Dashed left edge = started before August 1879 ·
Dashed right edge = ongoing beyond August 1879
Events in August 1879 2
1795 – 1879Rowland Hill (1795-1879)Died 27 August 1879, aged 83Rowland Hill was an English teacher and social reformer who devised the modern postal system, including the Penny Post and the prepaid postage stamp. His 1837 reforms made mail affordable and standardized across Britain and were later adopted worldwide. Hill served as Secretary to the Post Office and was knighted for his contributions.
1879Pope Leo XIII Issues Aeterni PatrisEncyclical revives Thomas Aquinas as the basis of Catholic philosophyPope Leo XIII's encyclical Aeterni Patris called for a revival of the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas in Catholic education and thought. It launched the Neo-Thomist movement, which shaped Catholic intellectual life for decades. The encyclical remains a foundational document in modern Catholic philosophy.