Year by year · 19th century

1870

1870 in world history: 23 events, 17 births, 13 deaths, 6 works, 2 states founded and 5 that came to an end. 1,010 recorded states existed that year.

Events

  1. 3 January

    Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge begins

    Work started on John Roebling's suspension bridge across New York's East River. Completed in 1883 under his son Washington and daughter-in-law Emily, it was then the longest suspension bridge in the world.

    New York

  2. 15 January

    Thomas Nast's cartoon links the Democrats with a donkey

    Nast's cartoon 'A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion' in Harper's Weekly portrayed anti-war Democrats as a donkey. The donkey later became the accepted symbol of the Democratic Party.

  3. 3 February

    Fifteenth Amendment ratified, barring racial bars to voting

    The amendment forbade denying citizens the vote on grounds of race, colour or previous servitude. Southern states later evaded it with poll taxes, literacy tests and intimidation for almost a century.

  4. 25 February

    Hiram Revels becomes the first African American US Senator

    The Mississippi minister was sworn in after a fierce debate over his eligibility. He filled the seat Jefferson Davis had left when the South seceded.

  5. 9 June

    Charles Dickens dies at Gad's Hill

    Dickens died at his Kent home aged 58, leaving The Mystery of Edwin Drood unfinished. His novels of poverty and injustice had made him the most popular author of his age.

  6. 18 July

    The First Vatican Council defines papal infallibility

    The council adopted Pastor aeternus, declaring the Pope free from error when he defines doctrine on faith or morals ex cathedra. The decree strengthened papal authority and caused a schism with the Old Catholics.

  7. 19 July

    France declares war on Prussia

    Provoked by Bismarck's edited Ems Dispatch, Napoleon III's government declared war on Prussia. Within months France was defeated, the Second Empire fell and the German Empire was proclaimed at Versailles.

    Kingdom of PrussiaGerman EmpireNapoleon IIIVersailles

  8. 2 August

    The Tower Subway opens beneath the Thames

    A cable-hauled railway carriage began carrying passengers through the Tower Subway in London. Bored with a tunnelling shield, it was the world's first tube railway, though it closed within months.

    London

  9. 20 September

    Italian troops breach the walls of Rome at Porta Pia

    After French troops left Rome, Italian forces broke through the walls and took the city. The Papal States ended, and Rome became the capital of united Italy the following year.

  10. Campaign

    Red River Expedition (1870)

    The Red River Expedition of 1870 was a military force of British regulars and Canadian militia led by Colonel Garnet Wolseley to assert Canadian authority at Red River, in present-day Manitoba, after the resistance led by Louis Riel.

  11. Battle

    Battle of Gravelotte

    The Battle of Gravelotte, also called Gravelotte–St.

  12. Event

    Manitoba Act

    The Manitoba Act, passed by the Parliament of Canada in May 1870, created the province of Manitoba from part of Rupert's Land after the Red River Resistance.

  13. Battle

    Battle of Sedan (1870)

    The Battle of Sedan was fought on 1–2 September 1870 in the Franco-Prussian War.

  14. Battle

    Battle of Wörth

    The Battle of Wörth, or Frœschwiller-Wœrth, was fought on 6 August 1870 in northern Alsace in the opening weeks of the Franco-Prussian War.

  15. Event

    Marias Massacre

    The Marias Massacre was an attack by the United States Army on a camp of Piegan Blackfeet on the Marias River in Montana on 23 January 1870.

  16. Treaty · Peace

    Peace of Okahandja

    The Peace of Okahandja was the settlement of 1870, negotiated with the help of German missionaries, that ended a decade of war between the Herero under Maharero and the Oorlam Afrikaners under Jan Jonker Afrikaner in central Namibia.

ProfileState866 states with a known seat in 1870Open the atlas at 1870 →

In the profiles

  • CanadaCanada acquires Rupert’s Land and creates the province of Manitoba
  • French AlgeriaThe Crémieux Decree grants French citizenship to Algerian Jews
  • Papal StatesItalian troops enter Rome through the breach at Porta Pia
  • Kingdom of ItalyItalian troops take Rome from the Papal States
  • Kingdom of BunyoroKabalega wins the throne and builds the standing abarusura army

Wars and longer events

Born in 1870 17

Died in 1870 13

Works 6

States founded 2

States that came to an end 5

All years → The 19th century →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). 1870. In The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1870
MLA
“1870.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1870. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “1870.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1870.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘1870’, The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1870 (Accessed: ).