WHAT ALL HAPPENED MAY TO DECEMBER 1879
Find out what all happened May to December 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)

Anglo-Zulu War: the Zululand capital of Ulundi is captured by British troops and burned to the ground, ending the war and forcing King Cetshwayo to flee. (4. 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 Blackpool Illuminations are switched on for the first time. (19. September 1879)

Charles Taze Russell publishes the first edition of the religious magazine The Watchtower. (1. July 1879)

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

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)

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

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

War of the Pacific: Two Chilean ships blocking the harbor of Iquique (then belonging to Peru) battle two Peruvian vessels in the Battle of Iquique. (21. May 1879)

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

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

Tay Bridge disaster: The central part of the Tay Rail Bridge in Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom collapses as a train passes over it, killing 75. (28. December 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)

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

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

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