Famous birthdays by year
Famous People Born in 1858
Born in 1858? 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 168 in 2026 · Chinese zodiac: Year of the Horse
The 1850s
The most famous people born in 185821
Theodore Roosevelt
26th US President, Rough Rider and conservationist who created national parks and won the Nobel Peace Prize
Photo: Adam Cuerden · Public domain
1858–1947Max Planck
German physicist who discovered that energy comes in quanta, founding quantum theory and winning the Nobel Prize in Physics
Photo: Courtesy of the Clendening History of Medicine Library, University of Kansas Medical Center. · CC BY-SA 3.0
1858–1940Selma Lagerlöf
Swedish novelist of Gösta Berling's Saga and The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature
Photo: Unknown author · Public domain
Giacomo Puccini
Italian opera composer of La Bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Turandot, with its aria Nessun dorma
Photo: Unknown author · Public domain
Émile Durkheim
French scholar who founded academic sociology, studied suicide statistically and wrote The Division of Labour in Society
Photo: Unknown author · Public domain
Rudolf Diesel
Inventor and engineer who created the diesel internal combustion engine
Photo: Unknown author · Public domain
Emmeline Pankhurst
Leader of the British suffragette movement who fought for women's votes
Photo: Adam Cuerden · Public domain
Georg Simmel
German sociologist and philosopher who co-founded the field of sociology
Photo: Unknown author · Public domain
Born in 1858, month by month
- January
- Eliezer Ben-Yehuda (January 7) · Lexicographer who was the primary driver behind modern Hebrew's revival
- March
- Georg Simmel (March 1) · German sociologist and philosopher who co-founded the field of sociology
- Rudolf Diesel (March 18) · Inventor and engineer who created the diesel internal combustion engine
- Ludwig Quidde (March 23) · Nobel Peace Prize winner and critic of the German Empire
- April
- Remy de Gourmont (April 4) · French Symbolist poet, novelist and influential literary critic
- Émile Durkheim (April 15) · French scholar who founded academic sociology, studied suicide statistically and wrote The Division of Labour in Society
- Max Planck (April 23) · German physicist who discovered that energy comes in quanta, founding quantum theory and winning the Nobel Prize in Physics
- June
- Gustaf V of Sweden (June 16) · King of Sweden for over forty years
- July
- Franz Boas (July 9) · Influential anthropologist known as the father of American anthropology
- Emmeline Pankhurst (July 15) · Leader of the British suffragette movement who fought for women's votes
- Lovis Corinth (July 21) · German artist who blended elements of impressionism and expressionism
- August
- Christiaan Eijkman (August 11) · Nobel Prize-winning physician who discovered that vitamins prevent certain diseases
- Omar al-Mukhtar (August 20) · Libyan resistance leader against Italian colonial rule
- Giuseppe Peano (August 27) · Italian mathematician who developed the foundations of symbolic logic
- September
- Bonar Law (September 16) · Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- October
- Eleonora Duse (October 3) · Highly influential Italian actress of the late nineteenth century
- Theodore Roosevelt (October 27) · 26th US President, Rough Rider and conservationist who created national parks and won the Nobel Peace Prize
- November
- Marie Bashkirtseva (November 12) · Russian-born painter and diarist who worked in nineteenth-century Paris
- Selma Lagerlöf (November 20) · Swedish novelist of Gösta Berling's Saga and The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature
- Jagadish Chandra Bose (November 30) · Indian polymath who pioneered the investigation of radio and microwave optics
- December
- Giacomo Puccini (December 22) · Italian opera composer of La Bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Turandot, with its aria Nessun dorma