Curated playlist
1819 births
- Herman MelvilleHerman Melville's death notice misspelled his great novel as "Mobie Dick."
- Queen VictoriaQueen Victoria drove the same road the day after a gun failed to fire at her, hoping to draw a second shot.
- George EliotGeorge Eliot was a woman who lived openly with a married man. Mary Ann Evans shared a home with him from 1854 to 1878.
- Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and GothaPrince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha never wore a crown, yet the clerk of the Privy Council, Charles Greville, once wrote of him: "He is King to all intents and purposes." Albert was the husband of Queen Victoria, and Greville's line…
- Jacques OffenbachJacques Offenbach died months before his last opera opened. He told his dog he would give everything to be there.
- Joseph BazalgetteIn 1858, London's stench forced Parliament to hang disinfectant-soaked curtains. Joseph Bazalgette built the fix.
- John RuskinA jury awarded painter Whistler one farthing in his libel suit against critic John Ruskin.
- William Powell FrithIn 1858, crowds pressing to see William Powell Frith's new painting forced officials to add a rail.
- Eunice Newton FooteA man read Eunice Newton Foote's 1856 paper on heat-trapping gases on her behalf.
- William RosecransGeneral William Rosecrans lost his command after one badly worded order at Chickamauga.