Famous birthdays by year
Famous People Born in 1856
Born in 1856? Meet the well-known people who share your birth year, from the biggest names to the ones you might not expect, month by month.
Turning 170 in 2026 · Chinese zodiac: Year of the Dragon
The 1850s
The most famous people born in 185621
1856–1939Sigmund Freud
Austrian neurologist who founded psychoanalysis and introduced ideas such as the unconscious, repression and the interpretation of dreams
Photo: Max Halberstadt · Public domain
1856–1943Nikola Tesla
Serbian-American inventor who developed the alternating-current electrical system and the induction motor that power the modern world
Photo: Napoleon Sarony · Public domain
1856–1924Woodrow Wilson
28th US President who led America in the First World War, proposed the League of Nations and won the Nobel Peace Prize
Photo: Harris & Ewing, photographer · Public domain
1856–1950George Bernard Shaw
Irish playwright of Pygmalion and Saint Joan, a socialist and wit who won both the Nobel Prize and an Oscar
Photo: Bain News Service, publisher · Public domain
1856–1940Joseph John Thomson
English physicist who discovered the electron in 1897 and won the Nobel Prize in Physics
Photo: Bain News Service, publisher · Public domain
1856–1951Philippe Pétain
French general and leader of the Vichy France regime
Photo: Imprimerie Draeger à Montrouge en région parisienne · Public domain
1856–1916Ivan Franko
Influential Ukrainian poet, writer, and political activist
Photo: M. Nikopoli · Public domain
1856–1918Georgi Plekhanov
Revolutionary thinker often called the father of Russian Marxism
Photo: Karl Bulla · Public domain
Born in 1856, month by month
- February
- Emil Kraepelin (February 15) · Psychiatrist who founded the modern system of classifying mental illnesses
- March
- Hara Takashi (March 15) · First commoner to serve as the Prime Minister of Japan
- Frederick Winslow Taylor (March 20) · Engineer known as the father of scientific management
- April
- Booker T. Washington (April 5) · African American educator and author who founded the Tuskegee Institute
- Philippe Pétain (April 24) · French general and leader of the Vichy France regime
- May
- Sigmund Freud (May 6) · Austrian neurologist who founded psychoanalysis and introduced ideas such as the unconscious, repression and the interpretation of dreams
- Robert Peary (May 6) · American explorer who led several expeditions to reach the North Pole
- L. Frank Baum (May 15) · Author of the beloved children's fantasy novel The Wizard of Oz
- June
- Elbert Green Hubbard (June 19) · American writer and founder of the Roycroft arts community
- H. Rider Haggard (June 22) · Author of adventure novels such as King Solomon's Mines
- July
- Nikola Tesla (July 10) · Serbian-American inventor who developed the alternating-current electrical system and the induction motor that power the modern world
- Bal Gangadhar Tilak (July 23) · Indian nationalist leader and independence activist
- George Bernard Shaw (July 26) · Irish playwright of Pygmalion and Saint Joan, a socialist and wit who won both the Nobel Prize and an Oscar
- August
- Alfred Deakin (August 3) · Second Prime Minister of Australia and major figure in Federation
- Ivan Franko (August 27) · Influential Ukrainian poet, writer, and political activist
- September
- Louis Sullivan (September 3) · American architect known as the father of modern skyscrapers
- November
- Georgi Plekhanov (November 29) · Revolutionary thinker often called the father of Russian Marxism
- Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg (November 29) · German Chancellor who led the country during World War I
- December
- Joseph John Thomson (December 18) · English physicist who discovered the electron in 1897 and won the Nobel Prize in Physics
- Frank B. Kellogg (December 22) · American statesman and Nobel Peace Prize winner
- Woodrow Wilson (December 28) · 28th US President who led America in the First World War, proposed the League of Nations and won the Nobel Peace Prize