1874 in History

• Jan 1 New York City annexes the Bronx
• Jan 13 Battle between jobless & police in NYC, 100s injuried
• Jan 13 US troops land in Honolulu to protect the king
• Jan 14 I. D. Shadd elected Speaker of lower house of Mississippi legislature
• Jan 17 Armed Democrats seize Texas government ending Radical Reconstruction
• Jan 21 Franz Grillparzer's "Libussa" premieres in Vienna
• Jan 24 Gen J van Swieten conquers Kraton Atjeh, after thousands die

• Feb 21 Oakland Daily Tribune begins publication
• Mar 10 Purdue University (Indiana) admits its 1st student
• Mar 18 Hawaii signs a treaty with the United States granting exclusive trading rights.
• Mar 22 Young Men's Hebrew Association organizes in NYC
• Apr 5 Birkenhead Park, the first civic public park, opens in Birkenhead, England, designed by Joseph Paxton
• Apr 15 NY legislature passes compulsory education law

• Apr 18 David Livingstone, African explorer, buried in Westminster Abbey
• Apr 19 Barracks on Alcatraz Island destroyed in fire
• Apr 27 White League, Paramilitary white supremacist organization, forms
• May 5 Dutch 2nd Chamber passes child labor law
• May 9 London's Victoria Embankment opens
• May 9 The first horse-drawn bus makes its début in the city of Mumbai, plying two routes
• May 12 US Assay Office in Helena, Montana, authorized
• May 13 Pope Pius IX encyclical "On Greek-Ruthenian rite"
• May 14 1st admission charge at a football game, Harvard beats Uni of McGill (Montreal) 3-0
• May 16 1st recorded dam disaster in US (Williamsburg, Massachusetts)
• May 29 Present constitution of Switzerland takes effect
• Jun 20 1st US Lifesaving Medal awarded (Lucian Clemons)
• Jun 22 Dr Andrew T Still, discovers the science of osteopathy
• Jun 28 Freedmen's Bank closes
• Jun 29 Greek politician Charilaos Trikoupis publishes a manifesto in the Athens daily Kairoi entitled "Who's to Blame?" in which he lays out his complaints against King George. He is elected Prime Minister of Greece the next year.
• Jul 1 1st Chamber accept law against child labor
• Jul 1 1st US kidnapping for ransom, 4-year-old Charles Ross, $20,000
• Jul 1 1st US zoo opens (Philadelphia)
• Jul 4 Social Democratic Workmen's Party of North America formed
• Jul 7 27th Postmaster General: James W Marshall of NJ takes office
• Jul 8 The Mounties (North West Mounted Police) begin their March West from Fort Dufferin
• Jul 12 Ontario Agricultural College founded
• Jul 12 Start of Sherlock Holmes Adventure "Gloria Scott" (BG)
• Jul 23 Aires de Ornelas e Vasconcelos is appointed the Archbishop of the Portuguese colonial enclave of Goa


• Jul 31 Patrick Francis Healy, SJ, inaugurated as President of Georgetown U
• Aug 5 Japan launches its postal savings system, modeled after a similar system in England
• Aug 11 Harry S Parmelee patents sprinkler head
• Aug 26 16 blacks lynched in Tennessee
• Sep 1 28th US Postmaster General: Marshall Jewell of Connecticut takes office
• Sep 1 Sydney General Post Office opens in Australia
• Sep 3 The congress of the state of México elevates Naucalpan to the category of Villa, with the title of "Villa de Juárez".
• Sep 12 1874 The District of Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada is founded.
• Sep 26 1st Grand International Rifle match held
• Oct 1 Rotterdam opens drinking water pipes
• Oct 9 World Postal Union forms in Bern Switzerland
• Oct 10 Fiji becomes a British possession
• Nov 3 James Theodore Holly, elected bishop of Haiti
• Nov 4 Samuel J Tilden elected governor of NY
• Nov 17 Emigrant ship Cospatrick catches fire & sinks off Auckland, NZ
• Nov 18 National Woman's Christian Temperance Union organizes in Cleveland
• Nov 24 American inventor Joseph Glidden patents barbed wire
• Nov 25 The United States Greenback Party is established as a political party consisting primarily of farmers affected by the Panic of 1873.
• Dec 8 Jesse James gang takes train at Muncie Kansas

• Dec 15 1st reigning king to visit US is the King of Hawaii, received by President Grant
• Dec 24 Pope Pius IX proclaims a jubilee for 1875

Birthdays 1 - 100 of 113

• Jan 1 Gustave Whitehead, German inventor (d. 1927)
• Jan 1 Frank Knox, American Secretary of the Navy (d. 1944)
• Jan 4 Svend Fleuron, Danish writer, born on Good Katrinedal (d. 1966)

• Jan 13 Jozef E van Roey, Flemish cardinal/archbishop of Mechlin
• Jan 14 Thornton Waldo Burgess, author (Peter Rabbit)
• Jan 16 Robert Service, England, Canadian poet (Cremation of Sam McGee)
• Jan 22 Wincenty Witoz, Galicia, PM of Poland (1920-21, 1923, 1926)
• Jan 22 Edward Harkness, American philanthropist (d. 1940)
• Jan 24 Arthur Schomburg (Arturo Alfonso), Puerto Rico, archivist of African American history and culture
• Jan 25 Hewlett Johnson [Red Dean of Canterbury], English bishop, born in Salford, Greater Manchester (d. 1966)
• Jan 25 [William] Somerset Maugham, British novelist/poet (Of Human Bondage), born in Paris, France

• Feb 1 Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Austrian poet/dramatist/essayist
• Feb 3 Gertrude Stein, Penn, author (Autobiography of Alice B Toklas)
• Feb 6 Milton Bennett Medary, American architect (Washington Chapel)
• Feb 9 Amy Lowell, American poet and critic (Patterns, Sword Blades & Poppy Seed), born in Brookline, Massachusetts (d. 1925)
• Feb 11 Elsa Beskow, [Maartman], Swedish children's book/fairy tales author
• Feb 13 Hendrik Spiekman, Dutch journalist and politician (social-democratic)

• Feb 23 Konstantin Päts, Estonian PM (1921-23, 1932-33), dictator (1933-40)
• Mar 1 Jean de Merode, [Marie-Louise B Courtenay], Princess of Netherlands (d. 1955)
• Mar 5 Arthur van Schendel, Dutch writer (The World a Dancing Party)
• Mar 14 Anton Philips, Co-Founder of Royal Philips Electronics N.V., born in Zaltbommel, Gelderland, Netherlands (d. 1951)
• Mar 15 Harold L Ickes, social activist, New Deal politician
• Mar 15 Eugène Fiset, Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 1951)
• Mar 17 Stephen Samuel Wise, American Rabbi and President of Zionist Org of America, born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 1949)
• Mar 18 Nikolai Berdyaev, Russian philosopher (d. 1948)
• Mar 20 Börries von Münchhausen, German poet (d. 1945)
• Mar 22 Ellen Glasgow, novelist

• Mar 24 Luigi Einaudi, economist/1st president of Italy (1948-55)

• Apr 8 Stanisław Taczak, Polish general (d. 1960)
• Apr 14 Count Alexander, of Athlone, gov-gen (South-Africa/Canada)
• Apr 15 Johannes Stark, German physicist (Stark effect) (Nobel 1919)
• Apr 15 George Harrison Shull, American plant geneticist (d. 1954)
• Apr 18 Oskar Ernst Bernhardt, German author (d. 1941)
• Apr 19 Firmin Baes, Flemish painter
• Apr 19 Ernst Rüdin, Swiss psychiatrist, geneticist, and eugenicist (d. 1952)
• Apr 24 John Russell Pope, American architect (Jefferson Memorial, National Archives and Records Administration), born in NYC, New York (d. 1937)
• Apr 24 Willem Roelofs, Dutch painter and cartoonist (d. 1940)

• Apr 28 Karl Kraus, Austrian satirical writer, born in Jičín, Austrian-Hungarian Empire (d. 1936)
• Apr 30 Cyriel Verschaeve, Belgian priest/writer
• May 1 Romaine Brooks (born Beatrice Romaine Goddard), American painter , born in Rome, Italy
• May 3 François Coty, French perfume manufacturer, born in Ajaccio, Corsica, France (d. 1934)
• May 3 V. Walfrid Ekman, Swedish oceanographer, born in Stockholm, Sweden (d. 1954)
• May 10 Moses Schorr, Polish rabbi, senator, historian and orientalist (d. 1941)
• May 12 Clemens Freiherr von Pirquet, Austrian physician (Reaction of Pirquet)
• May 20 Folkert E Posthuma, Dutch minister of Agriculture/Industry
• May 22 Daniel François Malan, Prime Minister of South Africa (1948-54) who began the implementation of apartheid, born in Riebeek-Wes, Cape Colony (d. 1959)

• May 27 Richard von Schaukal, Austria poet/writer (Eros Thanatos)
• May 29 G. K. Chesterton [Gilbert Keith], English writer (Man Who Made Gold), born in London, England
• Jun 13 Leopoldo Lugones, Argentina, writer
• Jun 14 Edward Bowes, radio host (Major Bowes Amateur Hour)

• Jun 19 Peder Oluf Pedersen, Danish engineer (d. 1941)
• Jul 1 Michel H Campen, author/critic (Bikoerim)
• Jul 3 Āpirana Ngata, Māori New Zealand politician and lawyer known for promoting and protecting Māori culture and language, born in Te Araroa, New Zealand (d. 1950)

• Jul 7 Erwin Bumke, German jurist (d. 1945)
• Jul 10 Sergey Konenkov, Russian sculptor, born in Verkhniye Karakovichi, Russia (d. 1971)
• Jul 14 'Abbas Hilmi II, last khedive (Ottoman viceroy) of Egypt (1892-1914)
• Jul 14 Andre Debierne, French chemist/physicist (Actinium)
• Jul 24 Oswald Chambers, Scottish Baptist and Holiness Movement minister and writer (My Utmost for His Highest), born in Aberdeen, Scotland (d. 1917)
• Jul 25 Sergey Vasilyevich Lebedev, Russian Chemist who invented the first commercially viable and mass-produced synthetic rubber, born in Lublin, Poland (d. 1934)
• Jul 28 Ernst Cassirer, German philosopher and educator (Essay on Man), born in Silesia, Prussia (d. 1945)
• Jul 29 August Stramm, German poet and playwright, born in Cathedrals (d. 1915)
• Jul 29 James Shaver Woodsworth, Canadian politician (d. 1942)
• Aug 3 Eugène Baie, Belgian author (Sub rosa et sub umbra), born in Anderlecht, Belgium (d. 1963)
• Aug 6 Charles Fort, American writer and researcher (d. 1932)

• Aug 14 Mustafa Kamil Pasha, Egyptian lawyer, journalist and nationalist activist, born in Cairo, Egypt (d. 1908)
• Aug 15 Joseph Klausner, Polish-Israeli new testament expert, born in Valkininkai, Lithuania (d. 1958)
• Aug 21 Herman Adriaan van Karnebeek, Dutch minister of Foreign affairs (1918-27), born in The Hague, Netherlands (d. 1942)
• Aug 22 Max Scheler, German philosopher (Vom Umsturz der Werte), born in Munich, Germany (d. 1928)
• Aug 26 Zona Gale, American novelist (d. 1938)
• Aug 27 Carl Bosch, German chemist (BASF, Nobel 1931), born in Cologne, German Empire (d. 1940)
• Aug 31 Edward Thorndike, American psychologist (father of modern educational psychology), born in Williamsburg, Massachusetts (d. 1949)
• Sep 1 Ismar Elbogen, German/US rabbi (Encyclopedia Judaica)
• Sep 13 Henry F. Ashurst, American Democratic politician (U.S. Senator from Arizona), born in Winnemucca, Nevada (d. 1962)
• Sep 17 Ben[jamin] Turpin, American comic (Uncle Tom Without the Cabin)
• Sep 18 Johannes Anker Larsen, Danish writer (Vises Sten), born in Langeland, Denmark (d. 1957)

• Oct 6 Frank G. Allen, 51st Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1950)
• Oct 9 Nicholas Roerich, Russian painter, born in Saint Petersburg, Russia (d. 1947)
• Oct 14 Margarete Susman, German-Jewish writer, born in Hamburg (d. 1966)
• Oct 15 Prince Alfred of Edinburgh, born in Buckingham Palace, London (d. 1899)
• Oct 21 Albert Aftalion, Bulgaria/French economist
• Oct 26 Martin Lowry, English chemist (Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory), born in Low Moor, Bradford (d. 1936)

• Nov 4 Aleksandr Vasilevich Kolchak, Russian military commander (d. 1920)
• Nov 9 Albert Francis Blakeslee, American botanist, born in Geneseo, New York (d. 1954)

• Nov 18 Carrie White, oldest US woman (dies Nov 1990 at 116)
• Nov 18 Clarence Shepard Day, American author (Life with Father), born in NYC, New York
• Nov 20 James Michael Curley, 53rd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1958)

• Previous
• 1
• 2
• Next

• Jan 4 Thomas Gregson, Premier of Tasmania (b. 1798)
• Jan 8 Charles-Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg, French writer and historian, dies at 59

• Jan 14 Johann Philipp Reis, German Physicist and Inventor, dies of lung disease at 40
• Jan 17 Chang & Eng Bunker, Chinese/Thai Siamese twins, die at 62
• Jan 19 August Heinrich Hoffmann, German writer, dies at 75
• Feb 3 Lunalilo, Hawaiian monarch (b. 1835)
• Feb 8 David F Strauss, German theologist, dies at 66
• Feb 9 Jules Michelet, French historian (History of France), dies at 75
• Feb 17 Adolphe Quetelet, Belgian astronomer, mathematician and sociologist (body mass index scale), dies at 77

• Mar 11 Charles Sumner, American politician, Senator Massachusetts (1851-74) and anti-slavery advocate, dies at 63
• Mar 28 Peter Andreas Hansen, Danish astronomer (b. 1795)
• Apr 4 Charles Ernest Beulé, French archaeologist and politician (b. 1826)
• Apr 14 Hermanus J Abbring, Dutch author/engineer on Curacao, dies at 86
• Apr 19 Owen Jones, architect, dies
• Apr 20 Alexander H. Bailey, American politician (b. 1817)
• Jun 8 Cochise, Apache leader
• Jun 21 Anders Jonas Ångström, Swedish physicist (Spectroscopy), dies at 59
• Jul 11 Xavier de Mérode, Belgium minister to the Pope in Rome, dies at 54
• Jul 12 Fritz Reuter, German novelist, dies at 63
• Aug 14 Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs, American politician (Secretary of State and Superintendent of Public Instruction of Florida) and Presbyterian minister, dies at 52
• Aug 22 Sydney Thompson Dobell, English poet, dies at 50
• Aug 27 Johan George Schwartze, painter, dies
• Aug 27 John Henry Foley, Irish sculptor (Prince Albert Memorial), dies at 56
• Sep 12 François Guizot, French historian and politician (17th Prime Minister of France), dies at 86
• Sep 21 JBAL Leonce Elie the Beaumont, French geologist, dies at 75
• Oct 23 Abraham Geiger, German theologian and leader of Reform Judaism, dies at 64
• Nov 2 Thomas Anderson, Scottish Chemist (discovered pyridine), dies at 55
• Nov 9 Israel Bak, created 1st Hebrew printing press, dies
• Dec 7 Constantin von Tischendorf, German biblical scholar (b. 1815)
• Dec 16 Abraham Capadose, Dutch physician and missionary, dies at 79

• Share On Facebook
• Share On Twitter