January 28
January 28
Colette is born
On this day, French author Colette (born Sidonie‑Gabrielle Colette) is born in a small town in Burgundy, France. Raised in the country, Colette married writer and critic Henri Gauthier‑Villars and…
A Year In History: 1873
This Year in History:
1873
Discover what happened in this year with HISTORY’s summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.
February 25
February 25
Enrico Caruso, the greatest tenor who ever lived, is born
There was a time in America, early in the last century, when the top‑selling record of all time was of the operatic tenor Enrico Caruso performing “Vesti la giubba” from…
March 3
March 3
Congress bans sending obscene materials through the mail
Congress enacts the so‑called Comstock Law, making it illegal to send any “obscene, lewd, or lascivious” book through the mails. Also unlawful under the law is sending anything “designed or…
April 7
April 7
John McGraw, second all‑time winningest baseball manager, is born
On April 7, 1873, John McGraw, one of the winningest managers in Major League Baseball history, is born in Truxton, New York. McGraw’s career total of 2,763 wins ranks second…
April 13
April 13
The Colfax Massacre
An armed group of white supremacists attacks a courthouse guarded by a mostly‑Black militia in the town of Colfax, Louisiana on April 13, 1873. A bloodbath ensues, as the militia…
April 22
April 22
Ellen Glasgow, Pulitzer Prize‑winning American novelist, is born
Southern writer Ellen Glasgow is born in Richmond, Virginia. The daughter of a sadly mismatched couple, Glasgow felt pulled between her father’s stern pioneering background and her mother’s aristocratic Virginia…
May 17
May 17
Writer Dorothy Richardson, pioneer of stream of consciousness, is born
Influential English writer Dorothy Richardson, whose stream‑of‑consciousness style will influence James Joyce and Virginia Woolf, is born on May 17, 1873. Richardson, though seldom read today, was widely read and…
May 17
May 17
Celebrated French writer, Henri Barbusse, is born
Henri Barbusse, author of Le Feu (Under Fire), the prize‑winning, best‑selling novel based on his service during World War I, is born on this day in 1873 in Asnières‑sur‑Seine, France. As…
May 20
May 20
Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis receive patent for blue jeans
On May 20, 1873, San Francisco businessman Levi Strauss and Reno, Nevada, tailor Jacob Davis are given a patent to create work pants reinforced with metal rivets, marking the birth…
May 20
May 20
Levi Strauss patents copper‑riveted jeans
Acting at the behest of a Reno, Nevada, tailor who had invented the idea, Levi Strauss secures the necessary patents for canvas pants with copper rivets to reinforce the stress…
August 4
August 4
Colonel Custer and 7th Cavalry clash with Indians
While protecting a railroad survey party in Montana, Custer and his 7th Cavalry clash for the first time with the local Lakota Native Americans, who will defeat them three years…
August 24
August 24
Elusive Mount of the Holy Cross photographed
William Henry Jackson becomes the first person to photograph Colorado’s elusive Mount of the Holy Cross, providing reliable proof of its existence. Rumors had abounded for years that a natural…
October 3
October 3
U.S. Army hangs four Modoc leaders for the murder of a Civil War general
On October 3, 1873, the United States military hangs four Native Americans found guilty of murdering the Civil War general Edward Canby during the Modoc War in Oregon. Canby was the…
October 27
October 27
Joseph Glidden applies for a patent on his barbed wire design
On October 27, 1873, a DeKalb, Illinois, farmer named Joseph Glidden submits an application to the U.S. Patent Office for his clever new design for a fencing wire with sharp…
December 5
December 5
The Boston Belfry Murderer kills his first victim
Bridget Landregan is found beaten and strangled to death in the Boston suburb of Dorchester. According to witnesses, a man in black clothes and a flowing cape attempted to sexually…
December 7
December 7
Willa Cather is born
On this day in 1873, Willa Cather is born in Winchester, Virginia. Cather was the first of seven children born to an old Virginia family dating back to colonial times.…
December 17
December 17
Ford Madox Ford is born
Ford Madox Ford, a writer, editor, and member of the so‑called Lost Generation who served on the Western Front during the Great War, is born Ford Hermann Hueffer on this…
