Famous People Who Died In 1866

Bernhard Riemann was a German mathematician best remembered for his contributions to number theory, analysis, and differential geometry. His paper on the prime-counting function, which was published in 1859, is considered one of the most influential papers in the history of analytic number theory. Riemann is widely regarded as one of the greatest mathematicians ever.

George Everest was a British geographer and surveyor. From 1830 to 1843, he served as Surveyor General of India. His work and contributions were honored by naming Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, after him.

The wife of French king Louis Philippe I, Marie-Amélie de Bourbon was the last queen of France. Least interested in politics, she spent most of her life raising her 8 children. She also shunned public life for fear of a new revolution after Louis Philippe became the king following the July Revolution.

Madame Clicquot Ponsardin was a French businesswoman and Champagne producer. Clicquot is best remembered for taking over her husband's business and turning the company into a world-famous Champagne house. Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, the company which still bears her name, is credited with inventing a novel technique called riddling which is still used today to make better Champagne.

William Hopkins was an English geologist and mathematician. He is remembered for serving as a private tutor of prospective undergraduate Cambridge mathematicians, which earned him the nickname senior-wrangler maker. Hopkins also played first-class cricket and was associated with Cambridge University Cricket Club. He had an unfortunate end to his life as he spent his final years in a lunatic asylum.

German physician and botanist Philipp Franz von Siebold was considered a pioneer of Western medicine in Japan. His works include the iconic book Flora Japonica. He fathered a daughter with a Japanese courtesan, who grew up to be Kusumoto Ine, Japan’s first female doctor with knowledge in Western medicine.

Swedish author Carl Jonas Love Almqvist was known for his diverse range, which included both romanticism and realism. Known as one of the architects of Swedish literature, he initially served as a school principal. His best-known works include the novels Amorina and The Queen’s Diamond Ornament.

Legendary Norwegian composer Rikard Nordraak was a child when he began composing music. Best known for composing his country’s national anthem, Ja, vi elsker dette landet, he was also part of the New Norwegian Society and the nationalistic art movement in Norway. Folk music inspired many of his compositions.

Chilean military and political figure Manuel Bulnes had an illustrious military career, leading and decisively winning several battles most notably the Battle of Yungay, the last battle of War of the Confederation that effectively dissolved the Peru-Bolivian Confederacy. Bulnes served as the 4th President of Chile. During his presidencies, Chile witnessed educational and cultural expansion, economic progress and public works developments.    

Alexander Campbell was a Scots-Irish immigrant who went on to become an ordained minister in America. He then joined forces with his father and led a reform effort, which came to be known as the Restoration Movement. Also referred to as the Stone-Campbell Movement, it helped develop non-denominational Christian churches. 

Nineteenth-century French civil engineer and economist Jules Dupuit ascertained the economic issues associated with public works. He pioneered the use of the diminishing marginal utility curve, while finding out the optimum cost for using a bridge, and also explained what later came to be known as consumer surplus.

Karl Ludwig Hencke was a German amateur astronomer. He discovered several minor planets and two asteroids from his private observatory. As a young man, he volunteered in the Wars of Liberation for Prussia but was wounded. After that, he became a post official, later on serving as the city court judge in his city of birth. 

François-Xavier Garneau was a French Canadian notary, civil servant, poet, and liberal. Garneau is remembered for his contribution to the French-Canadian community, including Histoire du Canada, a three-volume historical account of the French Canadian nation. The Canadian Historical Association created the François-Xavier Garneau Medal, which is given every five years in his honor.

William Whewell was an English polymath, scientist, philosopher, theologian, and historian of science. He worked in a wide range of fields, publishing works in the disciplines of physics, mechanics, geology, economics, and astronomy. He also wrote poetry, sermons, and theological tracts. He is credited with coining the terms linguistics, physicist, consilience, scientist, catastrophism, and uniformitarianism.

Edinburgh-born civil engineer Adam Clark was best known for building the Széchenyi Chain Bridge over the Danube, between Buda and Pest in Hungary. He once even made adjustments to prevent the Austrian Imperial Army from causing significant damage to the bridge. He also constructed the Buda Tunnel.