In the year 1809, Robert Fulton patents the steamboat (Feb 11), James Madison becomes the 4th U.S.President (Mar 4), King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden abdicates (Mar 29), Sweden restores political power to the Riksdag after authoritarian rule since 1772 (Jun 6), the city of La Paz declares its independence and forms first independent government in Spanish America (Jul 16), Ecuador declares independence from Spain (Aug 10), the Finnish territory of Sweden becomes part of Russia, the Grand Duchy of Finland, in the Treaty of Hamina (Sep 17) - and all these fine people were born:

1809-0104 Louis Braille* inventor of braille - Coupvray, France (1852/43) 1809-0119 Edgar Allan Poe* author/literary critic - Boston, MA USA (1849/40) 1809-0203 Felix Mendelssohn* composer/conductor - Hamburg, Germany (1847/38) 1809-0205 Anna-Reeta Korhonen* poet - Rautalampi, Sweden-Finland  (1893/84) 1809-0212 Charles Darwin* naturalist/ biologist - Shrewsbury, Shropshire England (1882/73) 1809-0212 Abraham Lincoln* politician/ philosopher/16usp - Hardin County, KY USA (1865/56) 1809-0215 Cyrus McCormick* engineer/inventor - Shenandoah Valley, VA USA (1884/75) 1809-0309 Louis Meijer* painter - Amsterdam, Kingdom of Holland (1866/57) 1809-0315 Joseph Jenkins Roberts* politician/first President of Liberia - born free in Norfolk, VA USA (1876/66) 1809-0319 Fredrik Pacius* composer/conductor - Hamburg, Kingdom of Prussia (1891/81) 1809-0327 Georges-Eugène Haussmann* a prefect who carried out the massive urban renewal program of Paris - Paris, French Empire (1891/81) 1809-0330 1809-0331 Edward FitzGerald* poet/ writer - Bredfield House, Suffolk, England (1883/74) 1809-0331 Nikolai Gogol* novelist/playwright/w Ukrainian background - Sorochyntsi, Poltava, Russian Empire (1852/42)?? 1809-0401 1809-0407 James Glaisher* meteorologist/ astronomer - Rotherhithe, London, England (1903/93) 1809-0410 1809-0416 Vappu Eliaantytär Käki** (b Junni) mother of Margaretha Vaittinen - Löytömäki, Junni, Viipurin msrk, Russian Empire (1876/67) 1809-0420 1809-0425 William Swainson* lawyer/legislator/Attorney-General of the Crown colony of New Zealand - Lancaster, England (1884/75) 1809-0430 1809-0520 Albert Newsam* artist - Steubenville, OH USA (1864/55) 1809-0521 K. L. Lindström* teacher/psalm writer - Turku, GD of Finland (1879/70) 1809-0601 1809-0619 Richard Milnes* poet/patron of literature/politician - London, England (1885/76) 1809-0620 Isaak August Dorner* Lutheran church leader - Neuhausen ob Eck, Württemberg, Germany (1884/75) 1809-0731 Francis Walker* entomologist - Southgate, London, England (1874/65) 1809-0806 Alfred Tennyson* Poet Laureate - Somersby, Lincolnshire, England (1892/83) 1809-0823 Juliusz Słowacki* Polish poet/writer - Kremenets, Russian Empire (1849/39) 1809-0829 Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr* physician/author - Cambridge, MA USA (1894/85) 1809-1024 William Larimer Jr.* senator/land developer/the founder of the city of Denver - Circleville, PA USA (1875/65) 1809-1127 Fanny Kemble* British-American actress - England (1893/83) 1809-1208 Mikko Juhonpoika Hakoniemi** (b Latva-Luhtasela) farmer - Ilmajoki, GD of Finland (1883/73) 1809-1224 Kit Carson* frontiersman/Indian agent/army officer - Richmond, KY USA (1868/58) 1809-1229 William Gladstone* politician/PM - Liverpool, England (1898/88) 1809-0 1809-0 1809-0 Updated 2025-0214 Helsinki Search for another year here