Who Was Alive in 1881

Victor HugoAge 79

1802–1885 · Literature

Les Misérables, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame

Charles DarwinAge 72

1809–1882 · Science & Invention

Theory of evolution by natural selection

Giuseppe VerdiAge 68

1813–1901 · Music

La Traviata, Aida — operatic master

Richard WagnerAge 68

1813–1883 · Music

Ring Cycle, revolutionary opera

Otto von BismarckAge 66

1815–1898 · Politics & Leadership

Unified Germany, the Iron Chancellor

Frederick DouglassAge 63

1818–1895 · Activism & Social Change

Abolitionist, orator, writer

Karl MarxAge 63

1818–1883 · Philosophy & Thought

Das Kapital, Communist Manifesto

Herman MelvilleAge 62

1819–1891 · Literature

Moby-Dick

Queen VictoriaAge 62

1819–1901 · Politics & Leadership

Longest-reigning British monarch of her era

Walt WhitmanAge 62

1819–1892 · Literature

Leaves of Grass, father of free verse

Susan B. AnthonyAge 61

1820–1906 · Activism & Social Change

Women's suffrage pioneer

Florence NightingaleAge 61

1820–1910 · Activism & Social Change

Founder of modern nursing

Fyodor DostoevskyAge 60

1821–1881 · Literature

Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov

Harriet TubmanAge 59

1822–1913 · Activism & Social Change

Underground Railroad conductor

Louis PasteurAge 59

1822–1895 · Science & Invention

Germ theory, pasteurization

Gregor MendelAge 59

1822–1884 · Science & Invention

Father of genetics

Jules VerneAge 53

1828–1905 · Literature

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Leo TolstoyAge 53

1828–1910 · Literature

War and Peace, Anna Karenina

Emily DickinsonAge 51

1830–1886 · Literature

Reclusive poetic genius

Sitting BullAge 50

1831–1890 · Politics & Leadership

Lakota leader who defeated Custer at Little Bighorn

Alfred NobelAge 48

1833–1896 · Science & Invention

Invented dynamite, founded Nobel Prizes

Dmitri MendeleevAge 47

1834–1907 · Science & Invention

Created the periodic table of elements

Mark TwainAge 46

1835–1910 · Literature

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Andrew CarnegieAge 46

1835–1919 · Business & Industry

Steel magnate, philanthropist

John D. RockefellerAge 42

1839–1937 · Business & Industry

Oil tycoon, richest American ever

Claude MonetAge 41

1840–1926 · Art

Water Lilies, father of Impressionism

Pyotr TchaikovskyAge 41

1840–1893 · Music

Swan Lake, The Nutcracker

Pierre-Auguste RenoirAge 40

1841–1919 · Art

Impressionist painter of joyful scenes

Friedrich NietzscheAge 37

1844–1900 · Philosophy & Thought

"God is dead," Beyond Good and Evil

Thomas EdisonAge 34

1847–1931 · Science & Invention

Light bulb, phonograph, 1000+ patents

Alexander Graham BellAge 34

1847–1922 · Science & Invention

Invented the telephone

Antoni GaudíAge 29

1852–1926 · Art

Sagrada Família architect

Vincent van GoghAge 28

1853–1890 · Art

Starry Night, post-Impressionist icon

Oscar WildeAge 27

1854–1900 · Literature

The Picture of Dorian Gray, wit and charm

Sigmund FreudAge 25

1856–1939 · Philosophy & Thought

Father of psychoanalysis

Nikola TeslaAge 25

1856–1943 · Science & Invention

AC electricity, visionary inventor

Woodrow WilsonAge 25

1856–1924 · Politics & Leadership

28th US President, League of Nations

Theodore RooseveltAge 23

1858–1919 · Politics & Leadership

26th US President, Rough Rider

Emmeline PankhurstAge 23

1858–1928 · Activism & Social Change

British suffragette leader

Max PlanckAge 23

1858–1947 · Science & Invention

Father of quantum theory

Arthur Conan DoyleAge 22

1859–1930 · Literature

Creator of Sherlock Holmes

Rabindranath TagoreAge 20

1861–1941 · Literature

First non-European Nobel laureate in Literature

Gustav KlimtAge 19

1862–1918 · Art

The Kiss, Art Nouveau master

Claude DebussyAge 19

1862–1918 · Music

Clair de Lune, Impressionist music

Henry FordAge 18

1863–1947 · Business & Industry

Assembly line, Model T automobile

Edvard MunchAge 18

1863–1944 · Art

The Scream

H.G. WellsAge 15

1866–1946 · Literature

The War of the Worlds, science fiction pioneer

Sun Yat-senAge 15

1866–1925 · Politics & Leadership

Father of the Republic of China

Marie CurieAge 14

1867–1934 · Science & Invention

Radioactivity, first woman Nobel laureate

Scott JoplinAge 13

1868–1917 · Music

King of Ragtime

Mahatma GandhiAge 12

1869–1948 · Politics & Leadership

Nonviolent independence leader of India

Grigori RasputinAge 12

1869–1916 · Politics & Leadership

Mystic who influenced the Russian royal family

Marcel ProustAge 10

1871–1922 · Literature

In Search of Lost Time

Orville WrightAge 10

1871–1948 · Science & Invention

Co-inventor of the airplane

Roald AmundsenAge 9

1872–1928 · Exploration

First to reach the South Pole

Ernest ShackletonAge 7

1874–1922 · Exploration

Heroic Antarctic explorer, Endurance expedition

Guglielmo MarconiAge 7

1874–1937 · Science & Invention

Pioneer of long-distance radio

Winston ChurchillAge 7

1874–1965 · Politics & Leadership

British PM who led WWII effort

Harry HoudiniAge 7

1874–1926 · Film & Entertainment

Legendary escape artist & illusionist

Carl JungAge 6

1875–1961 · Philosophy & Thought

Analytical psychology, archetypes

Pancho VillaAge 3

1878–1923 · Politics & Leadership

Mexican revolutionary general

Lise MeitnerAge 3

1878–1968 · Science & Invention

Discovered nuclear fission, overlooked for Nobel

Albert EinsteinAge 2

1879–1955 · Science & Invention

Theory of relativity, E=mc²

Pablo PicassoAge 0

1881–1973 · Art

Cubism, Guernica, most prolific artist

Alexander FlemingAge 0

1881–1955 · Science & Invention

Discovered penicillin