Alexander von Humboldt died on 6 May 1859 in Berlin, aged 89. 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
- 27 January 1859Birth of Wilhelm II
- 19 February 1859Birth of Svante August Arrhenius
- 8 April 1859Birth of Edmund Husserl
- from 27 April 1859 to 11 July 1859Second Italian War of Independence
- 6 May 1859Death of Alexander von Humboldt
- 22 May 1859Birth of Arthur Conan Doyle
- 24 June 1859The Battle of Solferino inspires the Red Cross
- 4 August 1859Birth of Knut Hamsun
- 27 August 1859Edwin Drake drills the first commercial oil well
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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 19th century.