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Charles Wilkes

Charles Wilkes, American admiral, geographer, and explorer (died 1877)

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Born
April 3, 1798
Died
February 8, 1877
Zodiac sign
Aries
Birth year
1798

About Charles Wilkes

Charles Wilkes was an American naval officer, ship's captain, and explorer. He led the first United States Exploring Expedition (1838–1842). During the American Civil War (1861-1865), he commanded USS San Jacinto during the Trent Affair incident in which he stopped a British Royal Mail ship and forcibly removed two Confederate diplomats, almost leading to war between the United States and United Kingdom. While in Hawai'i the Expedition made the first measurements of the height of the islands' major mountains and created nautical charts of the coastlines. Charles also became fluent in French, which served him well throughout his career, including an extended stay in Europe (1830-1831). Wilkes entered the United States Navy as a midshipman in 1818, and became a lieutenant in 1826.

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

Charles Wilkes timeline

  1. Wilkes entered the United States Navy as a midshipman in 1818, and became a lieutenant in 1826.
  2. Charles also became fluent in French, which served him well throughout his career, including an extended stay in Europe (1830-1831).

The world when Charles Wilkes was born

Charles Wilkes was born in 1798. 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 1798

  • Best-selling bookLyrical Ballads by Wordsworth & Coleridge

Headlines and milestones

  • Top headlineQuasi-War with France begins
  • Technology milestoneLithography invented
  • World population~840M

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderJohn Adams
  • U.S. population5.0M

1798 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Charles Wilkes's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure17982026
Population5.0M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Library of Congress, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.