Who Was Alive
Frederick William I of Prussia
Antoine Pesne, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Frederick William I of Prussia

King of Prussia

Born 14 August 1688 · died 31 May 1740, aged 51
Also known as Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia, Frederick William I, the Soldier King

Who was alive at the same time as Frederick William I of Prussia?

  1. John Locke, 1632 – 1704
  2. Louis XIV, 1638 – 1715
  3. Isaac Newton, 1642 – 1727
  4. Matsuo Bashō, 1644 – 1694
  5. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, 1646 – 1716
  6. Jonathan Swift, 1667 – 1745
  7. Peter the Great, 1672 – 1725
  8. Antonio Vivaldi, 1678 – 1741
  9. George Frideric Handel, 1685 – 1759
  10. Johann Sebastian Bach, 1685 – 1750
  11. Frederick William I of Prussia, 1688 – 1740
  12. Montesquieu, 1689 – 1755
  13. Voltaire, 1694 – 1778
  14. Benjamin Franklin, 1706 – 1790
  15. Leonhard Euler, 1707 – 1783
  16. Carl Linnaeus, 1707 – 1778
  17. David Hume, 1711 – 1776
  18. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1712 – 1778
  19. Adam Smith, 1723 – 1790
  20. Immanuel Kant, 1724 – 1804
  21. James Cook, 1728 – 1779
  22. George Washington, 1732 – 1799
  23. John Adams, 1735 – 1826
  24. James Watt, 1736 – 1819

Drag across the timeline, or use the arrow keys, to see who was alive in any year and the age each person reached that year. Dashed lines mark world events. Faded ends mark uncertain dates.

When Frederick William I of Prussia was born, Isaac Newton was 45, Johann Sebastian Bach was 3, John Locke was 55, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was 42 and Matsuo Bashō was 43 or 44.

When Frederick William I of Prussia died, George Washington was 8, Johann Sebastian Bach was 55, Voltaire was 45, Immanuel Kant was 16 and Jean-Jacques Rousseau was 27.

Born during Frederick William I of Prussia’s lifetime: George Washington, Voltaire, Immanuel Kant, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Adam Smith, Benjamin Franklin, Carl Linnaeus and Leonhard Euler.

Not quite contemporaries: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born about 9 years after Frederick William I of Prussia died, Thomas Jefferson was born about 3 years after Frederick William I of Prussia died, Francisco Goya was born about 6 years after Frederick William I of Prussia died and Baruch Spinoza died about 11 years before Frederick William I of Prussia was born.

What happened in Frederick William I of Prussia’s lifetime

Where Frederick William I of Prussia’s contemporaries were born

Frederick William I of Prussia is labelled; the others are the best-known people we track who lived at the same time. Each dot is a birthplace from Wikidata (81 of 81 placed); tap one to open that person.
Birthplaces as a list

Compare Frederick William I of Prussia

The 150 best-known contemporaries

189 of the people we track were surely alive at the same time as Frederick William I of Prussia. The 150 best known are listed here. See also everyone alive in 1714.

  1. Isaac Newton 1642 – 1727
  2. George Washington 1732 – 1799
  3. Johann Sebastian Bach 1685 – 1750
  4. Voltaire 1694 – 1778
  5. Immanuel Kant 1724 – 1804
  6. Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1712 – 1778
  7. Adam Smith 1723 – 1790
  8. Benjamin Franklin 1706 – 1790
  9. Carl Linnaeus 1707 – 1778
  10. John Locke 1632 – 1704
  11. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz 1646 – 1716
  12. Matsuo Bashō 1644 – 1694
  13. Leonhard Euler 1707 – 1783
  14. John Adams 1735 – 1826
  15. James Cook 1728 – 1779
  16. Louis XIV 1638 – 1715
  17. Peter the Great 1672 – 1725
  18. Antonio Vivaldi 1678 – 1741
  19. Jonathan Swift 1667 – 1745
  20. Montesquieu 1689 – 1755
  21. George Frideric Handel 1685 – 1759
  22. James Watt 1736 – 1819
  23. David Hume 1711 – 1776
  24. Joseph Haydn 1732 – 1809
  25. Catherine the Great 1729 – 1796
  26. Denis Diderot 1713 – 1784
  27. Jean de La Fontaine 1621 – 1695
  28. Daniel Defoe c. 1661 – 1731
  29. Thomas Paine 1737 – 1809
  30. Samuel Johnson 1709 – 1784
  31. Frederick the Great 1712 – 1786
  32. Edmund Burke 1729 – 1797
  33. Alexander Pope 1688 – 1744
  34. Christiaan Huygens 1629 – 1695
  35. Jean Racine 1639 – 1699
  36. Robert Boyle 1627 – 1691
  37. Jean Le Rond d'Alembert 1717 – 1783
  38. William Herschel 1738 – 1822
  39. George Berkeley 1685 – 1753
  40. Mikhail Lomonosov 1711 – 1765
  41. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 1632 – 1723
  42. Charles Perrault 1628 – 1703
  43. George III 1738 – 1820
  44. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing 1729 – 1781
  45. Louis XV 1710 – 1774
  46. Maria Theresa 1717 – 1780
  47. Giacomo Casanova 1725 – 1798
  48. Edward Gibbon 1737 – 1794
  49. Joseph-Louis Lagrange 1736 – 1813
  50. Robert Hooke 1635 – 1703
  51. Charles-Augustin de Coulomb 1736 – 1806
  52. Edmond Halley 1656 – 1742
  53. Anders Celsius 1701 – 1744
  54. John Dryden 1631 – 1700
  55. Aurangzeb 1618 – 1707
  56. Pierre-Augustin de Beaumarchais 1732 – 1799
  57. Carlo Goldoni 1707 – 1793
  58. Anne, Queen of Great Britain 1665 – 1714
  59. Joseph Priestley 1733 – 1804
  60. Pope Benedict XIV 1675 – 1758
  61. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon 1707 – 1788
  62. William III of England 1650 – 1702
  63. Robert Walpole 1676 – 1745
  64. Pope Pius VI 1717 – 1799
  65. Alexander Suvorov 1730 – 1800
  66. Henry Cavendish 1731 – 1810
  67. James II of England 1633 – 1701
  68. Joseph Addison 1672 – 1719
  69. George II of Great Britain 1683 – 1760
  70. Daniel Bernoulli 1700 – 1782
  71. Emanuel Swedenborg 1688 – 1772
  72. Christina, Queen of Sweden 1626 – 1689
  73. Christopher Wren 1632 – 1723
  74. Pope Clement XII 1652 – 1740
  75. Pope Innocent XI 1611 – 1689
  76. Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux 1636 – 1711
  77. George I of Great Britain 1660 – 1727
  78. Elizabeth of Russia 1709 – 1762
  79. Peter III of Russia 1728 – 1762
  80. John III Sobieski 1629 – 1696
  81. Vitus Bering 1681 – 1741
  82. John Bunyan 1628 – 1688
  83. Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit 1686 – 1736
  84. Charles II of Spain 1661 – 1700
  85. Pope Clement XIII 1693 – 1769
  86. William Hogarth 1697 – 1764
  87. Henry Fielding 1707 – 1754
  88. Baron d'Holbach 1723 – 1789
  89. Oliver Goldsmith 1728 – 1774
  90. Pope Benedict XIII 1649 – 1730
  91. Christoph Willibald Gluck 1714 – 1787
  92. Pope Alexander VIII 1610 – 1691
  93. Pope Innocent XII 1615 – 1700
  94. Ole Rømer 1644 – 1710
  95. Pope Clement XI 1649 – 1721
  96. Pope Innocent XIII 1655 – 1724
  97. Luigi Galvani 1737 – 1798
  98. Mary II 1662 – 1694
  99. Giambattista Vico 1668 – 1744
  100. Charles XII of Sweden 1682 – 1718
  101. Philip V of Spain 1683 – 1746
  102. Catherine I of Russia 1684 – 1727
  103. Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor 1685 – 1740
  104. Nader Shah c. 1693 – 1747
  105. Pope Clement XIV 1705 – 1774
  106. Giovanni Domenico Cassini 1625 – 1712
  107. Jean de La Bruyère 1645 – 1696
  108. Jacob Bernoulli c. 1655 – 1705
  109. Laurence Sterne 1713 – 1768
  110. Maria Gaetana Agnesi 1718 – 1799
  111. Anna of Russia 1693 – 1740
  112. John Wesley 1703 – 1791
  113. Claude Adrien Helvétius 1715 – 1771
  114. Charles Messier 1730 – 1817
  115. Aphra Behn 1640 – 1689
  116. Juana Inés de la Cruz 1651 – 1695
  117. Johann Bernoulli 1667 – 1748
  118. Georg Philipp Telemann 1681 – 1767
  119. Peter II of Russia 1715 – 1730
  120. Charles III of Spain 1716 – 1788
  121. Ahmad Shah Durrani c. 1722 – 1772
  122. Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor 1640 – 1705
  123. Mehmed IV 1642 – 1693
  124. Maria Sibylla Merian 1647 – 1717
  125. Pierre Bayle 1647 – 1706
  126. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach 1714 – 1788
  127. Martha Washington 1731 – 1802
  128. Suleiman II 1642 – 1691
  129. Ahmed III 1673 – 1736
  130. Abdul Hamid I 1725 – 1789
  131. Thomas Gainsborough 1727 – 1788
  132. Guru Gobind Singh 1666 – 1708
  133. Canaletto 1697 – 1768
  134. François Fénelon 1651 – 1715
  135. Jean-Philippe Rameau 1683 – 1764
  136. Antoine Watteau 1684 – 1721
  137. Joshua Reynolds 1723 – 1792
  138. Prince Eugene of Savoy 1663 – 1736
  139. Domenico Scarlatti 1685 – 1757
  140. Mahmud I 1696 – 1754
  141. Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor 1708 – 1765
  142. Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille 1713 – 1762
  143. Mustafa III 1717 – 1774
  144. Madame de Pompadour 1721 – 1764
  145. Ivan Mazepa 1639 – 1709
  146. Mustafa II 1664 – 1703
  147. Horace Walpole 1717 – 1797
  148. Ahmed II 1643 – 1695
  149. Henry Purcell 1659 – 1695
  150. Blackbeard c. 1680 – 1718