1840

Events in 1840 14

• 1782 – 1840 Niccolò Paganini Violin virtuoso & composer Italian violinist and composer whose dazzling technique revolutionised violin playing. His 24 Caprices remain among the most challenging violin works ever written.
• 1820 – 1840 Antarctica confirmed as a continent The seventh continent discovered by three expeditions Between 1820 and 1840, Russian, British, and American expeditions independently confirmed the existence of a massive continental landmass at the South Pole. Fabian von Bellingshausen, Edward Bransfield, and Nathaniel Palmer all sighted the Antarctic coast in 1820. The continent was confirmed by the Wilkes Expedition in 1840, completing the map of the Earth's major landmasses.
• 1840 – 1897 Alphonse Daudet (1840-1897) Died 16 December 1897, aged 57 Alphonse Daudet was a French novelist best known for Letters from My Windmill and the comic character Tartarin of Tarascon. He wrote extensively about Provencal life and later works reflecting his long struggle with illness. He died in Paris on 16 December 1897.
• 1840 – 1913 August Bebel (1840-1913) Died 13 August 1913, aged 73 Bebel co-founded the Social Democratic Party of Germany and led it for decades, building it into the largest socialist party in Europe. He was a longtime member of the Reichstag and a leading theorist of the Second International. His death removed the most prominent figure of German social democracy before the First World War.
• 1840 – 1917 Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) Died 17 November 1917, aged 77 Auguste Rodin was a French sculptor widely regarded as the progenitor of modern sculpture, celebrated for works including "The Thinker" and "The Kiss". His death came shortly after the opening of a museum dedicated to his work in Paris.
• 1840 – 1927 Charlotte of Belgium (1840-1927) Died 19 January 1927, aged 86 Charlotte of Belgium was Empress of Mexico as the wife of Maximilian I. She suffered a mental breakdown in 1866 and lived in seclusion in Belgium for six decades after his execution.
• 1840 – 1901 Empress Frederick (1840-1901) Died 5 August 1901, aged 60 Victoria, Princess Royal of Britain, was Empress consort of Germany and Queen consort of Prussia during her husband Frederick III's brief reign in 1888. Widowed after 99 days, she spent her later years at Friedrichshof and died of cancer on 5 August 1901. She was the eldest child of Queen Victoria and mother of Kaiser Wilhelm II.
• 1840 – 1905 Ernst Abbe (1840-1905) Died 14 January 1905, aged 64 German physicist Ernst Abbe developed the theory of optical resolution that transformed microscope design and co-founded the Carl Zeiss optical company. His formula for the diffraction limit of microscopes remains fundamental to optics. He also pioneered progressive labor policies at Zeiss, including profit-sharing and the eight-hour workday.
• 1840 – 1921 John Boyd Dunlop (1840-1921) Died 23 October 1921, aged 81 John Boyd Dunlop, the Scottish inventor who developed and patented the practical pneumatic tyre, died in Dublin. His invention transformed cycling and later the automobile industry, and the company that bore his name grew into a major global tyre manufacturer. He had largely stepped back from the business decades before his death.
• 1840 – 1928 Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) Died 11 January 1928, aged 87 English novelist and poet, author of Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Far from the Madding Crowd and Jude the Obscure. After the hostile reception of Jude he gave up fiction for poetry. His ashes were interred in Westminster Abbey's Poets' Corner.
• 1840 – 1902 Emile Zola French novelist Zola led the Naturalist movement, depicting social conditions with scientific realism and political critique.
• 1840 – 1893 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Russian Romantic composer Russian composer whose Swan Lake, Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty ballets and 1812 Overture are among the most beloved works in classical music.
• 1840 – 1849 William II King during constitutional reform William II accepted major constitutional reforms that transformed the Netherlands into a parliamentary democracy.
• 1840 – 1926 Claude Monet Impressionism · France Claude Monet (November 14, 1840 – December 5, 1926) was the founder of French Impressionism, whose series paintings of haystacks, Rouen Cathedral and water lilies are among the most beloved works in art history.