In the year 1853, the clothing company Levi Strauss is founded (Mar), the first passenger railway in India opens (Apr 16), the world’s first public aquarium opens, at the London Zoo (May), U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry arrives in Japan with a request for a trade treaty (Jul 8), potato chips are first prepared in New York, according to popular accounts (Aug 24), the Ottoman Empire begins war with Russia over Crimea (Oct 4), the United States buys land from Mexico to facilitate railroad building in the Southwest (Dec 30), the Swiss watch company Tissot is founded - and all these fine people were born:

1853-0112 Hugo Ingelius* teacher/ journalist/composer - Raisio, GD of Finland (1899/46) 1853-0116 André Michelin* industrialist/ co-founder of the Michelin Tyre Company - Paris, France (1931/78) 1853-0118 Marthinus Nikolaas Ras* South African farmer/soldier/ gun-maker considered the father of South African Artillery - South Africa (1900/47) 1853-0215 Alfred Beit* gold and diamond magnate - Hamburg, German Confederation (1906/53) 1853-0314 Ferdinand Hodler* painter - Bern, Switzerland (1918/65) 1853-0328 Maria Mikontytär Hautamäki** (b Hakoniemi) firstborn of Mikko Hakoniemi (b Latva-Luhtasela) & Lena Haka (b Långholm) - Ilmajoki, GD of Finland (1932/79) 1853-0330 Vincent van Gogh* post-impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art - Zundert, Netherlands (1890/37) 1853-0406 Emil Jellinek* automobile entrepreneur - Leipzig, Germany (1918/64) 1853-0505 Eduard Vojan* actor from Malá Strana - Prague, Czech (1920/67) 1853-0528 Carl Larsson* painter - Stockholm, Sweden (1919/65) 1853-0603 Flinders Petrie* Egyptologist/pioneer of systematic methodology in archaeology - Charlton, England (1942/89) 1853-0705 Cecil Rhodes* mining magnate/politician - Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, England (1902/48) 1853-0718 Hendrik Lorentz* physicist/N - Arnhem, Netherlands (1928/74) 1853-0805 Edvard August Vainio* lichenologist - Pieksämäki, GD of Finland (1929/75) 1853-0921 Heike Kamerlingh Onnes* physicist/N - Groningen, Netherlands (1926/72) 1853-1013 Lillie Langtry* socialite/actress/producer - Jersey, England (1929/75) 1853-1017 Aubrey Robinson* sugarcane plantation owner on the Hawaiian island of Ni’ihau - Canterbury, New Zealand (1936/82) 1853-1101 1853-1118 Leopold Poetsch* history teacher/school teacher of Adolf Hitler/influencer of his views, specifically German nationalism - Sankt Andrä, Austrian Empire (1942/88) 1853-1126 Bat Masterson* army scout/gambler/sheriff - Henryville, Quebec, Canada East (1921/67) 1853-1206 Hara Prasad Shastri* Sanskrit scholar/historian of Bengali literature - Khulna, Bengal Presidency (1931/77) 1853-1230 André Messager* pianist/composer/ conductor - Montluçon, French Empire (1929/75) 1853-0 1853-0 1853-0 Updated 2025-0423 Helsinki Search for another year here