What Happened in October 1870

Historical Events

  • Oct 2 Italy annexes Rome & Papal States; Rome made Italian capital
  • Oct 7 Leon Gambetta flees Paris in balloon
  • Oct 9 Rome is incorporated into Italy by royal decree

Mahler's 1st Concert

Oct 13 Gustav Mahler (10) gives his 1st public piano concert in Jihlava, Kingdom of Bohemia (now Czech Republic)

  • Oct 19 1st African Americans (4) elected to US House of Representatives
  • Oct 19 British steamship SS Cambria wrecked off the north-west of Ireland with the loss of 178 lives
  • Oct 25 Pimlico Race Course opens in Baltimore
  • Oct 25 Postcards first used in USA

Famous Birthdays

  • Oct 7 "Uncle" Dave Macon, American vaudeville and Grand Ole Opry banjo player, singer-songwriter and comedian, born in Smartt Station, Tennessee (d. 1952)
  • Oct 8 Louis Vierne, French organist (Notre-Dame, 1900-37), and composer (Messe solennelle), born in Poitiers, France (d. 1937)
  • Oct 10 Louise Mack, Australian poet and novelist, born in Hobart, Tasmania (d. 1935)
  • Oct 16 Helge Rode, Danish poet and critic, born in Frederiksberg, Denmark (d. 1937)
  • Oct 18 D. T. Suzuki, Japanese-American Zen Buddhist scholar, born in Kanazawa, Japan (d. 1966)
  • Oct 22 Alfred Douglas, English poet, journalist and partner of Oscar Wilde, born in Powick, Worcestershire, England (d. 1945)
  • Oct 22 Ivan Bunin, Russian poet and novelist (Gentleman from San Francisco-Nobel 1933), born in Voronezh, Russian Empire (d. 1953)
  • Oct 23 Francis Kelley, Catholic Bishop of Oklahoma (d. 1948)
  • Oct 30 (Percy) Lawrence Grant, British silent and sound screen character actor (Bulldog Drummond; Shanghai Express), born in Bournemouth, England (d. 1952)

Famous Deaths

Robert E. Lee (1807-1870)

Oct 12 American General who commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War, dies of pneumonia at 63

  • Oct 20 Michael William Balfe, Irish violinist and composer (The Bohemian Girl), dies at 62
  • Oct 26 Joseph Saxton, American inventor, watchmaker, and photographer, dies at 74
  • Oct 31 Mihály Mosonyi, Hungarian composer, dies at 55