Events in History
Anglo-Zulu War
Jan 11 Anglo-Zulu War begins as British Lt-General Chelmsford invades Zululand in South Africa
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Event of Interest
Jan 21 Henrik Ibsen's "Et Dukkehjem" premieres in Copenhagen
Henrik Ibsen
The British: 139. Zulu Warriors: 4,000. Let Battle Begin
Jan 22 Battle of Rorke's Drift: British garrison of 150 holds off 3,000-4,000 Zulu warriors. Eleven Victoria Crosses and a number of other decorations were awarded to the defenders.
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- Jan 25 The Bulgarian National Bank is founded
Battle of Interest
Jan 29 Custer Battlefield National Monument established in Montana
George Armstrong Custer
Event of Interest
Feb 10 Henry Morton Stanley departs for the Congo
Henry Morton Stanley
- Feb 12 1st artificial ice rink in North America (Madison Square Garden, NYC)
- Feb 12 News about British loss at Battle of Isandlwana to Zulu attack (Anglo-Zulu War) reaches London
- Feb 14 Chilean troops occupy Antofagasta
- Feb 15 US Congress authorizes women lawyers to practise before Supreme Court
- Feb 18 Arabs capture Egyptian premier Nabar Pasha
Statue of Liberty
Feb 18 Sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi is awarded a patent for his design for the Statue of Liberty
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- Feb 22 1st 5 cent & 10 cent store opened by Frank W. Woolworth in Utica, New York (failed almost immediately)
- Feb 25 US Congress passed 1st Timberland Protection Act
- Feb 27 Russian Chemist Constantin Fahlberg discovers saccharin (artificial sweetener) [1]
- Feb 28 "Exodus of 1879" southern blacks flee political and economic exploitation
- Mar 1 Library of Hawaii founded
- Mar 3 1st female lawyer heard by US Supreme Court (Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood)
- Mar 3 US Geological Survey director authorized in Department of the Interior
- Mar 23 War of the Pacific fought between Chile and the joints forces of Bolivia and Peru. Chile successfully takes over Arica and Tarapacá, leaving Bolivia a landlocked country.
- Mar 27 Longest championship fight (136 rounds)
- Apr 5 Chile declares war on Bolivia and Peru, starting the War of the Pacific.
- Apr 8 Khedive Ismael of Egypt fires French and British ministers
- Apr 8 Milk sold in glass bottles for 1st time
- Apr 18 Trial of Standing Bear-Crook on indians citizen rights begins
- Apr 20 1st mobile home (horse drawn) used in a journey from London & Cyprus
- May 8 George Selden files for 1st patent for a gasoline-driven automobile
- May 10 Meteor falls near Estherville, Iowa
- May 14 The first group of 463 Indian indentured labourers arrive in Fiji aboard the Leonidas
- May 16 Antonín Dvořák's "Slavonic Dances" premieres
- May 16 Treaty of Gandamak to set up Afghan state between Russia & English
- May 21 Battle of Iquique: Chilean naval forces overcome Peruvian ships (War of the Pacific)
- May 30 92°F highest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland in May
- May 30 Gilmore Garden (NYC) renamed Madison Square Garden
- May 30 An F4 tornado strikes Irving, Kansas, killing 18 and injuring 60.
- May 31 1st electric railway opens at Berlin Trades Exposition
Event of Interest
May 31 Madison Square Garden opens in New York, named after 4th President James Madison
James Madison
- Jun 1 Napoleon Eugene, the last dynastic Bonaparte, is killed serving with British forces in the Anglo-Zulu War. He is buried in Farnborough, Hampshire.
- Jun 16 Gilbert & Sullivan's "HMS Pinafore" debuts at Bowery Theater NYC
- Jun 18 W. H. Richardson, an African-American inventor, patents the children's carriage (Patent no. 405599)
- Jun 21 Frank W. Woolworth opens his 1st successful "F. W. Woolworth Great Five Cent Store" on North Queen Street, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
- Jun 26 Ismael Pasha resigns as khedive of Egypt
- Jun 30 Ex-khedive Ismael Pasha leaves Cairo with train full of stolen goods
- Jul 1 Ex-khedive Ismael Pasha sails from Alexandria to Naples
- Jul 1 Charles Taze Russell publishes the first edition of the religious magazine The Watchtower
- Jul 4 Africaner Union forms by Rev SJ du Toit at Cape colony
- Jul 4 Battle at Ulundi: Lord Chelmsford beats Zulu King Cetshwayo
- Jul 12 Agricultural and industrial tariffs are introduced in Germany
- Jul 17 1st railroad opens in Hawaii
Event of Interest
Jul 19 Doc Holliday kills for the first time after a man shoots up his New Mexico saloon
Doc Holliday
- Jul 31 The first cable connection between South Africa and Europe is laid by the British electrical engineer Charles Tilston Bright as part of his project to link the British Empire with growing telecommunications technologies
- Aug 7 The opening of the Poor Man's Palace in Manchester.
- Aug 17 Ferdinand de Lesseps forms French Panama Canal Company
- Aug 20 Government Kappeijne of Coppello resigns
- Aug 21 The Virgin Mary, along with St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist, reportedly appears to the people of Knock, County Mayo, Ireland.
- Aug 23 Governor-general Charles Gordon of Sudan returns to Cairo
- Sep 5 George Washington De Long, American Arctic Explorer, and commander on board the Jeannette, becomes trapped with his crew in pack ice during his attempt to reach the North Pole
- Sep 19 The Blackpool Illuminations are switched on for the first time.
Event of Interest
Sep 20 Ulysses S. Grant and family go to SF for elaborate extended visit
Ulysses S. Grant
- Sep 23 Baldwin steam motors tram 1st tried in Sydney Australia
- Sep 23 Richard Rhodes invented a hearing aid called the Audiophone
- Sep 28 Sydney Australia inaugurates steam motor tram route
- Sep 29 NL owners meeting in Buffalo adopt reserve clause, giving each team exclusive rights to their players
- Oct 7 Germany & Austrian-Hungary sign Twofold Covenant
- Oct 8 War of the Pacific: the Chilean Navy defeats the Peruvian Navy in the Battle of Angamos, Peruvian Admiral Miguel Grau is killed in the encounter.
- Oct 12 British troops occupy Kabul, Afghanistan
- Oct 19 Afghan's emir Mohammed Yakub forced to resign
Event of Interest
Oct 22 Thomas Edison perfects carbonized cotton filament light bulb
Thomas Edison
- Nov 4 African American inventor Thomas Elkins patents refrigerating apparatus
- Nov 4 James Ritty patents first cash register, to combat stealing by bartenders in his saloon in Dayton, Ohio
- Nov 6 Canada celebrates 1st Thanksgiving Day
- Nov 19 National Association of Trotting Horse Breeders determines what "is" a trotter
- Nov 28 Battle at Lydenburg South Africa: Gen Wolseley beats Sekhukhenes Pedi-Zulu
- Dec 5 1st automatic telephone switching system patented
- Dec 13 First federal fish hatching steamer launched (Wilmington, Delaware)
- Dec 20 Thomas Edison privately demonstrated incandescent light at Menlo Park
- Dec 28 North British Railway's train falls as Tay bridge collapses (Scotland)
- Dec 30 Gilbert & Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance" premieres
- Dec 31 Cornerstone laid for Honolulu's Iolani Palace (only royal palace in US)
- Dec 31 Edison gives 1st public demonstration of his incandescent lamp
Birthdays in History
E. M. Forster
Jan 1 E. M. Forster, English writer and novelist (Howards End, Passage to India), born in Marylebone, Middlesex (d. 1970)
E. M. Forster
- Jan 1 Emile Argand, Swiss geologist (Dekbladen Theory)
- Jan 1 Ernest Jones, British psychoanalyst (Life & Work of Sigmund Freud)
- Jan 1 William Fox, US film pioneer (Nickelodeon)
- Jan 2 Johannes L "Jan" Walch, Dutch literary (Grimaces)
- Jan 2 Pieter Tesch, Dutch geologist (Pedestal of Nederlands)
- Jan 3 Grace Anna Goodhue Coolidge, US First Lady (1923-29)
- Jan 5 Hans Eppinger, Austrian physician, born in Prague, Czech Republic (d. 1946)
- Jan 7 St Bernadette (Marie-Bernarde Soubirous), 1844(?), religious visionary
- Jan 11 Antonio Beltramelli, writer
- Jan 15 Mazo de la Roche, Canadian author, born in Newmarket, Canada (d. 1961)
- Jan 18 Henri Giraud, French general (d. 1949)
- Jan 19 Marie Koenen, author/wife of Felix Rutten (Wassend Cereal)
- Jan 19 Boris Savinkov, Russian writer (d. 1925)
- Jan 22 Francis Picabia, French avante-garde artist, writer and typographist (Amorous Parade), born in Paris, France (d. 1953)
- Jan 26 Ludovicus H [Lode] Baekelmans, Flemish (stage)author (Tille)
- Feb 6 Carl Ramsauer, German physicist (Ramsauer-Townsend effect), born in Oldenburg, Germany (d. 1879)
- Feb 9 Jacques Bainville, French historian/essayist/journalist
- Feb 13 Sarojini Naidu, Indian freedom fighter and poet, born in Hyperbad, India (d. 1949)
- Feb 17 Dorothy Canfield Fisher, American novelist (Book-of-Month-Club)
- Feb 22 Norman Lindsay, Australian artist and novelist (The Magic Pudding), born in Creswick Victoria (d. 1969) [1]
- Feb 23 Agnes Arber, English biologist/philosopher (Mind & the Eye)
- Feb 24 Herman Teirlinck, Belgian writer (Sun)
- Mar 4 Bernhard Kellermann, writer
- Mar 5 Sir William Beveridge, British economist (d. 1963)
- Mar 8 Mechtilde Lichnowsky, German writer, born in Pocking, Bavaria (d. 1958)
- Mar 8 Otto Hahn, German physicist and chemist (Nobel 1944, radiothorium/actinium), born in Frankfurt, Germany (d. 1968)
- Mar 11 Niels Bjerrum, Danish chemist (ph tests)
Albert Einstein
Mar 14 Albert Einstein, German-born theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate (theory of relativity), born in Ulm, German Empire (d. 1955)
Albert Einstein
- Mar 15 Gerrit J Heering, Dutch theologist (Fall of Christianity)
Cluny MacPherson
Mar 18 Cluny MacPherson, Canadian doctor and inventor of the gas mask, born in St. John's, Newfoundland (d. 1966)
Cluny MacPherson
- Mar 20 Maud Menten, Canadian biochemist (d. 1960)
- Mar 26 Othmar Ammann, Swiss-American bridge engineer, born in Schaffhausen, Switzerland (d. 1965)
- Mar 27 Edward Steichen, American photographer, born in Luxembourg (d. 1973)
- Apr 9 Gerald Kelly, British painter, born in London (d. 1972)
- Apr 11 Leendert Round, Dutch sculptor (entrance Rotterdam Zoo)
- Apr 12 Frederic G. Melcher, American publisher and editor who founded children's book week, born in Malden, Massachusetts (d. 1963)
- Apr 14 James Branch Cabell, American novelist and essayist (Restless Heads), born in Richmond, Virginia (d. 1958)
- Apr 15 Melville Henry Cane, American lawyer and poet (Making a Poem), born in Plattsburgh, New York (d. 1980)
- Apr 19 Richard Scheibe, German sculptor (Adler mit Hakenkreuz), born in Chemnitz, Germany (d. 1964)
- Apr 20 Robert Lynd, Irish writer and critic (Pleasures of Ignorance), born in Belfast, Ireland (d. 1949)
- Apr 20 Paul Poiret, French couturier, the most fashionable dress designer of pre-World War I, born in Paris (d. 1944)
- Apr 21 Kartini, Indonesian national heroine, born in Jepara, Central Java, Dutch East Indies (d. 1904)
- Apr 23 Emil Barth, German revolutionary (Social Democratic Party), born in Heidelberg (d. 1941)
- Apr 26 Owen Williams Richardson, British physicist (Nobel 1928), born in Dewsbury, Yorkshire, England (d. 1959)
- Apr 28 Edgard Tytgat, Flemish painter and etcher, born in Brussels, Belgium (d. 1954)
- Apr 28 Franz Arnold, German writer, born in Znin, Prussia (d. 1960)
James F. Byrnes
May 2 James F. Byrnes, American politician and statesman influential in domestic and foreign policy in the mid-1940s, born in Charleston, South Carolina (d. 1972)
James F. Byrnes
- May 3 Fergus McMaster, Australian businessman and aviation pioneer (Qantas), born in Morinish, Queensland (d. 1950)
- May 6 Bedřich Hrozný, Czech orientalist and linguist (development of Hittitology), born in Lysá nad Labem, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary (d. 1952)
- May 10 Symon Petliura, Ukrainian socialist leader (pogroms), born in Poltava, Ukraine, Russian Empire (d. 1926)
Nancy Astor
May 19 Nancy Astor, American born British politician, 1st female MP in UK House of Commons, born in Danville, Virginia (d. 1964)
Nancy Astor
- May 24 H. B. Reese, American inventor of Reese's, born in York County, Pennsylvania (d. 1956)
- May 25 William Maxwell Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook, Canadian English newspaper publisher (Daily Express), born in Maple, Ontario (d. 1964)
- May 27 Hans Lammers, German SS officer and Nazi politician, born in Lublinitz, Silesia, Prussia, German Empire (d. 1962)
- May 28 Milutin Milanković, Serbian astronomer and geophysicist (linked long-term changes in climate to astronomical factors affecting the amount of solar energy received at Earth’s surface), born in Dalj, Austria-Hungary (d. 1958)
- Jun 2 Adolf Herckenrath, Flemish playwright/poet (Avondvlam)
- Jun 3 Pieter J A Adriani, Dutch tax lawyer
- Jun 3 Raymond Pearl, American biologist (d. 1940)
- Jun 4 Mabel Lucie Attwell, English children's author and illustrator, born in Mile End, London (d. 1964)
- Jun 5 Robert Mayer, German-born businessman and philanthropist, born in Mannheim, Germany (d. 1985)
- Jun 6 Patrick Abercrombie, English architect and town planner, born in Ashton upon Mersey, Cheshire, England (d. 1957)
- Jun 7 Knud J. V. Rasmussen, Danish pole explorer (Thule), born in Jakobshavn, North Greenland, Kingdom of Denmark (d. 1933)
- Jun 7 Joan Voûte, Dutch astronomer, born in Madioen, Java (d. 1963)
- Jun 9 Oscar Back, Austrian-Dutch viola player
- Jun 13 Johannes Geelkerken, Dutch theologian and vicar, born in Alkmaar, Netherlands (d. 1960)
- Jun 16 Fritz Schulz, German law historian (Classical Novel Law)
- Jun 16 Theo[dorus J] Thijssen, Dutch writer (Kees the boy)
- Jun 21 Umberto Brunelleschi, Italian cartoonist and illustrator (Candide), born in Montemurlo, Italy (d. 1949)
- Jun 22 Thibaudeau Rinfret, jurist and Chief Justice of Canada (d. 1962)
- Jun 23 William Ewart Berry, 1st viscount Camrose/English nobleman
- Jun 23 Huda Sha'arawi, Egyptian feminist and nationalist, founder of Egyptian Feminist Union, born in Upper Egypt (d. 1947)
- Jul 1 Leon Jouhaux, French socialist and co-founder UN's ILO (Nobel 1951), born in Paris (d. 1954)
- Jul 3 Alfred Korzybski, Polish-American scientist and philosopher, born in Warsaw, Poland (d. 1950)
- Jul 9 Friedrich Adler, Austrian socialist politician, revolutionary and murderer of premier Storgkh, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1960)
- Jul 9 Carlos Chagas, Brazilian sanitary physician, born in Oliveira, Minas Gerais, Empire of Brazil (d. 1934)
- Jul 10 Harry Nicholls Holmes, American chemist (crystallized vitamin A), born in Fayetteville, Pennsylvania (d. 1958)
- Jul 12 Han Yong-woon, Korean Buddhist reformer and poet, born in Yucheon, Hongseong, South Korea (d. 1944)
- Jul 27 Francesco Gaeta, Italian poet (Il Libro Della Giovinezza), born in Naples, Italy (d. 1927)
Lucy Burns
Jul 28 Lucy Burns, American suffragist (National Woman's Party) and women's rights advocate, born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1966)
Lucy Burns
- Aug 6 Joseph Wirth, 5th Chancellor of the Weimar Republic, Germany (Stalin Peace Prize), born in Freiburg im Breisgau, German Empire (d. 1956)
- Aug 8 Emiliano Zapata, Mexican revolutionary, peasant leader
- Aug 8 "Dr. Bob" Smith, American physician and co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, born in St. Johnsbury, Vermont (d. 1950)
- Aug 18 Aleksandr Rodzyanko, Russian lieutenant-general and corps commander of the White Army during the Russian Civil War, born in Russia (d. 1970)
Claude Grahame-White
Aug 21 Claude Grahame-White, English aviation pioneer who was the 1st to make a night flight, born in Bursledon, England (d. 1959)
Claude Grahame-White
- Aug 31 Yoshihito [Taishō], 123rd Emperor of Japan (1912-26), born in Akasaka Palace, Tokyo City, Japan (d. 1926)
- Sep 2 An Jung-geun, Korean independence activist and assassin of Japanese Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi, born in Haeju-bu, Hwanghaedo, Korea (d. 1910)
- Sep 12 Fausto Agnelli, Swiss painter, born in Lugano, Switzerland (d. 1944)
Margaret Sanger
Sep 14 Margaret Sanger, American nurse, birth control proponent and feminist, born in Corning, New York (d. 1966)
Margaret Sanger
- Sep 15 Joseph Lyons, 10th Prime Minister of Australia (1932-39), born in Stanley, Tasmania (d. 1939)
- Sep 17 Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, Indian Social social activist and reformer, born in Erode, Madras Presidency, British India (d. 1973)
- Sep 20 Victor Sjöström, Swedish director (Wind, Under the Red Robe), born in Årjäng, Värmland, Sweden (d. 1960)
- Sep 25 Lope K. Santos, Filipino writer and Father of the Philippine National Language and Grammar, born in Pasig, Philippines (d. 1963)
- Sep 26 Petko Todorov, Bulgarian writer (Fairy, Samodiva Fee), born in Elena, Bulgaria (d. 1916)
- Sep 27 Hans Hahn, Austrian mathematician, born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary (d. 1934)
- Oct 2 Wallace Stevens, American poet (Ideas of Order), born in Reading, Pennsylvania (d. 1955)
- Oct 4 Edward Murray East, American botanist and geneticist who developed hybrid corn, born in Du Quoin, Illinois (d. 1938)
- Oct 5 John Erskine, American poet and writer (Private Life of Helen of Troy), born in NYC, New York (d. 1951)
- Oct 9 Max von Laue, German physicist who discovered the diffraction of X-rays by crystals, born in Pfaffendorf, Kingdom of Prussia (d. 1960)
- Oct 28 Channing H. Cox, American politician (49th Governor of Massachusetts), born in Manchester, New Hampshire (d. 1968)
Weddings in History
- Jan 7 Dutch King Willem II marries Emma von Waldeck-Pyrmont
Deaths in History
- Jan 9 Don Joaquin BF Espartero, fieldmarshall/viceroy of Navarra, dies at 86
- Jan 13 Henry the Navigator, prince of the Netherlands, third son of King William II of the Netherlands, dies at 58
- Jan 16 Octave Crémazie, French Canadian poet, dies at 51
- Jan 22 Anthony Durnford, British colonel, dies in Battle of Isandlwana
- Jan 22 George Shepstone, British political affiliate, dies in battle
- Jan 29 Antonia MB Antonucci, Italian cardinal/diplomat, dies at 80
- Feb 11 Honore Daumier, caricaturist/painter, dies
- Feb 11 Willem Josephus van Zeggelen, Dutch author, dies at 67
- Feb 21 Peter P van Bosse, Dutch liberal minister of Finance, dies at 69
- Feb 23 Albrecht von Roon, Prussian soldier and statesman (Minister of War), dies at 75
- Mar 1 Joachim Heer, Swiss politician, dies at 54
- Mar 2 John Eberhard Faber, German-American pencil manufacturer and built 1st large-scale pencil factory in US, dies at 56
- Mar 30 David van der Kellen, Dutch coin engraver, dies at 74
- Mar 30 Thomas Couture, French painter/author, dies at 63
- Apr 4 Heinrich Wilhelm Dove, Prussian physicist and meteorologist, dies at 75
- Apr 8 Anthony Panizzi, Italian librarian at British Museum, dies at 81
- Apr 16 Bernadette Soubirous, French saint (saw Virgin Mary at Lourdes), dies from tuberculosis at 35 in Nevers, France
- Apr 18 Anthony Pannizi, Italian-born British librarian (British Museum), dies at 81
- Apr 29 Douglas H. Cooper, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 63
- Apr 30 Emma Smith, Inaugural President of the Women's Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, dies at 74
- May 4 William Froude, English engineer and naval architect, dies at 68
- May 15 Gottfried Semper, German architect (b. 1803)
- May 17 Asa Packer, railroad magnate and founder of Lehigh Valley Railroad (b. 1805)
- May 21 Arturo Prat, Chilean naval officer (b. 1848)
William Lloyd Garrison
May 24 William Lloyd Garrison, American abolitionist, and publisher ("The Liberator"), dies at 73
William Lloyd Garrison
- Jun 1 Napoléon IV, Prince Imperial, Head of the House of Bonaparte (1873-79), killed in action during the Anglo-Zulu war at 23
- Jun 11 Willem, (crown)prince of Orange, dies of bronchitis or murder at 39
- Jul 16 Edward Deas Thomson, Australian politician (b. 1800)
- Jul 17 Maurycy Gottlieb, Ukrainian painter (b. 1856)
- Aug 3 Joseph Severn, English painter (b. 1793)
- Aug 8 Immanuel Hermann Fichte, German philosopher, dies at 83
- Aug 27 Rowland Hill, English inventor who introduced 1st adhesive postage stamp (1840), dies at 84
- Aug 30 John B Hood, confederate general (lost Atlanta), dies at 48
- Aug 31 William Barber, 6th US chief engraver (1844-79), dies
- Sep 14 Bernhard von Cotta, German geologist, dies at 70
- Sep 17 Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, French architect (b. 1814)
- Sep 28 Nathan Cook Meeker, American journalist and social reformer, murdered by Ute Indians at 62
- Oct 8 Miguel Grau Seminario, Peruvian Admiral (b. 1834)
- Oct 13 Henry Charles Carey, American economist (Principles of Poli Economy), dies at 85
- Oct 14 F Kornberger, writer, dies at 58
- Oct 27 John Wilkins Whitfield, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 61
- Oct 28 Marie Roch Louis Reybaud, French writer (b. 1799)
- Oct 31 Big Snake, brother of Ponca chief Standing Bear, dies
- Oct 31 Jacob Abbott, American author (b. 1803)
- Oct 31 Joseph Hooker, American General (b. 1814)
- Nov 1 Zachariah Chandler, American merchant and politician (found Republican Party), dies at 65
James Clerk Maxwell
Nov 5 James Clerk Maxwell, Scottish physicist (speed of light), dies of abdominal cancer at 48
James Clerk Maxwell