What happened in 1870

World5

• Mar 18Female Infanticide Prevention Act, 1870, passed in British India by Natalia Fish.
• Jun 21The Tianjin Massacre of 17 foreigners (mostly European Christian priests and nuns) and 40 Chinese people who had converted to Christianity, takes place in China when an angry mob attacks churches established in the city.
• Jul 28Start of Solar Saros 153. The final eclipse in this series will be in 3114.
• Oct 20The First Vatican Council adjourns.
• Oct 26The Chinese leaders of June's Tianjin Massacre of foreigners are executed by China's Imperial government.

Japan2

• Feb 27The Nisshoki 'circle of the sun' flag of Japan is adopted as the national flag for Japanese merchant ships, by proclamation of the Daijō-kan.
• MarThe Mitsubishi Company is established in Japan as a shipping firm, by Iwasaki Yatarō with Thomas Blake Glover.

North America11

• Jan 10John D. Rockefeller incorporates Standard Oil.
• Jan 23Marias Massacre: U.S. soldiers attack a peaceful camp of Piegan Blackfeet Indians, led by chief Heavy Runner.
• Feb 26In New York City, the first pneumatic subway, Beach Pneumatic Transit, is opened.
• Mar 4Red River Rebellion: Thomas Scott is executed by Louis Riel's provisional government, in modern-day Manitoba, Canada.
• Mar 19The Ohio Legislature passes the Cannon Act, thereby establishing the Ohio Agriculture and Mechanical College, later Ohio State University.
• Mar 24Syracuse University is established in New York (state) and officially opens.
• Apr 29The Chicago Base Ball Club, later to be known as the Chicago White Stockings and ultimately the Chicago Cubs, play their first game against the St. Louis Unions of the National Association of Base Ball Players, an amateur league.
• May 12The Canadian province of Manitoba is created, in response to Louis Riel's Red River Rebellion.
• MayMay 25 The Fenian Brotherhood attacks Eccles hill in Quebec.
• Jun 22The U.S. Congress creates the United States Department of Justice.
• Aug 24The Red River Rebellion in Canada ends with the arrival of the Wolseley Expedition and the flight of Louis Riel.

Europe16

• Feb 26The German Commerzbank is founded in Hamburg.
• Mar 10Deutsche Bank is founded in Berlin.
• Jun 9English novelist Charles Dickens dies at Gads Hill Place in Kent, leaving his last book, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, unfinished.
• Jun 26Richard Wagner's opera Die Walküre is first performed at Munich's National Theatre.
• Jul 14The Ems Dispatch is published, serving as casus belli for a war between Prussia and France.
• Jul 18Pastor aeternus: Pope Pius IX declares papal infallibility, in matters of faith and morals.
• Jul 19Franco-Prussian War: France declares war on Prussia.
• Aug 2The Tower Subway beneath the River Thames in London, the world's first underground passenger "tube" railway, officially opens. Although this lasts as a railway operation only until November, it demonstrates the technologically successful first use of the cylindrical wrought iron tunnelling shield, devised by Peter W. Barlow and James Henry Greathead, and of a permanent tunnel lining of cast iron segments.
• Sep 2Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Sedan – Prussian forces defeat the French armies and take Emperor Napoleon III and 100,000 of his soldiers prisoner at Sedan, France.
• Sep 4Emperor Napoleon III of France is deposed and the Third Republic is declared. Empress Eugénie flees to England with her son.
• Sep 19Franco-Prussian War: The Siege of Paris (1870–1871) begins. From September 23, balloon mail is sent out of the city.
• Sep 20Capture 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.
• Oct 27Franco-Prussian War: Siege of Metz – Marshal François Achille Bazaine, commanding the French left wing, is forced by starvation to surrender the fortifications of Metz.
• Dec 28Juan Prim, Prime Minister of Spain, is shot by unknown assassins on leaving the Cortes. He dies two days later.
• Dec 31The Fréjus Rail Tunnel through the Alps is completed.

1 more in the app

Latin America1

• Mar 1Battle of Cerro Corá, Paraguay: Marshal Francisco Solano López's last troops are cornered by those of the Triple Alliance. López refuses to surrender and is killed, ending the Paraguayan War.

Africa1

• Jul 30The 'Diggers' Republic' is proclaimed at Klipdrift in South Africa by diamond miners, with Stafford Parker as president.

Oceania1

• May 12The Port Adelaide Football Club is founded.