What Happened in 1870 — Events, Births & Deaths

John D. Rockefeller incorporates Standard Oil.

In Montana, U.S. cavalrymen kill 173 Native Americans, mostly women and children, in what becomes known as the Marias Massacre.

Reconstruction Era: Virginia is readmitted to the Union.

The Seven Brothers (Seitsemän veljestä), a novel by Finnish author Aleksis Kivi, is published first time in several thin booklets.

The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing voting rights to male citizens regardless of race.

Stevens Institute of Technology is founded in New Jersey, US, and offers the first Bachelor of Engineering degree in mechanical engineering.

Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from Mississippi, is sworn into the United States Senate, becoming the first African American ever to sit in Congress.

The Beach Pneumatic Transit in New York City, intended as a demonstration for a subway line, opens.

The current flag of Japan is first adopted as the national flag for Japanese merchant ships.

A Chilean prospecting party led by José Díaz Gana discovers the silver ores of Caracoles in the Bolivian portion of Atacama Desert, leading to the last of the Chilean silver rushes and a diplomatic dispute over its taxation between Chile and Bolivia.

Texas is readmitted to the United States Congress following Reconstruction.

The New York City Metropolitan Museum of Art is founded.

The Manitoba Act is given the Royal Assent, paving the way for Manitoba to become a province of Canada on July 15.

The first game of rugby in New Zealand is played in Nelson between Nelson College and the Nelson Rugby Football Club.

The United States Department of Justice is created by the U.S. Congress.

Reconstruction Era of the United States: Georgia becomes the last of the former Confederate states to be readmitted to the Union.

Canadian Confederation: Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory are transferred to Canada from the Hudson's Bay Company, and the province of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories are established from these vast territories.

The First Vatican Council decrees the dogma of papal infallibility.

Franco-Prussian War: France declares war on Prussia.

Tower Subway, the world's first underground tube railway, opens in London, England, United Kingdom.

Franco-Prussian War: The Battle of Spicheren is fought, resulting in a German victory.

Franco-Prussian War: The Battle of Wörth results in a decisive German victory.

Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Gravelotte is fought.

Franco-Prussian War: The Battle of Sedan is fought, resulting in a decisive Prussian victory.

Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Sedan: Prussian forces take Napoleon III of France and 100,000 of his soldiers prisoner.

Franco-Prussian War: The Siege of Metz begins, resulting in a decisive Prussian victory on October 23.

Emperor Napoleon III of France is deposed and the Third Republic is declared.

Franco-Prussian War: The siege of Paris begins. The city held out for over four months before surrendering.

The Bersaglieri corps enter Rome through the Porta Pia, and complete the unification of Italy.

By plebiscite, the citizens of the Papal States accept annexation by the Kingdom of Italy.

Franco-Prussian War: Léon Gambetta escapes the siege of Paris in a hot-air balloon.

Franco-Prussian War: Marshal Bazaine surrenders to Prussian forces at the conclusion of the Siege of Metz along with 140,000 French soldiers.

Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina becomes the second black U.S. congressman.

Wagner's Siegfried Idyll is first performed.