What Happened in 1873 — Events, Births & Deaths

King Amadeo I of Spain abdicates, triggering the proclamation of the First Spanish Republic.

Bulgarian revolutionary leader Vasil Levski is executed by hanging in Sofia by the Ottoman authorities.

Censorship in the United States: The U.S. Congress enacts the Comstock Law, making it illegal to send any "obscene literature and articles of immoral use" through the mail.

The first Azerbaijani play, The Adventures of the Vizier of the Khan of Lenkaran, prepared by Akhundov, is performed by Hassan-bey Zardabi and dramatist and Najaf-bey Vezirov.

The Colfax massacre: More than 60 to 150 black men are murdered in Colfax, Louisiana, while surrendering to a mob of former Confederate soldiers and members of the Ku Klux Klan.

Der Krach: The Vienna stock exchange crash begins the Panic of 1873 and heralds the Long Depression.

Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis receive a U.S. patent for blue jeans with copper rivets.

The Canadian Parliament establishes the North-West Mounted Police, the forerunner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Patrick Francis Healy becomes the first black president of a predominantly white university in the United States.

Susan B. Anthony is fined $100 for attempting to vote in the 1872 presidential election.

The Clay Street Hill Railroad begins operating the first cable car in San Francisco's famous cable car system.

American Indian Wars: While protecting a railroad survey party in Montana, the United States 7th Cavalry, under Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer clashes for the first time with the Cheyenne and Lakota people near the Tongue River; only one man on each side is killed.

Austrian explorers Julius von Payer and Karl Weyprecht discover the archipelago of Franz Josef Land in the Arctic Sea.

Cetshwayo ascends to the throne as king of the Zulu nation following the death of his father Mpande.

Franco-Prussian War: The last Imperial German Army troops leave France upon completion of payment of indemnity.

Chief Kintpuash and companions are hanged for their part in the Modoc War of northern California.

A meeting at the U.S. Naval Academy establishes the U.S. Naval Institute.

Garnier Expedition: French forces under Lieutenant Francis Garnier captured Hanoi from the Vietnamese.

The French steamer SS Ville du Havre sinks in 12 minutes after colliding with the Scottish iron clipper Loch Earn in the Atlantic, with a loss of 226 lives.