founded the Spectator magazine with his long-time friend Richard Steele. Some of his most notable works included the plays Cato and The Drummer, as well as essays he published in The Tatler and The Spectator. Cato, written in 1712, was a tragedy based on the last days of Marcus Porcius Cato and focused on themes of virtue and the struggle between liberty and tyranny. Addison died in 1719 in Kensington, England.