April births

• April 9 - Isambard Kingdom Brunel
  Isambard Kingdom Brunel
  Isambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS , was a British civil engineer who built bridges and dockyards including the construction of the first major British railway, the Great Western Railway; a series of steamships, including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship; and numerous important bridges...
  
  , founder of Great Western Railway
  Great Western Railway
  The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
  
  , is born (d. 1859).

December births

• December 19 - Benjamin Henry Latrobe, II
  Benjamin Henry Latrobe, II
  Benjamin Henry Latrobe, II was an American civil engineer, best known for his railway bridges.He was the son of Benjamin Latrobe, architect of the United States Capitol and the Basilica of the Assumption. The junior Latrobe was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was educated in Baltimore,...
  
  , designer of Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
  Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
  The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...
  
  's Thomas Viaduct
  Thomas Viaduct
  The Thomas Viaduct spans the Patapsco River and Patapsco Valley between Relay and Elkridge, Maryland, USA. It is the first multi-span masonry railroad bridge in the United States to be built on a curve...
  
  (still in use today), is born (d. 1878).