Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift.

Famous People Born in 1820

  • Jan 9 Pavel Křížkovský, Czech choral composer and conductor (Sts. Cyril and Methodius), born in Kreuzendorf, Austrian Silesia (d. 1885)
  • Jan 17 Anne Brontë, English novelist/poet (Tenant of Wildfell Hall), born in Thornton, West Yorkshire (d. 1849)
  • Jan 18 Abraham Buford, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1884)
  • Jan 19 John Haskell King, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Sackets Harbor, New York (d. 1888)
  • Jan 20 Anne Clough, English suffragette, promoted higher education for women, first principal of New College, born in Liverpool, England (d. 1892)
  • Jan 22 Hermann Lingg, German poet and playwright, born in Lindau (d. 1905)
  • Jan 22 Johan Hendrik Koelman, Dutch portrait painter (Jahresringe) (d. 1887)
  • Jan 22 Joseph Wolf, German artist (d. 1899)
  • Jan 23 Alexander Serov, Russian composer and music critic, born in Saint Petersburg, Russia (d. 1871)
  • Jan 24 John Milton Thayer, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Bellingham, Massachusetts (d. 1906)
  • Jan 31 William B. Washburn, American politician (28th Governor of Massachusetts and Senator), born in Winchendon, Massachusetts (d. 1887)
  • Feb 1 George Hendric Houghton, American Protestant Episcopal clergyman (d. 1897)
  • Feb 2 Hans E Schack, Danish politician and writer (Phantasterne - Fantasy), born in Sengeløse, Denmark (d. 1820)
  • Feb 3 Elisha Kent Kane, US Arctic naval surgeon and Artic explorer (led expedition to Greenland discover fate of John Franklin), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1857)

Doc Durant (1820-1885)

Feb 6 American financier and railroad promoter (Transcontinental Railroad-Union Pacific), born in Lee, Massachusetts

William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891)

Feb 8 American Major General in the Union Army, born in Lancaster, Ohio

  • Feb 13 (Albert) Béla Kéler, Hungarian composer, and conductor, born in Bártfa, Kingdom of Hungary (now Bardejov, Slovakia) (d. 1882)

Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906)

Feb 15 American social reformer and women's suffrage movement leader, born in Adams, Massachusetts

  • Feb 17 Elzéar-Alexandre Taschereau, Catholic cardinal (d. 1898)
  • Feb 17 Henri Vieuxtemps, Belgian violin prodigy, composer, and teacher (Brussels Conservatory), born in Verviers, United Kingdom of the Netherlands (d. 1881)
  • Feb 20 Mahlon Dickerson Manson, American druggist politician and General (Union Army), born in Piqua, Ohio (d. 1895)
  • Feb 28 John Tenniel, English cartoonist and illustrator (Punch, Alice in Wonderland), born in London, England (d. 1914)
  • Feb 29 Adolf Schimon, Austrian German composer, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1887)
  • Mar 1 George Davis, Atty Gen (Confederacy), (d. 1896)
  • Mar 1 Richard Redhead, English organist, and composer of sacred music, born in Harrow, England (d. 1901)
  • Mar 2 Multatuli [Eduard Douwes Dekker], Dutch writer (Max Havelaar), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 1887)
  • Mar 4 Francesco Bentivegna, Italian revolutionary who led revolts in Sicily against the Bourbon rulers, born in Corleone, Sicily (d. 1856)
  • Mar 6 Horatio Gouverneur Wright, American Major General (Union Army), born in Clinton, Connecticut (d. 1899)
  • Mar 7 Emilio Faà di Bruno, Italian naval captain, born in Alessandria, Piedmont, Kingdom of Sardinia (now Italy) (d. 1866)
  • Mar 7 Gustav Heinrich Graben-Hoffman, German composer and teacher, born in Bnin, Grand Duchy of Posen, Kingdom of Prussia (d. 1900)
  • Mar 9 Samuel Blatchford, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, born in Auburn, New York (d. 1893)
  • Mar 13 Louis Hébert, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army) and civil engineer, born in Iberville Parish, Louisiana (d. 1901)

Victor Emmanuel II (1820-1878)

Mar 14 King of Sardinia (1849-61) and Italy (1861-78), born in Torino, Italy

  • Mar 17 Jean Ingelow, English poet (d. 1897)
  • Mar 17 Patrick Edward Connor, Irish-American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in County Kerry, Republic of Ireland (d. 1891)
  • Mar 20 Alexandru Ioan Cuza, 1st Prince of united Romania (land reform, emancipated peasants), born in Huşi, Moldavia (d. 1873)
  • Mar 21 Frank Mori, English composer, born in London (d. 1873)
  • Mar 24 Edmond Becquerel, French physicist who studied the solar spectrum, magnetism, electricity and optics (photovoltaic effect), born in Paris, France (d. 1891)
  • Mar 24 Fanny Crosby, American hymnist known as the "Queen of Gospel Song Writers", born in Brewster, New York (d. 1915)
  • Mar 25 Xavier de Merode, Earl of Merode, Belgian minister to Pope in Rome (d. 1874)
  • Mar 30 Anna Sewell, English author (Black Beauty), born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk (d. 1878)
  • Apr 4 Charles Devens Jr, American lawyer, jurist, statesman and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Charlestown, Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1891)
  • Apr 5 Nadar [Félix Tournachon], French photographer and balloonist, took the first aerial photograph, born in Paris (d. 1910)
  • Apr 14 Harry T. Hays, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Wilson County, Tennessee (d. 1876)
  • Apr 15 Evander McNair, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Laurel Hill, North Carolina (d. 1902)
  • Apr 16 Georg Curtius, German classical linguist, born in the Free Imperial City of Lübeck (d. 1885)

Alexander Cartwright (1820-1892)

Apr 17 American Baseball HOF pioneer (recognised as inventor of modern baseball, "father of baseball"), born in New York City

  • Apr 17 Gottfried Conradi, Norwegian composer, born in Tønsberg, Norway (d. 1896)
  • Apr 26 Alice Cary, American poet (Cincinnati Sentinel), born in Cincinnati, Ohio (d. 1871)

Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)

Apr 27 British philosopher (Social Statics) and sociologist, born in Derby, England

  • May 4 Joseph Whitaker, British publisher (Whitaker's Almanack), born in London (d. 1895)
  • May 4 Julia Gardiner Tyler, 2nd wife of President John Tyler (1841-45), born in Gardiners Island, New York (d. 1889)

Florence Nightingale (1820-1910)

May 12 British nurse who revolutionized nursing during the Crimean War, born in Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany (now Italy)

  • May 22 Alexander Fesca, German pianist and composer (Piano Septets), born in Karlsruhe, Germany (d. 1849)
  • May 23 James Buchanan Eads, American engineer and inventor (Eads Bridge-St Louis), born in Lawrenceburg, Indiana (d. 1887)
  • May 23 Lorenzo Sawyer, 9th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of California, born in Le Roy, New York (d. 1891)
  • May 27 Mathilde Bonaparte, French princess (daughter of Napoleon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte and his second wife, Catharina of Württemberg, daughter of King Frederick I of Württemberg) and socialite, born in Trieste, Austrian Empire (d. 1904)
  • May 28 Willem Doorenbos, Dutch literary and critic, born in Deersum, Netherlands (d. 1906)
  • May 30 Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau, French Canadian politician (1st Premier of Quebec), born in Charlesbourg, Quebec (d. 1890)
  • Jun 13 Henry, Prince of the Netherlands (Governor of Luxembourg, 1850-79), third son of King William II of the Netherlands, born in Soestdijk Palace, Netherlands (d. 1879)
  • Jun 14 John Bartlett, American writer and publisher (compiled Familiar Quotations), born in Plymouth, Massachusetts (d. 1905)
  • Jun 16 Athanase Coquerel, French Protestant preacher (d. 1875)
  • Jun 18 Martin Andreas Udbye, Norwegian composer and organist, born in Trondheim, Norway (d. 1889)
  • Jun 24 Henry R. Jackson, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Athens, Georgia (d. 1898)
  • Jul 2 George Law Curry, American newspaper publisher and Governor of Oregon, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1878)
  • Jul 5 William John Macquorn Rankine, Scottish mechanical engineer and physicist, born in Edinburgh (d. 1872)
  • Jul 10 Andrew Porter, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania (d. 1872)
  • Jul 22 Louis Powell Harvey, American politician, Governor of Wisconsin, born in East Haddam, Connecticut (d. 1862)
  • Jul 26 John Marshall Jones, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Charlottesville, Virginia (d. 1864)
  • Jul 27 John Franklin Farnsworth, American politician and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Eaton, Canada (d. 1897)
  • Jul 29 Clement Vallandigham, American politician (Rep-D-Ohio, convicted of opposing civil war, exiled to Confederate States), born in New Lisbon, Ohio (d. 1871)
  • Aug 2 John Tyndall, Irish physicist who demonstrated why the sky is blue and proved that the Earth's atmosphere has a greenhouse effect, born in Leighlinbridge, County Carlow, Ireland (d. 1893)
  • Aug 3 Luther Orlando Emerson, American composer, born in Parsonsfield, Maine (d. 1915)
  • Aug 3 William Miller, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Ithaca, New York (d. 1909)
  • Aug 8 Winfield Scott Featherston "Old Swet", American politician and Army Brigadier General (Confederate), born near Murfreesboro, Tennessee (d. 1891)
  • Aug 12 Oliver Mowat, Canadian lawyer and politician (Premier of Ontario 1872-96, a founder of the Canadian Confederation), born in Kingston, Upper Canada (d. 1903) [1]
  • Aug 13 George Grove, English biblical scholar and misicographer, born in Clapham, London (d. 1900)
  • Aug 13 Joseph Alberdingk Thijm, Dutch poet (Dietsche Warande), born in Amsterdam (d. 1889)
  • Aug 16 Andrew Rainsford Wetmore, Canadian politician, born in Fredericton, Canada (d. 1892)
  • Aug 20 Adolphe Fétis, Belgian-French pianist and composer, born in Paris (d. 1873)
  • Aug 24 Jacopo Tomadini, Italian composer, born in Cividale del Friuli, Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom (now Italy) (d. 1883)
  • Aug 26 James Harlan, American politician (Rep-Iowa), US Secretary of Interior (1865-66), born in Clark County, Illinois (d. 1899)
  • Aug 30 George Frederick Root, American songwriter (The Battle Cry of Freedom), born in Sheffield, Massachusetts (d. 1895)
  • Sep 3 George Hearst, American businessman and politician (U.S. Senator from California), born in Sullivan, Missouri (d. 1891)
  • Sep 17 Earl Van Dorn, American Major General (Confederate Army), born in Claiborne County, Mississippi (d. 1863)
  • Sep 17 Émile Augier, French dramatist, born in Valence, Drôme, Kingdom of France (d. 1889)
  • Sep 20 George Washington Morgan, American lawyer, politician, and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Washington County, Pennsylvania (d. 1893)
  • Sep 20 John Fulton Reynolds, American Major General (Union Army), born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania (d. 1863)
  • Sep 21 Williams Carter Wickham, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Richmond, Virginia (d. 1888)
  • Sep 23 Thomas Kilby Smith, American lawyer, diplomat and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1887)
  • Sep 26 Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, father of Bengali prose (Exile of Sita), born in Birsingha, Bengal Presidency, British India (d. 1891)
  • Oct 1 Gustav Adolf Heinze, Dutch composer, born in Leipzig, Germany (d. 1904)
  • Oct 5 David Wilber, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York), born in Quaker Street, Duanesburg, New York (d. 1890)
  • Oct 6 Jenny Lind, Swedish soprano known as the 'Swedish Nightingale', born in Stockholm, Sweden (d. 1887)
  • Oct 11 Alfred Washington Ellet, American civil engineer and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania (d. 1895)
  • Oct 13 John William Dawson, Canadian geologist, born in Pictou, Nova Scotia (d. 1899)
  • Oct 20 Benjamin Franklin Cheatham, American Major General in the Confederate Army (let General John M. Schofield escape), born in Nashville, Tennessee (d. 1886)
  • Oct 20 George Jerrison Stannard, American farmer, teacher, governmental official and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Georgia, Vermont (d. 1886)
  • Oct 23 James Monroe Goggin, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1889)
  • Nov 4 Robert Vinkler Richardson, American Brigadier-General (Confederate Army), born in Granville County, North Carolina (d. 1870)
  • Nov 9 Matthias de Vries, Dutch linguist (spelling), born in Haarlem, Netherlands (d. 1892)
  • Nov 23 Isaac Todhunter, British mathematician (d. 1884)
  • Nov 23 John Willis Ellis, American politician, Governor of North Carolina during US Civil War, born in Rowan County, North Carolina (d. 1861)

Friedrich Engels (1820-1895)

Nov 28 German social philosopher and revolutionary socialist who co-authored "The Communist Manifesto" with Karl Marx, born in Barmen, Kingdom of Prussia

  • Nov 28 Lawrence O'Bryan Branch, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Enfield, North Carolina (d. 1862)
  • Dec 2 George Scharf, British art critic and administrator (National Portrait Gallery, 1857-95), born in London, England (d. 1895)
  • Dec 5 Afanasy Fet, Russian poet, born in Mtsensk, Russia (d. 1892)
  • Dec 10 David Allen Russell, United States Army officer (Union), born in Salem, New York (d. 1864)
  • Dec 10 Princess Elizabeth of Clarence, second daughter of Duke and Duchess of Clarence, later King William IV and Queen Adelaide, born in St James's Palace, London. England (d. 1821)
  • Dec 17 Frederick Tracy Dent, American General (Union Army), born in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 1892)

Dion Boucicault (1820-1890)

Dec 26 Irish actor and playwright (London Assurance; The Poor of New York), born in Dublin, Ireland

  • Dec 26 Gustavus Adolphus Smith, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania (d. 1885)