1838

Events in 1838 8

• 1838 – 1883 Charles Sherwood Stratton (1838-1883) Died 15 July 1883, aged 45 Known by his stage name General Tom Thumb, Stratton was an American performer who achieved international fame under showman P. T. Barnum. His small stature and charismatic performances made him one of the most celebrated entertainers of his era.
• 1838 – 1905 John Hay (1838-1905) Died 1 July 1905, aged 66 American statesman John Hay served as private secretary to Abraham Lincoln before becoming US Secretary of State under Presidents McKinley and Roosevelt. He negotiated the Open Door Policy toward China and the treaty securing US rights to build the Panama Canal. He was also an accomplished author and biographer of Lincoln.
• 1838 – 1914 John Muir (1838-1914) Died 24 December 1914, aged 76 A Scottish-born naturalist and writer, Muir was a tireless advocate for wilderness preservation in the United States and co-founded the Sierra Club. His writing and lobbying helped establish Yosemite and other national parks. He is often called the father of the American national park system.
• 1838 – 1865 John Wilkes Booth (1838-1865) Died 26 April 1865, aged 26 John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre. He was tracked down and killed by Union soldiers in Virginia twelve days after the shooting.
• 1838 – present Pena Palace Romanticism in Sintra One of the finest examples of 19th-century Romantic architecture in the world.
• 1838 – 1839 Schleiden and Schwann — cell theory All living things are made of cells In 1838-1839, Matthias Schleiden (plants) and Theodor Schwann (animals) independently proposed that all living organisms are composed of cells and that the cell is the fundamental unit of life. Virchow added in 1855 that all cells come from pre-existing cells. Cell theory is one of the three pillars of modern biology alongside evolution and genetics.
• 1838 – 1905 Sir Henry Irving (1838-1905) Died 13 October 1905, aged 67 English actor Henry Irving was the leading Shakespearean performer of the Victorian stage and manager of London's Lyceum Theatre. In 1895 he became the first actor ever to be knighted, a recognition of the growing respectability of his profession. He collapsed and died shortly after a performance in Bradford.
• 1838 – 1875 Georges Bizet French opera composer French composer best known for his opera Carmen, one of the most performed operas in the repertoire, which he completed shortly before his death at 36.