Timeline December 1859

Events in December 1859 4

• 1785 – 1859 Thomas De Quincey (1785-1859) Died 8 December 1859, aged 74 Thomas De Quincey was an English essayist best known for "Confessions of an English Opium-Eater," an autobiographical account of his addiction that influenced later writers on drugs and altered states of mind. He worked prolifically as a journalist and critic throughout his life. He died in Edinburgh.
• 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.
• 1800 – 1859 Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859) Died 28 December 1859, aged 59 Thomas Babington Macaulay was a British historian and politician whose History of England and essays were widely read and admired for their style. He also served in colonial administration in India, where he shaped early legal and educational policy. He was created Baron Macaulay in 1857 and died at his home near London.
• 1859 – 1891 Georges Seurat Pointillism · France Georges Seurat (December 2, 1859 – March 29, 1891) was a French Post-Impressionist who invented Pointillism — applying tiny dots of pure colour that blend optically. A Sunday on La Grande Jatte is his masterpiece. He died at 31.