BIGpedia - 1879 - Encyclopedia and Dictionary Online

Years: 1876 1877 1878 - 1879 - 1880 1881 1882
Decades: 1840s 1850s 1860s - 1870s - 1880s 1890s 1900s
Centuries: 18th century - 19th century - 20th century

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

Contents

1 Events

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).

February 11 - Honoré Daumier, caricaturist/painter.
February 11 - Willem J van Zeggelen , Dutch author.
February 25 - Charles Peace, notorious British criminal (executed)
March 30 - Thomas Couture, French painter and teacher.
April 30 - Sarah Josepha Hale, United States author.
June 1 - Napoleon Eugene, Prince Imperial, only son of French Emperor Napoleon III, killed fighting the Zulus
August 30 - John Bell Hood, Confederate general (b. 1831)