Portrait of Durham Stevens

Birthday profile

Durham Stevens

Durham Stevens, American lawyer and diplomat (died 1908)

Born
February 1, 1851
Died
March 25, 1908
Zodiac sign
Aquarius
Birth year
1851

About Durham Stevens

Durham White Stevens (February 1, 1851 – March 25, 1908) was an American diplomat and later an employee of Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, working for the Japanese colonial office in Korea, the Resident-General. He was fatally shot by Korean-American activists Jang In-hwan and Jeon Myeong-un in one of the first acts of nationalist rebellion by pro-Korean activists in the United States. Stevens' assassination took place at the same time as numerous other pro-Korean demonstrations, largely as a reaction to the 1905 treaty that established Korea as a colony of Japan. Itō Hirobumi (the Japanese Resident-General) was also assassinated, crowds in Korea attacked and burned down a pro-Japanese newspaper office, and crowds also clashed with Japanese guards at the Gyeongbokgung Palace. Jeon fired his revolver at Stevens first, but missed, and instead rushed at him, using his weapon as a club to hit Stevens in the face. The crowd which had gathered urged that they be lynched on the spot; Jang was arrested and held without bail on a charge of murder, while Jeon was first hospitalized, and later charged as an accessory.

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

The world when Durham Stevens was born

Durham Stevens was born in 1851. 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 1851

  • Best-selling bookMoby-Dick by Herman Melville

Headlines and milestones

  • Top headlineGreat Exhibition in London — first World's Fair
  • Technology milestoneIsaac Singer patents practical sewing machine
  • World population~1.31B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderMillard Fillmore
  • U.S. population23.8M

1851 versus 2026

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

Measure18512026
Population23.8M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

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

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