Who Was Alive in 1839

HokusaiAge 79

1760–1849 · Art

The Great Wave, Japanese master printmaker

Niccolò PaganiniAge 57

1782–1840 · Music

Virtuoso violinist, the Devil's violinist

Jacob GrimmAge 54

1785–1863 · Literature

Grimm's Fairy Tales

Michael FaradayAge 48

1791–1867 · Science & Invention

Electromagnetic induction

Charles BabbageAge 48

1791–1871 · Science & Invention

Father of the computer, designed the Analytical Engine

Victor HugoAge 37

1802–1885 · Literature

Les Misérables, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame

Hans Christian AndersenAge 34

1805–1875 · Literature

The Little Mermaid, fairy tales

Abraham LincolnAge 30

1809–1865 · Politics & Leadership

16th US President, ended slavery

Charles DarwinAge 30

1809–1882 · Science & Invention

Theory of evolution by natural selection

Edgar Allan PoeAge 30

1809–1849 · Literature

Master of the macabre, The Raven

Frédéric ChopinAge 29

1810–1849 · Music

Romantic piano virtuoso

Charles DickensAge 27

1812–1870 · Literature

A Tale of Two Cities, Oliver Twist

Giuseppe VerdiAge 26

1813–1901 · Music

La Traviata, Aida — operatic master

Richard WagnerAge 26

1813–1883 · Music

Ring Cycle, revolutionary opera

Otto von BismarckAge 24

1815–1898 · Politics & Leadership

Unified Germany, the Iron Chancellor

Ada LovelaceAge 24

1815–1852 · Science & Invention

First computer programmer

Emily BrontëAge 21

1818–1848 · Literature

Wuthering Heights

Frederick DouglassAge 21

1818–1895 · Activism & Social Change

Abolitionist, orator, writer

Karl MarxAge 21

1818–1883 · Philosophy & Thought

Das Kapital, Communist Manifesto

Herman MelvilleAge 20

1819–1891 · Literature

Moby-Dick

Queen VictoriaAge 20

1819–1901 · Politics & Leadership

Longest-reigning British monarch of her era

Walt WhitmanAge 20

1819–1892 · Literature

Leaves of Grass, father of free verse

Susan B. AnthonyAge 19

1820–1906 · Activism & Social Change

Women's suffrage pioneer

Florence NightingaleAge 19

1820–1910 · Activism & Social Change

Founder of modern nursing

Fyodor DostoevskyAge 18

1821–1881 · Literature

Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov

Harriet TubmanAge 17

1822–1913 · Activism & Social Change

Underground Railroad conductor

Louis PasteurAge 17

1822–1895 · Science & Invention

Germ theory, pasteurization

Gregor MendelAge 17

1822–1884 · Science & Invention

Father of genetics

Jules VerneAge 11

1828–1905 · Literature

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Leo TolstoyAge 11

1828–1910 · Literature

War and Peace, Anna Karenina

Emily DickinsonAge 9

1830–1886 · Literature

Reclusive poetic genius

Sitting BullAge 8

1831–1890 · Politics & Leadership

Lakota leader who defeated Custer at Little Bighorn

Alfred NobelAge 6

1833–1896 · Science & Invention

Invented dynamite, founded Nobel Prizes

Dmitri MendeleevAge 5

1834–1907 · Science & Invention

Created the periodic table of elements

Mark TwainAge 4

1835–1910 · Literature

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Andrew CarnegieAge 4

1835–1919 · Business & Industry

Steel magnate, philanthropist

John D. RockefellerAge 0

1839–1937 · Business & Industry

Oil tycoon, richest American ever