This article is about the year 1879.
Millennium: | 2nd millennium |
---|---|
Centuries: | 18th century – 19th century – 20th century |
Decades: | 1840s 1850s 1860s – 1870s – 1880s 1890s 1900s |
Years: | 1876 1877 1878 – 1879 – 1880 1881 1882 |
1879 in topic: |
Humanities |
Archaeology – Architecture – Art – Literature – Music |
By country |
Australia – Canada – France – Germany – Mexico – Philippines – South Africa – US – UK |
Other topics |
Rail Transport – Science – Sports |
Lists of leaders |
Colonial Governors – State leaders |
Birth and death categories |
Births – Deaths |
Establishments and disestablishments categories |
Establishments – Disestablishments |
Works category |
Works |
Gregorian calendar | 1879 MDCCCLXXIX |
Ab urbe condita | 2632 |
Armenian calendar | 1328 ԹՎ ՌՅԻԸ |
Assyrian calendar | 6629 |
Bahá'í calendar | 35–36 |
Bengali calendar | 1286 |
Berber calendar | 2829 |
British Regnal year | 42 Vict. 1 – 43 Vict. 1 |
Buddhist calendar | 2423 |
Burmese calendar | 1241 |
Byzantine calendar | 7387–7388 |
Chinese calendar | 戊寅年十二月初九日 (4515/4575-12-9) — to —
己卯年十一月十九日(4516/4576-11-19) |
Coptic calendar | 1595–1596 |
Ethiopian calendar | 1871–1872 |
Hebrew calendar | 5639–5640 |
Hindu calendars | |
- Vikram Samvat | 1935–1936 |
- Shaka Samvat | 1801–1802 |
- Kali Yuga | 4980–4981 |
Holocene calendar | 11879 |
Iranian calendar | 1257–1258 |
Islamic calendar | 1296–1297 |
Japanese calendar | Meiji 12 (明治12年) |
Julian calendar | Gregorian minus 12 days |
Korean calendar | 4212 |
Minguo calendar | 33 before ROC 民前33年 |
Thai solar calendar | 2422 |
Year 1879 (MDCCCLXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar.
Events
January–March
- January – The current constitution of The State of California, USA is ratified.
- January 1 – The Specie Resumption Act takes effect. The Greenback is valued the same as gold for the first time since the Civil War.
- January 2 – Fred Spofforth claims the first Hat-trick in Test cricket.
- January 11 – The Anglo-Zulu War begins.
- January 22 – Anglo-Zulu War – Battle of Isandlwana: Zulu troops massacre British troops. At Rorke's Drift, outnumbered British soldiers drive the attackers away after hours of fighting.
- February 12 – At New York City's Madison Square Garden, the first artificial ice rink in North America opens.
- February 14 – Chilean troops disembark at Antofagasta, Chile, at the time a Bolivian port. The event marks the beginning of the War of the Pacific between Chile and the joint forces of Peru and Bolivia.
- February 15 – Women's rights: American President Rutherford B. Hayes signs a bill allowing female attorneys to argue cases before the Supreme Court of the United States.
- February 22 – In Utica, New York, Frank Woolworth opens the first of many 5 and 10-cent Woolworth stores.
- February 27 – The discovery of saccharin is announced.
- March 3 – The United States Geological Survey is created.
- March 12 – Anglo-Zulu War – Battle of Intombe: A British force over one-hundred strong is ambushed and destroyed by Zulu forces.
- March 13 – Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, third son of Queen Victoria, marries Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia.
- March 14 – Albert Einstein – Theoretical physicist, philosopher and author who is widely regarded as one of the most influential scientists and intellectuals of all time was born.
- March 28 – Anglo-Zulu War – Battle of Hlobane: British forces suffer a defeat.
- March 29 – Anglo-Zulu War – Battle of Kambula: British forces defeat 20,000 Zulus.
April–June
- May 2 – The Spanish Socialist Worker's Party is founded in Casa Labra Pub (city of Madrid) by the historical Spanish workers' leader Pablo Iglesias.
- May 14 – The first group of 463 Indian indentured labourers arrive in Fiji abroad the Leonidas.
- May 26 – Russia and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Gandamak, establishing an Afghan state.
- May 30 – New York City's Gilmore's Garden is renamed Madison Square Garden by William Henry Vanderbilt, and is opened to the public at 26th Street and Madison Avenue.
- June 1 – Napoléon Eugène, Prince Imperial (Napoléon IV), great-nephew of Napoléon Bonaparte, Bonapartist pretender to the throne, dies in Africa during the Anglo-Zulu War.
- June 14 – Sidney Faithorn Green, a priest in the Church of England, is tried and convicted for using Ritualist practices.
July–September
- July 4 – Anglo-Zulu War: The Anglo-Zulu War effectively ends at the Battle of Ulundi.
- July 19 – Doc Holliday kills for the first time after a man shoots up Holliday's New Mexico saloon.
- August 21 – The Virgin Mary, along with St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist, allegedly appears in Knock, Ireland to local people.
- September 8 – The Octagon fire claims 12 victims in Dunedin, New Zealand.
- September 25 – Deadwood, South Dakota fire: Two-thousand people left homeless. Three hundred buildings destroyed. Total loss of property is estimated at $3 million.
- September 29 – Meeker Massacre: Nathan Meeker and others are killed in an uprising at the White River Ute Indian Reservation in Colorado.
October–December
- October 7 – The Dual Alliance is formed by Germany and Austria-Hungary.
- October 8 – The Naval Battle of Angamos was fought during the naval stage of the War of the Pacific.
- October 17 – Sunderland Association Football Club formed in the North East Of England.
- October 22 – Using a filament of carbonized thread, Thomas Edison tests the first practical electric light bulb (it lasts 13½ hours before burning out).
- December 28 – The Tay Bridge disaster – the central part of the Tay Rail Bridge in Dundee, Scotland collapses as a train passes over it, killing 75.
- December 30 – The Pirates of Penzance is first performed in Paignton, Devon, England.
- December 31 – Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time in Menlo Park, New Jersey.
Date unknown
- Ferdinand Cheval begins to build his Palais Idéal in France.
- The Fulham F.C. is founded.
- The Hall effect is discovered by Dr. Edwin Hall.
- Henrik Ibsen (while living in Italy) publishes his masterpiece, A Doll’s House.
- Henry George self-publishes his major work Progress and Poverty in September, published in 1880 by Appleton & Co.
- Simmons College of Kentucky, a historically black school, is founded.
- Somerville College, Oxford, is founded.
- The Stefan-Boltzmann law is discovered by Jozef Stefan.
- The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) is formed.
- Wilhelm Wundt establishes the first psychology research laboratory at the University of Leipzig.
- Tetteh Quarshie first brings cocoa to Ghana from Equatorial Guinea.
- Colonel Ahmed Arabi forms the Egyptian Nationalist Party.
- Age of Gabriel ends and the Age of Michael starts according to Johannes Trithemius.
Births
January–March
- January 1 – E. M. Forster, English writer (d. 1970)
- January 3 – Grace Coolidge, First Lady of the United States (d. 1957)
- January 10 – Bobby Walker, Scottish footballer (d. 1930)
- January 12
- Ray Harroun, American race car driver (d. 1968)
- Calbraith Perry Rodgers, American pioneer aviator, made first transcontinental U.S. flight (d. 1912)
- January 13 – Melvin Jones, American founder of Lions Clubs International (d. 1961)
- January 18 – Tane Ikai, oldest undisputed Japanese person ever. She died on July 12 1995.
- January 20 – Ruth St. Denis, American dancer (d. 1968)
- January 28 – Francis Picabia, French painter and poet (d. 1953)
- February 22 – J. N. Brønsted, Danish chemist (d. 1947)
- February 26 – Frank Bridge, English composer (d. 1941)
- March 3 – József Klekl, Slovene writer and journalist (d. 1936)
- March 6 – William P. Cronan, 19th Naval Governor of Guam (d. 1929)
- March 8 – Otto Hahn, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1968)
- March 14 – Albert Einstein, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1955)
- March 26 – Othmar Ammann, Swiss-born engineer (d. 1965)
- March 27
- Edward Steichen, Luxembourgeois-born painter/photographer (d. 1973)
- Sahan Dosova, she claimed to be 130 before she died (d. 2009)
- March 30 – Coen de Koning, Dutch speed skater (d. 1954)
April–June
- April 9 – Thomas Meighan, American stage & screen actor (d. 1936)
- April 16 – Gala Galaction, Romanian writer (d. 1961)
- April 20
- Paul Poiret, French couturier (d. 1944)
- Robert Wilson Lynd, Northern Irish essayist and writer (d. 1949)
- April 26 – Owen Willans Richardson, British physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1959)
- April 29 – Sir Thomas Beecham, English conductor (d. 1961)
- May 6 – Bedřich Hrozny´, Czech orientalist and linguist (d. 1952)
- May 12 – George Landenberger, United States Navy Captain and the 23rd Governor of American Samoa (d. 1936)
- May 17 – Simon Petlyura, Ukrainian independence fighter (d. 1926)
- May 19
- Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, American-born politician (d. 1964)
- Viscount Waldorf Astor, British businessman and politician (d. 1952)
- May 22 – Alla Nazimova, Ukrainian-born stage and film actress (d. 1945)
- May 23 – Dezső Lauber, Hungarian sportsman (d. 1966)
- May 25 – Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, Canadian-born statesman and newspaper publisher (d. 1964)
- May 27 – Lucile Watson, stage & screen actress (d. 1962)
- June 3 – Raymond Pearl, American biologist (d. 1940)
- June 7 – Joan Voûte, Dutch astronomer (d. 1963)
- June 7 – Knud Rasmussen, Greenlander explorer (d. 1933)
- June 10 – Rafael Erich, Prime minister of Finland (d. 1946)
July–September
- July 1 – Léon Jouhaux, French labour leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1954)
- July 5 – Wanda Landowska, Polish harpsichordist and musicologist (d. 1959)
- July 9 – Ottorino Respighi, Italian composer, musicologist, and conductor (d. 1936)
- July 10 – Charles P. Snyder, American admiral (d. 1964)
- July 15 – Joseph Campbell, Northern Irish poet and lyricist (d. 1944)
- July 22 – Janusz Korczak (pen-name of Henryk Goldszmit), Polish-Jewish children's author, pediatrician, and child pedagogist (born 1878 or 1879) (d. 1942)
- August 8 – Emiliano Zapata, Mexican revolutionary (d. 1919)
- August 13 – John Ireland, English composer and organist (d. 1962)
- August 15 – Ethel Barrymore, American stage & film actress (d. 1959)
- August 21 – Claude Grahame-White, British aviation pioneer (d. 1959)
- August 30 – Fritzi Scheff, actress and singer, (d. 1954)
- August 31 – Emperor Taishō, 123rd Emperor of Japan (d. 1926)
- September 2 – Ahn Jung-Keun, Eu-sa ('righteous hero' in Korean) and general, assassin of the Japanese politician Ito Hirobumi (d. 1910)
- September 6
- Joseph Wirth, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1956)
- Max Schreck, German actor (d. 1936)
- September 13 – Tsutomu Sakuma, Japanese, The sixth submarine corps coxswain (d. 1910)
- September 14 – Margaret Sanger, American birth control advocate (d. 1966)
- September 15 – Joseph Lyons, Premier of Tasmania and Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1939)
- September 20 – Victor Sjöström, Swedish film actor and director (d. 1960)
- September 25 – Lope K. Santos, Filipino writer, father of Philippine national language and grammar (d. 1963)
- September 27 – Hans Hahn, Austrian mathematician (d. 1934)
October–December
- October 2 – Wallace Stevens, American poet (d. 1955)
- October 3 – Warner Oland, Swedish-born actor (d. 1938)
- October 5 – Francis Peyton Rous, American pathologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1970)
- October 9 – Max von Laue, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1960)
- October 21
- Joseph Canteloube, French composer and singer (d. 1957)
- Eugene Ely, American pioneer aviator; first shipboard takeoff and landing (d. 1911)
- October 29 – Franz von Papen, German Chancellor and diplomat (d. 1969)
- November 4 – Will Rogers, American humorist (d. 1935)
- November 7 – Leon Trotsky, Russian revolutionary (d. 1940)
- November 10
- Vachel Lindsay, American poet (d. 1931)
- Patrick Pearse, Irish patriot (d. 1916)
- November 15 – Lewis Stone, American stage & film actor Judge Hardy (d. 1953)
- November 26 – Charles W. Goddard, playwright and screenwriter (d. 1951)
- December 1 – Georgy Zhukov, Soviet general (d. 1974)
- December 4 – Nagai Kafu, Japanese writer (d. 1959)
- December 10 – Jouett Shouse, American politician (d. 1968)
- Hanna Grönvall, Swedish politician and trade union worker.
- December 12 – Laura Hope Crews, American stage and film actress (Aunt PittyPat) (d. 1942)
- December 13 – Eleanor Robson Belmont aka Eleanor Robson, stage actress and philanthropist (d. 1979)
- December 18
- Paul Klee, Swiss artist (d. 1940)
- Joseph Stalin, Soviet dictator (d. 1953)
- December 20 – Earle Ovington, American aviator, flew first experimental airmail (d. 1936)
- December 25 – Grace George, American stage actress (d. 1961)
- December 27 – Sydney Greenstreet, British stage and screen actor (d. 1954)
- December 28 – Billy Mitchell, U.S. general and military aviation pioneer (d. 1936)
- December 29 – Florence Mary Taylor, Australia's first female architect (d. 1969)
Date unknown
- Wesley Newcomb Hohfeld, American jurist (d. 1918)
Deaths
January–June
- January 8 – Baldomero Espartero, Prince of Vergara (b. 1793)
- January 24 – Heinrich Geißler, German Physicist (b. 1814)
- February 11 – Honoré Daumier, French caricaturist and painter (b. 1808)
- February 23 – Albrecht Graf von Roon, Prime Minister of Prussia (b. 1803)
- February 25 – Charles Peace, British criminal (executed) (b. 1832)
- March 1 – Joachim Heer, Swiss politician (b. 1825)
- March 2 – John Eberhard Faber, pencil manufacturer (b. 1822)
- March 10 – Prince Paul of Thurn and Taxis, German prince (b. 1843)
- March 27
- Hércules Florence, Brazilian photographer (b. 1804)
- Prince Waldemar of Prussia (b. 1868)
- March 30 – Thomas Couture, French painter and teacher (b. 1815)
- April 16 – Bernadette Soubirous, French Saint (b. 1844)
- April 30 – Sarah Josepha Hale, American author (b. 1788)
- May 5 – Félix Charles Douay, French general (b. 1816)
- June 1 – Napoleon Eugene, Prince Imperial, son of French Emperor Napoleon III (b. 1856)
- June 7 – William Tilbury Fox, English dermatologist (b. 1836)
- June 11 – William, Prince of Orange, Heir to Dutch throne (b. 1840)
July–December
- July 17 – Maurycy Gottlieb, Ukrainian painter (b. 1856)
- July 19 – Louis Favre, French engineer (b. 1826)
- August 11 – George Willison Adams, Ohio abolitionist (b. 1799)
- August 30 – John Bell Hood, American Confederate general (b. 1831)
- September 30 – Francis Gillette, politician (b. 1807)
- October 8 – Miguel Grau Seminario, Peruvian Admiral during the War of the Pacific (b. 1834)
- October 31 – Joseph Hooker, American general (b. 1814)
- November 5 – James Clerk Maxwell, Scottish physicist (b. 1831)
- December 2 – Ferdinand Lindheimer, German-born botanist (b. 1801)
- December 7 – Jón Sigurðsson, campaigner for Icelandic independence (b. 1811)