Famous People Born In 1866

H. G. Wells was an English writer. Although he was prolific in many genres, he is best remembered for his work on sci-fi novels, for which he is often referred to as the father of science fiction. His 1901 novel The First Men in the Moon became so influential that a lunar impact crater is named after him.

Erik Satie was a French pianist and composer. An influential artist during his time, Satie's works served as a predecessor to later artistic movements like repetitive music, minimalism, and the Theatre of the Absurd. Apart from being a musician, Erik Satie was also a prolific writer, who contributed to publications, such as Vanity Fair and 391.

Orphaned, Matthew Henson began his journey as a cabin boy at age 12 and was later hired by Robert E. Peary as an attendant for his expeditions. He, along with Peary and 4 Inuit, were the first men to set foot on North Pole. The African-American explorer later won a Congressional Medal.

Born to a poet and carpenter, George Gurdjieff grew up reading a lot of science books in his hometown, Kars. He later laid down the concept of The Fourth Way, stating that humans can overcome their state of waking sleep through methods involving a combination of music, dance, and lectures.

Thomas Hunt Morgan was an evolutionary biologist, geneticist, and embryologist. He won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1933. He worked extensively on the role that the chromosome plays in heredity and demonstrated that genes are carried on chromosomes. In his later career, he established the division of biology at the California Institute of Technology. 

The son of a Union soldier, Kenesaw Mountain Landis was successful US federal judge. He was also the first Commissioner of Baseball and is remembered for his role in the Black Sox scandal, in which he removed eight Chicago White Sox players for deliberately losing the 1919 World Series.

Russian naval officer and explorer Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich was the brother-in-law of the last emperor of Russia, Emperor Nicholas II. He played a significant role in the development of Russian military aviation during WWI. He spent his later life in exile in Paris and conducted many archaeological expeditions.

Mary Anderson was a real estate developer, rancher, and inventor. She is best known for inventing the windshield wiper blade. She received her first patent for an automatic car window cleaning device controlled from inside the car in 1903. She was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2011, more than half a century after her death.  

Maud Gonne not just co-founded the Sinn Féin party but also participated in the theater movement of W.B Yeats, who made her his muse and proposed to her many times, only to be rejected. An Irish nationalist, she also formed the Daughters of Ireland and acted in Yeats’s first play Cathleen ni Houlihan.

La Goulue was a French can-can dancer who became a favorite subject for painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec at the peak of her popularity. Dubbed the Queen of Montmartre, Goulue is remembered for performing at the Moulin Rouge near Montmartre where she was a star. After parting ways with Moulin Rouge, she lost a considerable amount of money and died poor.

Léon Bakst was a Russian painter, costume designer, and scene designer of Belarusian origin. He worked closely with the Ballets Russes, where he designed richly colored, exotic costumes and sets. His best-known works include productions like Daphnis and Chloe, Spectre de la rose, and The Sleeping Princess. In 1914, he was made a member of the Russian Academy of Arts.  

Herbert Henry Dow taught chemistry before venturing into a business career. Though his first company was a failure, his work impressed investors, and he was soon able to establish Dow Chemical, which supplied low-cost bromine to the US markets. He later made auto pistons out of spare magnesium.

Alfred Werner was a Swiss chemist who is credited with developing the fundamental for modern coordination chemistry. In 1913, he became the first inorganic chemist to receive the prestigious Nobel Prize in Chemistry, which he won for proposing the correct configuration of transition metal complexes.

Born to musician parents in Italy, Ferruccio Busoni was a child prodigy, having begun composing at the age of 7. He grew up to be a piano professor in Finland, and his work later took him to Moscow and the U.S. He is remembered for his opera and chamber pieces.

Henry Bacon was a Beaux-Arts architect best remembered for designing the iconic Lincoln Memorial. In May 1923, he became only the sixth person to be honored with the prestigious AIA Gold Medal for his achievements. From 1921 to 1924, Henry Bacon also served as one of the most prominent members of the US Commission of Fine Arts.

Initially a businessman, who redefined the confectionery and chocolate industry of Finland and led to the development of the innovative chocolate brand Fazer Blue, Karl Fazer was also a talented sport shooter. He was part of the Finnish shooting team at the 1912 Olympic games. He also established several natural parks.

Gilbert Murray was an Australian-born British intellectual and scholar who specialized in the culture and language of Ancient Greece. A well-known humanist, Murray served as the president of Humanists UK from 1929 to 1930. Gilbert Murray also played an important role in the establishment of Oxfam as well as the Institute of World Affairs.

Jacinto Benavente was one of the foremost Spanish dramatists of the 20th century. The son of a popular pediatrician, he developed an early interest in literature but was expected to pursue a more conventional professional. He began studying law but abandoned it to become a dramatist. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1922. 

Adrien de Gerlache was a Belgian Royal Navy officer best remembered for leading the famous Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897–99. It was the first winter expedition to the Antarctic region and is also considered the maiden voyage of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Several geographical features like Mount Gerlache and Cape Gerlache have been named in his honor.

Hans von Seeckt was a German military officer. He played an important role in the First World War where he was a key figure in planning the victories achieved by August von Mackensen during World War I.