Alexander von Humboldt was born on 14 September 1769 in Berlin. A Prussian geographer, naturalist and explorer born in Berlin, Humboldt travelled with the botanist Aimé Bonpland through Spanish America between 1799 and 1804, exploring the Orinoco, the Andes and Mexico, and gathering vast scientific data. He saw nature as an interconnected whole, and his work laid foundations for plant geography, climatology and ecology. He studied Earth's magnetism and mapped lines of equal temperature. His multi-volume work Cosmos, published from 1845, aimed to present a unified view of the universe and was widely read. He criticized slavery and colonial exploitation. His ideas influenced Charles Darwin and many other scientists, and several places, species and a cold ocean current bear his name.
Before and after
- 1769Alcalá Gate
- 5 January 1769James Watt patents the separate condenser
- 1 May 1769Birth of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
- 15 August 1769Birth of Napoleon
- 14 September 1769Birth of Alexander von Humboldt
- 13 December 1769Founding of Dartmouth College
- 5 March 1770Boston Massacre
- 7 April 1770Birth of William Wordsworth
- 27 August 1770Birth of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
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The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 18th century.