January 12
January 12
British‑Zulu War begins
The British‑Zulu War begins as British troops under Lieutenant General Frederic Augustus invade Zululand from the southern African republic of Natal. In 1843, Britain succeeded the Boers as the rulers…
A Year In History: 1879
This Year in History:
1879
Discover what happened in this year with HISTORY’s summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.
January 22
January 22
Chief Dull Knife makes last fight for freedom
Cheyenne chief Dull Knife (also anglicized as “Morning Star”) and his people are defeated by U.S. army soldiers. In doing so, the so‑called Dull Knife Outbreak came to an end. A…
March 3
March 3
United States Geological Survey created
Congress establishes the United States Geological Survey, an organization that played a pivotal role in the exploration and development of the West. Although the rough geographical outlines of much of…
March 14
March 14
Albert Einstein born
On March 14, 1879, Albert Einstein is born, the son of a Jewish electrical engineer in Ulm, Germany. Einstein’s theories of special and general relativity drastically altered human understanding of…
July 19
July 19
Doc Holliday kills for the first time
Doc Holliday commits his first murder, killing a man for shooting up his New Mexico saloon. Despite his formidable reputation as a deadly gunslinger, Doc Holliday only engaged in eight…
August 8
August 8
Emiliano Zapata born
Emiliano Zapata, a leader of peasants and Indigenous people during the Mexican Revolution, is born in Anenecuilco, Mexico. Born a peasant, Zapata was forced into the Mexican army in 1908…
August 28
August 28
Zulu king captured
King Cetshwayo, the last great ruler of Zululand, is captured by the British following his defeat in the British‑Zulu War. He was subsequently sent into exile. Cetshwayo’s defiance of British…
December 31
December 31
Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent light
In the first public demonstration of his incandescent lightbulb, American inventor Thomas Alva Edison lights up a street in Menlo Park, New Jersey. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company ran special trains…
