Famous People Born In 1829

Levi Strauss, the man behind the iconic clothing brand Levi Strauss & Co., or Levi's, which was also the first blue-jeans-manufacturing firm, was born in Germany and later moved to the US. It is rumored that his jeans were meant for the labor class, and he himself had never worn a pair.

Newton Knight was an American soldier, farmer, and Southern Unionist in Mississippi. He is best remembered for leading a band of Confederate army deserters known as the Knight Company, who opposed the Confederacy during the American Civil War. His life and work have inspired films, such as Tap Roots and Free State of Jones.

Hailed as the Prophet of the Poor, William Booth was the co-founder and the first the General of the Salvation Army, a Christian church known for its world-wide charitable work. Initially a Methodist preacher, he was moved by the plight of the poor and formed the Salvation Army, aiming to deliver salvation by meeting both their physical and spiritual needs.

August Kekulé was a German organic chemist. Regarded as one of the most important chemists in Europe, Kekulé is credited with founding the theory of chemical structure, including the Kekulé structure of benzene. Kekulé is also credited with teaching future Nobel Prize winners, Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff Jr., Hermann Emil Louis Fischer, and Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von Baeyer.

British civil servant A. O. Hume is remembered as the Father of the Indian National Congress, having co-founded the party. Apart from being an administrator, he was also an ornithologist and had written List of Birds in India. His vocal criticism of the British made his bosses distrust him.

German composer and pianist Otto Goldschmidt was one of the first students at the Leipzig Conservatory. The son of a Jewish salesperson, he grew up to be one of the greatest musicians of the 19th century. He later settled in England and established the London Bach Choir.

Born to a pastor father in Prussia, Theodor Billroth was pushed to study medicine by his mother. Initially undecided over his career, he devoted most of his first university year to music. Later, he gained fame as a pioneer of abdominal surgery and also examined how bacteria causes wound fever.

A pioneer of medical neurology, Silas Weir Mitchell not only discovered the causalgia and erythromelalgia but also penned more than 100 monographs on various medical treatments. A talented author, he also penned children’s stories, poems, and novels, such as Roland Blake. He also developed rest cure during the American Civil War.

US geologist Ferdinand Vandiveer Hayden is remembered for his ground-breaking research on the Rocky Mountains and the Great Plains. He also served as a Union Army surgeon during the American Civil War and taught geology at the University of Pennsylvania. He also played a major role in the formation of the Yellowstone National Park.

Venezuelan military leader Antonio Guzmán Blanco led the country as its president for 3 terms. The son of Liberal Party founder Antonio Leocadio Guzmán, he grew up to join the movement known as Liberalismo Amarillo. He modernized civil facilities in Caracas but curbed civil and religious liberties.

Owing to a spinal ailment, Catherine Booth remained mostly at home as a child. She later founded The Salvation Army, with her Methodist preacher husband William Booth, thus helping the poor and the needy. She refused to believe women couldn’t preach the gospels and wrote the pamphlet Female Ministry.

Dolores Veintimilla was an Ecuadorian poet best remembered for her poem, Quejas. Veintimilla committed suicide at the age of 27 and some of her works were published posthumously. Although her works were never fully appreciated during her lifetime, Dolores Veintimilla achieved posthumous fame when her works reached the hands of subsequent generation of readers.

Asaph Hall was born into a poor family of a clockmaker, and after losing his father, he began working as a carpenter’s apprentice. His talent in mathematics earned him a position at the Harvard College Observatory, and he ended up discovering the two moons of Mars, Deimos and Phobos.

Auguste Beernaert was a Belgian politician best remembered for serving as the Prime Minister of Belgium from 26 October 1884 to 26 March 1894. For his work at a non-UN intergovernmental organization called the Permanent Court of Arbitration, Auguste Beernaert was honored with the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize in 1909. 

British astronomer Isaac Roberts revolutionized astrophotography with his photographs of nebulae. The son of a farmer, he had initially also worked at a mechanical engineering firm. His work in astrophotography won him the Royal Astronomical Society’s gold medal. A crater on the Moon was later named after him.

Emeline Horton Cleveland created history by becoming the first female surgeon to successfully conduct gynecological surgery in the U.S. Initially aspiring to be a missionary, she changed her plans and began teaching, before furthering her medical career. She also introduced one of the first training courses for nurses in her country.

Laurence Oliphant was a South African-born British traveller, author, diplomat, Christian Zionist, Christian mystic, and British intelligence agent. He is best remembered for his satirical novel, Piccadilly. Laurence Oliphant is also remembered for his work of esoteric Christianity along with his wife Alice. The work was published as Sympneumata, or Evolutionary Forces Now Active in Man in 1885.