Portrait of Augustus Saint-Gaudens

Birthday profile

Augustus Saint-Gaudens

American artist (1848–1907)

Born
March 1, 1848
Died
August 3, 1907
Zodiac sign
Pisces
Birth year
1848

About Augustus Saint-Gaudens

Augustus Saint-Gaudens was an Irish sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. Saint-Gaudens was born in Dublin to an Irish-French family, and raised in New York City. He traveled to Europe for further training and artistic study. After he returned to New York City, he achieved major critical success for his monuments commemorating heroes of the American Civil War, many of which still stand. Saint-Gaudens created works such as the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial on Boston Common, Abraham Lincoln: The Man, and grand equestrian monuments to Civil War generals: General John Logan Memorial in Chicago's Grant Park and William Tecumseh Sherman at the corner of New York's Central Park. In addition, he created the popular historicist representation of The Puritan. Saint-Gaudens also created Classical works such as the Diana, and employed his design skills in numismatics. In his later years he founded the "Cornish Colony", an artist's colony in New Hampshire that included notable painters, sculptors, writers, and architects.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

The world when Augustus Saint-Gaudens was born

Augustus Saint-Gaudens was born in 1848. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1848

  • Best-selling bookThe Communist Manifesto by Marx & Engels

Headlines and milestones

  • Top headlineGold discovered at Sutter's Mill — California Gold Rush
  • Technology milestoneFirst modern chewing gum sold
  • Defining fadGold Rush fever
  • World population~1.28B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderJames K. Polk
  • U.S. population21.4M

1848 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Augustus Saint-Gaudens's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure18482026
Population21.4M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

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