Religion & Belief in the 19th century

241 sourced entries, 1800 CE to 1899 CE, oldest first. Also see Religion & Belief across every century or everything else in the 19th century.

• 1800March 14 – Papal conclave, 1799–1800: cardinal Barnaba Chiaramonti succeeds Pius VI as Pius VII, the 251st pope. He is crowned on March 21, in Venice.source
• 1800December 24 – Pierre Coudrin and Henriette Aymer de la Chevalerie found the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Paris.source
• 1801July 18 – Napoleon signs a Concordat with Pope Pius VII.source
• 1801November 16 – The first edition of the New-York Evening Post is printed.source
• 1801The Supreme Council, Scottish Rite (Southern Jurisdiction, USA) is founded within Freemasonry.source
• 1803May 19 – Master Malati, a Coptic Christian leader, is beheaded by a Muslim mob in Cairo, Egypt.source
• 1804February 4 – The Sokoto Caliphate is founded in West Africa.source
• 1804August 11 – In reaction to Napoleon being proclaimed emperor of France, Francis II assumes the title of a hereditary emperor of Austria (as Francis I) in addition to his title as emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. This latter title will become obsolete two years later when the formation of the Confederation of the Rhine instigated by Napoleon signals the end of the Holy Roman Empire.source
• 1804December 2 – Coronation of Napoleon I: At the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, Napoleon crowns himself as the first Emperor of the French in a thousand years. Witnessing this, Simón Bolívar dedicates himself to liberating Venezuela from Spanish rule.source
• 1804Thomas Charles is instrumental in founding the British and Foreign Bible Society.source
• 1805February 15 – The Harmony Society is officially formed as a Christian community in Harmony, Pennsylvania.source
• 1805June 1 – Tuscan-born composer Luigi Boccherini is buried in the Basílica pontificia de San Miguel in Madrid after being found dead on May 28.source
• 1805July 9 – Muhammad Ali Pasha founds his dynasty in Egypt.source
• 1805August 29 – Emperor Franz I of Austria and his council of ministers vote in favor of going to war with France.source
• 1806January 9 – Lord Nelson is given a state funeral and interment at St Paul's Cathedral in London, attended by the Prince of Wales.source
• 1806May 16 – A British Order in Council of 16 May 1806 declares all ports from Brest (France) to the Elbe to be under a state of blockade by the British Royal Navy.source
• 1807September 7 – Robert Morrison, the first Protestant missionary to China, arrives in Guangzhou (Canton).source
• 1809May 17 – Napoleon I of France orders the annexation of the Papal States to the French Empire. When he announces that the Pope's secular power has ended, the Pope excommunicates him.source
• 1809July 6 – French troops arrest Pope Pius VII, and take him to Liguria.source
• 1811July 11 – The Russian Empire removes Anton II, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, from his office, placing a Russian-appointed bishop at the head of the Georgian church.source
• 1812April 8 – The capital of Finland is moved from Turku to Helsinki, when Russia's Tsar Alexander I signs an edict moving the Government Council of the Grand Duchy of Finland.source
• 1812The Bishop James Madison Society is founded at the College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia.source
• 1813March 4 – Cyril VI of Constantinople is elected Ecumenical Patriarch.source
• 1814June 12 – The poem "She Walks in Beauty" is written by Lord Byron.source
• 1814August 7 – Pope Pius VII decrees the bull Sollicitudo omnium ecclesiarum, reestablishing the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) all over the world, after having approved their survival and existence in Russia.source
• 1814December 25 – Samuel Marsden of the Church Missionary Society preaches the first sermon in New Zealand, probably in the Māori language, at Oihi.source
• 1816January 6 – (December 25, 1815 on the Russian Julian calendar): Tsar Alexander I of Russia signs an order, expelling the Jesuits from St. Petersburg and Moscow.source
• 1816March 30–April 11 – In Philadelphia, the African Methodist Episcopal Church is established by Richard Allen and other African-American Methodists, the first such denomination in the U.S. completely independent of White churches.source
• 1816September 3 – Pope Pius VII sends a directive to Stanisław Bohusz Siestrzeńcewicz, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Mohilev, advising Siestrzeńcewicz not to continue the Russian Bible Society's plans to circulate the Scriptures written in the Russian language, commenting that "if the Sacred Scriptures were allowed in the vulgar tongue, more detriment than benefit would arise."source
• 1817March 21 – The flag of the Pernambucan Revolt is publicly blessed by the dean of Recife Cathedral, Brazil.source
• 1817May 27 – The General Convention of the Episcopal Church founds the General Theological Seminary, while meeting in New York City.source
• 1818March 22 – Easter Sunday in Western Christianity falls on its earliest possible date. In Western Christianity, it will not occur on this date again until 2285.source
• 1818October 5 – Claudine Thévenet (known as Mary of St. Ignatius) founds the Roman Catholic order Religious of Jesus and Mary in Lyon, France.source
• 1818Hamburg Temple disputes between branches of Judaism intensify in Germany.source
• 1821March 25 (O.S.)/April 6 (N.S.) – Metropolitan bishop Germanos of Patras raises the revolutionary flag of Greece at the Monastery of Agia Lavra (according to oral tradition), symbolically marking the beginning of the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire; later celebrated as Greece's traditional Independence Day.source
• 1821April 10 (O.S.)/April 22 (N.S.) – Ecumenical Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople is blamed by the Ottoman government for being unable to suppress Greek independence, and is hanged outside the main gate of the Patriarchal Cathedral immediately after the celebration of Pascha.source
• 1822August 12 – St David's College (the modern-day University of Wales, Lampeter) is founded in Wales by Thomas Burgess, Bishop of St David's.source
• 1822September 11 – The Roman Catholic Church first permits the publication of Galileo Galilei's 1632 treatise, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems.)source
• 1822November 13 – The Congregation of St. Basil is founded in France.source
• 1823August 16 – Tsar Alexander I of Russia draws up a secret "manifesto", designating his second younger brother Nikolai to succeed him, bypassing Nikolai's older brother, Grand Duke Konstantin. The existence of the manifesto is revealed on Alexander's death in 1825.source
• 1823September 10 – Simón Bolívar is named dictator of Peru.source
• 1823September 22 – Joseph Smith first goes to the place near Manchester, New York, where the golden plates are stored, having been directed there by God through an angel (according to what he writes in 1838).source
• 1823September 28 – Roman Catholic Cardinal Annibale della Genga is elected Pope Leo XII.source
• 1824February 10 – Simón Bolívar is proclaimed dictator of Peru.source
• 1825February 10 – Simón Bolívar gives up his title of dictator of Peru and takes the alternative title of El Libertador.source
• 1825May 26 – Two Unitarian Christian bodies, the American Unitarian Association in the United States and the British and Foreign Unitarian Association in the United Kingdom are founded, coincidentally on the same date.source
• 1825May 29 – The Coronation of Charles X takes place at the historic site of Reims Cathedral, the last coronation of a French monarch.source
• 1826February 11 – Swaminarayan writes the Shikshapatri, an important text within Swaminarayan Hinduism.source
• 1826Mahmud II's council orders the janissaries to drill in the European manner.source
• 1827July 14 – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu is founded in the Kingdom of Hawaii.source
• 1827September 22 – Joseph Smith will claim in 1838 that on this day he took the golden plates from the place where they had been stored, and that he began writing down the Book of Mormon from them the following December.source
• 1827The missionary ship Messenger of Peace is built on Rarotonga by English Congregationalist John Williams to spread Christianity to Samoa and the Society Islands on behalf of the London Missionary Society.source
• 1829March 31 – Pope Pius VIII succeeds Pope Leo XII as the 253rd pope.source
• 1829April 4 – The Mexican city of Cuautla, Morelos, is founded.source
• 1829May 15 – Joseph Smith claims to have received the Aaronic Priesthood from John the Baptist.source
• 1830March 26 – The Book of Mormon, subtitled "An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon, Upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi", is first published, with E. B. Grandin printing the original edition in Palmyra, New York.source
• 1830April 6 – Joseph Smith and five others organize the Church of Christ (later renamed the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints), the first formally organized church of the Latter Day Saint movement, in northwestern New York.source
• 1831February 2 – Pope Gregory XVI succeeds Pope Pius VIII, as the 254th pope.source
• 1831February–March – Revolts in Modena, Parma and the Papal States are put down by Austrian troops.source
• 1831August 7 – American Baptist minister William Miller preaches his first sermon on the Second Advent of Christ in Dresden, New York, launching the Advent Movement in the United States.source
• 1832August 7 – William Howley, Archbishop of Canterbury, has his coach attacked by an angry mob on his first official visit to Canterbury because of his opposition to the Reform Act in the United Kingdom.source
• 1833February 16 – The United States Supreme Court hands down its landmark decision of Barron v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore.source
• 1833July 14 – At Oxford University, John Keble preaches a sermon against the Church Temporalities (Ireland) Act 1833. Keble's sermon, published afterwards published as National Apostasy, is traditionally considered as the beginning of the Oxford Movement of High Church Anglicans.source
• 1833Madras College in St Andrews, Scotland.source
• 1835May 11 – Matua, High Priest (taura tupua) of the Polynesian island of Mangareva, is baptized into the Roman Catholic Church.source
• 1835July 14 – The universal Catholic Apostolic Church is organized, initially in the U.K.source
• 1835August – H. Fox Talbot exposes the world's first known photographic negatives, at Lacock Abbey in England.source
• 1835David Strauss begins publication of Das Leben Jessu, kritisch bearbeitet ("The life of Jesus, critically examined") in Tübingen.source
• 1836March 27 – The Kirtland Temple, the first Mormon temple, is dedicated by Joseph Smith Jr. in Kirtland, Ohio.source
• 1836July 29 – The Arc de Triomphe, is dedicated in Paris, France.source
• 1836August 30 – The settlement of Houston, Texas is founded.source
• 1836The first printed literature in Assyrian Neo-Aramaic is produced by Justin Perkins, an American Presbyterian missionary in Persia.source
• 1837March 1 – The Congregation of Holy Cross is formed in Le Mans, France, by the signing of the Fundamental Act of Union, which legally joins the Auxiliary Priests of Blessed Basil Moreau, CSC, and the Brothers of St. Joseph (founded by Jacques-François Dujarié) into one religious association.source
• 1837November 20 – The Prussian king has Clemens August Droste zu Vischering, archbishop of Cologne, arrested over differences concerning the treatment of mixed protestant-catholic marriages. The archbishop remains in custody for over a year.source
• 1838June 28 – The coronation of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom takes place at Westminster Abbey in London.source
• 1838Biblical criticism: Christian Hermann Weisse proposes the two-source hypothesis.source
• 1839July 1 – Abdülmecid I (1839–1861) succeeds Mahmud II (1808–1839) as Ottoman Emperor.source
• 1839Episcopal High School (Alexandria, Virginia) is founded in Alexandria, Virginia, as the first high school in Virginia.source
• 1841The sixth bishop of Calcutta, Daniel Wilson, and Dr. James Taylor, Civil Surgeon at Dhaka, establish the first modern educational institution on the Indian subcontinent, Dhaka College.source
• 1842March 17 – The Female Relief Society of Nauvoo, forerunner to the philanthropic and educational women's organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) is formally organized.source
• 1842Michael Alexander takes office, as the first appointee to the Anglican-German Bishopric in Jerusalem.source
• 1842American medical student William E. Clarke of Berkshire Medical College becomes the first person to administer an inhaled anesthetic, to facilitate a surgical procedure. After Clarke uses a towel and ether to anesthetize a patient identified as "Miss Hobbie", Dr. Elijah Pope pulls her tooth.source
• 1842Dzogchen Monastery, in Sichuan, China, is almost completely destroyed by an earthquake.source
• 1843January 20 – Honório Hermeto Carneiro Leão, Marquis of Paraná is appointed by the Emperor, Dom Pedro, as the leader of the Brazilian Council of Ministers, although the office of Prime Minister of Brazil will not be officially created until 1847.source
• 1843March 21 – The world does not end, contrary to the first prediction by American preacher William Miller.source
• 1843May 18 – In Edinburgh, the Free Church of Scotland is disrupted from the Church of Scotland.source
• 1843September 4 – Emperor Dom Pedro II of Brazil marries Dona Teresa Cristina of the Two Sicilies, in a state ceremony in Rio de Janeiro Cathedral.source
• 1843October 3 – Elling Eielsen is ordained as the first Norwegian Lutheran minister in the United States.source
• 1843December 9 – Bishop's University is founded as Bishop's College by Bishop George Jehoshaphat Mountain in Lennoxville, Quebec, for the education of members of the Church of England.source
• 1844March 21 – The Baháʼí calendar begins.source
• 1844May 23 – Persian prophet The Báb privately announces his revelation to Mullá Husayn, just after sunset, founding the Bábí faith (later evolving into the Baháʼí Faith as the Báb intended) in Shiraz, Persia (modern-day Iran). Contemporaneously, on this day in nearby Tehran, is the birth of `Abdu'l-Bahá; the eldest Son of Bahá'u'lláh, Prophet-Founder of the Baháʼí Faith. The Báb's mission is to proclaim He whom God shall make manifest. `Abdu'l-Bahá Himself is later proclaimed by Bahá'u'lláh to be His own successor, thus being the third "central figure" of the Baháʼí Faith.source
• 1844August 8 – During a meeting held in Nauvoo, Illinois, the Quorum of the Twelve, headed by Brigham Young, is chosen as the leading body of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.source
• 1844August 16 – Narciso Claveria, Governor-General of the Philippines, makes a decree announcing that Monday, December 30, 1844, will be immediately followed by Wednesday, January 1, 1845. (Tuesday, December 31, 1844, is removed from the Philippine calendar because since 1521 the country has been one day behind its Asian neighbors.)source
• 1844October 23 – The Báb is publicly proclaimed to be the promised one of Islam (the Qá'im, or Mahdi). He is also considered to be simultaneously the return of Elijah, John the Baptist and the "Ushídar-Máh" referred to in the Zoroastrian scriptures. He announces to the world the coming of "He whom God shall make manifest". He is considered the forerunner of Bahá'u'lláh – the founder of the Baháʼí Faith – whose claims include being the return of Jesus.source
• 1844The Free Church Institution is established by Reverend Alexander Duff in Calcutta, India. This is later merged with the General Assembly's Institution to form the Scottish Church College, one of the pioneering institutions that ushers in the Bengali Renaissance.source
• 1845October 9 – The eminent and controversial Anglican, John Henry Newman, is received into the Roman Catholic Church.source
• 1845The Ancient and Accepted Rite for England and Wales and its Districts and Chapters Overseas is founded in Freemasonry.source
• 1846June 16 – Pope Pius IX succeeds Pope Gregory XVI as the 255th pope. He will reign for 31½ years (the longest definitely confirmed).source
• 1846November 9 – Pope Pius IX issues the encyclical Qui pluribus, in response to the growing trend of agnosticism among intellectuals in Europe.source
• 1847July 24 – After 17 months of travel, Brigham Young leads 148 Mormon pioneers into Salt Lake Valley, resulting in the establishment of Salt Lake City in what becomes Utah.source
• 1847December 14 – Emily Brontë and Anne Brontë publish Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey, respectively, in a 3-volume set under the pen names of Ellis Bell and Acton Bell in England.source
• 1848February 17 – John Bird Sumner is nominated as Archbishop of Canterbury.source
• 1848April 29 – Pope Pius IX publishes an allocution announcing his refusal to support Piedmont-Sardinia in its war with Austria, and dispelling hopes that he might serve as ruler of a pan-Italian republic. The allocution, by which Pius is seen to withdraw his moral support for the Italian unification movement, is a key first step in the soon-to-be crushing reaction against the revolutions of 1848.source
• 1848June 2–12 – The Prague Slavic Congress brings together members of the Pan-Slavism movement.source
• 1848November 24 – Pope Pius IX flees Rome in disguise for Naples.source
• 1849January 21 – General elections are held in the Papal States.source
• 1849June 6 – The settlement of Fort Worth, Texas, is founded.source
• 1850July 9 – The Báb (Mírzá 'Alí-Muhammad) is executed by a firing squad in Tabriz, Persia, for claiming to be a prophet.source
• 1850September 13 – Piz Bernina, the highest summit of the eastern Alps, is first ascended.source
• 1850September 29 – Papal bull Universalis Ecclesiae: The Catholic hierarchy is re-established in England and Wales, by Pope Pius IX and future Pope Pius X.source
• 1850The first portion of the Oudh Bequest is transferred from Oudh State in the British Raj to the Shia Islam holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, in Persia.source
• 1850Pope Pius IX returns from exile to Rome.source
• 1851April 20 – Ramón Castilla loses power in Peru.source
• 1852February 15 – The Helsinki Cathedral (known as St. Nicholas' Church at time) is officially inaugurated in Helsinki, Finland.source
• 1852March 4 – Phi Mu sorority is founded in Macon, Georgia.source
• 1852August 23 – Boston missionary Reverend Benjamin Galen Snow lands on the island of Kosrae in the Caroline Islands (Micronesia) first to bring the gospel to the island.source
• 1854December 9 – Pope Pius IX in the apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus defines ex Cathedra the dogma of Immaculate Conception, which holds that the Blessed Virgin Mary was conceived without original sin.source
• 1856July 31 – Christchurch, New Zealand, is chartered as a city.source
• 1856September 1 – Seton Hall University is founded in South Orange, New Jersey, by the first bishop of the Diocese of Newark, James Roosevelt Bayley, a cousin of future U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt and nephew of the first American-born Catholic saint, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. Seton Hall University is the oldest and largest Catholic diocesan university in the United States and the first institution named in honor of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.source
• 1856St. Paul's School, Belgaum, is founded by the Jesuits in Belgaum, India.source
• 1858June 23 – Police of the Papal States seize Jewish boy Edgardo Mortara, and take him away to be raised as a Catholic.source
• 1859February 4 – German scholar Constantin von Tischendorf rediscovers the Codex Sinaiticus, a 4th-century uncial manuscript of the Greek Bible, in Saint Catherine's Monastery on the foot of Mount Sinai, in the Khedivate of Egypt and arranges for its presentation to his patron, Tsar Alexander II of Russia at Saint Petersburg.source
• 1859May 22 – Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies is succeeded by his 23-year-old son, Francis II of the Two Sicilies.source
• 1859July 28 The Bishop Cotton school (Shimla) (BCS) was founded on July 28, 1859,source
• 1860December 7 – After a fiercely contested campaign, Monier Monier-Williams is elected as the new Boden Professor of Sanskrit, at Oxford University.source
• 1861February 20 – In Britain, storms damage the Crystal Palace and cause the collapse of the steeple of Chichester Cathedral.source
• 1861July 2 – Ivan Kasatkin lands on Hakodate, and introduces the Eastern Orthodox Church into Japan.source
• 1862October 9 – The Transvaal Civil War breaks out, following Stephanus Schoeman's unconstitutional ousting of the acting President of the Executive Council of the South African Republic.source
• 1863January 4 – Founding date of the New Apostolic Church, a Christian and chiliastic church, in a schism with the Catholic Apostolic Church in Hamburg, Germany.source
• 1863February 17 – The "Committee of the Five" holds their first meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, which is regarded as the foundation of the International Committee of the Red Cross, following the lead of humanitarian businessman Henry Dunant.source
• 1863May 21 – The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists is formed in Battle Creek, Michigan.source
• 1863July 30 – Valuev Circular bans the publication of religious, educational and training books in Ukrainian in the Russian Empire.source
• 1863November 15 – King Christian IX of Denmark succeeds his distant cousin Frederick VII, giving rise to the beginning of the Second Schleswig-Holstein crisis.source
• 1864April 22 – The phrase "In God We Trust" appears for the first time on the newly created two-cent piece.source
• 1864June 5 – In Marseille, Notre-Dame de la Garde, the city's most famous landmark, is consecrated.source
• 1864September 16 – Pope Pius IX establishes the Diocese of Gozo.source
• 1864December 8 – Syllabus errorum: Pope Pius IX condemns theological liberalism as an error, and claims the supremacy of Roman Catholic Church authority over civil society. He also condemns rationalism and socialism.source
• 1865July 2 – The Christian Mission, later renamed The Salvation Army, is founded in Whitechapel, London, by William and Catherine Booth.source
• 1866June 11 – The Agra High Court is established (later shifted to the Allahabad High Court).source
• 1867October 27 – Italian unification: Giuseppe Garibaldi's troops march into the Papal States.source
• 1868July 5 – Preacher William Booth establishes the Christian Mission, predecessor of The Salvation Army, in the East End of London.source
• 1868October 25 – The Uspenski Cathedral, designed by Aleksey Gornostayev, is inaugurated in Helsinki, Finland.source
• 1868The Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson is established as the Apostolic Vicariate of Arizona in 1868, taking its territory from the former Diocese of Santa Fe. The Diocese of Tucson is canonically erected on May 8, 1897.source
• 1869July 20 – The Innocents Abroad, by Mark Twain, goes on sale after printing by the American Publishing Company. It becomes Twain's bestselling work during his lifetime.source
• 1869July 26 – The Irish Church Act 1869 is given royal assent by Queen Victoria, disestablishing the Church of Ireland effective January 1, 1871.source
• 1869December 8 – The First Vatican Council opens in Rome.source
• 1869Thomas Henry Huxley coins the word "Agnostic".source
• 1870July 18 – Pastor aeternus: Pope Pius IX declares papal infallibility, in matters of faith and morals.source
• 1870September 20 – Capture of Rome; With Bersaglieri soldiers entering Rome at Porta Pia, the unification of Italy is completed, ending the last remnant of the Papal States and Papal temporal power.source
• 1871March 22 – The Marseille Commune is established in southern France.source
• 1871December 10 – German chancellor Otto von Bismarck tries to ban Catholics from the political stage by introducing harsh laws concerning the separation of church and state.source
• 1871The Shinto shrine of Izumo-taisha in Japan is designated as an Imperial shrine.source
• 1872January 12 – Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first ruler crowned in that city in over 500 years.source
• 1872September 26 – The first Shriners Temple (called Mecca) is established in New York City.source
• 1872December 3 – Assyriologist George Smith presents the first translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh, to a meeting of the Society of Biblical Archaeology in London.source
• 1874March 25 – The Republic of Ecuador is consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, carried out by President Gabriel García Moreno and supported, blessed and specified by Pope Pius IX.source
• 1874Bolton Wanderers (as Christ Church F.C.)source
• 1874The 147 m ft-tall spire of St. Nicholas' Church, Hamburg, designed by English architect George Gilbert Scott, is completed, making it (briefly, and by 5m) the world's tallest building (a title held since 1647 by Strasbourg Cathedral).source
• 1874The Supreme Council 33° Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry of Canada is founded.source
• 1875March 15 – Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York John McCloskey is named the first cardinal in the United States.source
• 1875April 10 – The Arya Samaj is founded in Mumbai by Swami Dayananda Saraswati.source
• 1877January 20 – The Constantinople Conference ends, with Ottoman Turkey rejecting proposals of internal reform and Balkan provisions.source
• 1877July – The serial publication of Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina is concluded, in The Russian Messenger.source
• 1878January 9 – Umberto I becomes King of Italy.source
• 1878February 20 – Pope Leo XIII succeeds Pope Pius IX, as the 256th pope. His pontificate will last for 25 years.source
• 1878March 17 – Emancipated U.S. slave and Baptist minister Rev. John Jasper first preaches his sermon "The Sun Do Move."source
• 1878December 25 – Stella Maris Church, Sliema on Malta becomes a parish, seceding from the Parish of St. Helen's in Birkirkara.source
• 1878West Bromwich Albion F.C., formed as West Bromwich Strollers F.C.source
• 1878Grimsby Town F.C., formed as Grimsby Pelham.source
• 1879April 12 – Mary Baker Eddy founds the Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston, Massachusetts.source
• 1879May 12 – English Catholic convert John Henry Newman is elevated to Cardinal.source
• 1879June 4 – Yasukuni Shrine is officially renamed from Tokyo Shokonsha Shrine in Japan.source
• 1879June 14 – Sidney Faithorn Green, a priest in the Church of England, is tried and convicted for using Ritualist practices.source
• 1879August 16 – Fulham F.C. is founded in London as a church soccer team.source
• 1880September 14 – Cologne Cathedral is completed, after construction began in 1248, 632 years earlier.source
• 1880The Capuchin catacombs of Palermo are officially closed (there will be some burials afterwards).source
• 1881October 13 – Determined to bring about the revival of the Hebrew language as a way of unifying Jews, Eliezer Ben-Yehuda has what is believed to be the first conversation in Modern Hebrew, with friends living in Paris.source
• 1881December 25 – Catholic religious congregation Mothers of the Forsaken and Saint Joseph of the Mountain is founded by Blessed Petra of Saint Joseph.source
• 1881New York City's oldest independent school for girls, the Convent of the Sacred Heart New York (91st Street), is founded.source
• 1882March 29 – The Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal service organization, is founded in New Haven, Connecticut.source
• 1882St Andrew's Ambulance Association is founded in Glasgow, Scotland; St. John Ambulance Canada is also founded this year.source
• 1882July 31 – The Hebrew Moshava of Rishon LeZion in Palestine is founded.source
• 1882December – Zikhron Ya'akov is founded in northern Israel.source
• 1883September 1 – Pope Leo XIII publishes the encyclical Supremi apostolatus officio ("On Devotion of the Rosary").source
• 1883Antoni Gaudí begins to work on the Sagrada Família Cathedral in Barcelona (it was consecrated in 2010)source
• 1884April 20 – Pope Leo XIII publishes the encyclical Humanum genus, denouncing Freemasonry and certain liberal beliefs which he considers to be associated with it.source
• 1884The first Christian missionary arrives in Korea.source
• 1885March 7 – The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madrid is founded.source
• 1886March 1 – The Anglo-Chinese School is founded by Bishop William Fitzjames Oldham on Amoy Street in Singapore.source
• 1886April 6 – The settlement of Vancouver, British Columbia, is incorporated.source
• 1886April 24 – Father Augustine Tolton, the first Roman Catholic priest from the United States to identify himself publicly as African American, is ordained in Rome.source
• 1886June 3 – Uganda Martyrs: Charles Lwanga, 12 other Catholic boys and men, and 9 Anglicans, are burned (and another Catholic speared) to death, at the orders of Kabaka Mwanga II of Buganda in Namugongo.source
• 1886August 19 – The Christian Union (Church of God) is established in Monroe County, Tennesseesource
• 1886September 9 – The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works is signed.source
• 1887The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn is founded.source
• 1888March 25 – Opening of an international Congress for Women's Rights organized by Susan B. Anthony in Washington, D.C., leading to formation of the International Council of Women, a key event in the international women's movement.source
• 1888May 1 – Fort Belknap Indian Reservation is established by the United States Congress.source
• 1888June 2 – Edward King (bishop of Lincoln) in England is called to account for using ritualistic practices in Anglican worship.source
• 1888November 24 – The first Saint Verhaegen takes place in Brussels.source
• 1889March 23 – Claiming to be the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad founds the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in Punjab Province (British India).source
• 1889August – The Jewish settlement of Moisés Ville is founded in Argentina.source
• 1889The Wisden Cricketers' Almanack publishes its first Wisden Cricketers of the Year (actually titled Six Great Bowlers of the Year). The cricketers chosen are George Lohmann, Bobby Peel, Johnny Briggs, Charles Turner, John Ferris and Sammy Woods.source
• 1890April 2 – Kashihara Shrine, a landmark spot in Nara Prefecture, Japan, is officially built by Emperor Mutsuhito (Emperor of Meiji).source
• 1890May 31 – The Ulm Minister opens in Ulm, Germany as the world's tallest cathedral.source
• 1890September 25 — President Wilford Woodruff of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issues the 1890 Manifesto ending the official practice of polygamy.source
• 1890November 21 – Edward King, Anglican bishop of Lincoln, is convicted of using ritualistic practices.source
• 1890High School Cadets is written by John Philip Sousa.source
• 1891January 12 – St. Mary's Cathedral is dedicated in San Francisco.source
• 1891May 15 – Pope Leo XIII issues the encyclical Rerum novarum, on the rights and duties of capital and labor, resulting in the creation of many Christian Democrat parties throughout Europe.source
• 1891May – Mirza Ghulam Ahmad claims to be the Promised Messiah (the second coming of Jesus) and the Mahdi awaited in Islam.source
• 1892February 29 – St. Petersburg, Florida is incorporated as a town.source
• 1892December 8 – The various congregations of Trappists leave the Cistercian Order entirely and merge to form a new order with the approval of Pope Leo XIII named the 'Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe', formalising their identity and spirituality as a separate monastic community.source
• 1893January 6 – The Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress; the charter is signed by President Benjamin Harrison.source
• 1893April 1 – The rank of Chief Petty Officer is established in the United States Navy.source
• 1893April 6 – The iconic Salt Lake Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is dedicated, after 40 years of construction.source
• 1893May – The Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland is formed.source
• 1893September 19 – Swami Vivekananda delivers an inspiring paper at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago.source
• 1893September 23 – The Baháʼí Faith is first publicly mentioned in the United States, at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago.source
• 1893September 27 – The World Parliament of Religions holds its closing meeting in Chicago.source
• 1893The Girls' Brigade is founded in Dublin, Ireland, origin of the international Christian youth organisation.source
• 1893TMI Episcopal is founded in San Antonio as "The West Texas School for Boys", quickly changed to "West Texas Military Academy", by Bishop James S. Johnston.source
• 1894November 7 – The Masonic Grande Loge de France is founded, splitting from the larger and older Grand Orient de France.source
• 1895March 15 – Heian Shrine is completed in Kyoto, Japan.source
• 1896March 29 – The Royal College of St Patrick, Maynooth in Ireland is granted the status of pontifical university by charter of the Holy See.source
• 1896May 26 – Coronation of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna in the Dormition Cathedral, Moscow; this will be the last coronation of the Russian monarch. The Qing dynasty is represented at the coronation by Chinese official Li Hongzhang who through September goes on to visit Germany, Britain, Canada and the United States.source
• 1896July 21 – In Washington, D.C., in response to a "call to confer" issued by Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin to all women of color, the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs is organized.source
• 1896Pope Leo XIII is filmed, making him the first ever Pope to be filmed and the earliest-born person to be captured on film. (Note: to view the event in the video above, go to timestamp 3:07)source
• 1897February 10 – Freedom of religion is proclaimed in Madagascar.source
• 1897March 22 – Emilio Aguinaldo unseats Andrés Bonifacio at the Tejeros Convention, becoming the new head of the Filipino revolutionary group Katipunan.source
• 1897July 31 – Mount Saint Elias, the second highest peak in the United States and Canada, is first ascended.source
• 1897August 29 – The First Zionist Congress convenes in Basel, Switzerland.source
• 1897September 21 – Francis P. Church responds (anonymously) to a letter to the editor of The Sun (New York City) that is known as the famous "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" letter.source
• 1897The pan-African anthem "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" ("God Bless Africa") is composed as a Xhosa hymn by South African teacher Enoch Sontonga.source
• 1898October 9 – Ignatius Ephrem II Rahmani is elected as the new Patriarch of Antioch, leader of the Syriac Catholic Church, subject to the approval of Pope Leo XIII, which is made on November 28.source
• 1898October 31 – The Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, Jerusalem, is dedicated after the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire presents the area, said to be the site of the Virgin Mary's home, to Germany's Roman Catholics.source
• 1899January 27 – The Tsar Nicholas II of the Russian Empire decrees that all high officials in the Russian-administered Grand Duchy of Finland shall be required to be fluent in the Russian language.source
• 1899April 17 – The first elections for the 10-member Legislative Council of the British colony of Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), limited to European candidates and voters.source
• 1899May 11 –Pope Leo XIII declares that 1900 will be a jubilee year.source
• 1899June 11 – Pope Leo XIII issues a declaration of the consecration of the entire human race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The consecration follows the issuance of his papal encyclical Annum sacrum, declaring 1900 to be a Holy Year and directing all Roman Catholic churches in the world to implement the Prayer of Consecration to the Sacred Heart during the period of June 9 to June 11, 1899.source
• 1899July 1 – The International Council of Nurses is founded in London.source
• 1899November 30 – The first women to serve, in uniform, in the armed forces of any nation begins service as part of the Canadian Militia Expeditionary Force to Cape Town to serve in the Boer War. Georgina Fane Pope and three other women are enlisted as army nurses.source