WHAT ALL HAPPENED JANUARY TO MAY 1870
Find out what all happened January to May 1870

The New York City Metropolitan Museum of Art is founded. (13. April 1870)

Adolf Loos, architect, co-founder of modern architecture, baptized in St. Thomas church, Brno, Moravia (1. January 1870)

The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing voting rights to citizens regardless of race. (3. February 1870)

A political cartoon for the first time symbolizes the Democratic Party with a donkey ("A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion" by Thomas Nast for Harper's Weekly). (15. January 1870)

Marshal F.S. López dies during the Battle of Cerro Corá thus marking the end of the Paraguayan War. (1. March 1870)

In Montana, U.S. cavalrymen kill 173 Native Americans, mostly women and children, in what becomes known as the Marias Massacre. (23. January 1870)

Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from Mississippi, is sworn into the United States Senate, becoming the first African American ever to sit in the U.S. Congress. (25. February 1870)

The first game of rugby in New Zealand is played in Nelson between Nelson College and the Nelson Rugby Football Club. (14. May 1870)

The current flag of Japan is first adopted as the national flag for Japanese merchant ships. (27. February 1870)

Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge begins. (3. January 1870)

American Civil War: Virginia rejoins the Union. (26. January 1870)

The Manitoba Act is given the Royal Assent, paving the way for Manitoba to become a province of Canada on July 15. (12. May 1870)

The Kappa Alpha Theta fraternity is founded at DePauw University. (27. January 1870)

President Ulysses S. Grant signs a joint resolution of Congress establishing the U.S. Weather Bureau. (9. February 1870)

Texas is readmitted to the Union following Reconstruction. (30. March 1870)

The inauguration of the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. (6. January 1870)

The Bulgarian Exarchate is established by decree of Sultan Abd-ul-Aziz of the Ottoman Empire. (28. February 1870)

The YWCA is founded in New York City. (10. February 1870)

John D. Rockefeller incorporates Standard Oil. (10. January 1870)

In the United States, post-Civil War military control of Mississippi ends and it is readmitted to the Union. (23. February 1870)