1872 encyclopedia topics

Events of 1872

January 2 - Brigham Young is arrested for polygamy (28 wives).
January 12 - Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first ruler crowned in that city in over 500 years.
February 13 - Rex, the most famous parade on Mardi Gras, parades in New Orleans for Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich of Russia.
February 20 - In New York City, the Metropolitan Museum of Art closes for "urban renovation".
March 1 - In the United States, Yellowstone National Park is established as the world's first national park.
March 5

George Westinghouse patents the "failsafe" automatic railway air brake.
The case of the Tichborne Claimant is decided against the claimant Arthur Orton.

March 11 - Work begins erecting the Seven Sisters Colliery, South Wales, located on one of the richest coal sources in Britain.
March 26 - An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.2 strikes Lone Pine, California.
May 10 - Victoria Woodhull becomes the first woman nominated for President of the United States, although she is a year too young to qualify and does not appear on the ballot.
May 22 - Reconstruction: U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant signs the Amnesty Act of 1872 into law, restoring full civil rights to all but about 500 Confederate sympathizers.
June 14 - Trade unions are legalised in Canada.

July 4 - The Society of Jesus is pronounced illegal in the German Empire.
August 22 - The Overland Telegraph is completed in Australia, providing a telegraphic link between Australia and the rest of the world for the first time.
September 1 - A group of Icaiche Maya under Marcos Canul attack Orange Walk Town in British Honduras; the British send troops against them.
September 26 - The first Shriners Temple (called Mecca) is established in New York City.
October 1 - The Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College begins its first academic session (the university is later renamed Virginia Tech).
November 5

U.S. presidential election, 1872: Ulysses S. Grant defeats Horace Greeley.
Women's suffrage: In defiance of the law, American suffragist Susan B. Anthony votes for the first time (on November 18 she is served an arrest warrant and in the subsequent trial she is fined $100 - she never pays the fine).

November 7 - The Mary Celeste sets sail from New York, bound for Genoa.
November 9 - Great Boston Fire of 1872: In Boston, Massachusetts, a large fire begins to burn on Lincoln Street (the 2-day event destroys about 65 acres (0.3 km²) of the city, 776 buildings, much of the financial district and causes US$60 million in damage).
November 27 - A meteor shower display is seen over France.
November 29

Indian Wars: The Modoc War begins with the Battle of Lost River.
Horace Greeley, President Ulysses S. Grant's opponent in the 1872 U.S. presidential election, dies. His electoral votes are divided among several candidates.

November 30 - First ever international football match takes place at Hamilton Crescent, Scotland; the result is Scotland 0, England 0.
December 4 - The crewless American ship Mary Celeste is found by the British brig Dei Gratia.
December 21 - HMS Challenger sails from Portsmouth on the 4-year scientific expedition that lays the foundation for the science of oceanography.

Louis Ducos du Hauron creates the first color photograph.
The London Metropolitan Police go on strike.
In the aftermath of the War of the Triple Alliance, the new government of Paraguay makes peace with Brazil, grants reparations and territorial concessions.
The Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition discovers Franz-Josef Land.
The Kolozsvári Egyetem, predecessor of the University of Szeged, is founded.
U.S. government geologist Clarence King reveals the diamond hoax in Wyoming.
Thomas Hardy anonymously publishes his romantic novel Under the Greenwood Tree.
The magazine Popular Science is first published.
A conscription law, modeled on the French version, is issued in Japan.
Universal public schools are called for in Japan.