1875 CE

Tanaka Manufacturing, a telecommunications factory in Ginza, Tokyo, a predecessor of Toshiba, a Japanese electromechanics giant, is founded. American Indian Wars: In Washington, D.C., Indian Inspector E.C. Watkins issues a report stating that hundreds of Sioux and Cheyenne associated with Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse are hostile to the United States (the Battle of the Little Bighorn is fought in Montana the next year). Indian Wars: In Washington, D.C., Indian Inspector E. C. Watkins issues a report stating that hundreds of Sioux and Cheyenne associated with Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse are hostile to the United States (the Battle of the Little Bighorn is fought in Montana the next year).

In the 1870s, the 19th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • January 12 – Guangxu becomes the 11th Qing dynasty Emperor of China at the age of 3. He succeeds his cousin, the Tongzhi Emperor, who had no sons of his own.source
  • January 14 – The newly proclaimed King Alfonso XII of Spain (Queen Isabella II's son) arrives in Spain to restore the monarchy during the Third Carlist War.source
  • January 18 – 1875 Ontario election: Sir Oliver Mowat's Liberals win a second consecutive majority.Canadasource
  • 9 February – John Robertson becomes Premier of New South Wales, replacing Henry Parkes.Australiasource
  • 25 February – The Seamen's Association of 1856's new building in Christianshavn is inaugurated.Denmarksource
  • February 27 – Newton Booth, 11th Governor of California, resigns, having been elected Senator. Lieutenant Governor of California Romualdo Pacheco becomes acting Governor. He is later replaced by elected governor William Irwin.source
  • March 1 – The United States Congress passes the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits racial discrimination in public accommodations and jury duty.source
  • March 3 – The Page Act of 1875 is enacted. Passed amid rising nativistic and anti-Chinese sentiment, the Act restricts the immigration of Chinese women to the U.S.United Statessource
  • May 7 – The Treaty of Saint Petersburg is signed between Japan and Russia.source
  • May 20 – The Metre Convention is signed in Paris, France.source
  • July 1 – The General Postal Union is established.source
  • September 29 - The Casa de Moneda de la República Argentina is inaugurated, under Law 733 of 1875 which ordered the creation of two mints, one in Buenos Aires and another in Salta.Argentinasource
  • Creation of the Portuguese Socialist Party.Portugalsource
  • Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1875)Russiasource
  • The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service recognises Welsh as a distinct nationality - the first official body ever to do so.Walessource

Conflict & Security

  • February 3 – Third Carlist War: Battle of Lácar – Carlist commander Torcuato Mendíri secures a brilliant victory, when he surprises and routs a Government force under General Enrique Bargés at Lácar, east of Estella, nearly capturing newly crowned King Alfonso XII. The Carlists take several pieces of artillery, more than 2,000 rifles, and 300 prisoners. 800 men of both sides are killed (mostly government troops).source
  • 15 February – The Ireland national rugby union team plays its first international match, a 7–0 defeat by England.Irelandsource
  • February 18 – The Mason County War begins, as a German-American mob breaks into a prison, and lynches cattle rustlers in central Texas.source
  • February 25 – The majority of the Yavapai (Wipukyipai) and Tonto Apache (Dil Zhéé) tribes are forced by the United States Cavalry, under command of Brigadier General George Crook, to walk at gunpoint from Arizona's Verde Valley, to the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, 180 miles to the southeast. The two tribes are not allowed to return to the Verde Valley until 1900.source
  • February 25 – The majority of the Yavapai (Wipukyipai) and Tonto Apache (Dil Zhéé) tribes are forced by the U.S. Cavalry under command of Brigadier General George Crook to walk at gunpoint from the Arizona's Verde Valley to the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, 180 miles to the southeast. The two tribes are not allowed to return to the Verde Valley until 1900.United Statessource
  • April 25 – Ten sophomores from Rutgers College (modern-day Rutgers University) steal a one-ton cannon from the campus of the College of New Jersey (modern-day Princeton University), and start the Rutgers–Princeton Cannon War.source
  • Third Carlist War in Spain: Two government armies under General Quesada and Martínez Campos start encroaching on Carlist territory. Both they and their Carlist opponent (Mendiri) drive opposing sympathisers from their homes, and burn crops in areas they can not hold. Several Carlist generals (Dorregaray, Savalls, and others) are unjustly put on trial for disloyalty. Mendiri is also removed from his command, and replaced by the Count of Caserta. Despite having 48 infantry battalions, 3 cavalry regiments, 2 engineer battalions, and 100 pieces of artillery at his disposal, Caserta is heavily outnumbered by the government forces opposing him.source
  • July 1–7 – Third Carlist War: Battle of Treviño – Advancing on the key city of Vitoria, in Navarre, Spanish Republican commander General Jenardo de Quesada sends General Tello to attack the Carlist lines just to the southwest, at Treviño. The newly appointed Carlist commander General José Pérula is heavily defeated and withdraws, and soon afterwards Quesada enters Vitoria in triumph.source
  • The Black Flag Rebellion is staged by white diamond diggers at Kimberley.South Africasource
  • September 2 – The Guibord Affair, violence resulting from the 1874 Guibord case, breaks out.Canadasource
  • September 7 – Battle of Agurdat: An Egyptian invasion of Ethiopia fails, when Emperor Yohannes IV defeats an army led by Werner Munzinger.source
  • November 9 – American Indian Wars: In Washington, D.C., Indian Inspector E.C. Watkins issues a report stating that hundreds of Sioux and Cheyenne associated with Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse are hostile to the United States (the Battle of the Little Bighorn is fought in Montana the next year).source
  • November 9 – Indian Wars: In Washington, D.C., Indian Inspector E. C. Watkins issues a report stating that hundreds of Sioux and Cheyenne associated with Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse are hostile to the United States (the Battle of the Little Bighorn is fought in Montana the next year).United Statessource
  • November 16 – Battle of Gundat: Ethiopian Emperor Yohannes IV defeats another Egyptian army.source
  • December 4 – Notorious New York City politician Boss Tweed escapes from prison and flees to Spain.source
  • December 4 – Notorious New York City politician Boss Tweed escapes from prison and flees to Cuba, then to Spain.United Statessource
  • December 20 – The ICRM is renamed the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).source
  • British Indian Army officer Neville Chamberlain originates the cue sport of snooker at Jubbulpore (Jabalpur) in India.source
  • The Tong Wars begin in San Francisco.United Statessource

Exploration & Expansion

  • 6 May – Ernest Giles and party leave South Australia for an overland expedition to Perth, they arrive on 10 November.Australiasource
  • 24 May – J. V. Mulligan and party discover the Barron River in Queensland, they left Cooktown on 17 AprilAustraliasource
  • 29 May – British Arctic Expedition: George Nares sets sail on an expedition to attempt to reach the North Pole via Smith Sound.United Kingdomsource
  • 26 July – Cape Midland – Port Elizabeth to Addo, 31 mi 55 ch.South Africasource
  • 16 September Chilean International Exhibition opensChilesource
  • 22 September – Cape Midland – Swartkops to Uitenhage, 13 mi 46 ch.South Africasource
  • December - South Wales miners, led by William Abraham, come to agreement on a sliding scale of wages in relation to prices and profits.Walessource
  • A combined Auckland clubs team toured Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Nelson and New Plymouth. They lost all matches, despite some of their opposition having only learned rugby rules for a few weeks in preparation for the tour – the Christchurch and Dunedin clubs had primarily been playing football (soccer).New Zealandsource

Religion & Belief

  • January 14 – The Halifax Herald is first published.Canadasource
  • March 15 – Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York John McCloskey is named the first cardinal in the United States.source
  • March 15 – Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York John McCloskey is named the first cardinal in the U.S.United Statessource
  • April 10 – The Arya Samaj is founded in Mumbai by Swami Dayananda Saraswati.source
  • 10 April - The Arya Samaj was founded by Swami Dayanand Saraswati.Indiasource
  • 60 to 70 Christian women in Amoy attended a meeting presided by a missionary John MacGowan formed the Heavenly Foot Society (tianzu literally meaning Heavenly Foot), opposing the practice of footbindingChinasource
  • The town of Mosjøen is founded.Norwaysource
  • Elsa Borg move to Stockholm and open the first bible home for education of Christian social workers in the slums.Swedensource
  • Association football team Birmingham City F.C. is founded as Small Heath Alliance in Birmingham by a group of cricketers from Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, playing its first match in November.United Kingdomsource
  • Rugby union - Llanelli RFC and Risca RFC are formed.Walessource

Economy & Finance

  • 1 January – the krone replaces the rigsdaler as the official currency of Denmark.Denmarksource
  • March 3 – The Page Act of 1875 is enacted in the United States, effectively prohibiting the immigration of Chinese women.source
  • 27 May – German company Soennecken is foundedGermanysource
  • July 9 – Asia's first stock exchange is established as The Native Share & Stock Brokers Association (the modern-day Bombay Stock Exchange).source
  • 9 July - Bombay Stock Exchange known as BSE, Indian stock market was foundedIndiasource
  • July 28 – Joe Borden throws the first no-hitter in baseball history versus Mike Golden and the Chicago White Stockings in his third start as a replacement for Cherokee Fisher as a member of the Philadelphia White Stockingssource
  • October – The Ottoman state declares partial bankruptcy, and places its finances in the hands of European creditors. It is also suffering widespread nationalist rebellions resulting in Russian intervention and Great Power tensions.source
  • Delhaize brothers go into retail business.Belgiumsource
  • American trading company Augustine Heard & Co. becomes bankruptChinasource
  • Thorvaldsensfélagið is foundedIcelandsource
  • New Zealand Cup winner: NectarNew Zealandsource
  • Depression of 1873–79 (1873–1879)United Statessource

Technology & Infrastructure

  • January 1 – The Midland Railway of England abolishes the Second Class passenger category, leaving First Class and Third Class. Other British railway companies follow Midland's lead during the rest of the year (Third Class is renamed Second Class in 1956).source
  • March 3 – The first indoor ice hockey game is played at the Victoria Skating Rink in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.source
  • March 9 - The settlement of Deán Funes, Córdoba, is founded, when the Deán Funes, Córdoba when the Ferrocarril Central Norte (railway) from Córdoba reaches the area.Argentinasource
  • May 17 – Aristides wins the first Kentucky Derby.source
  • June 1 – Construction begins on the Canadian Pacific Railway.Canadasource
  • July 11 – Tanaka Manufacturing, a telecommunications factory in Ginza, Tokyo, a predecessor of Toshiba, a Japanese electromechanics giant, is founded.source
  • August 25 – Captain Matthew Webb becomes the first person to swim the English Channel.source
  • The Molteno Government begins construction of two Midland railway lines from Swartkops in Port Elizabeth and from Uitenhage.South Africasource
  • November 26 – The Times newspaper in London reveals that Isma'il Pasha has sold Egypt's 44% share in the Suez Canal to Britain, in a deal secured by Benjamin Disraeli, without the prior sanction of the British Parliament.source
  • December 24: Telegraph service begins between Rio de Janeiro and the provinces of Bahia, Pernambuco, and Pará.Brazilsource
  • Polo played for the first time in Australia at Albert Park in VictoriaAustraliasource
  • Hotel Kaiserhof opens in Berlin.Germanysource
  • Contract let for construction of the Rimutaka Incline railway using the Fell system.New Zealandsource
  • Constitution and Convention of the International Telecommunication UnionRussiasource

Science & Discovery

  • 1 April – The Times publishes the first daily weather map.United Kingdomsource
  • September 11 – Egypt adopts the Gregorian calendar; replacing the Coptic/Alexandrian calendar (based on the ancient Egyptian calendar) which had been the official calendar since the Roman period.source
  • Gallium is discovered by Paul Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran.Francesource
  • The weekly medical journal, Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift, is established in Germany by Paul Börner.Germanysource
  • India Meteorology Department was established on 15 January.Indiasource
  • The Metric system was introduced and replaced the old measurement units (de jure).Norwaysource
  • Creation of the Lisbon Geographic Society.Portugalsource
  • Alfred Nobel invents the Gelignite.Swedensource
  • Robert Griffiths becomes the first secretary of the tonic solfa college.Walessource

Health & Medicine

  • 12 February – Robert Louis Stevenson is introduced to fellow writer W. E. Henley, at this time (August 1873–April 1875) a patient of surgeon Joseph Lister in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh; Henley will be the model for Long John Silver. Henley has also met his future wife while in hospital and written the poems collected as In Hospital. In July Stevenson qualifies as an advocate, but never practices.Scotlandsource
  • March 1 – The Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto) is founded.Canadasource
  • April – 'Albert's swarm' of Rocky Mountain locusts begins to devastate the western United States.source
  • 31 July – Public Health Act 1875 (38 & 39 Vict. c. 55) establishes a code of practice for sanitation across the country.United Kingdomsource
  • August 9 – Joe Borden throws a 4 hit shoutout against future baseball hall of famer Pud Galvin and the St. Louis Brown Stockings 16–0United Statessource
  • 31 December – Population Census: 1,813,424 inhabitants in Norway.Norwaysource
  • Convent Scandal: During the winter in Montreal, typhoid fever strikes at a convent school. The corpses of the victims are filched by body-snatchers before relatives arrive from America, causing much furor. Eventually the Anatomy Act of Quebec is changed over it.source
  • The 1875–1876 Australia scarlet fever epidemic begins in Victoria.Australiasource
  • Jennifer Trout becomes the first woman licensed to practise medicine in Canada, although Emily Stowe has been doing so without a licence in Toronto since 1867.Canadasource
  • Hugh Owen Thomas - Diseases of the Hip, Knee, and Ankle JointsWalessource

Crime & Justice

  • February 21 — Margary Affair British explorer Augustus Raymond Margary and his entire staff murdered in YunnanChinasource
  • July 2 – The trial, begun on January 4, for criminal conversation brought against popular preacher Henry Ward Beecher by Theodore Tilton for alleged adultery with his wife, suffragist Elizabeth Richards Tilton, in Brooklyn ends with a hung jury.United Statessource
  • September 1 – A murder conviction begins to break the power of the violent Irish-American anti-owner coal miners, the "Molly Maguires", in Pennsylvania.source
  • Henri de Braekeleer, The Man in the ChairBelgiumsource
  • Louis Riel is granted amnesty with the condition that he be banished for five years.Canadasource
  • Auckland Cup winner: KingfisherNew Zealandsource
  • Publication of O Crime do Padre Amaro, by José Maria de Eça de Queirós.Portugalsource
  • The Rower woman profession is formally abolished (though not forbidden) in Stockholm.Swedensource
  • Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot buys James Milo Griffith's Summer Flowers for Margam Castle.Walessource

Disasters & Accidents

  • February 24 – The SS Gothenburg sinks off Australia's east coast with the loss of approximately 102 lives, including a number of high-profile civil servants and dignitaries.source
  • 24 February – The SS Gothenburg strikes Old Reef off Ayr, Queensland and sinks with the loss of 102 lives.Australiasource
  • 9 March – the Advocates Library in Edinburgh suffers a serious fire.Scotlandsource
  • 13 April – The Theatre Royal, Cork closes down for good.Irelandsource
  • May 7 – German liner SS Schiller wrecks on the rocks off the Isles of Scilly, with the loss of 335 lives.source
  • 7 May – German liner SS Schiller is wrecked on rocks off the Isles of Scilly with the loss of 311 lives.United Kingdomsource
  • June 18 – The Dublin whiskey fire in Ireland leaves 13 people dead and causes more than €6 million worth of damage.source
  • September 27 – American merchant sailing ship Ellen Southard is wrecked off Liverpool in England; 12 crew and life-boatmen are lost.source
  • 27 September – American merchant sailing ship Ellen Southard is wrecked off Liverpool; 12 crew and life-boatmen are lost.United Kingdomsource
  • December 6 – The German emigrant ship SS Deutschland runs aground off the English coast, killing 157 passengers and crew.source
  • December 6 – A firedamp explosion at kills 143 miners at the Swaithe Main Colliery in the South Yorkshire Coalfield of England.source
  • 6 December – German emigrant ship SS Deutschland (built in Scotland 1866) runs aground on Kentish Knock resulting in the death of 157 passengers and crew and inspiring Gerard Manley Hopkins' poem The Wreck of the Deutschland.United Kingdomsource
  • 6 December – A firedamp explosion at Swaithe Main Colliery in the South Yorkshire Coalfield results in the death of 143 miners.United Kingdomsource

Climate & Environment

  • The record-setting American clipper Flying Cloud of 1851 is burned for scrap metal.source
  • June – The record-setting clipper Flying Cloud of 1851 is burned for scrap metal.United Statessource
  • 24 December – 59 die when a cyclone destroys the pearling fleet in the Exmouth Gulf of Western Australia.Australiasource

Culture & Society

  • January 5 – The Palais Garnier, one of the most famous opera houses in the world, is inaugurated as the home of the Paris Opera.source
  • January 24 – Camille Saint-Saëns' orchestral Danse macabre receives its première.source
  • 4 February – Princess Louise of Belgium marries Prince Philipp of Saxe-Coburg and GothaBelgiumsource
  • March 3 – Bizet's Carmen is first performed at the Opéra-Comique, Paris, France, three months before the composer's death.source
  • June 4 – Two American colleges play each other in arguably the first game of college football: Tufts University and Harvard University at Jarvis Field in Cambridge, Massachusetts.source
  • June 29 – The Artisans' and Labourers' Dwellings Improvement Act 1875 is passed in the United Kingdom, to permit slum clearance.source
  • August 6 – Hibernian F.C. is founded by Irishmen in Edinburgh, Scotland.source
  • August 14 – The Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners (Association of True Afrikaners) is formed at the home of Gideon Malherbe in Paarl.South Africasource
  • 16 August – The Hermannsdenkmal was inaugurated in Detmold.Germanysource
  • September 24 – The 1864 play Heath Cobblers by Aleksis Kivi is premiered for the first time in Oulu, Finland.source
  • September – English Association football team Birmingham City F.C. is founded as Small Heath Alliance in Birmingham by a group of cricketers from Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, playing its first match in November.source
  • October 16 – Brigham Young University is founded in Provo, Utah.source
  • October 25 – The first performance of the Piano Concerto No. 1 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is given in Boston, Massachusetts, with Hans von Bülow as soloist.source
  • 28 October: Inauguration of the National Pantheon.Venezuelasource
  • October 30 – The Theosophical Society is founded in New York by Helena Blavatsky, Henry Steel Olcott, William Quan Judge, and others.source
  • November 5 – Blackburn Rovers F.C. is founded in England by two old-boys of Shrewsbury School following a meeting at the Leger Hotel, Blackburn.source
  • November 29 – Dōshisha English School, predecessor of Dōshisha University, is founded in Kyōto, Japan.source
  • December 9 – The Massachusetts Rifle Association, America's oldest active gun club, is formed.source
  • December 25 – The first Edinburgh derby in Association football is played: Heart of Midlothian F.C. wins 1–0 against Hibernian F.C.source
  • The opening of Flushing High School, the oldest public high school in New York City.source
  • At Wimbledon, Henry Cavendish Jones convinces the All England Croquet Club to replace a croquet lawn with a lawn tennis court.source
  • Wollomai wins the Melbourne Cup; the cup was held on the first Tuesday in November for this first time this yearAustraliasource
  • date unknown - The Liberal Party (Chile, 1875-1891) is founded.Chilesource
  • Rugby union begins in Timaru, Temuka, Blenheim, Picton, Greymouth (with the formation of new clubs) and Napier where the club formed in 1874 adopted rugby rules.New Zealandsource
  • First football match in the country.Portugalsource

Births

  • January 14 – Albert Schweitzer, Alsatian philosopher and musician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (died 1965)source
  • February 17 - Rómulo Sebastián Naón, lawyer, politician and diplomat, Ambassador to the United States 1910-1919 (died 1941)Argentinasource
  • March 7 – Maurice Ravel, French composer (died 1937)source
  • March 26 – Syngman Rhee, President of South Korea (died 1965)source
  • April 4 – Pierre Monteux, French-born conductor (died 1964)source
  • May 6 – William D. Leahy, American admiral (died 1959)source
  • 22 May - Nuno José Severo de Mendoça Rolim de Moura Barreto, 1st Duke of Loulé, politician (born 1804)Portugalsource
  • June 6 – Thomas Mann, German novelist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1955)source
  • July 10 – Mary McLeod Bethune, American educator (died 1955)source
  • July 26 – Carl Jung, Swiss psychiatrist (died 1961)source
  • August 8 – Artur Bernardes, 12th President of Brazil (died 1955)source
  • August 26 – John Buchan, Scottish-Canadian novelist, historian and politician, 15th Governor General of Canada (died 1940)source
  • September 3 – Ferdinand Porsche, Austrian automotive engineer (died 1951)source
  • October 5 – Mostowfi ol-Mamalek, Iranian politician.Iransource
  • 11 October: Carlos Brandt (died 1964) — writer, philosopher and scientific communicator.Venezuelasource
  • October 12 – Aleister Crowley, British occultist (died 1947)source
  • October 31 – Vallabhbhai Patel, Indian political leader ("Iron Man of India") (died 1950)source
  • December 12 – Gerd von Rundstedt, German field marshal (died 1953)source

Deaths

  • February 22 – Sir Charles Lyell, Scottish geologist (born 1797)source
  • February 22 – Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, French painter (born 1796)source
  • May 17 – John C. Breckinridge, 14th Vice President of the United States, Confederate States Secretary of War (born 1821)source
  • May 26 – Victoriano Sánchez Barcáiztegui, Spanish Navy officer and hero (killed in action) (born 1826)source
  • June 3 – Georges Bizet, French composer (born 1838)source
  • June 29 – Ferdinand I of Austria, Emperor of Austria (born 1793)source
  • June 30 - Dalmacio Vélez Sársfield, lawyer and politician (born 1800)Argentinasource
  • July 8 – Francis Preston Blair Jr., American politician, Civil War officer (born 1821)source
  • July 30 – George Pickett, American Confederate general (born 1825)source
  • July 31 – Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States (born 1808)source
  • August 4 – Hans Christian Andersen, Danish writer (born 1805)source
  • August 6 – Gabriel García Moreno, President of Ecuador (born 1821)source
  • August 6 – Gabriel García Moreno, president, assassinationEcuadorsource
  • 19 August: Francisco Delgado Jugo (born 1830) — ophthalmologist.Venezuelasource
  • October 10 – Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy, Russian writer (born 1817)source
  • October 15 – Chief Lone Horn of the Minneconjou dies at the Cheyenne River, leaving his son Big Foot as the new chief.source
  • November 22 – Henry Wilson, 18th Vice President of the United States (born 1812)source
  • ? – Khosrow Mirza, Qajar prince.Iransource