Famous People Born In 1810

P. T. Barnum was an American politician, showman, and businessman. He is credited with founding the famous Barnum & Bailey Circus, which ran for 146 years. He is also credited with co-founding the Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Company, which is one of the oldest American ferry companies. His life and work have inspired many films, including The Greatest Showman.

Romantic Era virtuoso pianist and composer Frédéric Chopin, nicknamed The Poet of the Piano, is remembered as the inventor of the instrumental ballade. The legendary composer mostly created solo piano masterpieces but also experimented with piano concertos and chamber pieces. He was influenced by Bach, Mozart, and Polish folk music.

Hammurabi reigned as the first Babylonian dynasty's sixth king from 1792 BC to 1750 BC. During his reign, Hammurabi conquered the city-states of Eshnunna, Larsa, and Mari and brought nearly all of Mesopotamia under Babylonian rule. He is also known for issuing the Code of Hammurabi, which is one of the first law codes to establish the presumption of innocence.

Theodor Schwann was a German physiologist and physician best remembered for his important contributions to biology. He is credited with discovering the Schwann cells, which is named after him. He is also credited with discovering pepsin and the organic nature of yeast. Theodor Schwann also invented the term metabolism.

The founder of the Armstrong Whitworth manufacturing company, William George Armstrong, also known as Baron Armstrong, redefined the design of guns and also invented the high-pressure hydraulic mechanism. Initially a lawyer, he later quit his practice to devote more time to engineering. He was also knighted for his feats.

French playwright and author Alfred de Musset is best remembered for his autobiographical The Confession of a Child of the Century. Though he was supposedly part of the Romantic movement, many of his works satirized the movement. He stopped allowing his plays to be staged after The Venetian Night flopped.

Legendary Norwegian violinist Ole Bull had started training in the violin at age 5. He had his own style of playing multiple tones at once. He later developed a colony of his own in Pennsylvania and named it New Norway, also known as the Ole Bull Colony.

Theodore Parker was an American transcendentalist minister whose words and quotations would later help inspire popular speeches of the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln. A reformer and abolitionist, Parker played a key role in fighting against such laws as the Fugitive Slave Act.

Initially a teacher, Dimitar Miladinov later established himself as a major Bulgarian poet and folklorist. He was also a major pillar of the Bulgarian national movement, or the Bulgarian Renaissance. His collection of folk songs is also considered crucial to the growth of Macedonian literature and culture.

Born to a Polish rabbi, Ernestine Rose was much ahead of her times. As a teenager, she spoke up against the regressive Jewish customs that hindered women’s freedom. She later became a pioneering feminist and suffragist from her community and was also inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

Widely known as the illegitimate son of Napoleon Bonaparte and his Polish noblewoman mistress, Countess Marie Walewska, Alexandre Colonna-Walewski was a French diplomat and politician. Apart from serving as a foreign minister, he is also believed to have collaborated with Alexandre Dumas on an opera.

The second archbishop of New York, John McCloskey was also the first American cardinal. An accident in which he was buried under logs and had almost gone blind led to a spiritual awakening in him, and he stepped into priesthood. He also notably renewed the construction of St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

Karel Hynek Mácha was a Czech poet whose work Máj is widely regarded as one of the finest Czech poems ever written. Mácha's works were recognized and glorified posthumously as he died at age 25, one day before his wedding. Karel Hynek Mácha's life and career, including his romance with his fiancée Eleonora Šomková, inspired the 1937 eponymous biographical film.

Initially a member of the Generation of ’37 intellectual movement, Juan Bautista Alberdi opposed Argentine dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas and was thus exiled. He later studied law in Uruguay. He is best remembered for his iconic book Bases and Starting Points for the Political Organization of the Argentine Republic.

Italian nobleman Giovanni Matteo Mario was a talented opera singer who had a flourishing career in London and Paris. He was the opera partner of popular soprano Giulia Grisi. Initially an officer in the Piedmontese Guard, he later left the army for his passion, opera. However, he suffered in poverty in his final days.

Regarded as the founding father of Hungary’s grand opera, pianist and conductor Ferenc Erkel also composed Hungary’s national anthem. Born into a German-origin family of musicians, Erkel was initially trained in music by his father. He was later associated with the Academy of Music in Budapest as a director and piano teacher.

Fanny Elssler was an Austrian ballet dancer of the Romantic Period. Renowned for her beauty and dancing skills, Elssler captivated hearts wherever she performed. Her life and career inspired an eponymous silent film in 1920, where she was played by Lya Mara. Fanny Elssler was also portrayed by Lilian Harvey in the 1937 eponymous film.

Jules Perrot was a French dancer and choreographer who served as the ballet master of the prestigious Imperial Russian Ballet. Perrot is credited with creating some of the 19th century's most popular ballets, such as La Esmeralda, Pas de Quatre, Giselle, and Ondine. During his illustrious career, Jules Perrot coached famous ballerinas like Carlotta Grisi and Fanny Cerrito.

Alexandre Herculano was a Portuguese historian and novelist. He is often credited with introducing Romantic literature to Portugal. An important historian, Alexandre Herculano enjoyed national recognition similar to that of France's Victor Hugo.

Noted French chemist and physicist Henri-Victor Regnault initially taught chemistry and then gained fame for his research on the thermal properties of gases. He lost both his laboratory and his son during the Franco-German War. His is one of the 72 names that adorn the Eiffel Tower.

Spanish philosopher Jaime Luciano Balmes is best known for iconic work Protestantism and Catholicism Compared in Their Effect on the Civilization of Europe, penned in defense of Catholicism. An expert in civil and canon law, he initially taught math and physics, and was criticized by Catholics for being too liberal.

Charles Forbes René de Montalembert was a French publicist and historian. He was the Count of Montalembert, Deux-Sèvres. Born into a prominent family, he was educated at the Collège Sainte-Barbe in Paris. He was a liberal and wished to see the Church free from the control of the state. He was an eloquent orator and a prolific writer. 

Professor and historian Peter Andreas Munch is regarded as one of the pioneers of the Norwegian nationalist school of historiography. He was also known for his translations of Norse legends and for his History of the Norwegian People. He believed in the racial superiority of Norwegians over Danes and Swedes.

Irish geophysicist Robert Mallet is remembered for his pathbreaking studies on earthquakes and is regarded as the father of seismology. Th Trinity alumnus initially worked at his father’s foundry and expanded it. His research on the 1857 Naples earthquake was crucial to developments in seismology, a term he is said to have coined.

Hector Lefuel was a French architect best remembered for his outstanding work on the Louvre Palace, including the reconstruction of the Pavillon de Flore and Napoleon III's Louvre expansion. Hector Lefuel is also credited with designing funerary monuments of important and influential personalities like François Bazin and Daniel-François-Esprit Auber.