In the year 1861, throughout the year, several U.S. states secede from the Union (Jan-Dec), Abraham Lincoln escapes a probable assassination attempt (Feb 23), serfdom is abolished in the Russian Empire (Mar 3), Lincoln becomes the 16th president of a United States at the brink of a civil war, while the Stars and Bars becomes the flag of the Confederate States of America (Mar 4), the American Civil War begins with the bombardment of Fort Sumter, South Carolina, which falls to South (Apr 12), Richmond in Virginia becomes the capital of the Confederate States (May 8), the mail service Pony Express announces its closure (Oct 26), the American Civil War rages on, until 1865 - and all these fine people were born:

1861-0105 Anna Pettersson* lawyer/women’s rights activist - Uppsala, Sweden (1929/68) 1861-0106 Victor Horta* architect/ designer - Ghent, East Flanders, Belgium (1947/86) 1861-0114 Immi Hellén* poet/lyricist - Kuorevesi, GD of Finland (1937/76) 1861-0115 Oskari Vuorivirta* (b Bergström) clergyman/politician - Sotkamo, GD of Finland (1923/62) 1861-0130 Charles Martin Loeffler* German-American violinist/ composer - Mulhouse. Alsace, Germany  (1935/74) 1861-0202 Solomon R. Guggenheim* businessman/founder of the Yukon Gold Company/art collector - Philadelphia, PA USA (1949/88) 1861-0215 Charles Édouard Guillaume* physicist/N - Fleurier, Switzerland (1938/77) 1861-0225 Rudolf Steiner* philosopher/reformer (27th?) - Murakirály, Austrian Empire (1925/64) 1861-0303 Tuomas Pohjanpalo* industrialist - Kalajoki, GD of Finland (1933/71) 1861-0321 Charles Swickard* German-American actor/film director - German Empire (1929/68) 1861-0406 Stanislas de Guaita* poet - Tarquimpol, France (1897/36) 1861-0410 1861-0421 Walter Donald Douglas* businessman/sank with the Titanic - Waterloo, IA USA (1912/50) 1861-0424 Hedda Andersson* physician/first female one in Scania - Malmö, Skåne, Sweden (1950/89) 1861-0505 Peter Cooper Hewitt* electrical engineer/inventor of the mercury-vapor lamp - New York City, NY USA (1921/60) 1861-0507 Rabindranath Tagore* polymath/author/N - Calcutta, British India  (1941/81) 1861-0516 H. H. Holmes* serial killer - Gilmanton, NH USA (1896/34) 1861-0601 1861-0602 Helen “Nellie” Taft* (b Herron) teacher/ First Lady - Cincinnati, OH USA (1943/81) 1861-0610 Pat O’Connell* baseball player - Bangor, ME USA (1943/81) 1861-0615 1861-0619 José Rizal* polymath/ Filipino national hero - Calamba, Laguna, Captaincy General of the Philippines, Spanish Empire (1896/35) 1861-0620 Frederick Gowland Hopkins* biochemist/N - Eastbourne, Sussex, England (1947/85) 1861-0626 Alfred Ernest Cross* rancher/ politician/known as one of the Big Four who founded the Calgary Stampede - Montreal, QC Canada (1932/70) 1861-0714 Kate M. Gordon* suffragist/civic leader - New Orleans, LA, Confederate States (1932/71) 1861-0717 Frederick George Tonks* grandson of the Wellington pioneer William Tonks - Wellington, New Zealand - Find A Grave 1861-0729 Edvard Fazer* pianist/opera manager/brother of Karl Fazer - Helsinki, GD of Finland (1943/81) 1861-0806 Edith Roosevelt* First Lady/elevated the position of FL - Norwich, CT USA (1948/87) 1861-0810 Almroth Wright* bacteriologist/ immunologist - Middleton Tyas, Yorkshire, England (1947/85) 1861-0903 Elin Danielson-Gambogi* painter - Noormarkky, GD of Finland (1919/58) 1861-0911 Juhani Aho* author - Lapinlahti, GD of Finland (1921/59) 1861-0920 Eliisabet Hakoniemi** sister of Mikko H. /married to Antti Mäkynen - Ilmajoki, GD of Finland (1933/71) 1861-0921 Eleanor Elkins Widener* (b Elkins) heiress/ philanthropist/Titanic survivor - Philadephia, PA USA (1937/75) 1861-0922 1861-0923 Robert Bosch* engineer/ founder of_ Robert Bosch GmbH_/philanthropist - Albeck, Ulm, Germany (1942/80) 1861-0930 George Alexander Baird* race horse owner/breeder/jockey - England (1893/) 1861-0930 William Wrigley Jr.* chewing gum industrialist - Philadelphia, PA USA (1932/70) 1861-1010 Fridtjof Nansen* explorer/scientist/diplomat - Christiania, Norway (1930/68) 1861-1016 J. B. Bury* historian/philologist - County Monaghan, Ireland (1927/65) 1861-1023 Dimitrios Ioannou* military leader - Levadeia, Greece (1926/64) 1861-1030 Antoine Bourdelle* sculptor/ teacher - Montauban, Second French Empire (1929/67) 1861-1101 1861-1106 James Naismith* sports coach/inventor of the game of basketball - Almonte, ON Canada (1939/78) 1861-1116 Arvid Järnefelt* Finnish judge/writer- Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire (1932/71) 1861-1120 1861-1122 Ranavalona III*  the last sovereign of the Kingdom of Madagascar - Amparibe, Manjakazafy, Madagascar (1917/55) 1861-1122 Daniel Barclay Williams* educator/the first African-American teacher of classics in Virginia - Richmond, VA USA (1895/33) 1861-1130 1861-1204 Lillian Russell* actress - Clinton, IA USA (1922/60) alt. birthyear 1860 1861-1208 Georges Méliès* pioneering filmmaker /illusionist - Paris, France (1938/76) 1861-1215 Charles Duryea* the engineer of the first-ever working American gasoline-powered car - Canton, IL USA (1938/76) 1861-1215 Pehr Evind Svinhufvud* politician/3rdP - Sääksmäki, GD of Finland (1944/82) 1861-1218 Lionel Monckton* writer/composer of musical theater - London, England (1924/62) 1861-0 1861-0 1861-0 Updated 2025-0228 Helsinki Search for another year here