← Fame through time1854
1854
Whose working lives fell in 1854. Books are measured from 1800 and readers from 2015, so for this period we can say who lived then, not who was talked about then.
Lived then
The most notable people whose working lives fell in 1854, ranked where coverage and readership agree.
- 1
Queen Victorianot measured- - 2
Walt Whitman17 decades - 3
George Eliot19 decades - 4
Herman Melville18 decades - 5
John Ruskin18 decades - 6
Gustave Courbet16 decades - 7
Clara Schumann18 decades - 8
Albert, Prince Consortnot measured- - 9
Jacques Offenbach16 decades - 10
Theodor Fontane17 decades - 11
Georg V of Hanover15 decades - 12
Gottfried Keller18 decades - 13
Thomas A. Hendricks13 decades - 14
Léon Foucault14 decades - 15
Sir George Stokes, 1st Baronetnot measured- - 16
William A. Wheeler11 decades - 17
Charles Kingsley17 decades - 18
Chlodwig, 3rd Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst10 decades - 19
Julia Ward Howe16 decades - 20
James Russell Lowell18 decades - 21
Allan Pinkerton13 decades - 22
Eunice Newton Foote0 decades - 23
Hippolyte Fizeau0 decades - 24
Franz von Suppé0 decades - 25
Prince George, Duke of Cambridge0 decades - 26
Elias Howe17 decades - 27
John Couch Adams1 decades - 28
William T. G. Morton2 decades - 29
Carlos Manuel de Céspedes del Castillonot measured- - 30
Stanisław Moniuszko0 decades - 31
Francis V, Duke of Modena0 decades - 32
Christopher Latham Sholes0 decades - 33
Estanislao Figueras16 decades - 34
Princess Louise d'Artois0 decades - 35
Théodore Chassériau14 decades - 36
Panteleimon Kulish1 decades - 37
Annibale de Gasparis4 decades - 38
Carlo III, Duke of Parma0 decades - 39
Wilhelm Marr10 decades - 40
Roger Fenton7 decades - 41
Narcís Monturiol i Estarriol8 decades - 42
Cyrus West Field0 decades - 43
Marthinus Wessel Pretorius0 decades - 44
Felice Orsini18 decades - 45
Alfred Escher16 decades - 46
William Rosecransnot measured- - 47
Abner Doubledaynot measured- - 48
Johan Jongkind0 decades - 49
Edwin Drakenot measured- - 50
Joseph Bazalgettenot measured- - 51
Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgensteinnot measured- - 52
Preston Brooksnot measured- - 53
Samuel Brannannot measured- - 54
Frederick William, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitznot measured- - 55
Maria Wodzińskanot measured- - 56
Abe Masahironot measured- - 57
Gustave de Molinari7 decades - 58
Philip Schaffnot measured- - 59
Butrus al-Bustani0 decades - 60
William Powell Frithnot measured- - 61
Louise Otto-Petersnot measured- - 62
Prince Carl Oscar, Duke of Södermanlandnot measured- - 63
Pieter Bleeker0 decades - 64
Daniel Edgar Sicklesnot measured- - 65
James Spriggs Paynenot measured- - 66
William Muirnot measured- - 67
Martin Johnson Headenot measured- - 68
Hussein Avni Pashanot measured- - 69
Alexander Melville Bellnot measured- - 70
Otto Wilhelm von Struve8 decades - 71
Monier Monier-Williams1 decades - 72
Narcyza Żmichowskanot measured- - 73
Isaac Mayer Wisenot measured- - 74
Aurelio Saffinot measured- - 75
Carlotta Grisinot measured- - 76
Klaus Grothnot measured- - 77
Sir Henry Tatenot measured- - 78
John W. Gearynot measured- - 79
George Salmonnot measured- - 80
José Maria da Silva Paranhosnot measured- - 81
Yakov Polonskynot measured- - 82
Juana Paula Mansonot measured- - 83
Ernst Wilhelm von Brückenot measured- - 84
La Païvanot measured- - 85
Charles-Louis Hanonnot measured- - 86
Eugène Disdérinot measured- - 87
John Bidwellnot measured- - 88
Arthur Hugh Cloughnot measured- - 89
Charles Monck, 4th Viscount Moncknot measured- - 90
Fontes Pereira de Melonot measured- - 91
Henri Harpigniesnot measured- - 92
Joseph Seligmannot measured- - 93
William Wetmore Storynot measured- - 94
William Albert, 1st Prince of Montenuovonot measured- - 95
Louis Théodore Gouvynot measured- - 96
Karol Mikulinot measured- - 97
Johann Voldemar Jannsen0 decades - 98
Louis-Nicolas Flobertnot measured- - 99
Charles Anderson Dananot measured- - 100
Leopold McClintocknot measured-
How to read these rankings
- People sit in their own time. Everyone is placed in the century their working life belongs to, and never in one that came after their death.
- Attention, not reputation. A place on these lists reflects the attention a person still draws in the public record, read across every language rather than one. It is not a judgement on the life.
- Fame in print. The curves show how often a name appeared in the books of each decade from 1800 to 2019, drawn from the Google Books Ngram corpus. Those decades are closed, so each curve is measured once and kept.
- Gaps are left as gaps. Where the record is too thin to be fair, or a name belongs to more than one notable person, we would rather show nothing than guess.