Decades: 1830s 1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s - 1880s - 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s
Years: 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 - 1880 - 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885
Events January 1 - Construction of the Panama Canal begins February 2 - The first electric streetlight is installed in Wabash, Indiana February 13 - Thomas Edison becomes the second person to observe the Edison Effect. March 10 - Members of the Salvation Army land in the United States and begin operations. May 13 - In Menlo Park, New Jersey, Thomas Edison performs the first test of his electric railway. July 1 - First performance of O Canada, the song that would become the national anthem of Canada. July 16 - First woman licensed to practice medicine in Canada - Dr. Emily Howard Stowe. October - terrible winter storm in North America, the "Blizzard of 1880". October 15 - Mexican soldiers kill Victorio, one of the greatest Apache military strategists. November - James Garfield defeats Winfield S. Hancock in the U.S. presidential election November 11 - Australian bushranger and bank robber Ned Kelly is hanged in Melbourne. November 22 - Vaudeville actress Lillian Russell makes her debut at Tony Pastor's Theatre in New York City. December 30 - The Transvaal becomes a republic and Paul Kruger becomes its first president. Discovery of piezoelectricity by Pierre Curie and Jacques Curie. Completion of Cologne cathedral. Year in topic 1880 in literature 1880 in science 1880 in music Births January 6 - Tom Mix, actor († 1940) January 17 - Mack Sennett, director, producer († 1960) January 26 - Douglas MacArthur, general († 1964) January 29 - W.C. Fields, actor († 1946) January 30 - Franklin Delano Roosevelt, President of the United States († 1945) February 8 - Franz Marc, artist, co-founder: Blauer Reiter († 1916) February 12 - John L. Lewis, labor union leader († 1969) February 21 - Waldemar Bonsels, writer († 1952) February 22 - Frigyes Riesz, mathematician († 1956) March 10 - Broncho Billy Anderson, actor († 1971) March 13 - Frank Thieß, writer († 1977) March 30 - Sean O'Casey, dramatist († 1964) April 13 - Charles Christie, pioneer film studio owner in Hollywood († 1955) May 6 - Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, painter († 1938) May 25 - Jean Alexandre Barré, neurologist († 1967) May 29 - Oswald Spengler, philosopher (Decline of the West) († 1936) July 5 - Jan Kubelík, violinist († 1940) August 8 - Earle Page, eleventh Prime Minister of Australia († 1961) August 22 - George Herriman, cartoonist (Krazy Kat) († 1944) August 31 - Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands († 1962) November 6 - Robert Musil, Austrian novelist (The Man Without Qualities) († 1942) June 27 - Helen Keller, socialist, pacifist, spokeswoman for the deaf and blind († 1968) September 22 - Christabel Pankhurst, suffragette († 1958) Deaths January 8 - Joshua A. Norton, self-anointed Emperor Norton I of the United States of America May 8 - Gustave Flaubert, novelist July 7 - Lydia Child, novelist and abolitionist (* 1802) November 11 - Bushranger Ned Kelly hanged October 4 - Jacques Offenbach, composer