WHAT ALL HAPPENED FEBRUARY TO OCTOBER 1871
Find out what all happened February to October 1871

Emperor Meiji orders the abolition of the han system and the establishment of prefectures as local centers of administration. (Traditional Japanese date: July 14, 1871). (29. August 1871)

Bishop John Coleridge Patteson is martyred on the island of Nukapu, a Polynesian outlier island now in the Temotu Province of the Solomon Islands. He is the first bishop of Melanesia. (20. September 1871)

The Paris Commune falls. (28. May 1871)

Brazilian Parliament passes the Law of the Free Womb, granting freedom to all new children born to slaves, the first major step in the eradication of slavery in Brazil. (28. September 1871)

The Camp Grant massacre takes place in Arizona Territory. (30. April 1871)

The first stage of the Brill Tramway opens. (1. April 1871)

British Columbia joins the confederation of Canada. (20. July 1871)

Journalist Henry Morton Stanley begins his trek to find the missionary and explorer David Livingstone. (21. March 1871)

The victorious Prussian Army parades through Paris, France after the end of the Siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War. (17. February 1871)

Otto von Bismarck is appointed Chancellor of the German Empire. (21. March 1871)

The first international rugby football match, when Scotland defeats England in Edinburgh at Raeburn Place. (27. March 1871)

The Civil Rights Act of 1871 becomes law. (20. April 1871)

The Paris Commune is formally established in Paris. (28. March 1871)

In North Carolina, William Woods Holden becomes the first governor of a U.S. state to be removed from office by impeachment. (22. March 1871)

Victor Emmanuel II of Italy enters Rome after having conquered it from the Papal States. (2. July 1871)

Declaration of the Paris Commune; President of the French Republic, Adolphe Thiers, ordered evacuation of Paris. (18. March 1871)

The Great Chicago Fire: Chicago burns after a barn accident. The fire lasts from October 8 to October 10. (10. October 1871)

Four major fires break out on the shores of Lake Michigan in Chicago, Peshtigo, Wisconsin, Holland, Michigan, and Manistee, Michigan including the Great Chicago Fire, and the much deadlier Peshtigo Fire. (8. October 1871)

Opening of the first rack railway in Europe, the Rigi-Bahnen on Mount Rigi. (21. May 1871)

The University Tests Act allows students to enter the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Durham without religious tests (except for those intending to study theology). (16. June 1871)