1786

Events in 1786 7

• 1786 – 1846 Benjamin Haydon (1786-1846) Died 22 June 1846, aged 60 Haydon was an English painter of large historical canvases and a friend of Keats and Wordsworth. He is best remembered for his diaries. Debt and public neglect led to his suicide in London.
• 1786 – 1848 Christian VIII of Denmark (1786-1848) Died 20 January 1848, aged 61 King of Denmark from 1839, and briefly King of Norway in 1814. He died as revolution was about to break out across Europe. His son Frederick VII succeeded him and soon gave up absolute rule.
• 1786 – 1853 Francois Arago (1786-1853) Died 2 October 1853, aged 67 Francois Arago was a French physicist, astronomer, and statesman who made major contributions to the study of light polarization and electromagnetism, and briefly served as head of the French executive in 1848. As director of the Paris Observatory he championed Fizeau and Foucault's experiments measuring the speed of light. He died in Paris.
• 1786 – 1844 Nicholas Biddle (1786-1844) Died 27 February 1844, aged 58 American financier and president of the Second Bank of the United States. His fight with Andrew Jackson over renewing the bank's charter became known as the Bank War.
• 1786 – 1859 Wilhelm Grimm (1786-1859) Died 16 December 1859, aged 73 Wilhelm Grimm was a German philologist who, with his brother Jacob, collected and published the folk tales known as Grimms' Fairy Tales. Their work also included pioneering studies in Germanic linguistics and the launch of the Deutsches Worterbuch. He died in Berlin less than four years after his brother.
• 1786 – 1866 Winfield Scott (1786-1866) Died 29 May 1866, aged 79 American army general who served in uniform longer than any other officer in US history, commanding forces in the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, and briefly at the outset of the Civil War. His Anaconda Plan shaped Union strategy against the Confederacy.
• 1786 – 1826 Carl Maria von Weber Early Romantic opera pioneer German composer who established German Romantic opera with Der Freischütz, paving the way for Wagner.