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Luigi Boccherini was born on 19 February 1743 in Lucca, Republic of Lucca [now Tuscany, Italy]. He is known for Congo (1995), 2012 (2009) and Cruising (1980). He died on 28 May 1805 in Madrid, Spain.

Friedrich Schiller was born on Nov. 10, 1759, in Marbach, Germany. His father was an army doctor. Growing up in a very poor environment, Schiller eventually managed to get the support of a wealthy duke that enabled him to study medicine. He served as a military doctor first, but through the efforts of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe he finally went to Jena and Weimar, where he died on the May 9, 1805.

Schiller is an important German author of his time, most famous for his stage plays. They were highly acclaimed--and mostly forbidden, because of their contents. His first big work, "Die Räuber", dealt with the revolt of sons against their parents and environment, a very modern topic for the time and one that was not accepted in many regions of Germany. Overall, though, he is underrated as an author due to the fact that he lived and wrote in the same time as Goethe: Schiller is considered to be a good writer, but not as brilliant as Goethe.

Charles Cornwallis was born into one of the most-distinguished families in the United Kingdom: his father was created Earl Cornwallis by George II; his uncles were the Governor of Nova Scotia and the Archbishop of Canterbury, respectively; his maternal grandfather was the 2nd Viscount Townshend; his paternal great-grandfather was First Lord of the Admiralty; and his maternal great-uncle was the first Prime Minister of Great Britain. Upon his father's death, he became 6th Baron Cornwallis, 2nd Viscount Brome, 2nd Earl Cornwallis, and took his seat in the House of Lords. He surprised many by marrying beneath his station, as Jemima Jones was the daughter of an army colonel.

His status afforded him a life of general wantonness, yet he was determined to be of service and pursued a military career. He obtained his first commission as Ensign in the 1st Foot Guards in 1757, then gained permission to enroll at the Military Academy (Turin, Italy). Literally missing the boat which was taking his regiment to fight in the Seven Years' War, Cornwallis secured an appointment as an aide-de-camp to Lord Granby.

Although opposed to policies which antagonized the Colonies (he voted against the Stamp Act), when hostilities broke out, he volunteered for what is now known as the Revolutionary War. He scored victories at Brandywine, and Monmouth, often risking his life leading his men on the battlefield. However, he found himself continually outmaneuvered by George Washington, whom he chased from one theater of engagement to another.

Receiving news that his wife was gravely ill, he returned home and was at Jemima's beside when she died. Now a widower with two young children, no one would have held it against Cornwallis had he remained in England. Instead, he returned to America, determined to defeat Washington, who had become the bane of his existence. He captured Charleston, won at Camden, and at Guilford Court House; of this battle, he remarked: "I never saw such fighting since God made me. The Americans fought like demons". However, due to the ineptitude of his superiors, chiefly, Sir Henry Clinton, his plan to invade Virginia was stymied. Trapped by French and American forces at Yorktown, he was forced to surrender on October 17, 1781, effectively ending the War.

Despite this humiliation, he retained the confidence of George III, who invested him as a Knight of the Order of the Garter. He was appointed Governor-General of India in 1786. His defeat of the Sultan of Mysore, ending the Third Anglo-Mysore War, did much to restore his reputation. He was created Marquess Cornwallis in 1792.

Shortly after being appointed Governor-General of Bengal, he died of fever in Ghazipur. As his son Charles had no sons, the marquessate became extinct upon Charles's death in 1823. The rest of Cornwallis's titles passed to his brother, James.

Mihály Csokonai Vitéz was born on 17 November 1773 in Debrecen, Hungary. He was a writer, known for Dorottya (1973) and A méla Tempeföi (1976). He died on 28 January 1805 in Debrecen, Hungary.

Abbate Varesco was born in November 1735 in Trento, Italy. Abbate was a writer, known for Great Performances at the Met (1977), Idomeneo, re di Creta (2005) and Idomeneo (1983). Abbate died on 25 August 1805 in Salzburg, Austria.

Tito Brezovacki was born on 4 January 1757 in Croatia, Hungary, Habsburg Monarchy [now Croatia]. He was a writer, known for Diogenes (1973). He died on 29 October 1805 in Zagreb, Croatia, Austrian Empire [now Croatia].