1870
| Years: 1867 1868 1869 - 1870 - 1871 1872 1873 | |
| Decades: 1840s 1850s 1860s - 1870s - 1880s 1890s 1900s | |
| Centuries: 18th century - 19th century - 20th century 1870 in topic: Lists of leaders: | |
1870 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar).
| Contents |
Events
January - April
- January 1 - Plans for the Brooklyn Bridge are done.
- January 2 - Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge begins.
- January 6 - The inauguration of the Musikverein (Vienna).
- January 10 - John D. Rockefeller incorporates Standard Oil
- January 15 - A political cartoon for the first time symbolizes the United States Democratic Party with a donkey ("A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion" by Thomas Nast for Harper's Weekly).
- January 26 - American Civil War: Virginia rejoins the Union
- January 27 - First college sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, is formed at DePauw University
- February 2 - It is revealed that the famed Cardiff Giant was just carved gypsum and not the petrified remains of a human.
- February 3 - The 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution is passed
- February 10 - Anaheim, California is incorporated.
- February 10 - The YWCA is founded (New York City)
- February 12 - Women gain the right to vote in Utah Territory.
- February 23 - Military control of Mississippi ends and it is readmitted to the Union.
- February 25 - Hiram Rhoades Revels, a Republican from Mississippi, is sworn into the United States Senate, becoming the first African American ever to sit in the U.S. Congress
- February 26 - In New York City, the first pneumatic-subway is opened.
- February 28 - The Bulgarian Exarchate is established by decree of Sultan Abd-ul-Aziz of the Ottoman Empire.
- March 2 - Francisco Solano López' last troops cornered by Triple Alliance troops at Cerro Cora. López refuses to surrender and is killed. Fighting ends in Paraguay - the War of the Triple Alliance is over
- March 30 - Texas is readmitted to the Union following Reconstruction.
- April 11 - Irish peer Lord Muncaster and his entourage kidnapped in Greece
- April 22 - Vladimir Lenin is born
May - August
- May 12 - The Canadian province of Manitoba is created in response to Louis Riel's Red River Rebellion
- May 14 - First rugby match to be played in New Zealand, between the Nelson Football Club and Nelson College.
- June 26 - Christmas is declared a federal holiday in the United States
- July 13 - The Emser Depesche serves as a reason for a war between Prussia and France
- July 15 - Reconstruction: Georgia becomes the last former Confederate states to be readmitted to the Union, and the CSA is dissoluted.
- July 19 - Franco-Prussian War: France declares war on Prussia.
September - December
- September 2 - Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Sedan - Prussian forces defeat the French armies and take emperor Napoleon III and 100,000 of his soldiers prisoner at Sedan.
- September 4 - Emperor Napoleon III of France is deposed and the Third Republic is declared. Empress Eugenie flees to England with her children.
- September 20 - With Bersaglieri soldiers entering Rome at Porta Pia, the unification of Italy is completed. End of the temporal power of Papacy.
- October 2 – Rome becomes the capital of unified Italy
- November 1 - In the United States, the newly-created Weather Bureau (later renamed the National Weather Service) makes its first official meteorological forecast: "High winds at Chicago and Milwaukee... and along the Lakes".
- November 16 - Spanish Cortes proclaims Amadeo de Saboya as king Amadeus I of Spain.
- December – Assassination of Juan Prim, Prime minister of Spain
Unknown date
- Franco-Prussian War
- Term "economics" first used, by Alfred Marshall
Births
- January 2 - Ernst Barlach, German sculptor, graphic artist, and poet (d. 1938)
- January 8 - Miguel Primo de Rivera, dictator of Spain (d. 1930)
- February 7 - Alfred Adler, Austrian psychologist (d. 1937)
- March 5 - Frank Norris, American writer (d. 1902)
- March 17 - Horace Donisthorpe, English entomologist (d. 1951)
- March 20 - Paul Erich von Lettow-Vorbeck, German general (d. 1964)
- April 22 - Vladimir Lenin, Russian revolutionary, first leader of the Soviet Union (d. 1924)
- April 30 - Franz Lehár, Austrian composer (d. 1948)
- May 19 - Albert Fish, American serial killer (d. 1936)
- June 13 - Jules Bordet, Belgian immunologist and microbiologist (d. 1961)
- July 3 - Richard Bedford Bennett, eleventh Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1947)
- July 12 - Louis II of Monaco (d. 1949)
- July 29 - George Dixon, Canadian boxer (d. 1909)
- August 11 - Tom Richardson English cricketer (d. 1912)
- August 31 - Maria Montessori, Italian educator (d. 1952)
- September 26 - King Christian X of Denmark (d. 1947)
- October 10 - Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin, Russian writer (d. 1953)
- November 21 - Sigfrid Edström, Swedish sports official (d. 1964)
- November 27 - Juho Kusti Paasikivi, Prime Minister and President of Finland (d. 1956)
- December 5 - Vitezslav Novák, Czech composer (d. 1949)
- December 18 - Saki, English writer (d. 1918)
Deaths
- January 29 - Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1797)
- February 11 - Jacob M. de Kempenaer, Dutch Minister of Internal Affairs
- February 11 - Leopold Eugen Mechura, composer
- February 19 - Nathaniel de Rothschild, French wine grower (b. 1812)
- March 28 - George Henry Thomas, American general (b. 1816)
- May 6 - Sir James Young Simpson, Scottish physician and researcher (b. 1811)
- June 9 - Charles Dickens, British novelist (b. 1812)
- July 20 - Jules Alfred Huot de Goncourt, French writer and publisher (b. 1822)
- September 12 - Fitz Hugh Ludlow, American author and explorer (b. 1836)
- September 23 - Prosper Mérimée, French writer (b. 1803)
- October 12 - Robert E. Lee, American Confederate general (b. 1807)
- November 24 - Comte de Lautreamont, French poet and writer (b. 1846)
- November 28 - Frédéric Bazille, French painter (b. 1841)
- December 5 - Alexandre Dumas, pčre, French author (b. 1802)
- December 27 - General Prim, Spanish dictator (b. 1814)
- Henry Rowe, architect