Distinguished historian and political leader Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800–1859) was born on this day in Leicestershire, England. As a gifted child, he quickly discovered his skill for language and a lifelong love of learning.

He reflected, “The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.” A graduate of Cambridge’s Trinity College, he earned early acclaim for his essays, including a celebrated piece on John Milton (1825).

Macaulay became a lawyer in 1826. Four years later, as a member of the Whig Party, he entered Parliament, earned a reputation for brilliant oratory, and published poetry.

Appointed to the Supreme Council of India, he served in Calcutta from 1834 to 1837, helping reform the colony’s educational system and legal code. He cautioned, “A history in which every particular incident may be true may on the whole be false.”

His great work, the five-volume History of England (1849–1861), spanning the period from 1688 to 1702, became a landmark of English literature. Opinionated yet passionate, Macaulay believed deeply in moral progress, noting, “It is possible to be below flattery as well as above it.”