1879

Years:
1876 1877 1878 – 1879 – 1880 1881 1882

Decades:
1840s 1850s 1860s – 1870s – 1880s 1890s 1900s

Centuries:
18th century – 19th century – 20th century

1879 in topic:
Arts
Architecture - Art - Literature - Music
Other topics
Canada – Rail transport - Science - South Africa – Sport

Lists of leaders:
Colonial governors - State leaders

1879 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar).

Events

January 2 – Fred Spofforth claims the first Hat-trick in test cricket.
January 11 – Anglo-Zulu War begins.
January 22 – Zulu troops massacre British troops at the Battle of Isandlwana. 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 – At Antofagasta, Chile: Chilean troops disembark in this port, then Bolivian. This is 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 of 5 and 10-cent Woolworth stores.
March 3 – The United States Geological Survey is created
March 13 – Marriage of The Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, third son of Queen Victoria, to Princess Louise Marguerite of Prussia.
March 14 – Albert Einstein: is born, and he would go on to revolutionise modern Physics.
March 29 – Anglo-Zulu War: Battle of Kambula: British forces defeat 20,000 Zulus.

May 26 – Russia and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Gandamak establishing an Afghan state.
May 30 – New York City's Gilmores Garden is renamed Madison Square Garden by William Henry Vanderbilt and is opened to the public at 26th Street and Madison Avenue.
July 4 – Taughannock Giant unearthed on the shore of Lake Cayuga in Ithaca (later proven to be a hoax).
July 19 – Doc Holliday kills for the first time after a man shoots-up Holliday's New Mexico saloon.
August 21 – Virgin Mary, along with St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist appeared in Knock to local people.
October 21 – Using a filament of carbonized thread, Thomas Edison tests the first practical electric light bulb (it lasted 13 1/2 hours before burning out).
December 28 – The central part of the Tay Rail Bridge in Dundee, Scotland collapses as a train passed over it, killing 75.
December 30 – The Pirates of Penzance is first performed (Paignton, Devon, England).
December 31 – Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time (Menlo Park, New Jersey).

May 6 – Bedřich Hrzony´, Czech orientalist and linguist (d. 1952)
May 17 – Simon Petlyura, Ukrainian independence fighter (d. 1926)
May 19 – Nancy Astor, British parliamentarian (d. 1964)
May 19 – 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, Canadian-born British statesman and newspaper baron (d. 1964)
May 27 – Karl Bühler, psychologist (d. 1963)
August 31 – Emperor Yoshihito, 123rd Emperor of Japan (d. 1926)
September 14 – Margaret Sanger, American birth control advocate (d. 1966)
September 15 – Joseph Lyons, tenth Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1939)
September 20 – Victor Sjöström, Swedish film actor and director (d. 1960)
October 2 – Wallace Stevens, American poet (d. 1955)
October 3 – Warner Oland, Swedish-born actor (d. 1938)
October 21 – Joseph Canteloube, French composer and singer (d. 1957)
October 29 – Leon Trotsky, Russian revolutionary (d. 1940)
November 10 – Patrick Pearse Irish patriot (d. 1916)
November 26 – Charles W. Goddard, playwright and screenwriter (d. 1951)
December 3 – Nagai Kafu, Japanese writer (d. 1959)
December 18 – Paul Klee, Swiss artist (d. 1940)
December 21 – Joseph Stalin, Soviet leader (d. 1953)
December 28 – Billy Mitchell, U.S. general and military aviation pioneer (d. 1936)

February 11 – Honoré Daumier, French caricaturist and painter (b. 1808)
February 11 – Willem J van Zeggelen, Dutch author
February 25 – Charles Peace, British criminal (executed) (b. 1832)
March 30 – Thomas Couture, French painter and teacher (b. 1815)
April 30 – Sarah Josepha Hale, American author (b. 1788)
June 1 – Napoleon Eugene, Prince Imperial, son of French Emperor Napoleon III (b. 1856)
August 30 – John Bell Hood, America Confederate general (b. 1831)
November 5 – James Clark Maxwell, Scottish physicist (b. 1831)

Categories: 1879