Who was alive in 1640?

816 well-known people were alive in 1640, including Galileo Galilei, René Descartes, Molière. Here are the 80 most notable:

Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) — Italian polymath (1564–1642)
René Descartes (1596–1650) — French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist (1596–1650)
Molière (1622–1673) — French playwright and actor (1622–1673)
John Locke (1632–1704) — English philosopher and physician (1632-1704)
Rembrandt (1606–1669) — Dutch painter and printmaker (1606–1669)
Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) — French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer, and Christian philosopher (1623-1662)
Louis XIV of France (1638–1715) — King of France and of Navarre from 1643 to 1715 (1638-1715)
Benedictus de Spinoza (1632–1677) — Dutch philosopher (1632-1677)
Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) — Flemish painter (1577–1640)
Diego Velázquez (1599–1660) — Spanish painter (1599-1660)
Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) — English philosopher (1588–1679)
John Milton (1608–1674) — English poet and civil servant (1608–1674)
Jean de La Fontaine (1621–1695) — French poet, fabulist and writer (1621–1695)
Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658) — English military and political leader (1599–1658)
Christiaan Huygens (1629–1695) — Dutch mathematician, physicist and astronomer (1629–1695)
Jean Racine (1639–1699) — French dramatist (1639-1699)
Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675) — Dutch painter (1632–1675)
Pierre de Fermat (1607–1665) — French mathematician and lawyer
Robert Boyle (1627–1691) — Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, and inventor
Charles I of England (1600–1649) — King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1625 to 1649 (1600-1649)
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723) — Dutch scientist known as "the Father of Microbiology", and one of the first microscopists (1632–1723)
Pierre Corneille (1606–1684) — French tragedian (1606–1684)
Charles Perrault (1628–1703) — French author (1628-1703)
Pedro Calderón de la Barca (1600–1681) — Spanish dramatist (1600-1681)
Armand-Jean du Plessis, duc de Richelieu (1585–1642) — French clergyman, cardinal, noble and statesman (1585-1642)
Robert Hooke (1635–1703) — English natural philosopher, architect and polymath (1635 — 1703)
Abel Tasman (1603–1659) — Dutch seafarer, explorer and merchant (1603–1659)
Shah Jahan (1592–1666) — the fifth Mughal Emperor from 1628 to 1658
John Amos Comenius (1592–1670) — Czech teacher, educator, philosopher and writer (1592-1670)
François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) — French author of maxims and memoirs (1613-1680)
Charles II of England (1630–1685) — King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1660 to 1685 (1630-1685)
John Dryden (1631–1700) — 17th-century English poet and playwright (1631–1700)
Aurangzeb (1618–1707) — the sixth Mughal Emperor from 1658 to 1707
Louis XIII of France (1601–1643) — King of France and Navarre from 1610 to 1643 (1601–1643)
Evangelista Torricelli (1608–1647) — Italian physicist and mathematician (1608-1647)
Hugo Grotius (1583–1645) — Dutch jurist and scholar (1583-1645)
William Harvey (1578–1657) — English physician (1578-1657)
Urban VIII (1568–1644) — 235 pope of the Catholic Church from 1623 to 1644 (1568–1644)
Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665) — French painter (1594-1665)
James II of England (1633–1701) — King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1685 to 1688 (1633–1701)
Miyamoto Musashi (1584–1645) — Japanese swordsman, philosopher, strategist, writer, artist, and rōnin (1584–1645)
Christina of Sweden (1626–1689) — Queen of Sweden, ruled from 1632 until abdication in 1654 (1626–1689)
Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643) — Italian composer, string player, choirmaster, and priest (1567–1643)
Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641) — Flemish Baroque artist (1599–1641)
Innocent XI (1611–1689) — pope of the Catholic Church from 1676 to 1689
John III Sobieski (1629–1696) — King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1629–1696)
Christopher Wren (1632–1723) — English architect (1632–1723)
Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux (1636–1711) — French poet and critic (1636–1711)
Francisco Quevedo (1584–1645) — Spanish writer (1580-1645)
Cardinal Mazarin (1602–1661) — French cardinal and statesman
Philip IV of Spain (1605–1665) — King of Spain and Portugal (1605-1665)
Innocent X (1574–1655) — pope from 1644 to 1655
Francisco de Zurbarán (1598–1664) — Spanish painter (1598–1664)
Innocent XII (1615–1700) — pope of the Catholic Church from 1691 to 1700
John Bunyan (1628–1688) — English Christian writer and preacher (1628-1688)
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680) — Italian sculptor and architect (1598–1680)
Alexander VII (1599–1667) — pope of the Catholic Church from 1655 to 1667
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617–1682) — Spanish Baroque painter (1617–1682)
Clement X (1590–1676) — pope of the Catholic Church from 1670 to 1676 (1590-1676)
Alexander VIII (1610–1691) — pope of the Catholic Church from 1689 to 1691
Clement IX (1600–1669) — pope from 1667, lived 1600-1669
Giovanni Domenico Cassini (1625–1712) — Italian/French mathematician, astronomer, engineer, and astrologer (*1625 – †1712)
Aphra Behn (1640–1689) — British playwright, poet and spy (1640–1689)
Baltasar Gracián (1604–1658) — Aragonese Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher in Castilian language (1601-1658)
Murad IV (1612–1640) — the 17th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1623–1640)
Ibrahim I (1615–1648) — 18th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1640–1648)
Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–1653) — Italian Baroque painter (1593-1651)
Alexei I of Russia (1629–1676) — Tsar of Russia (1645–1676)
Michael I of Russia (1596–1645) — Tsar of Russia (1613–1645)
Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (1640–1705) — Holy Roman Emperor (1658-1705), King of Hungary and Croatia and King of Bohemia (1640–1705)
Bohdan Khmelnytsky (1595–1657) — Ukrainian military, political and statesman, Hetman of the Zaporizhzhya Army, head of Ukraine (1648–1657) during the Hetmanship
Cyrano de Bergerac (1619–1655) — French novelist and dramatist (1619–1655)
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (1627–1680) — Indian Maratha king and founder of the Maratha Swaraj (Empire)
Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632–1687) — Italian-born French composer (1632–1687)
Frans Hals (1582–1666) — Dutch painter (1580–1666)
Jusepe de Ribera (1591–1652) — Spanish painter (1591–1652)
Marie de' Medici (1575–1642) — Queen of France (1575-1642); second wife of King Henry IV of France
Ivan Mazepa (1639–1709) — Hetman of Ukrainian Cossacks from 1687 to 1708
Christian IV of Denmark (1577–1648) — king of Denmark and Norway (1577–1648)
Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619–1683) — French statesman (1619–1683)

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