Explore 1130 historical events from 1870–1879.
The Paris Commune was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian W…
French troops invade the Paris Commune and engage its residents in street fighting
A rack railway is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with thi…
Opening of the first rack railway in Europe, the Rigi Bahnen on Mount Rigi
The Paris Commune was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian W…
The Paris Commune falls after two months
The Universities Tests Act 1871 was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It abolished religious "Tests" and allowed Roman Catholics, non-conformists and non-Christians t…
The Universities Tests Act 1871 allows students to enter the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Durham without religi
British Columbia is the westernmost province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, w…
British Columbia joins the Canadian Confederation.
Edward James Roye was a Liberian merchant and politician who served as the fifth president of Liberia from 1870 until his overthrow in the 1871 Liberian coup d'état and subsequent …
Liberian President Edward James Roye is deposed in a coup d'état.
Edmund John Millington Synge, popularly known as J. M. Synge, was an Irish playwright, poet, writer, and collector of folklores. As a key figure of the Irish Literary Revival durin…
John Millington Synge, Irish author, poet, and playwright (died 1909)
Sir Sydney John Chapman KCB CBE was an English economist and civil servant. He was Chief Economic Adviser to HM Government from 1927 to 1932.
Sydney Chapman, English economist and civil servant (died 1951)
The Valley Railroad, operating under the name Essex Steam Train and Riverboat, is a heritage railroad based in Essex, Connecticut on tracks of the Connecticut Valley Railroad, whic…
The Connecticut Valley Railroad opens between Old Saybrook, Connecticut and Hartford, Connecticut in the United States.
The Staten Island Ferry is a fare-free passenger ferry route operated by the New York City Department of Transportation. The ferry's single route runs 5.2 miles (8.4 km) through Ne…
The Staten Island Ferry Westfield's boiler explodes, killing over 85 people.
Emperor Meiji was Emperor of Japan from 30 January 1867 until his death in 1912. The Meiji Restoration proclaimed the Empire of Japan in 1868, beginning the Meiji era. During his r…
Emperor Meiji orders the abolition of the han system and the establishment of prefectures as local centers of…
The Rio Branco law, also known as the Law of Free Birth, named after its champion, prime minister José Paranhos, Viscount of Rio Branco, was passed by the General Assembly of the E…
The Brazilian Parliament passes a law that frees all children thereafter born to slaves, and all government-owned…
Slash-and-burn agriculture is a form of shifting cultivation in agriculture that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidd…
Slash-and-burn land management, months of drought, and the passage of a strong cold front cause the Peshtigo Fire, the…
Lorne Campbell Currie was a British sailor who represented his country at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Meulan, France. With crew John Gretton, Linton Hope and Algernon Maudslay. Cur…
Lorne Currie, French-English sailor (died 1926)
Seakle Greijdanus was a Reformed theologian in the Netherlands, who first served in the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and later in the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (…
Seakle Greijdanus, Dutch theologian and scholar (died 1948)
Emiliano Chamorro Vargas was a Nicaraguan military figure and politician who served as President of Nicaragua from 1 January 1917 to 1 January 1921. He was a member of the Conserva…
Emiliano Chamorro Vargas, President of Nicaragua (died 1966)
The Los Angeles Chinese massacre of 1871 was a racial massacre targeting Chinese immigrants in Los Angeles, California, United States that occurred on October 24, 1871. Approximate…
An estimated 17 to 22 Chinese immigrants are lynched in Los Angeles, California.
Emmett Dalton was an American outlaw, train robber and member of the Dalton Gang in the American Old West. Part of a gang that attempted to rob two banks in Coffeyville, Kansas, on…
Emmett Dalton, American criminal (died 1937)
Francois Auguste Victor Grignard was a French chemist who won the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the eponymously named Grignard reagent and Grignard reaction, both of which are i…
Victor Grignard, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1935)
Christian Otto Josef Wolfgang Morgenstern was a German writer and poet from Munich. Morgenstern married Margareta Gosebruch von Liechtenstern on 7 March 1910. He worked for a while…
Christian Morgenstern, German author and poet (died 1914)
Frank Schlesinger was an American astronomer. His work concentrated on using photographic plates rather than direct visual studies for astronomical research.
Frank Schlesinger, American astronomer and author (died 1943)
Denis Horgan was a champion Irish athlete and weight thrower, born in Banteer, County Cork, who competed mainly in the shot put.
Denis Horgan, Irish shot putter and weight thrower (died 1922)
Walter Bowman Russell was an American impressionist painter, sculptor, property developer, and author. Russell wrote extensively on topics relating to science, but his ideas did no…
Walter Russell, American painter, sculptor, and author (died 1963)
Georges-Henri Rouault was a French painter, draughtsman, and printmaker, whose work is often associated with Fauvism and Expressionism.
Georges Rouault, French painter and illustrator (died 1958)