Famous People Born In 1740

Joseph-Michel Montgolfier was a French aviation pioneer and balloonist. Along with his brother Jacques-Étienne, he invented the Montgolfière-style hot air balloon and launched the first confirmed piloted ascent by man in 1783. The first ascent carried Jacques-Étienne. The innovative brothers also invented a process to manufacture transparent paper. Joseph invented the self-acting hydraulic ram as well. 

Best known for his biography of his friend Samuel Johnson, 18th-century biographer and diarist James Boswell was also a qualified lawyer. Know for his reckless lifestyle and his trysts with prostitutes, he had contracted gonorrhea and had also fathered many children, including two illegitimate ones.

Polish-American businessman Haym Salomon not only contributed to the establishment of the Philadelphia synagogue Mikveh Israel, but also lent huge amounts of interest-free money to soldiers and other borrowers during the American Revolutionary War. The financier eventually died in poverty, with the American government owing thousands of dollars to him.

Isabelle de Charrière was born to a Dutch noble family but later married her brother’s Swiss teacher and settled in Switzerland. A fine novelist, known for works such as Trois Femmes and Caliste; ou, lettres écrites de Lausanne, she critiqued social conventions and aristocratic privilege.

Apart from being a geologist and physicist, Horace Bénédict de Saussure was also a skilled mountaineer and Alpine explorer. Initially a professor of philosophy and physics, he later became one of the earliest user of the word geology. Of his many inventions, the most prominent was his version of the hygrometer.

Ottoman leader Ali Pasha was born into a poor family but later, through deceit and murder, rose to be the pasha, or provincial governor, of Janina, or Ioannina, the center of Greek culture. He later extended his rule to most of Albania and Macedonia. He was eventually shot dead by his enemies.

Basílio da Gama was a Portuguese poet best remembered for his epic poem, O Uraguai. An important member of the Society of Jesus, Basílio traveled across Europe, visiting many countries like Italy and Portugal. These travels helped him in his literary career.

Known as the Father of Reform, John Cartwright made significant parliamentary reforms, which later became part of the People’s Charter. An English naval officer, he had also been part of the Seven Years’ War. He also worked for universal suffrage and, in his later life, invested in crop trials and agricultural improvement.

Georg Magnus Sprengtporten was a Finland-Swedish politician best remembered as the younger half-brother of Jacob Magnus Sprengtporten. He played an important role during the Seven Years' War where he served as a captain. As he defected to Russia, Georg Magnus Sprengtporten is considered a traitor in Sweden.