Who Was Alive in 1872

Victor HugoAge 70

1802–1885 · Literature

Les Misérables, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame

Hans Christian AndersenAge 67

1805–1875 · Literature

The Little Mermaid, fairy tales

Charles DarwinAge 63

1809–1882 · Science & Invention

Theory of evolution by natural selection

Giuseppe VerdiAge 59

1813–1901 · Music

La Traviata, Aida — operatic master

Richard WagnerAge 59

1813–1883 · Music

Ring Cycle, revolutionary opera

Otto von BismarckAge 57

1815–1898 · Politics & Leadership

Unified Germany, the Iron Chancellor

Frederick DouglassAge 54

1818–1895 · Activism & Social Change

Abolitionist, orator, writer

Karl MarxAge 54

1818–1883 · Philosophy & Thought

Das Kapital, Communist Manifesto

Herman MelvilleAge 53

1819–1891 · Literature

Moby-Dick

Queen VictoriaAge 53

1819–1901 · Politics & Leadership

Longest-reigning British monarch of her era

Walt WhitmanAge 53

1819–1892 · Literature

Leaves of Grass, father of free verse

Susan B. AnthonyAge 52

1820–1906 · Activism & Social Change

Women's suffrage pioneer

Florence NightingaleAge 52

1820–1910 · Activism & Social Change

Founder of modern nursing

Fyodor DostoevskyAge 51

1821–1881 · Literature

Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov

Harriet TubmanAge 50

1822–1913 · Activism & Social Change

Underground Railroad conductor

Louis PasteurAge 50

1822–1895 · Science & Invention

Germ theory, pasteurization

Gregor MendelAge 50

1822–1884 · Science & Invention

Father of genetics

Jules VerneAge 44

1828–1905 · Literature

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Leo TolstoyAge 44

1828–1910 · Literature

War and Peace, Anna Karenina

Emily DickinsonAge 42

1830–1886 · Literature

Reclusive poetic genius

Sitting BullAge 41

1831–1890 · Politics & Leadership

Lakota leader who defeated Custer at Little Bighorn

Alfred NobelAge 39

1833–1896 · Science & Invention

Invented dynamite, founded Nobel Prizes

Dmitri MendeleevAge 38

1834–1907 · Science & Invention

Created the periodic table of elements

Mark TwainAge 37

1835–1910 · Literature

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Andrew CarnegieAge 37

1835–1919 · Business & Industry

Steel magnate, philanthropist

John D. RockefellerAge 33

1839–1937 · Business & Industry

Oil tycoon, richest American ever

Claude MonetAge 32

1840–1926 · Art

Water Lilies, father of Impressionism

Pyotr TchaikovskyAge 32

1840–1893 · Music

Swan Lake, The Nutcracker

Pierre-Auguste RenoirAge 31

1841–1919 · Art

Impressionist painter of joyful scenes

Friedrich NietzscheAge 28

1844–1900 · Philosophy & Thought

"God is dead," Beyond Good and Evil

Thomas EdisonAge 25

1847–1931 · Science & Invention

Light bulb, phonograph, 1000+ patents

Alexander Graham BellAge 25

1847–1922 · Science & Invention

Invented the telephone

Antoni GaudíAge 20

1852–1926 · Art

Sagrada Família architect

Vincent van GoghAge 19

1853–1890 · Art

Starry Night, post-Impressionist icon

Oscar WildeAge 18

1854–1900 · Literature

The Picture of Dorian Gray, wit and charm

Sigmund FreudAge 16

1856–1939 · Philosophy & Thought

Father of psychoanalysis

Nikola TeslaAge 16

1856–1943 · Science & Invention

AC electricity, visionary inventor

Woodrow WilsonAge 16

1856–1924 · Politics & Leadership

28th US President, League of Nations

Theodore RooseveltAge 14

1858–1919 · Politics & Leadership

26th US President, Rough Rider

Emmeline PankhurstAge 14

1858–1928 · Activism & Social Change

British suffragette leader

Max PlanckAge 14

1858–1947 · Science & Invention

Father of quantum theory

Arthur Conan DoyleAge 13

1859–1930 · Literature

Creator of Sherlock Holmes

Rabindranath TagoreAge 11

1861–1941 · Literature

First non-European Nobel laureate in Literature

Gustav KlimtAge 10

1862–1918 · Art

The Kiss, Art Nouveau master

Claude DebussyAge 10

1862–1918 · Music

Clair de Lune, Impressionist music

Henry FordAge 9

1863–1947 · Business & Industry

Assembly line, Model T automobile

Edvard MunchAge 9

1863–1944 · Art

The Scream

H.G. WellsAge 6

1866–1946 · Literature

The War of the Worlds, science fiction pioneer

Sun Yat-senAge 6

1866–1925 · Politics & Leadership

Father of the Republic of China

Marie CurieAge 5

1867–1934 · Science & Invention

Radioactivity, first woman Nobel laureate

Scott JoplinAge 4

1868–1917 · Music

King of Ragtime

Mahatma GandhiAge 3

1869–1948 · Politics & Leadership

Nonviolent independence leader of India

Grigori RasputinAge 3

1869–1916 · Politics & Leadership

Mystic who influenced the Russian royal family

Marcel ProustAge 1

1871–1922 · Literature

In Search of Lost Time

Orville WrightAge 1

1871–1948 · Science & Invention

Co-inventor of the airplane

Roald AmundsenAge 0

1872–1928 · Exploration

First to reach the South Pole