Famous People Born In 1858

The 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt is generally ranked as one of the five best presidents of the country. A man of many talents, he was a politician, conservationist, naturalist, and writer. He supported  Progressive Era policies in the early 20th century and championed his "Square Deal" domestic policies.

German theoretical physicist Max Planck is remembered for originating the quantum theory of physics, which earned him the 1918 Nobel Prize in Physics. He laid down concepts such as the Planck constant and the Planck postulate. The Kaiser Wilhelm Society was later renamed Max Planck Society in his honor.

Born into a musical dynasty, composer Giacomo Puccini lost his father at age 5. Some of his best opera pieces include Madama Butterfly and La Bohème. The suicide of his maid, who was wrongly accused by his wife of being in an affair with him, affected his later career adversely.

Rudolf Diesel was a German mechanical engineer and inventor best remembered for inventing the Diesel engine. After Diesel's demise, his engine became an important substitution for the steam piston engine. The engine became widespread in applications, such as agricultural machines, submarines, ships, and trucks. His life inspired the 1942 biographical film Diesel, in which he was played by Willy Birgel.

Indian physicist, biologist, and plant physiologist Jagadish Chandra Bose revolutionized science with his research on how plants and animals react to external stimuli. He founded the Bose Institute, made pioneering contribution to the field of radio and microwave optics, and also penned one of the first works of Bengali science fiction.

Emile Durkheim was a French sociologist. He is credited with establishing the discipline of sociology for academic purposes and is widely regarded as the chief architect of modern social science. During his lifetime, Emile Durkheim published several works on topics like morality, religion, and education. He also played a major role in the development of sociology and anthropology as disciplines.

Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria was heir apparent to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The only son of Elisabeth in Bavaria and Emperor Franz Joseph I, Rudolf died at the age of 30 at the Mayerling hunting lodge in an assumed suicide pact with his lover Mary Vetsera. The incident has inspired several works of art, such as cinema.

Selma Lagerlöf was a Swedish teacher and author. In 1909, Lagerlöf became the first woman to receive the prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature. In 1914, she became the first woman to be elected as a member by the Swedish Academy. In 1991, Selma Lagerlöf was depicted on a Swedish banknote, becoming the first woman to enjoy this honor, albiet posthumously.

Georg Simmel was a German sociologist, philosopher, and critic considered a forerunner to structuralist styles of reasoning in the social sciences. He was neo-Kantian in his approach and laid the foundations for sociological antipositivism. He broadly rejected academic standards and wrote extensively on the philosophy of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. He was married to philosopher Gertrud Kinel and had one son. 

Physicist Mihajlo Idvorski Pupin developed what is now known as pupinization, a mechanism which extended the range of long-distance telephonic communication with the use of loading coils. Born to illiterate parents, he was a Serbian immigrant in the U.S. and later wrote a Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir, From Immigrant to Inventor.

Anna Julia Cooper was an American author, sociologist, educator, Black liberation activist, and speaker. She was one of the most important African-American scholars in US history. In 1924, Anna Julia Cooper earned her PhD from the University of Paris, becoming only the fourth African-American woman to receive a doctoral degree.

Best known as the author of The Truth About The Titanic (currently Titanic: A Survivor's Story), Archibald Gracie IV was one of the few who survived the sinking of RMS Titanic. Beginning his career as colonel of the 7th New York Militia, he later became a real estate agent, concurrently carrying out researches on history, particularly the Battle of Chickamauga.

Remembered for his research on cultural relativism, German-born American anthropologist Franz Boas is often referred to as the Father of American Anthropology. The son of a merchant, he was a sickly child who grew up reading a lot. He also studied folklore and developed it as an academic discipline.

Roman Catholic saint Katharine Drexel, the founder of Xavier University, was born to Philadelphia banker Francis Anthony Drexel and picked up he philanthropic habits from her father. In spite of inheriting a massive fortune, she devoted her life to building schools and churches for the racially underprivileged.

Dhondo Keshav Karve was an Indian social reformer who worked for women's welfare in India. A pioneer in supporting widows' education, Karve also promoted widow remarriage. He also walked the talk by marrying a widow. Karve is credited with founding SNDT Women's University, India's first women's university. In 1958, he was honored with India’s highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna.

Sociologist Beatrice Webb is best remembered for coining the term collective bargaining. Along with her husband, Sidney Webb, whom she met at the Fabian Society, and others, Beatrice co-founded the London School of Economics. In spite of her lack of formal education, she was a prominent educator and an avid diarist.

Eugène Ysaÿe was a Belgian virtuoso violinist, conductor, and composer. Referred to as The King of the Violin, Ysaÿe is best remembered for his finely honed technique which was without the shortcomings of violinists before Eugène Ysaÿe. He is also remembered for his great interpretations of Bach and Beethoven as well as early modern composers like César Franck.

Prince Henry of Battenberg was a morganatic descendant of the Grand Ducal House of Hesse. He was the son of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by the Rhine, and his wife, Countess Julia von Hauke. He married Queen Victoria's youngest child, Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom, and became a member of the British Royal Family. 

Remembered as the founder of symbolic logic, Giuseppe Peano laid down the symbols of union and intersection of sets. He also worked on geometric calculus and taught at institutes such as the University of Turin. His works are written in a simplified version of Latin. He was knighted by Italy.

María Cristina De Habsburgo-Lorena is better known as the Spanish king Alfonso XII’s queen consort, who acted as the queen regent after her husband’s death and before her son came of age to rule on his own. Her regency was the longest in the history of Spanish royalty.

George Washington Goethals was an American civil engineer and US-Army General remembered for his role as an overseer of the construction of the Panama Canal. He also served as the first Governor of the Panama Canal Zone from 1914 to 1917. Goethals has been honored with several tributes, including the Society of American Military Engineers' establishment of the Goethals Medal.

Japanese naval officer Saitō Makoto had initially worked as a naval attaché in the U.S. He later served as the governor of Korea and the minister of the Japanese navy, eventually becoming the prime minister of Japan. He was assassinated by members of the February 26 rebellion in 1936.

American obstetrician/gynaecologist and professor Howard Atwood Kelly was among the four outstanding physicians, known as the Big Four, along with William Welch, William Halsted and William Osler, who became founding professors at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Kelly established gynaecology as a specialty, and developed a systematic approach to gynaecological medicine and surgery as well as new surgical techniques and devices.

Gaetano Mosca was an Italian journalist, political scientist, and public servant. He developed the elite theory and is credited with co-founding the Italian school of elitism along with Robert Michels and Vilfredo Pareto. As a political journalist, Gaetano Mosca contributed immensely to popular Italian publications like the Corriere della Sera and the Tribuna.

Spanish painter Elías García Martínez was trained at an art academy in Barcelona and then served as a professor of ornamental and portrait painting throughout his life. One of his popular frescos in Borja, Ecce Homo, was destroyed by a woman because it needed to be restored, causing international uproar.

Nobel Prize-winning Dutch physician and pathologist Christiaan Eijkman was the first to prove that poor diet is the cause of the disease beriberi, which in turn led to the discovery of vitamins. While he initially worked in the Dutch East Indies, he later collaborated with Robert Koch in his Berlin laboratory.

Lovis Corinth was a German writer and artist whose work as a printmaker and painter realized a synthesis of expressionism and impressionism. An important member of the Berlin Secession group, Corinth went on to serve as the group's president as Max Liebermann's successor. Apart from creating landscapes and portraits of extraordinary vitality, Lovis Corinth also painted biblical scenes and nudes.

Born to a well-known lawyer, Julia Lathrop initially worked in her father’s law office and later turned into a full-fledged social reformer working on areas such as education and children’s welfare. She also created history by serving as the first director of the U.S. Children’s Bureau.

Liberty Hyde Bailey was an American botanist and horticulturist. He is best remembered for co-founding the American Society for Horticultural Science. Regarded as the father of rural journalism and rural sociology, Bailey is credited with playing an important role in the commencement of agricultural extension services, the nature study movement, the 4-H movement, and rural electrification.

Political scientist and Fabian Society leader Graham Wallas is best known for his iconic work Human Nature in Politics. He contributed to the development of the London School of Economics and was one of its first professors. He also proposed one of the first models of the creative process.

Swedish king Gustaf V was the eldest son of King Oscar II. His motto was “With the people for the Fatherland.” Post-World War I, he became a mere constitutional monarch, as the parliamentary government came into full-fledged effect. He was also the first Swedish king to not have a formal coronation.

William Henry Pickering and his brother set up a station of the Harvard Observatory in Peru and then established multiple such observatories, including a station in Jamaica. He also discovered Saturn’s ninth satellite, Phoebe, and prepared ground for the discovery of Pluto. The MIT alumnus was also a physics educator.

Marcella Sembrich was a Polish singer remembered for her charm, precise intonation, vocal fluidity, portamento, and impressive range of two-and-a-half octaves. Sembrich, whose voice was described as flute-like, had an illustrious singing career at London's Royal Opera House and the New York Metropolitan Opera. Off stage, Marcella Sembrich was a philanthropist and dedicated teacher.

Born to parents who were early Jewish settlers in Chicago, Hannah G. Solomon grew up to be an iconic figure of women’s empowerment in the US. She established the National Council of Jewish Women, modeled on an elite women’s club, to bring about social change and improve the lives of women.