WHAT ALL HAPPENED FEBRUARY TO DECEMBER 1879
Find out what all happened February to December 1879

The Virgin Mary, along with St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist, reportedly appears at Knock Shrine in Knock, County Mayo, Ireland. (21. August 1879)

Russia and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Gandamak establishing an Afghan state. (26. May 1879)

Germany and Austria-Hungary sign the "Twofold Covenant" and create the Dual Alliance. (7. October 1879)

Women's rights: American President Rutherford B. Hayes signs a bill allowing female attorneys to argue cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. (15. February 1879)

The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is founded in Casa Labra Pub (city of Madrid) by the historical Spanish workers' leader Pablo Iglesias. (2. May 1879)

Sandford Fleming first proposes adoption of Universal Standard Time at a meeting of the Royal Canadian Institute. (8. February 1879)

The first group of 463 Indian indentured laborers arrives in Fiji aboard the  Leonidas. (14. May 1879)

In Utica, New York, Frank Woolworth opens the first of many of 5 and dime Woolworth stores. (22. February 1879)

Gilmores Garden in New York, New York is renamed Madison Square Garden by William Henry Vanderbilt and is opened to the public at 26th Street and Madison Avenue. (31. May 1879)

Sailing ship USS Jeannette departs San Francisco carrying an ill-fated expedition to the North Pole. (8. July 1879)

Using a filament of carbonized thread, Thomas Edison tests the first practical electric incandescent light bulb (it lasted 13½ hours before burning out). (22. October 1879)

The opening of the Poor Man's Palace in Manchester, England. (7. August 1879)

The War of the Pacific breaks out when Chilean armed forces occupy the Bolivian port city of Antofagasta. (14. February 1879)

Cetshwayo, last king of the Zulus, is captured by the British. (28. August 1879)

Napoleon Eugene, the last dynastic Bonaparte, is killed in the Anglo-Zulu War. (1. June 1879)

The National Guards Unit of Bulgaria is founded. (12. July 1879)

War of the Pacific: the Chilean Navy defeats the Peruvian Navy in the Battle of Angamos, Peruvian Admiral Miguel Grau is killed in the encounter. (8. October 1879)

Chile declares war on Bolivia and Peru, starting the War of the Pacific. (5. April 1879)

World première of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark. (21. December 1879)

Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time, in Menlo Park, New Jersey. (31. December 1879)