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| align="center" colspan=2 | Years:
1876 1877 1878 - 1879 - 1880 1881 1882
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| align="center" colspan=2 | 1850s 1860s - 1870s ''' - 1880s 1890s 1900s
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| align="center" | - 19th Century ''' - 20th Century
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1879 (''' MDCCCLXXIX ''') was a Common Year Starting On Wednesday (see link for calendar).
Events
January-March
April-December
- April 21 ( San Jacinto Day ) - Texas Governor Oran M. Roberts authorized the establishment of Sam Houston Normal Institute (today known as Sam Houston State University ).
- 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.
- May 30 - A F4 Tornado struck Irving, Kansas , killing 18 people and injuring 60.
- June 14 - Sidney Faithorn Green , an Anglican Priest in the Church Of England , is tried and convicted for using Ritualist practices
- July 4 - Taughannock Giant unearthed on the shore of Cayuga Lake in Ithaca, New York (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 7 - Dual Alliance formed by Germany and Austria-Hungary
- October 21 - Using a filament of Carbon ized 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 ).
Unknown dates
Births
January-April
- January 1 - E. M. Forster , English writer (d. 1970 )
- January 3 - Grace Coolidge , First Lady Of The United States (d. 1957 )
- January 12 - Ray Harroun , American race car driver (d. 1968 )
- January 13 - Melvin Jones , American founder of Lions Clubs International (d. 1961 )
- January 28 - Francis Picabia , French painter and poet (d. 1953 )
- February 18 - MAESIL , Korean strategist and halo professional (d. 1989 )
- February 22 - J. N. Brønsted , Danish chemist (d. 1947 )
- February 26 - Frank Bridge , English composer (d. 1941 )
- 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 30 - Coen De Koning , Dutch speed skater (d. 1954 )
- April 20 - Paul Poiret , French couturier (d. 1944 )
- April 26 - Owen Willans Richardson , British physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1959 )
- April 29 - Sir Thomas Beecham , English conductor (d. 1961 )
May-December
- May 6 - Bedřich Hrozny´ , Czech orientalist and linguist (d. 1952 )
- May 17 - Simon Petlyura , Ukrainian independence fighter (d. 1926 )
- May 19 - Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor , American-born politician (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, 1st Baron Beaverbrook , Canadian-born statesman and newspaper publisher (d. 1964 )
- June 3 - Raymond Pearl , American biologist (d. 1940 )
- July 1 - Léon Jouhaux , French labor leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1954 )
- July 5 - Wanda Landowska , Polish harpsichordist (d. 1959 )
- August 8 - Emiliano Zapata , Mexican revolutionary (d. 1919 )
- August 13 - John Ireland , English composer (d. 1962 )
- August 31 - Emperor Yoshihito , 123rd Emperor Of Japan (d. 1926 )
- September 2 - An Jung-geun , assassin of the Japanese politician Ito Hirobumi (d. 1910 )
- September 6 - Joseph Wirth , Chancellor Of Germany (d. 1956 )
- 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 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 )
- October 29 - Franz Von Papen , Chancellor Of Germany (d. 1969 )
- 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 10 - Jouett Shouse , American politician (d. 1968 )
- December 18 - Paul Klee , Swiss artist (d. 1940 )
- December 28 - Billy Mitchell , U.S. general and military aviation pioneer (d. 1936 )
Unknown dates
Deaths
- 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 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 )
- August 11 - George Willison Adams , Ohio abolitionist (b. 1799 )
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