In the year 1774, the volunteer fire company of Trenton, New Jersey - possibly the oldest in the U.S. - is founded (Feb 7), the first Continental Congress assembles in Philadelphia (Sep 5), compulsory education for children aged 6-12 is set by Archduchess Maria Theresa, the ruler of Austria, Hungary and Croatia (Dec 6), Captain James Cook discovers several islands, German cobbler Johann Birkenstock creates the first Birkenstock sandals - and all these fine people were born:

1774-xxxx Cécile Renault* royalist/ accused of assassination attempt on Maximilien Robespierre - Paris, Kingdom of France (1794/20) 1774-0101 André Marie Constant Duméril* zoologist - Amiens, Kingdom of France (1860/86) 1774-0105 Johannes Aberli* Swiss medalist/stonesmith - Murten (1851/77) 1774-0112 Gustaf Georg Nordenswan* estate owner/founder of a major papermill - Helsinki, Sweden-Finland (1853/79) 1774-0130 Samuel Butler* scholar/ schoolmaster/grandfather of Samuel Butler (Erewhon) - Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England (1839/65) 1774-0211 Maxim Gauci* lithographer/ painter/active in England - Valletta, Malta (1854/80) 1774-0211 Hans Järta* (b Hierta) administrator/revolutionary - Husby, Dalarna, Sweden (1847/73) 1774-0215 Herman Emanuel Hornborg* surgeon/ priest/author of children’s stories - Koivisto, Sweden-Finland (1843/69) 1774-0216 Pierre Rode* violinist/ composer - Bordeaux, Kingdom of France (1830/56) 1774-0224 Prince Adolphus* Duke of Cambridge/son of King George III - Buckingham House, London, England (1850/76) 1774-0226 William Farquhar* employee of the East India Company/the first British Resident and Commandant of colonial Singapore - Newhall, Aberdeenshire, Scotland (1839/65) 1774-0227 Carl Petter Hällström** cartographer/active both in Finland and Sweden - Ilmajoki, Sweden-Finland (1836/62) 1774-0305 Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse* Danish composer - Altona, Schleswig-Holstein (1842/68) 1774-0309 Mayhew Folger* whaler who rediscovered the Pitcairn Islands while one of HMS Bounty’s mutineers was still living there - Nantucket, Massachusetts, British America (1828/54) 1774-0313 Pierre-Narcisse Guérin* painter - Paris, Kingdom of France (1833/59) 1774-0315 Mikael Choraeus* poet/ priest in Sweden - Vöyri, Sweden-Finland (1806/32) 1774-0316 Matthew Flinders* navigator/ cartographer/credited as being the first person to utilise the name Australia to describe the entirety of that continent  - Donington, Lincolnshire, England (1814/40) 1774-0324 Pierre Sanfourche-Laporte* lawyer/ author - Sarlat, Kingdom of France (1856/82) 1774-0330 Karl Adolf Brakel* Finnish soldier/farmer - Nokia, Sweden-Finland (1861/87) 1774-0409 John Stanly* lawyer/ politician - New Bern, North Carolina, British America (1834/60) 1774-0417 Václav Tomášek* Austrian-Bohemian/Czech composer/music teacher - Skutsch (1850/75) 1774-0421 Jean-Baptiste Biot* mathematician/ physicist/astronomer - Paris, Kingdom of France (1862/87) 1774-0423 Francis Austen* Royal Navy officer/elder brother of Jane Austen - Steventon, Hampshire, England (1865/91) 1774-0426 Christian Leopold von Buch* geologist/ paleontologist - Stolpe an der Oder, Kingdom of Prussia (1853/78) 1774-0428 Francis Baily* astronomer - Newbury, Berkshire, England (1844/70) 1774-0429 Anna Gottlieb* Austrian singer - Vienna, Archduchy of Austria (1856/81) 1774-0501 1774-0506 Fredrik Segercrantz* soldier/ civil servant - Akaa, Sweden-Finland (1813/38) 1774-0507 William Bainbridge* U.S. Navy Commodore  - Princeton, Province of New Jersey, British America (1833/59) 1774-0510 1774-0515 1774-0520 1774-0522 Henrik Johan Gummerus* priest/ rebellion leader/bishop on Öland - Marttila, Sweden-Finland (1836/62) DoB possibly 20.5.1775 1774-0522 Liisa Erkintytär Hunnakko** mother of Anna Jaakontytär Sillanpää - Hunnacko farm, Alavus, Sweden-Finland (1850/76) 1774-0527 Francis Beaufort* hydrographer/ rear admiral/creator of the Beaufort cipher and scale - Navan, County Meath, Ireland (1857/83) 1774-0531 1774-0601 1774-0621 Daniel D. Tompkins* Governor of New York/U.S. Vice President/Staten Island ferry pioneer - Scarsdale, New York, British America (1825/50) 1774-0624 Pehr Erik Sahlman* civil servant/ active in Finland - Uppsala, Sweden (1831/57) 1774-0630 1774-0701 1774-0710 George Dollond* optician/maker of precision optical instruments - London, England (1852/78) 1774-0712 Jonathan Friedrich Bahnmaier* German theologian/psalm maker - Oberstenfeld (1841/67) 1774-0714 Ferdinand Hartmann* German portrait and history painter - Stuttgart (1842/67) 1774-0714 Hans Graf von Bülow* German politician/statesman - Essenrode, Saxony (1825/51) 1774-0715 1774-0720 Johann Ernst Daniel Bornschein* German novelist/ playwright - Prettin, Saxony (1838/61) 1774-0720 Auguste de Marmont* nobleman/ soldier/Marshal of the Empire - Châtillon-sur-Seine, Kingdom of France (1852/77) 1774-0726 Johann Georg Friedrich Wendell* German printer/newspaper publisher - Rendsburg (1836/62) 1774-0730 Charles de Graimberg* curator/ artist/art collector - Château de Paars, Paars, Kingdom of France (1864/90) 1774-0807 José Cayetano Carreño* composer - Caracas, Province of Venezuela, Spanish Empire (1836/61) 1774-0812 Robert Southey* poet/ social critic - Bristol, England (1843/68) 1774-0814 Anders Cedervaller* printer/active in Viborg - Linköping, Kingdom of Sweden (1837/63) 1774-0818 Meriwether Lewis* soldier/ public administrator/leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition - Albemarle County, Colony of Virginia, British America (1809/35) 1774-0828 Elizabeth Ann Seton* religious sister/educator - New York City, Province of New York, British America (1821/46) 1774-0905 Caspar David Friedrich* German landscape painter - Greifswald, Swedish Pomerania (1840/65) 1774-0908 Anne Catherine Emmerich* canonized mystic - Coesfeld, Westphalia, Holy Roman Empire (1824/49) 1774-0917 Giuseppe Caspar Mezzofanti* Italian cardinal/famed hyperpolyglot - Bologna, Papal States (1849/74) 1774-0926 Johnny Appleseed* (b Chapman) pioneer nurseryman (apple trees)/conservationist/missionary - Leominster, Massachusetts, British America (1845/70) 1774-1008 Teis Lundegaard* Norwegian farmer/ politician - Lyngdal, Denmark-Norway (1856/81) 1774-1018 Adolf Müllner* German dramatic poet/critic - Langendorf (1829/54) 1774-1023 Volter af Petersén* (b Petersen) industrialist - Dragsfjärd, Sweden-Finland (1841/67) 1774-1025 Gustaf af Stenhoff* Finnish soldier/civil servant - Stockholm, Kingdom of Sweden (1818/43) 1774-1101 1774-1112 Charles Bell* anatomist/ surgeon/neurologist - Edinburgh, Scotland (1842/67) 1774-1112 Joachim Zachris Duncker* Swedish soldier/a hero of the Finnish War - Ristiina, Sweden-Finland (1809/34) 1774-1114 Gaspare Spontini* opera composer/conductor - Maiolati, Papal States (1851/76) 1774-11 1774-1129 Carl Johan Fahlcrantz* painter/ landscape artist - Stora Tuna, Kingdom of Sweden (1861/86) 1774-1202 François-André Baudin* naval officer/  - Strasbourg, Kingdom of France (1842/67) 1774-1212 William Henry* chemist/developer of Henry’s Law - Manchester, England (1836/61) 1774-1227 Axel Reinhold Cedercreutz* Finnish civil servant/royal forester - Grangärde, Kingdom of Sweden (1859/84) Updated 3.4.2023-2 Search for another year here