Happy Birthday Scott Joplin. 1899, Scott Joplin, known as “the King of Ragtime,” copyrighted the Maple Leaf Rag, which sold more than 1 million copies of sheet music and launched a ragtime sensation. Born in Texarkana, Arkansas, Joplin grew up in a musical family. He worked on the railroad with other family members until he was able to earn money as a musician, traveling across the South. He wound playing at the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893, where he met fellow musician Otis Saunders, who encouraged him to write down the songs he had been making up to entertain audiences.