Famous People Born In 1806

English civil engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history." Considered a major figure of the Industrial Revolution, he built docks, a series of steamships, and many important bridges and tunnels. He was placed second in a BBC public poll to determine the "100 Greatest Britons" in 2002. 

Benito Juarez was a Mexican lawyer and politician. He served as the 26th president of Mexico from 1858 to 1872, becoming the first president of Mexico who was of indigenous origin. He died of a heart attack in 1872. To date,  he is revered as "a preeminent symbol of Mexican nationalism and resistance to foreign intervention." 

American astronomer, naval officer, oceanographer and author Matthew Fontaine Maury, who first served the United States Navy and then the Confederacy States Navy, made significant contributions in oceanography. His book Physical Geography of the Sea is counted among the first comprehensive books on oceanography. Navies and merchant marines across the world adopted his uniform system of recording oceanographic data.

Tejano revolutionary Juan Seguín was a significant part of the revolution for the independence of Texas. The son of one of the drafters of the Mexican constitution, he grew up to become the mayor of San Antonio and also led the Republic of Texas as an elected senator.

Emilia Plater was a Polish-Lithuanian revolutionary and noblewoman. Often compared with France's Joan of Arc, Plater is seen as a national heroine in Belarus, Lithuania, and Poland. Emilia Plater's story has inspired numerous works of art and literature and she is often seen as a symbol of women empowerment in Lithuania.

Leonidas Polk was an American Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana. He is credited with establishing an Anglican Christian denomination called the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Confederate States of America. A political general of the Civil War, Leonidas Polk is remembered for commanding troops in the Battle of Perryville and the Battle of Shiloh among many other battles.

Augustus De Morgan was a British logician and mathematician. He is best remembered for formulating De Morgan's laws which are widely applied in solving mathematical equations. He also came up with the term mathematical induction, a mathematical proof technique. 

Finnish statesman Johan Vilhelm Snellman was a major figure of the Fennoman movement that was geared toward establishing Finnish as a national language, replacing Swedish. He had been both a professor and a senator, and has switched the Finnish monetary standard from rubles to marks.

Henry Montgomery Lawrence was a British statesman, administrator, military officer, and surveyor in British India. He is best remembered for founding The Lawrence Military Asylums, a series of military-style boarding schools. Three of these schools exist today in present-day India and Pakistan.

Austrian poet Anton Alexander von Auersperg is best known by his pseudonym, Anastasius Grun. His collection of poems, such as Schutt, ushered in a new and bold liberalism in Germany. His work also showcases his signature ironic humor. Grun was also known for his translations of Slovenic songs.

Oliver Cowdery was an American religious leader who played an important role during the developmental duration of the Latter Day Saint movement in the 1830s. The first baptized Latter Day Saint, Cowdery was also the Second Elder of the church and one of the first apostles of the Latter Day Saint movement.

Born to famous botanist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle, Alphonse Pyrame de Candolle had initially studied law but switched to botany later. Part of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, he made significant contributions to phytogeography. He also called the inaugural International Botanical Congress for standardizing botanical nomenclature.

English physician and scientist Edward Davy is best known for his inventions such as his version of an electrochemical telegraph. He sold off the patent of his telegraph and moved to Australia later. He also developed the electromagnetic repeater. The Experimental Guide to Chemistry remains his most notable work.

Manfredo Fanti was an Italian general who is credited with founding the Regio Esercito, which came to be known as the Royal Italian Army. He played an important role in many battles, including the Second Italian War of Independence, where he commanded the 2nd division.   

Born into the musical family of a composer father and a pianist/singer mother, Johann Friedrich Franz Burgmuller was no stranger to music in childhood. A talented cellist, too, the German Romantic composer later settled in Paris, where he composed everything from piano pieces to waltzes and ballets.

The queen of Spain and the wife of Spanish king Ferdinand VII, Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies also served as a regent to her daughter, Isabella, after Ferdinand’s death. She had previously made Ferdinand change the law of succession to let Isabella become the ruler instead of Ferdinand’s brother, Don Carlos.

André Henri Constant van Hasselt was a Dutch-Belgian poet and writer who wrote predominantly in French. His first book of poems, Primevères, is widely regarded as the first prominent collection of poems in the history of modern Belgium. Interestingly, Primevères is also considered an awkwardly written work.