Famous People Born In 1785

Discover the most famous people born in 1785. The list includes people like John James Audubon, Lady Caroline Lamb, Mahmud II, Thomas De Quincey, Louis XVII of France and many more. This list of celebrities is loosely sorted by popularity. People featured on this list, include novelists, poets, educators and composers born in 1785. This list includes people from England, United States, Germany and many more countries.
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 1 
John James Audubon
(US Artist and Ornithologist Known for His Drawings of North American Birds)
John James Audubon
4
Listed In: Scientists
Birthdate: 26th April
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Les Cayes
Died: January 27, 1851

American artist and ornithologist John James Audubon is remembered mostly for his illustrations of North American birds. Born as an illegitimate child in France, he later moved to the US and then to Canada, for business, but ended up documenting birds. His best-known work is the pioneering ornithological work The Birds of America.

 2 
Mahmud II
(Sultan of Ottoman Empire)
Mahmud II
7
Listed In: Emperors & Kings
Birthdate: 20th July
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: İstanbul, Turkey
Died: July 1, 1839

Mahmud II reigned as the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 to 1839. His reign was marked by the extensive military, administrative, and fiscal reforms which he initiated. The reforms that he initiated eventually led to the formation of the modern Turkish Republic. He is also credited with rebuilding a strong naval force for the empire.

 3 
Jacob Grimm
(Discoverer of ‘Grimm’s Law of Linguistics' and Co-author of the Largest German Dictionary 'Deutsches Wörterbuch')
Jacob Grimm
4
Birthdate: 4th January
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Hanau, Germany
Died: September 20, 1863

Part of the legendary folklorist duo known as the Brothers Grimm, Jacob Grimm gave to the world Grimm’s Fairy Tales, along with his younger brother, Wilhelm Grimm. The son of a lawyer, he, too, had initially studied law. He also contributed immensely to Germanic linguistics, with his Grimm's law.

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 4 
Oliver Hazard Perry
(Former U.S. naval officer who became a national hero when he defeated a British squadron in the Battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812)
Oliver Hazard Perry
2
Listed In: Military Leaders
Birthdate: 23rd August
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: South Kingstown, Rhode Island, United States
Died: August 23, 1819
 5 
Louis XVII
(King)
Louis XVII
6
Listed In: Emperors & Kings
Birthdate: 27th March
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Versailles, France
Died: June 8, 1795
 6 
Lin Zexu
(Official)
Lin Zexu
0
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: 30th August
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Fuzhou, China
Died: November 22, 1850
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 7 
William Beaumont
(American Surgeon and the First Person to Observe and Study Human Digestion as It Occurs in the Stomach)
William Beaumont
2
Listed In: Surgeons
Birthdate: 21st November
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Lebanon, Connecticut, United States
Died: April 25, 1853

Nineteenth-century U.S. Army surgeon William Beaumont pioneered the study of human digestion. While treating a person named Alexis St. Martin, who had been near-fatally shot in the stomach, Beaumont discovered a lot of gastric processes and later published them as a treatise on the physiology of digestion.

 8 
Shah Shujah Durrani
(Emir of the Durrani Empire)
Shah Shujah Durrani
4
Listed In: Emperors & Kings
Birthdate: 4th November
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Unknown
Died: April 5, 1842
Shah Shujah Durrani reigned as the Emir of the Durrani Empire on two separate occasions; from 13 July 1803 to 3 May 1809 and again from 7 August 1839 until his demise on 5 April 1842. Shujah was notorious for his cruelty; he would have his courtiers mutilated by removing their noses, ears, testicles, and tongues when they displeased him.
 9 
Karl Drais
(German Forest Official and Significant Inventor)
Karl Drais
1
Listed In: Inventors
Birthdate: 29th April
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Karlsruhe, Germany
Died: December 10, 1851
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 10 
Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
(General)
Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
1
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: 28th March
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Coburg, Germany
Died: August 27, 1851
 11 
Florestan, Prince of Monaco
(Prince)
Florestan, Prince of Monaco
1
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: 10th October
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Paris, France
Died: June 20, 1856
 12 
David Wilkie
(Painter)
David Wilkie
0
Listed In: Artists
Birthdate: 18th November
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Cults, Scotland
Died: June 1, 1841
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 13 
William Jackson Hooker
(British Botanist and Botanical Illustrator Best Known for Expanding and Developing the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew)
William Jackson Hooker
0
Listed In: Botanists
Birthdate: 6th July
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Norwich, England
Died: August 12, 1865

Botanist William Jackson Hooker made history as the first director of the Kew Gardens, or the Royal Botanic Gardens. Born to a merchant’s clerk who was also an amateur botanist, Hooker developed an interest in insects, birds, and plants at an early age. He was also known for his plant illustrations.

 14 
Pierre Louis Dulong
(French Physicist and Chemist Who Helped Formulate the 'Dulong–Petit Law' of Specific Heats)
Pierre Louis Dulong
0
Listed In: Scientists
Birthdate: 12th February
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Rouen, France
Died: July 19, 1838

French physicist and chemist Pierre Louis Dulong FRS FRSE is best-remembered for proposing the thermodynamic law called the Dulong–Petit law with fellow scientist Alexis Petit. Subjects of his scientific studies included the elasticity of steam, specific heats of gases and conduction of heat. He discovered nitrogen trichloride, worked on specific heat capacity, and expansion and refractive indices of gases.

 15 
William Prout
(Chemist)
William Prout
0
Listed In: Scientists
Birthdate: 15th January
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Horton, England
Died: April 9, 1850
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 16 
Jonker Afrikaner
(Politician)
Jonker Afrikaner
0
Birthdate: 30th November
Birthplace: South Africa
Died: August 18, 1861
 17 
Diponegoro
(Prince)
Diponegoro
1
Listed In: Emperors & Kings
Birthdate: 11th November
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Died: January 8, 1855
 18 
Claude-Louis Navier
(physicist, economist, mathematician, engineer of roads and bridges)
Claude-Louis Navier
0
Listed In: Physicists
Birthdate: 10th February
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Burlada
Died: August 21, 1836
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 19 
Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte
(Socialite)
Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte
2
Listed In: Socialites
Birthdate: 6th February
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Died: April 4, 1879
 20 
John McLean
(Jurist and politician)
John McLean
1
Listed In: Leaders
Birthdate: 11th March
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Morris County, New Jersey, United States
Died: April 4, 1861
 21 
Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann
(Historian)
Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann
0
Birthdate: 13th May
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Wismar, Germany
Died: December 5, 1860
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 22 
Jeongye Daewongun
(Prince)
Jeongye Daewongun
0
Birthdate: 21st March
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: South Korea
Died: November 2, 1841
 23 
Thomas De Quincey
4
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: 15th August
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Manchester
Died: December 8, 1859

Essayist Thomas De Quincey is best remembered for his iconic book Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, which initially appeared in the London Magazine. The work was an autobiographical account of his own addiction to opium, which he had begun consuming to help him deal with the pain of his facial neuralgia.

 24 
Friedrich Kalkbrenner
(First Pianist to Introduce Long and Rapid Octave Passages in Both Hands)
Friedrich Kalkbrenner
0
Listed In: Musicians
Birthdate: 2nd November
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: near Kassel, Germany
Died: June 10, 1849

Friedrich Kalkbrenner was a German pianist, piano teacher, composer, and piano manufacturer. He is credited with composing over 200 piano works, including several piano operas and concertos. He also taught many future pianists like Camille-Marie Stamaty and Marie Pleyel. Friedrich Kalkbrenner was also a successful businessman who became enormously rich through his business deals.

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 25 
Henry Miller Shreve
(Inventor)
Henry Miller Shreve
0
Listed In: Inventors
Birthdate: 21st October
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: New Jersey, United States
Died: March 6, 1851
 26 
Jean Charles Athanase Peltier
(Physicist)
Jean Charles Athanase Peltier
1
Listed In: Physicists
Birthdate: 22nd February
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Ham, France
Died: October 27, 1845
 27 
Alessandro Manzoni
(Italian Poet, Novelist and Senator of the Kingdom of Italy)
Alessandro Manzoni
1
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: 7th March
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Milan, Italy
Died: May 22, 1873

Alessandro Manzoni was a 19th-century Italian poet, novelist, and philosopher. His novel The Betrothed is generally counted among the masterpieces of world literature. He is credited to have contributed to the stabilization of the modern Italian language. He was politically active and was a member of the Italian Senate. He was a proponent of Liberal Catholicism. 

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 28 
Hans Karl von Diebitsch
(Soldier)
Hans Karl von Diebitsch
0
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: 13th May
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Wielka Lipa, Poland
Died: June 10, 1831
 29 
Edward Bransfield
(Explorer)
Edward Bransfield
0
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: 30th November
Birthplace: Ballinacurra, County Cork, Ireland
Died: October 31, 1852
 30 
Lady Caroline Lamb
(Aristocrat and Novelist Best Known for Her Gothic Novel ‘Glenarvon’)
Lady Caroline Lamb
21
Listed In: Novelists
Birthdate: 13th November
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Dorset, England, United Kingdom
Died: January 25, 1828

Better known as one of Lord Byron’s lovers, Lady Caroline Lamb met a 24-year-old Byron when she was 26, married, and has an autistic son with her husband, future British prime minister William Lamb. An author, too, she is known for her anonymously published Gothic novel Glenarvon.

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 31 
Seth Thomas
(Clockmaker)
Seth Thomas
1
Birthdate: 19th August
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Wolcott, Connecticut, United States
Died: January 29, 1859
 32 
Charles Joseph, comte de Flahaut
(Military general)
Charles Joseph, comte de Flahaut
1
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: 21st April
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Paris, France
Died: September 1, 1870
 33 
Zwangendaba
(African king)
Zwangendaba
0
Listed In: Emperors & Kings
Birthdate: 30th November
Birthplace: Not known
Died: 1848 AD
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 34 
Henry Wheaton
(Lawyer)
Henry Wheaton
1
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: 27th November
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Providence, Rhode Island, United States
Died: March 11, 1848
 35 
Prince Paul of Württemberg
(Prince)
Prince Paul of Württemberg
2
Birthdate: 19th January
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Saint Petersburg, Russia
Died: April 16, 1852
 36 
August Immanuel Bekker
(Philologist)
August Immanuel Bekker
0
Birthdate: 21st May
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Berlin, Germany
Died: June 7, 1871
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 37 
William Francis Patrick Napier
(Soldier)
William Francis Patrick Napier
0
Birthdate: 7th December
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Celbridge, Ireland
Died: February 12, 1860
 38 
Bettina von Arnim
(Former Writer most famously wrote the 1835 work, Goethes Briefwechsel mit einem Kinde (Goethe's correspondence with a child))
Bettina von Arnim
1
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: 4th April
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Frankfurt, Germany
Died: January 20, 1859
 39 
Adam Sedgwick
(Geologist)
Adam Sedgwick
1
Listed In: Scientists
Birthdate: 22nd March
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Dent
Died: January 27, 1873

Adam Sedgwick was a British Anglican priest and geologist. He is credited with guiding and mentoring Charles Darwin during his early years. However, Sedgwick went on to oppose Darwin's theory of evolution. The world's oldest student-run geological society, The Sedgwick Club, was established in his honor in 1880.

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 40 
Thomas Love Peacock
(Novelist)
Thomas Love Peacock
1
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: 18th October
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Weymouth, England
Died: January 23, 1866
 41 
Jean-Louis Michel
(French Fencer)
Jean-Louis Michel
0
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: 30th November
Birthplace: Saint-Domingue
Died: 1865 AD
 42 
Karl August Varnhagen von Ense
(German Diplomat, Biographer, and Soldier)
Karl August Varnhagen von Ense
1
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: 21st February
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Düsseldorf, Germany
Died: October 10, 1858
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 43 
Thomas Barnes
(Journalist)
Thomas Barnes
0
Birthdate: 11th September
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: London, England
Died: May 7, 1841
 44 
Thomas Peacock
(English Novelist and Poet)
Thomas Peacock
0
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: 18th October
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Weymouth, Dorset, England
Died: January 23, 1866
 45 
James Pollard Espy
(US Meteorologist Known for His Work on the Thermodynamics of Cloud Formation)
James Pollard Espy
0
Listed In: Meteorologists
Birthdate: 9th May
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Pennsylvania, United States
Died: January 24, 1860

US meteorologist James Pollard Espy developed the first known theory to explain the thermodynamics of cloud formation. He also made pioneering use of the telegraph to collect meteorological observations. He also served as a meteorologist for US War and Navy and penned the iconic book The Philosophy of Storms.

 46 
Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge
(Former Governor-General of India)
Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge
1
Listed In: Leaders
Birthdate: 30th March
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Wrotham, England
Died: September 24, 1856
 47 
Dorothea Lieven
(Diplomat)
Dorothea Lieven
1
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: 17th December
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Latvia
Died: January 27, 1857
 48 
José Miguel Carrera
(Chilean General & One of the Founding Fathers of the Nation)
José Miguel Carrera
2
Listed In: Military Leaders
Birthdate: 15th October
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Santiago, Chile
Died: September 4, 1821

José Miguel Carrera was a Chilean general and an important member of the famous Carrera family. The most prominent leader of the War of Independence in Chile, Carrera is widely regarded as a co-founder of independent Chile. Today, he is counted among the Fathers of the Nation in Chile. José Miguel Carrera is also credited with ending slavery in Chile.

 49 
Alphonse Bérenger de la Drôme
(Lawyer)
Alphonse Bérenger de la Drôme
0
Listed In: Lawyers & Judges
Birthdate: 31st May
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Valence, France
Died: March 1, 1866
 50 
Victor de Broglie
(Politician)
Victor de Broglie
1
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: 28th November
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Paris, France
Died: January 25, 1870