Explore 629 historical events from 1840–1849.
Léon Bloy was a French Catholic novelist, essayist, pamphleteer, and satirist, known additionally for his eventual defense of Catholicism and for his influence within French Cathol…
Léon Bloy, French author and poet (died 1917)
Edward Charles Pickering was an American astronomer and physicist and the older brother of William Henry Pickering. Along with Carl Vogel, Pickering discovered the first spectrosco…
Edward Charles Pickering, American astronomer and physicist (died 1919)
Sophie Menter was a German pianist and composer who became the favorite female student of Franz Liszt. She was called l'incarnation de Liszt in Paris because of her robust, electri…
Sophie Menter, German pianist and composer (died 1918)
Dona Isabel, known as "the Redemptress", was the Princess Imperial of Brazil and heir presumptive to the throne of the Empire of Brazil. She served as regent of the empire on three…
Isabel, Brazilian princess (died 1921)
Anna Haining Bates was a Canadian woman notable for her great stature of 7 feet 11 inches (2.41 m). She was one of the tallest women who ever lived. Her parents were of average hei…
Anna Haining Bates, Canadian-American giant (died 1888)
Luis Martín García was a Spanish Jesuit, elected the twenty-fourth Superior General of the Society of Jesus.
Luis Martín, Spanish religious leader, 24th Superior General of the Society of Jesus (died 1906)
Alexander Milne Calder was a Scottish-American sculptor. He produced over 250 architectural sculptures over 30 years for the construction of Philadelphia City Hall including the 37…
Alexander Milne Calder, Scottish-American sculptor (died 1923)
Daniel Hudson Burnham was an American architect and urban designer. A proponent of the Beaux-Arts movement, he may have been "the most successful power broker the American architec…
Daniel Burnham, American architect, designed the World's Columbian Exposition (died 1912)
Sir Catchick Paul Chater was a prominent British businessman of Armenian descent in colonial Hong Kong, whose family roots were in Calcutta, India.
Paul Chater, Indian-Hong Kong businessman and politician (died 1926)
George Franklin Grant was the first African-American professor at Harvard. He was also a Boston dentist, and an inventor of an early composite golf tee made from wood and natural r…
George Franklin Grant, African-American educator, dentist, and inventor (died 1910)
Anna Kingsford was an English anti-vivisectionist, Theosophist, a proponent of vegetarianism and a women's rights campaigner.
Anna Kingsford, English author, poet, and activist (died 1888)
Richard Bernhard With was a Norwegian ship captain, businessman, and politician for the Liberal Left Party. He is known as the founder of the shipping companies Vesteraalens Dampsk…
Richard With, Norwegian captain, businessman, and politician, founded Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab (died 1930)
Mihály Kolossa was a Slovene ploughman and writer in Hungary.
Mihály Kolossa, Hungarian-Slovene author and poet (died 1906)
Nectarios of Aegina, Metropolitan of Pentapolis and Wonderworker of Aegina, is one of the most renowned Greek saints, venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church. On 20 April 1961, Pa…
Nectarios of Aegina, Greek metropolitan and saint (died 1920)
James Jackson Putnam was an American neurologist.
James Jackson Putnam, American neurologist and academic (died 1918)
Philip Konrad Marheineke was a German Protestant theologian and church leader within the Evangelical Church in Prussia.
Philip Marheineke, German pastor and philosopher (born 1780)
Pope Gregory XVI was head of the Catholic Church and leader of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in June 1846. He had adopted the name Mauro upon entering the reli…
Pope Gregory XVI (born 1765)
Rodolphe Töpffer was a Swiss teacher, author, painter, cartoonist, and caricaturist. He is best known for his illustrated books, which are possibly the earliest European comics. He…
Rodolphe Töpffer, Swiss teacher, author, painter, cartoonist, and caricaturist (born 1799)
José Núñez de Cáceres y Albor was a Dominican revolutionary and writer. Known for being the leader of the first Dominican independence movement against Spain in 1821, his actions p…
José Núñez de Cáceres, Dominican politician and writer, leader of the Independence movement of the Dominican Republic…
George Westinghouse Jr. was a prolific American inventor, engineer, and entrepreneurial industrialist based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is best known for his creation of the ra…
George Westinghouse, American engineer and businessman, founded the Westinghouse Air Brake Company (died 1914)
Georges Auguste Escoffier was a French chef, restaurateur and culinary writer who popularised and updated traditional French cooking methods. Much of Escoffier's technique was base…
Auguste Escoffier, French chef and author (died 1935)
Domenico Carlo Maria Dragonetti was an Italian double bass virtuoso and composer with a three string double bass. He stayed for thirty years in his hometown of Venice, Republic of …
Domenico Dragonetti, Italian bassist and composer (born 1763)
Jean-Baptiste Benoît Eyriès was a French geographer, author and translator, best remembered in the English speaking world for his translation of German ghost stories Fantasmagorian…
Jean-Baptiste Benoît Eyriès, French geographer and author (born 1767)
John Ainsworth Horrocks was an English pastoralist and explorer who was one of the first European settlers in the Clare Valley of South Australia where, in 1840, he established the…
John Ainsworth Horrocks, English-Australian explorer (born 1818)