In history, year 1879 has its own importance and known for many memorable events like famous birthdays, inventions, natural disaster, treaties, change of rulers, special days etc. Find below a list of important historical events which happened during the year 1879.
| Date/Month | Event / Incidence / Incident |
|---|
| 11 january | British forces under Lord Chelmsford invaded Zululand without authorisation from the British Government, beginning the Anglo-Zulu War. |
| 22 january | Anglo-Zulu War-Zulu forces of King Cetshwayo fought to a decisive victory at the Battle of Isandlwana. |
| 08 february | Enraged by a controversial umpiring decision, cricket spectators looted and attacked the England cricket team during a match in Sydney, Australia. |
| 08 february | At a meeting of the Royal Canadian Institute, engineer and inventor Sandford Fleming first proposed the adoption of worldwide standard time zones based on a single universal world time. |
| 11 march | Sho Tai, the last king of the Ryukyu Kingdom, abdicated whenthe kingdom was annexed by Japan and became Okinawa Prefecture. |
| 23 march | Fighting in the War of the Pacific between Chile and a Peruvian–Bolivian alliance opened with the Battle of Topáter. |
| 26 may | Russia and the United Kingdom signed the Treaty of Gandamak establishing an Afghan state. The Treaty of Gandamak officially ended the first phase of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Afghanistan ceded various frontier areas to Britain to prevent invasion of further areas of the country. |
| 01 june | Louis Napoleon was killed in action during the Anglo-Zulu War, sending shock waves throughout Europe, as he was the last serious hopefor the restoration of the Bonapartes to the French throne. |
| 13 june | Ganesh Damodar Savarkar, an Indian revolutionary, was born. Ganesh Dāmodar Sāvarkar also called Babarao Savarkar was an Indian freedom fighter, nationalist, and founder of the Abhinav Bharat Society. He was the epitome of heroism that is unknown and unsung. He led an armed movement against the British colonial government in India, he was sentenced to transportation for life as a result. |
| 01 july | American evangelist Charles Taze Russell published the firstissue of The Watchtower, the most widely circulated magazine in theworld. |
| 18 september | The Blackpool Illuminations in the English seaside town ofBlackpool, billed as 'the greatest free light show on earth', wereswitched on for the first time. |
| 22 october | Thomas Edison performed a successful test using a carbonfilament thread in an incandescent light bulb, which wouldbecome the most successful version of the product. |
| 21 december | A Doll's House, a controversial play by Henrik Ibsen that challenged 19th-century marriage norms, premiered at the Royal Theatre Copenhagen, Denmark. |
| 28 december | The Tay Rail Bridge, spanning the Firth of Tay in Scotland Between Dundee and the Hermit, collapsed during a violent storm with a train was passing over it, killing all on board. |
| 23 May | Russian author Ivan Turgenef was awarded a doctorate in civil law by Oxford University. He was the first writer in the world to be given this honor. |
| 01 July | Postcards were introduced in India. |
| 22 October | American explorer Thomas Edison made the first successful use of a high resistive carbon filament. |
| 22 October | The first sedition case under British rule was against the great revolutionary Basudev Balwani Phadke. |
| 22 October | World's first car dealer showroom opens in London. |
| 20 December | Thomas Elva Edison performed the bright light. |
| 10 February | Electricity was used for lighting for the first time in the California theater in the US. |
| 13 February | One of the important national leaders of India, Sarojini Naidu was born. |
| 14 March | The rich Albert Einstein was born in a middle-class family in the city of Ulm, Germany. |
| 11 January | The Anglo and Zulu War began. |
| 25 February | The US Congress passed the first Timberland Conservation Act. |
| 03 March | The first American female lawyer stepped into the US Supreme Court (Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood) |
| 08 April | Selling of milk in glass bottles was first started. |
| 31 May | The first electric railway exhibition began at the Berlin Trades Exhibition. |
| 26 June | The German company Linde was founded by Karl von Linde. |
| 04 July | Anglo-Zulu War; This war effectively ended with the British victory in the Battle of Ulundi. |
| Date/Month | Name / Profession / Country |
|---|
| 01 January | William Fox / Writer / United States of America |
| 02 November | Marion Jones Farquhar / Tennis Player / United States of America |
| 03 June | Vivian Woodward / Soldier / United Kingdom |
| 04 April | Gustav Goßler / Rower / Germany |
| 04 November | Will Rogers / Actor / United States of America |
| 05 July | Wanda Landowska / Educator / France |
| 06 February | Magnús Guðmundsson / Politician / Iceland |
| 08 August | Emiliano Zapata / Politician / Mexico |
| 08 March | Otto Hahn / Academic / Germany |
| 14 May | Fred Englehardt / Jumper / United States of America |
| 14 March | Albert Einstein / Scientist / Germany |
| 18 August | Alexander Rodzyanko / General / Russia |
| 19 January | Boris Savinkov / Soldier / Russia |
| 19 November | Mait Metsanurk / Author / Estonia |
| 20 February | Hod Stuart / Ice Hockey Player / Canada |
| 21 August | Claude Grahame-White / Engineer / United Kingdom |
| 22 February | Johannes Nicolaus Brønsted / Academic / Denmark |
| 27 September | Frederick Schule / Hurdler / United States of America |
| 29 October | Alva B. Adams / Politician / United States of America |
| 29 June | Benedetto Aloisi Masella / Cardinal / Italy |