Famous People Born In 1711

Scottish Enlightenment philosopher, historian, and economist, David Hume, is considered one of the most important philosophers to write in English. His book, A Treatise of Human Nature, is counted among the most influential works in the history of philosophy. His works have influenced numerous thinkers, including German philosopher Immanuel Kant and Christian philosopher Joseph Butler.

Russian polymath Mikhail Lomonosov was born to a fisherman father and left his village later to satiate his hunger for knowledge. Apart from reforming Russian language and literature, he also made the first colored glass mosaic in his country and discovered the atmosphere of Venus. He loved simple life.

Known as Bolognese Minerva, Laura Bassi became the first woman physics professor to have taught at a European university, when she started teaching at the University of Bologna. A child prodigy, she excelled in Latin and math at age 5. She was also the first lady with a doctorate in science.

Italian astronomer and mathematician Roger Joseph Boscovich was one of the first European scientists to accept Newton’s gravitational theory. His contributions to astronomy include the application of geometry to compute the orbit of a planet and the equator of a rotating planet. He also laid the foundation of the atomic theory.

Austrian chancellor Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg was a supporter of enlightened absolutism. Though he initially studied law, he later rose to be the State Chancellor of the Habsburg monarchy and stayed in the position for almost 40 years. He witnessed the Seven Years’ War during his tenure.

Eleazar Wheelock was an 18th-century Congregational minister, orator, and educator in Lebanon. He was the founder of the Moor's Charity School, which he started to educate Native Americans. Later on, he founded Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, with the primary motive of educating the sons of American colonists. He was a long-term slave owner.