Famous People Who Died In 1887

Dorothea Dix was an American advocate who fought for the welfare of the mentally ill. She helped create the first generation of mental asylums in the United States. Dix also played a key role during the Civil War, serving as a Superintendent of Army Nurses. In 1979, Dorothea Dix was made an inductee of the National Women's Hall of Fame.

Savitribai Phule was a revolutionary social reformer who dedicated her life to educate girls and bring about gender equality in the face of resistance from the conservative Indian society. Phule, who was illiterate till her marriage, went on to become a teacher, a feat considered first by an Indian woman. With her husband, she established schools for girls in Maharashtra.

Doc Holliday was a well-known American gunfighter, gambler, and dentist. He played a major role in the events leading up to the most famous shootout in American Wild West history, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. His interesting life and character have inspired several books, films, and TV series; he has been portrayed by actors like Cesar Romero and Kirk Douglas.

Aleksandr Borodin was a Russian musical composer. He was one of the popular 19th-century group of musicians known as The Five, who worked together to create a national style of classical music. A chemist and doctor by profession, Borodin also made important contributions to organic chemistry. His best known work as a chemist is his work pertaining to organic synthesis.

Congregational minister Henry Ward Beecher, the eighth child of Reverend Lyman Beecher, was a skilled orator and a prominent Protestant speaker. He was known for anti-slavery stance and his belief in God's love, One of his best works is the pamphlet Seven Lectures to Young Men.

Gustav Kirchhoff was a German physicist who is credited with coining the term black-body radiation. He is best remembered for his contribution to the basic understanding of spectroscopy, electrical circuits, and the emanation of black-body radiation. In 1862, he received the prestigious Rumford Medal. The Bunsen-Kirchhoff Award is named after Gustav Kirchhoff and German chemist Robert Bunsen.

Though she was married off at age 9 and had had a baby by 14, Anandi Gopal Joshi rose to become one of the first female doctors in India and the first Indian-origin woman to graduate with a medical degree in the US. Unfortunately, she died of tuberculosis shortly before her 22nd birthday.

Gustav Fechner was a German physicist, philosopher, and experimental psychologist. A pioneer in the field of experimental psychology, Fechner is credited with founding psychophysics. Gustav Fechner inspired several philosophers and scientists like Jan Koenderink, David Heeger, and Farley Norman. In 1970, a crater on the Moon was named after him by the International Astronomical Union.

Engineer James B. Eads spent most of his early life marine-salvaging along the Mississippi. Apart from building submarines, he also owned over 50 patents. He is best remembered for his triple-arch steel bridge over the Mississippi. He was the first American engineer to win the Royal Society of Arts’s Albert Medal.

Eliza R. Snow was an American poet and an important member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One of the most celebrated Mormon women of the 19th century, Snow is best remembered as a plural wife of Joseph Smith. As a poet, she achieved popularity within the LDS Church.

Mechanical engineer Joseph Whitworth is best remembered for devising the British Standard Whitworth system for screw threads. He contributed a lot to the development of Owens College, introduced a scholarship, and left most of his fortunes to the people of Manchester. He was also made a baronet of the U.K.

Eduard Douwes Dekker, better known as Multatuli, soared to fame with his anticolonial satire Max Havelaar. A colonial officer in the Dutch East Indies (modern-day Indonesia), he hoped to bring about a change in the Dutch colonial policy through his works. He is now regarded as the pioneer of contemporary Dutch literature.  

One of the greatest writers of the Romantic period in Poland, Józef Ignacy Kraszewski is best remembered for his historical novel An Ancient Tale. Accused of conspiring against the Russian government and imprisoned, he devoted his life to writing after his release. He was later imprisoned by Germany, too, for spying.

Ivan Kramskoi was a Russian art critic and painter. Kramskoi played an important role as an intellectual leader of a popular Russian art movement called The Itinerants between 1860 and 1880. He was also considered an eccentric as he would not charge money for expensive frames while giving his works to his customers.

US geologist Ferdinand Vandiveer Hayden is remembered for his ground-breaking research on the Rocky Mountains and the Great Plains. He also served as a Union Army surgeon during the American Civil War and taught geology at the University of Pennsylvania. He also played a major role in the formation of the Yellowstone National Park.

American naturalist, ornithologist, and vertebrate zoologist Spencer Fullerton Baird was an expert on North American birds and mammals. Initially a professor of natural history, he was later associated with the Smithsonian Institution as a curator and assistant secretary. He was also instrumental in the establishment of the US Commission of Fish and Fisheries.

Fran Levstik was a Slovene writer, playwright, political activist, and critic. He is best remembered for his itinerary and contributions to Slovene literature. Fran Levstik's works had a significant influence on future Slovene authors like Josip Jurčič, Josip Stritar, Janez Trdina, and Janko Kersnik. There is a literary award named in his honor.

A co-founder of the iconic British satirical magazine Punch, Henry Mayhew ran away from home to work for the East India Company on a ship to Calcutta. He then worked as a trainee lawyer, before finding his footing in freelance journalism. He remains best-known for his 4-volume London Labour and the London Poor.

Credited with establishing the first agricultural research station, French agricultural scientist and chemist Jean-Baptiste Boussingault made significant discoveries in agricultural science. Establishing the importance of nitrogen in plant growth, busting the myth that plants absorb the element from the atmosphere and proving that nitrogen content in soil increases after the cultivation of legumes are some of his contributions in this field.  

Best remembered for establishing the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Irish nun Mary Frances Clarke made significant contributions to the spread of education in America. While she initially worked for her father’s leather business, she changed her mind after nursing people during a cholera epidemic.

Austrian portrait painter Friedrich von Amerling was a favorite of the Viennese aristocrats. The court painter of Austro-Hungarian king Franz Josef, he was known for his skilled use of colors. He was well-traveled and had been married four times. He had managed to acquire the Gumpendorf Castle, too.

Isabella Valancy Crawford was a Canadian poet and writer. The author of Malcolm's Katie, a popular poem held in high regard in the history of Canadian poetry, Crawford is widely regarded as Canada's first major poet. She made a living using her skills as a freelance writer, one of the first Canadians to do so.

Thomas Ustick Walter was an American architect who worked as the fourth architect of the Capitol, largely overseeing the addition of the north and south wings and the central dome, which can be viewed today. Walter is also revered for his work as one of the founders of the American Institute of Architects where he served as the second president.

Welsh poet John Ceiriog Hughes initially worked odd jobs, as a grocer’s assistant, a clerk, and a railway station master. After winning several poetry prizes, he published his first volume, Evening Hours. Often compared to Robert Burns due to his impact on poetry, he explored Welsh folk tunes extensively.

Scottish meteorologist and geophysicist Balfour Stewart is best remembered for his research on radiant energy and terrestrial magnetism. Initially a trader, he later joined the Kew Observatory as an assistant and eventually became its director. The Unseen Universe remains one of his best-known written works.