January 1
January 1
E.M. Forster is born
British writer E.M. Forster is born on this day in London. Forster’s architect father died when he was two, and Forster was raised by his mother and a great‑aunt in…
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 11
January 11
Anglo‑Zulu War begins
After the Zulu kingdom ignores the British ultimatum to fully demilitarize within 30 days, British troops invade Zululand in three columns from the southern African republic of Natal, under the…
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 after one of their “outbreaks” from reservation confinement. In doing so, the so‑called…
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…
March 25
March 25
Cheyenne Chief Little Wolf surrenders
Little Wolf, often called “the greatest of the fighting Cheyenne,” surrenders to his friend Lieutenant W. P. Clark. Little Wolf was the chief of the Bowstring Soldiers, an elite Cheyenne…
March 29
March 29
British defeat 20,000 Zulus at Kambula
At Kambula, in northwest Zululand, a force of 2,000 British and Colonial troops under the command of British Colonel Henry Evelyn Wood defeats 20,000 Zulus under King Cetshwayo, turning the…
April 10
April 10
Sandor Herz, founder of Hertz Rental Car, is born
On this day in 1879, Sandor Herz—the future John Hertz, the man behind what will one day be the world’s largest car‑rental company—is born in present‑day Slovakia. Hertz immigrated to…
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…
October 2
October 2
Wallace Stevens is born
On this day in 1879, poet Wallace Stevens is born in Reading, Pennsylvania. Stevens followed the footsteps of his father, a Reading lawyer and teacher who wrote poetry on the…
November 4
November 4
Will Rogers is born in Oklahoma
On this day, the cowboy philosopher and humorist Will Rogers, one of the most beloved entertainers of the early 20th century, is born on a ranch in Cherokee Indian territory.…
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…
