1879

October

• October 1 – University of Nebraska Cornhusker Marching Band is founded in Lincoln, Nebraska. The group will go on to perform the first football halftime show in 1892 and, under Director Donald A. Lentz, invent Band Day.
• October 2 – Qing dynasty China signs the Treaty of Livadia with the Russian Empire.
• October 7 – The Dual Alliance is formed by Germany and Austria-Hungary.
• October 8 – War of the Pacific: Battle of Angamos – The Chilean Navy defeats Peruvian naval forces.
• October 13 – The first female students are admitted to study for degrees of the University of Oxford in England, at the new Lady Margaret Hall and Somerville Hall, and with the Society of Oxford Home-Students.
• October 17 – Sunderland Association Football Club is formed by a group of schoolteachers in northeast England.
• October 22 – Using a filament of carbonized thread, Thomas Edison tests his first practical electric light bulb (it lasts hours before burning out).
• October 28 – The Hall effect is discovered by Edwin Hall at Johns Hopkins University in the United States.

November

• November 4 – Thomas Edison applies for a patent for his invention of the incandescent light bulb (U.S. Patent 223,898 will be granted on January 27, 1880).
• November 10 – The Bell Telephone Company and Western Union reach an agreement in the United States, in which the former agrees to stay out of telegraphy and the latter to keep out of the telephone business.
• November – Land is acquired for Simmons College of Kentucky, a historically black school, established as a Baptist institution.

December

• December 2-28 – the Winter 1879 cold wave freeze Europe with record low temperatures.
• December 28 – Tay Bridge disaster: The central part of the Tay Rail Bridge at Dundee, Scotland, collapses in a storm as a train passes over it, killing 75.
• December 31
• Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time, in Menlo Park, New Jersey.
• Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera The Pirates of Penzance opens at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City (following a token performance the day before for U.K. copyright reasons in Paignton, Devon).

Date unknown

• Colonel Ahmed ‘Urabi forms the Egyptian Nationalist Party.
• The Stefan–Boltzmann law is discovered by Jozef Stefan.
• Wilhelm Wundt establishes the first psychological research laboratory, at the University of Leipzig.
• Tetteh Quarshie first brings cocoa beans to Ghana from Equatorial Guinea.
• Gottlob Frege publishes Begriffsschrift, eine der arithmetischen nachgebildete Formelsprache des reinen Denkens in Halle, a significant text in the development of mathematical logic.

Births

January–March

• January 1
• E. M. Forster, English writer (d. 1970)
• William Fox, Hungarian-American screenwriter and producer, founded the Fox Film Corporation and Fox Theatres (d. 1952)
• January 3 – Grace Coolidge, First Lady of the United States (d. 1957)
• January 12 – Calbraith Perry Rodgers, American pioneer aviator, makes first transcontinental U.S. flight (d. 1912)
• January 20 – Ruth St. Denis, American dancer (d. 1968)
• January 28
• Betty Kuuskemaa, Estonian actress (d. 1966)
• Francis Picabia, French painter, poet (d. 1953)
• February 6 – Magnús Guðmundsson, 3rd prime minister of Iceland (d. 1937)
• February 13 – Sarojini Naidu, Indian independence activist and poet (d. 1949)
• February 20 – Hod Stuart, Canadian professional ice hockey player (d. 1907)
• February 22
• Johannes Nicolaus Brønsted, Danish chemist (d. 1947)
• Norman Lindsay, Australian painter (d. 1969)
• February 26 – Frank Bridge, English composer (d. 1941)
• March 6 – William P. Cronan, 19th Naval Governor of Guam (d. 1929)
• March 8 – Otto Hahn, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1968)
• March 13 – Alfredo Kindelán, Spanish general and politician (d. 1962)
• March 14 – Albert Einstein, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1955)
• March 18 – Emma Carus, American opera singer (d. 1927)
• March 20 – Maud Menten, Canadian biochemist and medical researcher (d. 1960)
• March 26 – Othmar Ammann, Swiss-born American engineer (d. 1965)
• March 27
• Sándor Garbai, Prime Minister of Hungary (d. 1947)
• Edward Steichen, Luxembourgeois-born American painter and photographer (d. 1973)

April–June

• April 1 – Mary J. L. Black, Canadian librarian and suffragist (d. 1939)
• April 9 – Thomas Meighan, American actor (d. 1936)
• April 11 – Bernhard Schmidt, German-Estonian optician, inventor (d. 1935)
• April 16 – Gala Galaction, Romanian writer (d. 1961)
• April 20
• Italo Gariboldi, Italian general (d. 1970)
• Robert Wilson Lynd, Irish essayist, writer (d. 1949)
• Paul Poiret, French couturier (d. 1944)
• April 21
• Kartini, Indonesian national heroine, women's rights activist (d. 1904)
• Mary Willie Arvin, American nurse (d. 1947)
• April 26 – Owen Willans Richardson, British physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1959)
• April 29 – Sir Thomas Beecham, English conductor (d. 1961)
• April 30 – Richárd Weisz, Hungarian Olympic champion wrestler (d. 1945)
• May 6 – Bedřich Hrozný, Czech orientalist, linguist (d. 1952)
• May 11 – Ahmad Nami, Prince of the Ottoman Empire, 5th Prime Minister of Syria and 2nd President of Syria (d. 1962)
• May 12
• George Landenberger, United States Navy Captain and the 23rd Governor of American Samoa (d. 1936)
• Georgia Ann Robinson, community worker, first African-American woman to be appointed a Los Angeles police officer (d. 1961)
• May 16 – Gustaf Aulén, Bishop of Strängnäs in the Church of Sweden (d. 1977)
• May 19
• Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, American-born British politician, wife of Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor (d. 1964)
• Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor, British businessman, politician, husband of Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor (d. 1952)
• May 20 – Hans Meerwein, German chemist (d. 1965)
• May 22 – Alla Nazimova, Russian-born American stage, film actress (d. 1945)
• May 25 – Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, Canadian-born British statesman and newspaper publisher (d. 1964)
• May 27 – Lucile Watson, Canadian-born American film, stage actress (d. 1962)
• May 28 – Milutin Milanković, Serbian scientist (d. 1958)
• June 3 – Raymond Pearl, American biologist (d. 1940)
• June 4 – Mabel Lucie Attwell, British illustrator (d. 1964)
• June 9 – Joseph Avenol, 2nd Secretary General of the League of Nations (d. 1952)
• June 7 – Knud Rasmussen, Danish polar explorer, anthropologist (d. 1933)
• June 10 – Rafael Erich, Prime Minister of Finland (d. 1946)
• June 13
• Charalambos Tseroulis, Greek general (d. 1929)
• Lois Weber, American film director, screenwriter (d. 1939)
• June 23 – Huda Sha'arawi, Egyptian feminist (d. 1947)

July–September

• July 1 – Léon Jouhaux, French labour leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1954)
• July 5
• Wanda Landowska, Polish harpsichordist, musicologist (d. 1959)
• José Millán-Astray, Spanish general, founder of the Spanish Legion (d. 1954)
• July 9 – Ottorino Respighi, Italian composer, musicologist and conductor (d. 1936)
• July 15 – Joseph Campbell, Irish poet, lyricist (d. 1944)
• July 22 – Janusz Korczak (pen-name of Henryk Goldszmit), Polish-Jewish children's author, pediatrician and child pedagogist (b. 1878 or 1879) (d. 1942)
• July 26 – Shunroku Hata, Japanese field marshal (d. 1962)
• July 28 – Lucy Burns, American women's rights campaigner (d. 1966)
• August 8
• Hisaichi Terauchi, Japanese field marshal (d. 1946)
• Emiliano Zapata, Mexican revolutionary (d. 1919)
• August 13 – John Ireland, English composer and organist (d. 1962)
• August 15 – Ethel Barrymore, American film and stage actress (d. 1959)
• August 21 – Claude Grahame-White, British aviation pioneer (d. 1959)
• August 23 – Yevgenia Bosch, Ukrainian politician (d. 1925)
• August 30 – Fritzi Scheff, Viennese-born American actress and singer (d. 1954)
• August 31
• Isidro Ayora, 22nd president of Ecuador (d. 1978)
• Emperor Taishō, 123rd Emperor of Japan (d. 1926)
• September 6
• Max Schreck, German actor (d. 1936)
• Joseph Wirth, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1956)
• September 7 – Francisco José of Bragança, exiled member of the Miguelist branch of the House of Bragança and officer in the Austro-Hungarian army (died 1919)
• September 14 – Margaret Sanger, American birth control advocate (d. 1966)
• September 15 – Joseph Lyons, 10th Prime Minister of Australia, Premier of Tasmania (d. 1939)
• September 20 – Victor Sjöström, Swedish film actor, director (d. 1960)
• September 25
• Shinobu Ishihara, Japanese ophthalmologist and professor (d. 1963)
• Lope K. Santos, Filipino writer and grammarian (d. 1963)
• September 27
• Hans Hahn, Austrian mathematician (d. 1934)
• Cyril Scott, English composer and writer (d. 1970)

October–December

• October 2 – Wallace Stevens, American poet (d. 1955)
• October 3 – Warner Oland, Swedish-born American actor (d. 1938)
• October 5 – Francis Peyton Rous, American pathologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1970)
• October 9 – Max von Laue, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1960)
• October 15 – Jane Darwell, American actress (d. 1967)
• October 18 – Giovanni Marinelli, Italian Fascist political leader (d. 1944)
• October 21
• Joseph Canteloube, French composer, singer (d. 1957)
• Eugene Burton Ely, American pioneer aviator (d. 1911)
• October 25 – Fritz Haarmann, German serial killer (d. 1925)
• October 29 – Franz von Papen, German diplomat and politician; Chancellor (1932) and Vice-Chancellor (1933–34; under Adolf Hitler) (d. 1969)
• November 1 – Pál Teleki, 2-time prime minister of Hungary (d. 1941)
• November 4 – Will Rogers, Native American humorist (d. 1935)
• November 7 – Leon Trotsky, Russian revolutionary (d. 1940)
• November 9 – S. O. Davies, oldest post-war British MP (d. 1972)
• November 10
• Vachel Lindsay, American poet (d. 1931)
• Patrick Pearse, Irish rebel leader (d. 1916)
• November 15 – Lewis Stone, American stage, film actor, known for playing Judge Hardy (d. 1953)
• November 21 – Marie Köstler, Austrian nurse, trade unionist and politician (d. 1965)
• December 4 – Nagai Kafu, Japanese writer (d. 1959)
• December 5 – Clyde Cessna, American aviator, aircraft designer, manufacturer (d. 1954)
• December 10 – E. H. Shepard, English artist, book illustrator (d. 1976)
• December 12 – Laura Hope Crews, American film, stage actress (d. 1942)
• December 18 – Paul Klee, Swiss artist (d. 1940)
• December 20 – Ion G. Duca, 35th prime minister of Romania (d. 1933)
• December 27
• Prudencia Grifell, Spanish-born Mexican actress (d. 1970)
• Sydney Greenstreet, British-born American film, stage actor (d. 1954)
• December 28 – Billy Mitchell, U.S. general, military aviation pioneer (d. 1936)
• December 29 – Florence Mary Taylor, Australia's first female architect (d. 1969)
• December 30 – Ramana Maharshi, Indian sage, jivanmukta (d. 1950)

Date unknown

• Abdallah Beyhum, 10th prime minister of Lebanon (d. 1962)
• Ali Muhammad Shibli, Bengali revolutionary (d. unknown)

Deaths

January–June

• January 8 – Baldomero Espartero, Spanish general, regent and Prime Minister (b. 1793)
• January 24 – Heinrich Geißler, German physicist (b. 1814)
• January 26 – John Cadwalader, American jurist and politician (b. 1805)
• January 28 – Hugh M'Neile, Irish-born English Anglican priest. (b. 1795)
• February 11 – Honoré Daumier, French caricaturist and painter (b. 1808)
• February 21 – Sher Ali Khan, ruler of Afghanistan (b. 1825)
• February 23 – Albrecht Graf von Roon, Prime Minister of Prussia (b. 1803)
• February 28 – Hortense Allart, French writer (b. 1801)
• March 1 – Joachim Heer, Swiss politician (b. 1825)
• March 2 – John Eberhard Faber, German-born American pencil manufacturer (b. 1822)
• March 3 – William Kingdon Clifford, English mathematician and philosopher (b. 1845)
• March 10 – Prince Paul of Thurn and Taxis, German prince (b. 1843)
• March 22 – Sir John Woodford, British army general and archaeologist (b. 1785)
• March 24 – Juan Antonio Pezet, Peruvian general and politician, President of Peru (b. 1809)
• March 27
• Hércules Florence, Brazilian photographer (b. 1804)
• Prince Waldemar of Prussia (b. 1868)
• March 29 – Chō Kōran, Japanese poet, painter (b. 1804)
• March 30 – Thomas Couture, French painter and teacher (b. 1815)
• April 12 – Richard Taylor, American Confederate general (b. 1826)
• April 16 – Bernadette Soubirous, French Roman Catholic saint (b. 1844)
• April 19 – Clara Rousby, English actress (b. 1848)
• April 23 – Elisabetta Fiorini Mazzanti, Italian botanist (b. 1799)
• April 30 – Sarah Josepha Hale, American author (b. 1788)
• May 5 – Félix Douay, French general (b. 1816)
• May 14
• Epameinondas Deligeorgis, Greek politician, 20th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1829)
• Henry Sewell, New Zealand politician, 1st Premier of New Zealand (b. 1807)
• May 15
• Gottfried Semper, German architect (b. 1803)
• George Fife Angas, English coachbuilder, businessman and politician, founder of South Australia (b. 1789)
• May 21 – Arturo Prat, Chilean lawyer and navy officer (b. 1848)
• May 24 – William Lloyd Garrison, American abolitionist, journalist, suffragist, and social reformer (b. 1805)
• June 1 – Napoléon, Prince Imperial, son of French Emperor Napoleon III (b. 1856)
• June 3 – Frances Ridley Havergal, English religious poet (b. 1836)
• June 7 – William Tilbury Fox, English dermatologist (b. 1836)
• June 11 – William, Prince of Orange, heir to Dutch throne (b. 1840)

July–December

• July 7 – Béla Wenckheim, 8th prime minister of Hungary (b. 1811)
• July 17 – Maurycy Gottlieb, Polish painter (b. 1856)
• July 19 – Louis Favre, French engineer (b. 1826)
• August 14 – Ivan Davidovich Lazarev, Russian general (b. 1820)
• August 27 – Anđeo Kraljević, Herzegovinian Catholic bishop (b. 1807)
• August 30 – John Bell Hood, American Confederate general (b. 1831)
• September 9 – John Dennis Phelan, American politician and jurist (b. 1809)
• September 17 – Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, French architect (b. 1814)
• September 26 – Sir William Rowan, British field marshal (b. 1789)
• September 30 – Francis Gillette, American politician (b. 1807)
• October 8 – Miguel Grau Seminario, Peruvian admiral (killed in action) (b. 1834)
• October 25 – Nachum Kaplan, Lithuanian rabbi (b. 1811)
• October 31 – Joseph Hooker, American general (b. 1814)
• November 5 – James Clerk Maxwell, Scottish physicist (b. 1831)
• November 23 – Louisa Susannah Cheves McCord, American political essayist (b. 1810)
• December 2 – Ferdinand Lindheimer, German-born botanist (b. 1801)
• December 7 – Jón Sigurðsson, campaigner for Icelandic independence (b. 1811)
• December 24 – Anna Bochkoltz, German operatic soprano, voice teacher and composer (b. 1815)

Date unknown

• Joseph Welland, Irish missionary and Reverend (b. 1834)

References

Further reading and year books

• Appletons' annual cyclopædia and register of important events of the year 1879 online