January 25
January 25
Pat Garrett leaves Louisiana
Pat Garrett, both celebrated and despised as the man who killed Billy the Kid, abandons a life of luxury in Louisiana and heads west. Born into a wealthy southern farming…
A Year In History: 1869
This Year in History:
1869
Discover what happened in this year with HISTORY’s summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.
March 15
March 15
Cincinnati Red Stockings become first professional baseball team
On March 15, 1869, Cincinnati attorney Aaron Champion hires former cricket player Harry Wright to organize, manage and play for the Cincinnati Red Stockings, who become the first professional baseball…
May 10
May 10
Transcontinental railroad completed, unifying United States
On May 10, 1869, the presidents of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads meet in Promontory, Utah, and drive a ceremonial last spike into a rail line that connects…
May 10
May 10
First transcontinental railroad is completed
At Promontory, Utah, California Governor Leland Stanford pounds in a ceremonial golden spike that completes the nation’s first transcontinental railway. After failing to hit the spike on his first attempt,…
July 11
July 11
Tall Bull dies
Tall Bull, a prominent leader of the Cheyenne Dog Soldier warrior society, is killed during the Battle of Summit Springs in Colorado. Tall Bull was the most distinguished of several…
August 2
August 2
George Eliot begins Middlemarch
On this day in 1869, George Eliot begins work on her masterpiece Middlemarch . Eliot, born Mary Ann Evans in Warwickshire, England, in 1819, attended several schools, then lived with…
August 7
August 7
Astronomer impresses Indians with eclipse
George Davidson, a prominent astronomer and explorer, impresses Alaskan Native Americans with his ability to predict a total solar eclipse. A native of Nottingham, England, Davidson immigrated to the United…
August 23
August 23
Edgar Lee Masters, author of Spoon River Anthology, is born
Edgar Lee Masters, whose Spoon River Anthology will have a deep influence on writers of the 1920s, is born in Garnett, Kansas, on this day in 1869. As a child,…
August 28
August 28
Three leave Powell’s Grand Canyon expedition
Convinced they will have a better chance surviving the desert than the raging rapids that lay ahead, three men leave John Wesley Powell’s expedition through the Grand Canyon and scale…
September 27
September 27
Sheriff Wild Bill Hickok breaks up fight, kills a man
Just after midnight on September 27, 1869, Ellis County Sheriff Wild Bill Hickok and his deputy respond to a report that a local ruffian named Samuel Strawhun and several drunken…
October 8
October 8
Frank Duryea, winner of the first American “horseless carriage” race, is born
On this day in 1869, the inventor and mechanic Frank Duryea is born on a farm in Washburn, Illinois. When Duryea was just 24 years old, he and his older…
October 9
October 9
President Grant announces death of former President Pierce
On this day in 1869, President Ulysses S. Grant announces the death of former President Franklin Pierce. Pierce, whose presidency was remembered mostly for his failure to end the debate…
October 19
October 19
Construction begins on the Sutro Tunnel in Virginia City, Nevada
On this day in 1869, the famous Prussian‑born mining engineer, Adolph Sutro, begins work on one of the most ambitious western engineering projects of the day: a four‑mile‑long tunnel through…
November 6
November 6
Rutgers beats Princeton in first college football game
On November 6, 1869, Rutgers beats Princeton, 6‑4, in the first college football game. The game, played with a soccer ball before roughly 100 fans in New Brunswick, New Jersey, resembles rugby…
November 17
November 17
Suez Canal opens
The Suez Canal, connecting the Mediterranean and the Red seas, is inaugurated in an elaborate ceremony attended by French Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III. In 1854, Ferdinand de Lesseps,…
December 10
December 10
Wyoming grants women the right to vote
Motivated more by interest in free publicity than a commitment to gender equality, Wyoming territorial legislators pass a bill that is signed into law granting women the right to vote.…
December 28
December 28
America’s first Labor Day
The Knights of Labor, a labor union of tailors in Philadelphia, hold the first Labor Day ceremonies in American history. The Knights of Labor was established as a secret society…
