Who Was Alive in 1840

58 of 492 historical figures were alive in 1840

HokusaiAge 80

1760–1849 · Art

The Great Wave, Japanese master printmaker

Andrew JacksonAge 73

1767–1845 · Politics & Leadership

Seventh President of the United States

John Quincy AdamsAge 73

1767–1848 · Politics & Leadership

Sixth President of the United States

Carl Friedrich GaussAge 63

1777–1855 · Science & Invention

Mathematician called the Prince of Mathematicians

Niccolò PaganiniAge 58

1782–1840 · Music

Virtuoso violinist, the Devil's violinist

Jacob GrimmAge 55

1785–1863 · Literature

Grimm's Fairy Tales

Arthur SchopenhauerAge 52

1788–1860 · Philosophy & Thought

German philosopher of pessimism

Michael FaradayAge 49

1791–1867 · Science & Invention

Electromagnetic induction

Charles BabbageAge 49

1791–1871 · Science & Invention

Father of the computer, designed the Analytical Engine

Mary ShelleyAge 43

1797–1851 · Literature

Author of Frankenstein

Heinrich HeineAge 43

1797–1856 · Literature

German Romantic poet

Honoré de BalzacAge 41

1799–1850 · Literature

French novelist of La Comédie humaine

Victor HugoAge 38

1802–1885 · Literature

Les Misérables, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame

Alexandre DumasAge 38

1802–1870 · Literature

Author of The Three Musketeers

Ralph Waldo EmersonAge 37

1803–1882 · Philosophy & Thought

Transcendentalist essayist of Self-Reliance

George SandAge 36

1804–1876 · Literature

French novelist famous under a male pen name

Hans Christian AndersenAge 35

1805–1875 · Literature

The Little Mermaid, fairy tales

Abraham LincolnAge 31

1809–1865 · Politics & Leadership

16th US President, ended slavery

Charles DarwinAge 31

1809–1882 · Science & Invention

Theory of evolution by natural selection

Edgar Allan PoeAge 31

1809–1849 · Literature

Master of the macabre, The Raven

Frédéric ChopinAge 30

1810–1849 · Music

Romantic piano virtuoso

Robert SchumannAge 30

1810–1856 · Music

Romantic composer and influential music critic

Franz LisztAge 29

1811–1886 · Music

Piano virtuoso, composer of the Hungarian Rhapsodies

Charles DickensAge 28

1812–1870 · Literature

A Tale of Two Cities, Oliver Twist

Giuseppe VerdiAge 27

1813–1901 · Music

La Traviata, Aida — operatic master

Richard WagnerAge 27

1813–1883 · Music

Ring Cycle, revolutionary opera

Søren KierkegaardAge 27

1813–1855 · Philosophy & Thought

Danish philosopher, father of existentialism

Otto von BismarckAge 25

1815–1898 · Politics & Leadership

Unified Germany, the Iron Chancellor

Ada LovelaceAge 25

1815–1852 · Science & Invention

Often called the first computer programmer

Charlotte BrontëAge 24

1816–1855 · Literature

Author of Jane Eyre, eldest Brontë sister

Emily BrontëAge 22

1818–1848 · Literature

Wuthering Heights

Frederick DouglassAge 22

1818–1895 · Activism & Social Change

Abolitionist, orator, writer

Karl MarxAge 22

1818–1883 · Philosophy & Thought

Das Kapital, Communist Manifesto

Herman MelvilleAge 21

1819–1891 · Literature

Moby-Dick

Queen VictoriaAge 21

1819–1901 · Politics & Leadership

Longest-reigning British monarch of her era

Walt WhitmanAge 21

1819–1892 · Literature

Leaves of Grass, father of free verse

Susan B. AnthonyAge 20

1820–1906 · Activism & Social Change

Women's suffrage pioneer

Florence NightingaleAge 20

1820–1910 · Activism & Social Change

Founder of modern nursing

Friedrich EngelsAge 20

1820–1895 · Philosophy & Thought

Co-author of The Communist Manifesto with Marx

Fyodor DostoevskyAge 19

1821–1881 · Literature

Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov

Charles BaudelaireAge 19

1821–1867 · Literature

French poet of Les Fleurs du mal

Harriet TubmanAge about 18

1822–1913 · Activism & Social Change

Underground Railroad conductor

Louis PasteurAge 18

1822–1895 · Science & Invention

Germ theory, pasteurization

Gregor MendelAge 18

1822–1884 · Science & Invention

Father of genetics

Jules VerneAge 12

1828–1905 · Literature

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Leo TolstoyAge 12

1828–1910 · Literature

War and Peace, Anna Karenina

Henrik IbsenAge 12

1828–1906 · Literature

Norwegian playwright of A Doll's House

Emily DickinsonAge 10

1830–1886 · Literature

Reclusive poetic genius

Sitting BullAge about 9

1831–1890 · Politics & Leadership

Lakota leader who defeated Custer at Little Bighorn

James Clerk MaxwellAge 9

1831–1879 · Science & Invention

Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism

Alfred NobelAge 7

1833–1896 · Science & Invention

Invented dynamite, founded Nobel Prizes

Dmitri MendeleevAge 6

1834–1907 · Science & Invention

Created the periodic table of elements

Mark TwainAge 5

1835–1910 · Literature

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Andrew CarnegieAge 5

1835–1919 · Business & Industry

Steel magnate, philanthropist

John D. RockefellerAge 1

1839–1937 · Business & Industry

Standard Oil tycoon, among the richest Americans in history

Claude MonetAge 0

1840–1926 · Art

Water Lilies, father of Impressionism

Pyotr TchaikovskyAge 0

1840–1893 · Music

Swan Lake, The Nutcracker

Émile ZolaAge 0

1840–1902 · Literature

French novelist who wrote J'Accuse

Born in 1840

Pyotr Tchaikovsky

1840–1893 · Music

Swan Lake, The Nutcracker

Émile Zola

1840–1902 · Literature

French novelist who wrote J'Accuse

Claude Monet

1840–1926 · Art

Water Lilies, father of Impressionism

Also Born in 1840

Émile Zola

1840–1902 · born April 2

French writer (1840–1902)

Auguste Rodin

1840–1917 · born November 12

French sculptor (1840–1917)

Thomas Hardy

1840–1928 · born June 2

English novelist and poet (1840–1928)

Alphonse Daudet

1840–1897 · born May 13

French novelist (1840–1897)

August Bebel

1840–1913 · born February 22

German social democratic politician (1840–1913)

Ernst Abbe

1840–1905 · born January 23

German physicist, entrepreneur, and social reformer (1840–1905)

Murad V

1840–1904 · born September 21

Sultan of the Ottoman Empire in 1876

Odilon Redon

1840–1916 · born April 20

French painter (1840–1916)

Victoria, Princess Royal

1840–1901 · born November 21

German Empress in 1888

Father Damien

1840–1889 · born January 3

Belgian Roman Catholic priest and saint (1840–1889)

Died in 1840

Niccolò Paganini

1782–1840 · Music

Virtuoso violinist, the Devil's violinist

Also Died in 1840

Caspar David Friedrich

1774–1840 · died May 7

German Romantic landscape painter (1774–1840)

Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers

1758–1840 · died March 2

German astronomer (1758–1840)

Siméon Denis Poisson

1781–1840 · died April 25

French mathematician and physicist (1781–1840)

Frederick William III

1770–1840 · died June 7

King of Prussia from 1797 to 1840

Johann Friedrich Blumenbach

1752–1840 · died January 22

German physiologist and anthropologist (1752–1840)

Emperor Kōkaku

1771–1840 · died December 11

Emperor of Japan from 1779 to 1817

Frances Burney

1752–1840 · died January 6

English novelist, diarist and playwright (1752–1840)

José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia

1766–1840 · died September 20

Dictator of Paraguay from 1814 to 1840

Francisco de Paula Santander

1792–1840 · died May 6

Colombian military and political leader (1792–1840)

Sources

1840 — Wikipedia. Births, deaths and events of the year
Hokusai — Wikipedia
Andrew Jackson — Wikipedia
John Quincy Adams — Wikipedia
Carl Friedrich Gauss — Wikipedia
Niccolò Paganini — Wikipedia
Jacob Grimm — Wikipedia
Arthur Schopenhauer — Wikipedia
Michael Faraday — Wikipedia
Charles Babbage — Wikipedia
Mary Shelley — Wikipedia
Heinrich Heine — Wikipedia
Honoré de Balzac — Wikipedia
Victor Hugo — Wikipedia
Alexandre Dumas — Wikipedia
Ralph Waldo Emerson — Wikipedia
George Sand — Wikipedia
Hans Christian Andersen — Wikipedia
Abraham Lincoln — Wikipedia
Charles Darwin — Wikipedia
Edgar Allan Poe — Wikipedia
Frédéric Chopin — Wikipedia
Robert Schumann — Wikipedia
Franz Liszt — Wikipedia
Charles Dickens — Wikipedia
Giuseppe Verdi — Wikipedia
Richard Wagner — Wikipedia
Søren Kierkegaard — Wikipedia
Otto von Bismarck — Wikipedia
Ada Lovelace — Wikipedia
Charlotte Brontë — Wikipedia
Emily Brontë — Wikipedia
Frederick Douglass — Wikipedia
Karl Marx — Wikipedia
Herman Melville — Wikipedia
Queen Victoria — Wikipedia
Walt Whitman — Wikipedia
Susan B. Anthony — Wikipedia
Florence Nightingale — Wikipedia
Friedrich Engels — Wikipedia
Fyodor Dostoevsky — Wikipedia
Charles Baudelaire — Wikipedia
Harriet Tubman — Wikipedia
Louis Pasteur — Wikipedia
Gregor Mendel — Wikipedia
Jules Verne — Wikipedia
Leo Tolstoy — Wikipedia
Henrik Ibsen — Wikipedia
Emily Dickinson — Wikipedia
Sitting Bull — Wikipedia
James Clerk Maxwell — Wikipedia
Alfred Nobel — Wikipedia
Dmitri Mendeleev — Wikipedia
Mark Twain — Wikipedia
Andrew Carnegie — Wikipedia
John D. Rockefeller — Wikipedia
Claude Monet — Wikipedia
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky — Wikipedia
Émile Zola — Wikipedia

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