In the year 1839, the first photograph of the Moon is taken by the French photographer Louis Daguerre (Jan 2), the Boston Morning Post first records the use of “O.K” (which stands for “oll korrekt”) (Mar 23), the world’s first commercial electric telegraph line comes into operation in England (Apr 9), Daguerre receives a patent for his camera (Jun 22), British forces seize Hong Kong as a base, as it prepares to wage the First Opium War (Aug 23) - and all these fine people were born:
1839-xxxx Ada Cavendish* actress - England (1895/c.56)
1839-0108 William A. Clark* entrepreneur/mining millionaire/senator - Connellsville, PA USA (1925/86)
1839-0109 John Knowles Paine* composer/ of the Boston Six - Maine USA (1906/67)
1839-0111 Elisabeth Järnefelt* (b Clodt von Jürgensburg) Finnish salonist/“the mother of Finnish art and culture”/mother-in-law of Jean Sibelius - St. Petersburg, Russian Empire (1929/90)
1839-0113 Theodore Cooper* engineer/Quebec Bridge - Coopers Plains, NY USA (1919/80)
1839-0119 Paul Cézanne* painter - Aix-en-Provence, France (1906/67)
1839-0127 Nikolai Bobrikov* general/ politician - St. Petersburg, Russian Empire (1904/65)
1839-0206 Caroline Testman* women’s rights activist - Copenhagen, Denmark (1919/80)
1839-0211 Josiah Willard Gibbs* scientist - New Haven, CT USA (1903/64)
1839-0214 Julia Green Scott* (b Green) socialite/ businesswoman/philanthropist - Danville, KY USA (1923/84)
1839-0228
1839-0307 Ludwig Mond* chemist/ industrialist - Kassel, Germany (1909/70)
1839-0308 Josephine Cochrane* inventor of dishwasher - Ashtabula County, OH USA (1913/74)
1839-0316 Sully Prudhomme* poet/ essayist/N - Paris, France (1907/68)
1839-0321 Modest Mussorgsky* composer - Karevo, Russian Empire (1881/41)
1839-0326 Ada Buisson* author/ novelist/ghost story writer - Battersea, London, England (1866/27)
1839-0331
1839-0401
1839-0424 Fredrik Ahlstedt* landscape and portrait painter - Turku, GD of Finland (1901/62)
1839-0429 Marcellus Stearns* politician/ Governor of Florida - Lovell, ME USA (1891/52)
1839-0501 Hilaire de Chardonnet* engineer/ industrialist/inventor of artificial silk - Besançon, France (1924/84)
1839-0514 Frederic W. Tilton* educator - Cambridge, MA USA (1918/79)
1839-0606 Asa Mercer* politician/known for the Mercer Girls in Seattle - Princeton, IL USA (1917/78)
1839-0708 John D. Rockefeller Sr* industrialist/philanthropist - Long Island, NY USA (97)
1839-0710 Adolphus Busch* co-founder of Anheuser-Busch/philanthropist - Kastel, Hesse, Germany (1913/74)
1839-0802 Walter Pater* essayist/ literary and art critic - Stepney, London, England (1894/54)
1839-0811 Francis Blackwell Forbes* botanist/China merchant/ opium trader - New York USA (1908/68)
1839-09
1839-09
1839-09
1839-1002 Hans Smidth* painter - Nakskov, Denmark (1917/77)
1839-1010
1839-1015 William H. Crook* one of Abraham Lincoln’s bodyguards (off duty) - USA (1915/75)
1839-1118 August Kundt* physicist - Schwerin, Mecklenburg, Germany (1894/54)
1839-1118 Emil Ritter von Škoda* Czech engineer/ founder of Skoda Works - Pizén, Bohemia, Austrian Empire (1900/60)
1839-1124 Leo Mechelin* professor/ senator/liberal reformer - Hamina, Finland (1914/74)
1839-1205 George A. Custer* army officer/commander - New Rumley, OH USA (1876/36)
1839-1205 Anders Rudolf Edgren** sea captain - Gillberga, Värmland, Sweden (1900/60)
1839-1212 Caroline Ingalls* mother of Laura Ingalls - Brookfield, WI USA (1924/84)
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1839-0
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Updated 2025-0324 Helsinki
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