In 1853, French astronomer and physicist François Jean Dominique Arago died.
Arago originally supported the particle theory of light. In 1811, he conducted research along with Augustin-Jean Fresnel that changed his mind. They discovered that two beams of light polarized in perpendicular directions do not interfere. This discovery eventually developed into transverse theory of light waves.
Learn more at http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/timeline/people/arago.html.