In the year 1840, British colonists reach New Zealand, officially founding Wellington (Jan 22), Queen Victoria marries her cousin Prince Albert (Feb 10), Britain issues the Penny Black, the world’s first postage stamp (May 1), New Zealand is declared a British colony (May 21), the Province of Canada is created by the Act of Union (Jul 23), David Livingstone leaves Britain for Africa (to be located only 31 years later by Henry Morton Stanley) (Dec 7) - and all these fine people were born:

1840-xxxx Thomas Menlove* merchant/Liverpool alderman - Ellesmere, Shropshire, England (1913/73) 1840-0103 Father Damien* missionary to Hawaiians with leprosy - Tremelo, Brabant, Belgium (1889/49) 1840-0123 Oskari Vilho* actor/a pioneer in theater production in the Finnish language - Kulmalahti, GD of Finland (1883/43) 1840-0126 John Clayton Adams* landscape artist - Edmonton, Middlesex, England (1906/66) 1840-0129 Joseph Forbes* sailor/educator/24 children - Bangor, ME USA (1927/87) 1840-0205 John Boyd Dunlop* veterinarian/inventor (pneumatic tyres) - Dreghorn, Scotland (1921/81) 1840-0213 Sophie Opel* industrialist - Rüsselsheim, Hesse, Prussia (1913) 1840-0222 August Bebel* socialist politician/writer/orator - Deutz, Kingdom of Prussia (1913/73) 1840-0328 Emin Pasha* (b Isaak Schnitzer) physician/ naturalist/governor in Egypt - Oppeln, Silesia (1892/52) 1840-0402 Émile Zola* author - Paris, Kingdom of France (1902/62) 1840-0507 Pyotr Tchaikovsky* composer - Votkinsk, Russian Empire (1893/53) 1840-0602 Thomas Hardy* author - Stinsford, Dorchester England (1928/87) 1840-0609 Christian Barthold Rotermann* businessman - Tallinn, Estonia, Russian Empire (1912/71) 1840-0701 1840-0714 Ramón Artagaveytia* businessman/survived the sinking of the America in 1871 but not of the Titanic - Montevideo, Uruguay (1912/71) 1840-0731 1840-0814 Richard von Krafft-Ebing* psychiatrist/sexologist - Mannheim, Baden, German Confederation (1902/62) 1840-0920 Ellen Mary Clerke* poet/linguist/journalist - Skibbereen, County Cork, Ireland (1906/64) 1840-1012 Helena Modjeska* (b Modrzejewska) Polish actress - Free City of Kraków (1909/68) 1840-1107 H. G. Haugan* Norwegian-American railroad and banking executive - Christiania, Norway (1921/80) 1840-1112 Auguste Rodin* artist - Paris, Kingdom of France (1917/77) 1840-1114 Claude Monet* artist - Paris, Kingdom of France (1926/86) 1840-1121 Victoria, Princess Royal* German Empress - Buckingham Palace, London England (1901/60) 1840-1217 Nozu Michitsura* 野津 道貫 field marshal - Kagoshima, Satsuma Domain,  Japan (1908/67) 1840-0 1840-0 1840-0 Updated 2025-0215 Helsinki Search for another year here