Explore 510 historical events from 1840–1849.
Robert I was the last sovereign Duke of Parma and Piacenza from 1854 until 1859, when the duchy was annexed to Sardinia-Piedmont during the Risorgimento. He was a member of the Hou…
Robert I, Duke of Parma (died 1907)
William Gilbert Grace was an English cricketer who is widely held to have been one of the sport's all-time greatest players. Always known by his initials as "WG", his first-class c…
W. G. Grace, English cricketer and physician (died 1915)
Adolphus Frederick V was reigning grand duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz from 1904 to 1914.
Adolphus Frederick V, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (died 1914)
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, was a British statesman and Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. He also later s…
Arthur Balfour, Scottish-English lieutenant and politician, 33rd Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1930)
Vilfredo Federico Damaso Pareto was an Italian polymath, whose areas of interest included sociology, civil engineering, economics, political science, and philosophy. He made severa…
Vilfredo Pareto, Italian economist and sociologist (died 1923)
Baron Loránd Eötvös de Vásárosnamény, also called Baron Roland von Eötvös in English literature, was a Hungarian physicist. He is remembered today largely for his work on gravitati…
Loránd Eötvös, Hungarian physicist and politician, Minister of Education of Hungary (died 1919)
Friedrich Ernst Dorn was a German physicist. He is best remembered for his discovery that radium emits a radioactive substance, later named radon.
Friedrich Ernst Dorn, German physicist (died 1916)
Susie King Taylor was an American nurse, educator, and memoirist. Born into slavery in coastal Georgia, she is known for being the first African-American nurse during the American …
Susie Taylor, American writer and first black Army nurse (died 1912)
Alfred David Benjamin was an Australian-born businessman and philanthropist.
Alfred David Benjamin, Australian-born businessman and philanthropist. (died 1900)
William Michael Harnett was an American painter known for his trompe-l'œil still lifes of ordinary objects.
William Harnett, Irish-American painter and educator (died 1892)
Margaret Lindsay, Lady Huggins was an Irish-English scientific investigator and astronomer. With her husband William Huggins she was a pioneer in the field of spectroscopy and co-w…
Margaret Lindsay Huggins, Anglo-Irish astronomer and author (died 1915)
Vladimir Aleksandrovich Sukhomlinov was a Russian general in the Imperial Russian Army who served as the Chief of the General Staff from 1908 to 1909 and the Minister of War from 1…
Vladimir Sukhomlinov, Russian general (died 1926)
Gustave Caillebotte was a French painter who was a member and patron of the Impressionists, although he painted in a more realistic manner than many others in the group. Caillebott…
Gustave Caillebotte, French painter and engineer (died 1894)
Melville Elijah Stone was an American newspaper publisher, the founder of the Chicago Daily News, and was the general manager of the reorganized Associated Press.
Melville Elijah Stone, American publisher, founded the Chicago Daily News (died 1929)
Andrew Onderdonk was an American construction contractor who worked on several major projects in the West, including the San Francisco seawall in California and the Canadian Pacifi…
Andrew Onderdonk, American surveyor and contractor (died 1905)
Auguste-Henri Forel was a Swiss myrmecologist, neuroanatomist, psychiatrist and former eugenicist, notable for his investigations into the structure of the human brain and that of …
Auguste Forel, Swiss myrmecologist, neuroanatomist, and psychiatrist (died 1931)
Lewis Howard Latimer was an American inventor and patent draftsman. His inventions included an evaporative air conditioner, an improved process for manufacturing carbon filaments …
Lewis Howard Latimer, American inventor (died 1928)
Mary Jane Lee was an American actress of the stage and screen.
Jennie Lee, American actress (died 1925)
Benjamin Henry Jesse Francis Shepard was a composer, pianist and writer who used the pen name Francis Grierson.
Francis Grierson, English-American pianist and composer (died 1927)
Chester Ashley was an American politician who represented Arkansas in the United States Senate from 1844 until his sudden death in 1848.
Chester Ashley, American politician (born 1790)
Tom Cribb was an English bare-knuckle boxer of the 19th century. He was All England Champion from 1808 to 1822.
Tom Cribb, English boxer (born 1781)
Baroness Anna Elisabeth Franziska Adolphine Wilhelmine Louise Maria von Droste zu Hülshoff, known as Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, was a 19th-century German Biedermeier poet, noveli…
Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, German author and composer (born 1797)
Eugénie de Guérin was a French writer and the sister of the poet Maurice de Guérin.
Eugénie de Guérin, French author (born 1805)
Archduchess Maria Leopoldine of Austria-Este was an Electress of Bavaria as the second wife of Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria.
Maria Leopoldine of Austria-Este, Electress of Bavaria (born 1776)