Famous People Born In 1854

Widely regarded as one of the most popular writers of all time, Oscar Wilde is best remembered for his plays and epigrams. He was also one of the best-known personalities during his time as he was popular for his conversational skills, flamboyant dressing sense, and biting wit. Imprisoned in 1895 for consensual homosexual acts, Oscar Wilde was pardoned posthumously in 2017.

French poet Arthur Rimbaud is remembered for his influence on Dadaism, surrealism, and symbolism. Known for works such as Le Soleil Etait Encore Chaud and Voyelles, he later got involved in a relationship with poet Paul Verlaine. He also traveled as a merchant and explorer, before dying of cancer.

George Eastman revolutionized the world of photography with his Eastman Kodak Company and the roll film, which also came to be used in movies. Initially a banker, he later devoted himself to his camera company. A dedicated philanthropist, too, he contributed financially to music, dentistry, and medicine.

German scientist Paul Ehrlich is remembered for his contribution to immunology, which also won him a Nobel Prize. Known as the pioneer of chemotherapy, he also discovered the first-known treatment of syphilis. Born into a business family, he was introduced to the method of studying cells by his pathologist uncle.

Leos Janacek was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, and teacher. He is credited to have created an original, modern musical style inspired by Moravian and other Slavic folk music. He was deeply influenced by folklore and by the works of his contemporary and friend,  Antonín Dvořák. The Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra is named in his honor. 

Milan I of Serbia reigned as the King of Serbia from 1882 until his sudden abdication in 1889. He abdicated in favor of Alexander I of Serbia, which was unexpected at that time. During his reign, Milan focused on developing natural resources and improving the means of communication. However, he was largely unpopular due to reckless extravagance and heavy taxation. 

Apart from being the first female university graduate in the Netherlands, the first Dutch female physician, and the first female to get a medical doctorate in her country, Aletta Jacobs was also a pioneering women’s suffrage activist. She traveled the world for her feminist mission with fellow suffragette Carrie Chapman.

David Dunbar Buick was a Scottish-born American inventor best remembered for establishing the popular Buick Motor Company, which went on to become the basis of the General Motors empire. In 1974, Buick was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame for his immense contribution to the automobile industry in the United States of America.

Bill Tilghman was a gunfighter, career lawman, and politician in Kansas and Oklahoma. He was active during the late 19th century and became a legendary figure after he single-handedly captured the notorious bandit Bill Doolin and killed many members of his gang. He became a politician later in his career and served as an Oklahoma state senator. 

Copley Medal-winning engineer Charles Algernon Parsons revolutionized marine transport with his invention of a multi-stage steam turbine. His other inventions include a mechanical reducing gear. Apart from being named a Fellow of the Royal Society, he was also knighted and awarded an Order of Merit for his contributions.

Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was the daughter of Grand Duke Frederick Francis II. Renowned for her sense of style and attractiveness, Marie was also popular for her sociability and wittiness. Marie was widely recognized and she received honors from several kingdoms and empires, including the Russian Empire.

Christiaan de Wet was a Boer general, rebel leader, and politician. He served as a field cornet in the First Anglo-Boer War of 1880–81. Following the war, he became a member of the Volksraad. In the Second Boer War, he took part in the Siege of Ladysmith and the surprise attack on Sanna's Post near Bloemfontein. 

Benedict XV became Bishop of Rome at the outbreak of the First World War and his pontificate was mostly occupied with several issues of the war. He declared neutrality of the Holy See and made unsuccessful efforts to mediate peace between both sides. He later succeeded in re-establishing relation between France and the Vatican and promulgated Code of Canon Law.

Hertha Ayrton was a British engineer,  physicist, mathematician, and inventor. She is remembered for her work on electric arcs and ripple marks in sand and water, for which she was awarded the Hughes Medal by the Royal Society. As a woman in the 19th century, she had to face innumerable struggles in her career. She was also a passionate suffragist. 

Robert Borden was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as the eighth prime minister of Canada from 1911 to 1920. World War I started during his tenure, and he received much admiration for his leadership throughout the war. As the prime minister, he introduced women's suffrage for federal elections. 

Stefan Stambolov was a Bulgarian journalist, revolutionary, politician, and poet who served as the Prime Minister of Bulgaria from 1 September 1887 to 31 May 1894. Counted among the most popular and prominent founders of modern Bulgaria, Stambolov played a key role during the Balkan Wars; he helped initiate the cultural and economic progress in Bulgaria.

Nobel Prize-winning German physiologist Emil Adolf von Behring is remembered as a pioneer of immunology for his research on serum therapy developed an antitoxin to cure diphtheria. One of the 13 children of his parents, he had studied medicine at a military academy due to lack of funds.

Victor Babeș was a Romanian bacteriologist, physician, academician, and professor. Widely regarded as the co-founder of modern microbiology, Babeș is credited with authoring one of the world's first treatises of bacteriology, Bacteria and their role in pathological anatomy and histology of infectious diseases. Victor Babeș also made important contributions to the study of leprosy, rabies, tuberculosis, and diphtheria.

Apart from being a sociologist and biologist, Patrick Geddes was known for his impeccable sense of town planning. While he initially taught botany in Dundee, he later turned to sociology and conducted studies in India, Mexico, and other countries. He was eventually knighted for his achievements.

Renowned Swedish physicist Johannes Rydberg is most recognised for devising the Rydberg formula, a mathematical formula used to determine the wavelengths of photons. He was twice nominated for the Nobel Prize and was inducted as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1919. He worked at the Lund University as a provisional professor of physics before becoming a full professor.

Henri La Fontaine was a Belgian lawyer who served as the president of the International Peace Bureau (IPB), one of the oldest international peace federations. In 1913, Henri La Fontaine was honored with the prestigious Nobel Prize for Peace for his efforts to lead the peace movement in Europe.

Born an illegitimate son of an official painter of the shogunate, Takahashi Korekiyo was later adopted by a samurai. He went to the U.S. and worked there for a while, before returning to Japan. He eventually stepped into politics and later became the prime minister of Japan.

Moritz Moszkowski was a pianist, teacher, and composer of Polish-Jewish descent. He achieved popularity during the late 19th century and was well respected by his peers. Moritz Moszkowski is credited with teaching future composers like Ernest Schelling, Joaquín Nin, Carl Lachmund, and Joaquín Turina.

Scottish engineer Dugald Clerk is best known for his invention of the two-stroke engine, used widely in motorcycles and other machines. He also headed engineering research of the British Admiralty as its director and was knighted, too. He also co-established the intellectual property service provider Marks & Clerk.

U.S. Army physician William C. Gorgas was in charge of the sanitation of Panama and successfully eradicated both malaria and yellow fever from the zone, thus paving the way for the construction of the Panama Canal. He was later made part of the Hall of Fame For Great Americans.

Joseph Jacobs was an Australian literary critic, folklorist, social scientist, translator, writer, and historian. A notable publisher of English folklore, Jacobs' work is credited with popularizing some of the most renowned versions of English fairy tales like Jack the Giant Killer and Jack and the Beanstalk. Jacobs was widely regarded as one of the world's leading experts on English folklore.

Johan Ludvig Heiberg was a Danish historian and philologist. Heiberg is best remembered for discovering previously unknown texts in the famous Archimedes Palimpsest. In 1912, Johan Ludvig Heiberg was honored with the Prix Binoux by the French Academy of Sciences.

Jokichi Takamine was a Japanese chemist best remembered as the first person to isolate epinephrine in 1901. He is credited with founding the Tokyo Artificial Fertilizer Company in Japan as well as the Nippon Club of New York City in the USA. Jokichi Takamine's life and career inspired a couple of films, namely Sakura, Sakura and Takamine.

French writer Alphonse Allais, also a journalist and humorist, wrote many collections of whimsical writings. He is known for writing the earliest example of a completely silent musical composition. The small house where he was born was later turned into a museum named Alphonse Allais Museum. The Académie Alphonse-Allais has been awarding an annual prize in his honor since 1954.