1804

Events in 1804 13

• 1783 – 1804 Cayley — principles of aerodynamics Lift, drag and the concept of the fixed-wing aircraft George Cayley of Yorkshire formulated the basic principles of aerodynamics between 1783 and 1804, identifying the forces of lift, drag, and thrust acting on a flying body. He designed the first successful glider and understood that a fixed wing — rather than flapping — was the key to heavier-than-air flight. His 1804 model glider was the ancestor of all subsequent aircraft, including the Wright Brothers' 1903 Flyer.
• 1804 – 1881 Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) Died 19 April 1881, aged 76 British statesman and novelist who served twice as Prime Minister and helped found the modern Conservative Party. He championed imperial expansion and social reform while cultivating a close relationship with Queen Victoria. He died in London shortly after leaving office.
• 1804 – 1851 Carl Gustav Jacobi (1804-1851) Died 18 February 1851, aged 46 Carl Gustav Jacobi was a German mathematician who made fundamental contributions to elliptic functions, differential equations, and number theory. The Jacobian determinant is named after him.
• 1804 – 1857 Eugene Sue (1804-1857) Died 3 August 1857, aged 53 Sue was a French novelist best known for The Mysteries of Paris and The Wandering Jew, serialized novels that were immensely popular and helped establish the genre of the newspaper serial. His sympathetic portrayal of Paris's poor gave his fiction a strong social and political dimension. He died in exile after Napoleon III's coup.
• 1804 – 1876 George Sand (1804-1876) Died 8 June 1876, aged 71 George Sand, the pen name of Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, was a French novelist and memoirist celebrated for works including Indiana and La Mare au Diable. She died at her estate in Nohant on June 8, 1876.
• 1804 – 1849 Johann Strauss I (1804-1849) Died 25 September 1849, aged 45 Austrian composer and violinist known as the father of the waltz, famous for works including the Radetzky March. He died in Vienna during a scarlet fever epidemic. His son Johann Strauss II would eclipse him as the "Waltz King".
• 1804 – 1886 John Deere (1804-1886) Died 17 May 1886, aged 82 John Deere, the American blacksmith and manufacturer who invented the steel plow, died in Moline, Illinois. His self-scouring plow, introduced in 1837, made farming the tough prairie soils of the American Midwest practical and grew into the company that still bears his name. Deere & Company became one of the world's largest agricultural equipment manufacturers.
• 1804 – 1878 Karl von Rokitansky (1804-1878) Died 23 July 1878, aged 74 An Austrian pathologist who helped found the Vienna School of Medicine's reputation for scientific rigor through his systematic use of autopsy. He performed tens of thousands of autopsies over his career and trained a generation of pathologists. His methods helped establish pathological anatomy as a scientific discipline.
• 1804 – 1872 Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872) Died 13 September 1872, aged 68 Ludwig Feuerbach was a German philosopher whose critique of religion in The Essence of Christianity argued that God was a projection of human ideals. His materialist philosophy strongly influenced Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
• 1804 – 1857 Mikhail Glinka (1804-1857) Died 15 February 1857, aged 52 Glinka was a Russian composer often called the father of Russian classical music. His operas A Life for the Tsar and Ruslan and Lyudmila established a distinctly Russian musical idiom that influenced later composers including the Mighty Five. He died in Berlin while studying counterpoint.
• 1804 – 1864 Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) Died 19 May 1864, aged 59 American novelist and short-story writer best known for The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables. He died in Plymouth, New Hampshire, while on a trip with former president Franklin Pierce.
• 1804 – 1865 Richard Cobden (1804-1865) Died 2 April 1865, aged 60 Richard Cobden was a British politician and manufacturer who led the campaign against the Corn Laws and championed free trade. He co-negotiated the 1860 Anglo-French free trade treaty and remained an influential voice in Parliament until his death.
• 1804 – 1869 Franklin Pierce 14th President — Bleeding Kansas Franklin Pierce (Nov 23, 1804 – Oct 8, 1869) was the 14th President 1853-1857. His signing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act reignited the slavery debate and led to "Bleeding Kansas," accelerating the path to the Civil War.