1870 – 1880s

Events in the 1870s 20

• 1812 – 1870 Charles Dickens English novelist Dickens depicted Victorian society in novels like Oliver Twist, highlighting poverty and social injustice.
• 1838 – 1875 Georges Bizet French opera composer French composer best known for his opera Carmen, one of the most performed operas in the repertoire, which he completed shortly before his death at 36.
• 1854 – 1876 Otto cycle — internal combustion engine Nikolaus Otto's four-stroke cycle powers the automobile age Nikolaus Otto of Germany patented the four-stroke internal combustion cycle in 1876, building on earlier work by Lenoir and others. The Otto cycle — intake, compression, combustion, exhaust — is the operating principle of virtually every petrol and diesel engine ever built. It transformed transport and industry and was the direct precursor of the automobile and the aeroplane.
• 1864 – 1876 Maxwell, Bell and the telephone signal Electromagnetic waves carry information — telecommunications born Maxwell's 1864 equations predicted that electromagnetic waves could carry information through space. Alexander Graham Bell's 1876 telephone transmitted the human voice electrically for the first time. These two developments together established the principle that information can be encoded in electromagnetic signals — the foundation of all modern telecommunications.
• 1870 – 1924 Lenin Russian Revolution leader Vladimir Lenin led the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, establishing the Soviet state and the foundation for communist rule in Russia.
• 1870 – 1924 Vladimir Lenin Founder of the Soviet Union Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (April 22, 1870 – January 21, 1924) was the founder of the Soviet state and leader of the Bolshevik Revolution. He led Soviet Russia from 1917 and the Soviet Union from its formation in 1922 until his death in 1924.
• 1871 Nokia becomes a public company Nokia Ab becomes a public limited company in 1871 — one of the first Finnish companies to do so. The Finnish paper industry is booming as literacy rates rise across Europe and demand for printed materials grows. Nokia's mills on the Nokianvirta river are among the most modern in Scandinavia. The public listing gives Nokia access to capital markets that will fund its subsequent diversification into rubber and cables.
• 1872 – 1944 Piet Mondrian De Stijl · Netherlands Piet Mondrian (March 7, 1872 – February 1, 1944) was a Dutch painter who reduced painting to horizontal and vertical lines and primary colours. His De Stijl aesthetic influenced architecture, design and typography throughout the 20th century.
• 1873 – 1916 Erik Satie French avant-garde composer Eccentric French composer whose Gymnopédies and Gnossiennes pioneered minimalism and influenced Debussy, Ravel and the entire 20th-century avant-garde.
• 1873 – 1943 Sergei Rachmaninoff Late Romantic pianist & composer Russian composer and pianist known for his Piano Concerto No. 2, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and Vocalise. One of the last great Romantic composers.
• 1874 – 1951 Arnold Schoenberg 12-tone music inventor Austrian composer who invented the 12-tone technique, one of the most influential — and controversial — compositional methods of the 20th century.
• 1874 – 1965 Churchill British PM, WW II leader Winston Churchill served as British Prime Minister during World War II, rallying the nation with his oratory and strategic leadership.
• 1875 – 1937 Maurice Ravel French Impressionist composer French composer whose Boléro, La Valse and orchestration of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition are among the most recognised works in classical music.
• 1875 – 1955 Thomas Mann German novelist Mann wrote The Magic Mountain, exploring intellectual life, illness, and European culture.
• 1875 – 1961 Robert Frost American poet Frost wrote poetry about rural life and human decision-making, becoming one of Americas most celebrated poets.
• 1877 Wimbledon 1877 Men: Spencer Gore First Wimbledon Championships held at the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club, Worple Road, London. Spencer Gore won the inaugural men's singles. Women's singles would not begin until 1884.
• 1878 – 1949 Bill Robinson (1878-1949) American tap dancer known as Bojangles, famous for his stair dance and his films with Shirley Temple.
• 1878 – 1953 Joseph Stalin Soviet dictator — industrialisation and terror Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (December 18, 1878 – March 5, 1953) was the leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953. He transformed the USSR into an industrial superpower through collectivisation and Five Year Plans, but at the cost of millions of lives in the Great Purge and gulag system.
• 1878 – 1953 Stalin Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin ruled the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death, overseeing rapid industrialisation and the brutal Great Purge.
• 1879 – 1955 Albert Einstein Relativity Pioneer The physicist who developed the theory of relativity, fundamentally changing our understanding of space and time.