Year1880

Historical Events in 1880

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Events by Year

Jan 1 Building of Panama Canal begins
Jan 6 Record snow cover in Seattle - 120 cm
Jan 9 6' (1.83 metres) of snow falls in Seattle in 5 days

Jan 9 The Great Gale of 1880 devastates parts of Oregon and Washington with high wind and heavy snow
Jan 21 1st US sewage disposal system separate from storm drains in Memphis, Tennessee

Edison Patents Electric Lamp

Jan 27 Thomas Edison patents electric incandescent lamp

Feb 1 The first edition of theatrical newspaper The Stage is published.
Feb 2 SS Strathleven arrives in London with first shipment of frozen Australian mutton

"Black Donnelly" Massacre

Feb 4 "Black Donnelly" massacre in Biddulph, Ontario, Canada: Irish immigrants James (63), Johannah (56), John (32), Thomas (25) and Bridget (21) Donnelly murdered at home by members of the Vigilance Committee

Feb 4 Steele MacKay's play "Hazel Kirke" premieres in New York City

Arcanum

Feb 10 PopeLeo XIII publishes encyclical Arcanum about Christian marriage

Feb 12 US National Croquet League organizes in Philadelphia
Feb 16 American Society of Mechanical Engineers forms (NYC)

Assassination Attempt

Feb 17 Alexander II of Russia survives an assassination attempt

Feb 29 Gotthard railway tunnel between Switzerland & Italy completed
Mar 4 NY Daily Graphic publishes 1st half-tone engraving, by S. H. Horgan

A Salute To The Salvation Army

Mar 14 Salvation Army of England starts work in the US at Harry Hill's Variety Theatre in NYC

Jean Simmons as a Salvation Army sergeant who falls for Marlon Brando in the 1955 movie, Guys and Dolls

Mar 19 42nd Grand National: Tommy Beasley aboard Irish 8/1 chance Empress wins by 2 lengths from defending champion The Liberator
Mar 23 Flour rolling mill patented (John Stevens of Wisconsin)
Mar 24 Tobacco Growers' Mutual Insurance Company incorporates in CT
Mar 31 1st town to claim to be completely illuminated by electric lighting (Wabash, Indiana)
Apr 9 British Open Men's Golf, Musselburgh Links: Scotsman Bob Ferguson wins first of 3 straight titles; beats Peter Paxton by 5 strokes

Boule de Suif

Apr 15 Guy de Maupassant's short story masterpiece "Boule de Suif" (Dumpling) is first published in the collection "Les Soirées de Médan"

Apr 18 An F4 tornado strikes Marshfield, Missouri, killing 99 people and injuring 100.
Apr 24 Amateur Athletic Association, governing body for men's athletics in England & Wales, is founded in Oxford, England
Apr 30 The Metropolitan Museum's new premises opens at its current site at Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street designed by Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey

Liverpool Becomes a City

May 11 BritishQueen Victoria issues charter granting city status to the Borough of Liverpool

Queen of the United KingdomQueen Victoria

May 18 6th Kentucky Derby: George Garrett Lewis aboard Fonso wins in 2:37.5; race run in estimated 5 inch deep dust
May 28 8th Preakness: L Hughes aboard Grenada wins in 2:40.5
May 31 League of American Wheelmen (1st US bicycle association), forms in Newport, Rhode Island
Jun 1 The first pay telephone service in the United States is installed in New Haven, Connecticut
Jun 1 US census is 50,155,783
Jun 7 War of the Pacific: The Battle of Arica, assault and capture of Morro de Arica (Arica Cape), ends the Campaña del Desierto (Desert Campaign)

Dostoyevsky Honors Pushkin

Jun 8 Russian writerFyodor Dostoyevsky delivers an emotional speech at the unveiling of a monument to Pushkin in Moscow

Jun 10 MLB Boston Red Caps' outfielder Charley Jones becomes 1st to hit 2 HRs in 1 inning, both off of Tom Poorman in a 19-3 win over the visiting Buffalo Bisons
Jun 12 Worcester Ruby Legs pitcher Lee Richmond throws first perfect game in MLB history in 1-0 win over Cleveland Blues at the Agricultural County Fair Grounds, Worcester
Jun 14 14th Belmont: L Hughes aboard Grenada wins in 2:47
Jun 17 Providence Grays MLB pitcher John M. Ward throws a perfect game beating the Buffalo Bisons, 5-0; second perfect game in National League in 6 days; next one takes 84 years
Jun 24 First performance of "O Canada," the song that would become the national anthem of Canada, at the Congrès national des Canadiens-Français

Capture of Ned Kelly

Jun 28 Australian bushrangerNed Kelly captured at Glenrowan

Jun 29 France annexes Otaheite (Tahiti)
Jul 15 Wimbledon Men's Tennis: Reigning champion John Hartley beats Herbert Lawford 6-2, 6-3, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
Jul 16 Dr. Emily Stowe becomes the first woman licenced to practise medicine in Canada.
Jul 19 San Francisco Public Library starts lending books
Jul 21 Compressed air accident kills 20 workers on Hudson River tunnel, NY
Jul 24 1st commercial hydroelectric power plant in the world begins generating electricity in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Jul 27 Alexander P. Ashbourne patents a process for refining coconut oil
Jul 27 Battle of Maiwand, at which Dr Watson is wounded, breaks out
Aug 2 British Parliament officially adopts Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
Aug 3 American Canoe Association founded at Lake George, NY, first Commodore William L. Alden

Cologne Cathedral Completed

Aug 14 Ceremony to mark the completion of Cologne Cathedral attended by EmperorWilhelm I. First begun in 1248, now the largest Gothic cathedral in Northern Europe.

German Emperor and King of PrussiaWilhelm I

Rodin's Gates of Hell

Aug 16 The French state commissions sculptorAuguste Rodin for a large sculpted doorway 'The Gates of Hell' for the proposed Musée des Arts Décoratifs

Sep 3 Jess James' gang robs the Mammoth Cave stagecoach, Kentucky

Debut of W. G. Grace

Sep 6 First Test cricket game in England begins withW. G. Grace scoring 152 on debut against Australia at The Oval

Sep 7 Geo Ligowsky patents device to throw clay pigeons for trapshooters
Sep 9 PresidentRutherford B. Hayes visits San Francisco

De Brazza Treaty with King of Congo

Sep 10 Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza signs treaty with King Makoko of Congo

Explorer of the CongoPierre Savorgnan de Brazza

Sep 23 Jules Ferry forms French government
Sep 29 1st pro baseball game at Polo Grounds, NY Metropolitans beat Washington Nationals 4-2 in 5 innings

Orion Nebula Photographed

Sep 30 American amateur astronomerHenry Draper takes the 1st ever photograph of the Orion Nebula

John Philip Sousa

Oct 1 John Philip Sousa becomes new director of US Marine Corps Band

Oct 4 University of California founded in Los Angeles, California
Oct 15 Mexican soldiers kill Victorio, one of the greatest Apache military strategists
Oct 20 Amsterdam Free University opens

James Garfield Elected

Nov 2 James A. Garfield (R) elected 20th President of the United States

Sarah Bernhardt Debuts

Nov 8 French actressSarah Bernhardt makes her US debut at NY's Booth Theater

Nov 11 Australian bushranger, gang leader and outlaw legendNed Kelly is hanged at Melbourne Gaol

Ben-Hur Turns Author Into a Soldier of Fortune

Nov 12 Best-selling American novel "Ben-Hur: A Tale of The Christ" by soldier Lew Wallace is published

Lew Wallace writing under the beech tree near his home in Crawfordsville, Indiana

Nov 21 Competing explorers Henry Morton Stanley, in the service of Belgian King Leopold II and Italian-French explorerPierre Savorgnan de Brazza, working for France, meet in the lower Congo
Dec 8 5,000 armed Boers gather in Paardekraal, South Africa
Dec 16 Beginning of the First Boer War between British Empire and Boer South African Republic
Dec 16 Transvaal region declares itself as the Republic of South Africa
Dec 20 Battle at Bronker's Spruit, Transvaal: Farmers beat Britten
Dec 20 NY's Broadway lit by electricity, becomes known as "Great White Way"