Who were the most famous men in the world during the 19th century?

Mar 2019
Yep, he was certainly notable.

BTW, interesting fact: He almost choked to death on a coin in 1843:

Isambard Kingdom Brunel - Wikipedia

"While performing a conjuring trick for the amusement of his children in 1843 Brunel accidentally inhaled a half-sovereign coin, which became lodged in his windpipe. A special pair of forceps failed to remove it, as did a machine devised by Brunel to shake it loose. At the suggestion of his father, Brunel was strapped to a board and turned upside-down, and the coin was jerked free.[83] He recuperated at Teignmouth, and enjoyed the area so much that he purchased an estate at Watcombe in Torquay, Devon. Here he commissioned William Burn to design Brunel Manor and its gardens to be his country home.[84] He never saw the house or gardens finished, as he died before it was completed."
He nearly died a few times. Once during the Thames river tunnel. He was the only one of a particular crew to survive. On the Great Western was thrown down a gangway and killed the guy he landed on, finally during the construction of Clifton Bridge.
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Ad Honorem
Aug 2015
Chalfont, Pennsylvania
And to add to the list

Jules Verne

H.G Wells

Louis Pastor

Florence Nightingale

Lizzie Bordon

Jack The Ripper

Sitting Bull

Crazy Horse

The Bronte Sisters

Nelie Melba

Typhoid Mary
How famous were Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse outside of the USA? I would imagine someone like Winfield Scott would also fit the criteria here. Also, some other nominees are Nadar and Adolphe Thiers.
If suggesting Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, what about other Indians like Mangas Coloradas, Geronimo, Cochise, Red Cloud, Chief Joseph? What about the officers famous for defeating Indians - George Crook, Nelson A. Miles, & Ranald Mackenzie? And on the Subject of persons who became famous in the wild west, what about William Frederick Cody - "Buffalo Bill"?

But there were other non Europeans who became famous for fighting against Europeans. Emir Abdelkader in Algeria, King Cetshwayo of Zululand, King of Kings Menelik II of Ethiopia, etc.

But I guess some of the most famous non Europeans would have to be the Qing emperors, whose names were probably known by the majority of their subjects. And their subjects included about a quarter of the world's population at the time, or something like that.
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Feb 2011
Ranji_1897_page_171_W._G._Grace_playing_forward_defensively.jpg Ranji_1897_page_171_W._G._Grace_playing_forward_defensively.jpg

Dr. W.G Grace, Cricketer. 1848-1915. England and Gloucestershire captain until 1899, played first class cricket until 1908.
Even in the eighties I met a man at Lords who claimed, as a boy, to have seen him play.

Very well known in Britain and the cricket-playing Empire and Dominions. Instantly recognisable and a lionised celebrity of his time.
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Apr 2019
I would add Livingstone and Stanley. Stanley's search for Livingstone was after all sponsored by the media of the time.
Jul 2019
New Jersey
I can't believe nobody mentioned Metternich. The guy was the architect of post-Napoleonic Europe and the bogeyman of the 1848 revolutionaries.

Edit: Someone did mention him as a possibility. Still, he was the central figure in European politics from 1815-1848.
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