1879 Calendar
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1879 Historical Event(s)
January 11, 1879
– The Anglo-Zulu War begins.
January 22, 1879
– Anglo-Zulu War: Battle of Rorke’s Drift – 139 British soldiers successfully defend their garrison against an intense assault by four to five thousand Zulu warriors.
January 23, 1879
– Anglo-Zulu War: the Battle of Rorke’s Drift ends.
April 5, 1879
– Chile declares war on Bolivia and Peru, starting the War of the Pacific.
May 26, 1879
– Russia and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Gandamak establishing an Afghan state.
May 30, 1879
– New York, New York’s Gilmores Garden is renamed Madison Square Garden by William Henry Vanderbilt and is opened to the public at 26th Street and Madison Avenue.
July 4, 1879
– Anglo-Zulu War: the Zululand capital of Ulundi is captured by British troops and burnt to the ground, thus, ending the war and forcing King Cetshwayo to flee.
July 12, 1879
– The National Guards Unit of Bulgaria is founded.
August 21, 1879
– The Virgin Mary, along with St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist, reportedly appears at Knock Shrine in Knock, County Mayo, Ireland.
August 28, 1879
– Cetshwayo, last king of the Zulus, is captured by the British.
Who Were Born On 1879?
January 12, 1879
– Ray Harroun, American race car driver (d. 1968)
January 18, 1879
– Henri Giraud, French general (d. 1949)
April 13, 1879
– Edward Bruce, Director art projects (d. 1943)
May 22, 1879
– Warwick Armstrong, Australian cricketer (d. 1947)
May 31, 1879
– Frances Alda, New Zealand-Australian operatic soprano (d. 1952)
June 3, 1879
– Alla Nazimova, Ukrainian-born actress, scriptwriter, and producer (d. 1945)
August 7, 1879
– Johannes Kotze, South African cricketer (d. 1931)
October 9, 1879
– Max von Laue, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1960)
November 15, 1879
– Lewis Stone, American actor (d. 1953)
December 28, 1879
– Billy Mitchell, American military aviation pioneer (d. 1936)