Famous People Born In 1851

Doc Holliday was a well-known American gunfighter, gambler, and dentist. He played a major role in the events leading up to the most famous shootout in American Wild West history, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. His interesting life and character have inspired several books, films, and TV series; he has been portrayed by actors like Cesar Romero and Kirk Douglas.

Walter Reed was a U.S. Army physician best remembered for leading a team which confirmed that yellow fever gets transmitted by a mosquito rather than by direct contact. His work went a long way in the fight against yellow fever.

Olga Constantinovna of Russia was the oldest daughter of Grand Duke Constantine Nikolaievich and his wife, Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg. She was married to King George I of Greece and was the queen consort of Greece as his wife. In this role, she became involved in social and charitable work and founded hospitals and schools. 

Taytu Betul reigned as the Empress of Ethiopia from 10 May 1889 to 12 December 1913. She is credited with co-founding the city of Addis Ababa along with her husband in 1886. As the wife of Emperor Menelik II, Taytu Betul wielded considerable political power. In fact, the emperor always consulted Taytu Betul before making important decisions. 

Peder Severin Krøyer was a Danish painter best remembered for painting beach scenes featuring local fishermen as well as recreation life on the beach. Some of his paintings are preserved at the Skagens Museum in Denmark.

It is believed that the Margherita pizza that is a popular dish today was actually first made by a pizza maker in Naples to treat Margherita of Savoy, who had grown tired of the royal gourmet food. The wife of King Umberto I, Margherita was the queen of Italy.

A major advocate of the Austrian school of economics, Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk made major reforms as part of the Austrian ministry of finance, such as imposition of the gold standard. He was also one of the first to oppose Karl Marx’s theory of exploitation of workers.

Best known for developing the radio-wave detector named coherer, Oliver Lodge had also served as the first principal of Birmingham University. He was made a Knights Bachelor and had also been a Royal Institution lecturer. His inventions revolutionized early wireless telegraph technology, though they were replaced by modern instruments later.

Spanish countess and novelist Emilia Pardo Bazán had initially gained fame with the essay The Critical Issue. She was an advocate of naturalism and free will. Known for novels such as The House of Ulloa, she also taught Romance literature and was divorced by her husband because of her literary success.

Léon Bourgeois was a French statesman known for his progressive political ideals. He studied law as a young man and soon entered politics. With time, he steadily rose through the political ranks and became the prime minister of France in 1895. He promoted social insurance schemes, economic equality, controlled disarmament, economic sanctions, and expanded educational opportunities.

A prominent name in the field of economics, Knut Wicksell was a Swedish economist known for his pioneering work in monetary theory. His work has influenced numerous economists like James M. Buchanan and John Maynard Keynes and various economic schools of thought like Keynesian and Austrian school. During his career, he also worked as a professor at the Lund University.

One of the principal members of the Austrian school of economics, Friedrich von Wieser is known for coining the term marginal utility and developing number of theories including the alternative cost theory, proclaiming that cost of a commodity depends mainly on its subjective, or psychological, value. Among his many publications more significant are Natural Value and Foundations of Social Economy.

Jacobus Cornelius Kapteyn was a Dutch astronomer best remembered for his studies of the Milky Way. He proved the existence of galactic rotation and was also among the first astronomers to talk about the existence of dark matter as early as 1922. Over the course of his career, Kapteyn was honored with many awards like the James Craig Watson Medal.

Born to pianist parents Robert and Clara Schumann, Eugenie Schumann grew up to be not just a fine pianist but also an author, who had penned her memoir, The Schumanns and Johannes Brahms. It is believed, she was in a long-term lesbian relationship with Austrian singer Marie Fillunger.

The grandnephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, Charles Joseph Bonaparte was a French-American lawyer and political activist, born and raised in Baltimore. Founder of Baltimore Reform League, his works attracted Theodore Roosevelt’s admiration and serving as U.S. Secretary of the Navy and Attorney General during the latter’s tenure as President, he established Bureau of Investigation, later Day FBI, prosecuting many antitrust suits.

Belgian Roman Catholic cardinal Désiré-Joseph Mercier was a prominent Thomist scholar who was largely responsible for the revival of the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas in the 19th century. He served as the Archbishop of Mechelen and is remembered for his valiant resistance to the 1914–1918 German occupation.

Irish physicist and Trinity College professor George Francis FitzGerald made pioneering contributions to wireless telegraphy with his discovery of a way of producing radio waves. His Lorentz–FitzGerald contraction was later used by Albert Einstein in his special theory of relativity. He also made unsuccessful attempts to create a flying machine.

Remembered as the first president of the Leland Stanford Junior University, now known as Stanford University, David Starr Jordan was a reputed ichthyologist. An anti-war activist, too, who opposed America’s participation in World War I, he spent his later years as the chief director of the World Peace Foundation.

Austro-Hungarian naval chief who led during World War I, Anton Haus later served as the Navy's Grand Admiral. He also penned the iconic academic text Oceanography and Maritime Meteorology when he worked as a teacher at the Naval Academy. He also supported unrestricted submarine warfare, a technique followed by the Germans.

Two-time president of Portugal, Bernardino Luís Machado had initially been a professor at Lisbon’s Coimbra University. He also created Portugal’s first labor court. His first term as a president was put to an end by a rightist revolution, and his second term ended by a military revolt.

The son of Reform Judaism pioneer and rabbi Samuel Adler, Felix Adler was a German-American educator who had taught at Cornell and Columbia universities. He established the Ethical Culture movement, focusing on tying all human beings with the thread of universal morality. He also worked to abolish child labor.