Born on August 14

A Danish physicist and chemist, Hans Christian Ørsted discovered in 1820 that an electric current deflects a compass needle, revealing the link between electricity and magnetism. He thus founded electromagnetism and was the first to isolate metallic aluminium.

Guangxu (1871–1908) was the eleventh emperor of the Qing dynasty. In 1898, he attempted to modernize China through the "Hundred Days' Reform," but Empress Dowager Cixi seized power and placed him under house arrest until his death.