1880

Events

January – The Gokstad ship is found in Norway, the first Viking ship burial to be excavated.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
January 27 – Thomas Edison is granted a patent for the incandescent light bulb. Edison filed for a US patent for an electric lamp using "a carbon filament or strip coiled and connected ... to platina contact wires."<ref name=Patent898>Template:US patent granted 27 January 1880</ref> Although the patent described several ways of creating the carbon filament ,including using "cotton and linen thread, wood splints, papers coiled in various ways,"<ref name="Patent898"/> Edison and his team later discovered that a carbonized bamboo filament could last more than 1200 hours.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
January – The international White slave trade affair scandal in Brussels is exposed and attracts international infamy.
February 2
- The first electric streetlight is installed in Wabash, Indiana.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- The first successful shipment of frozen mutton from Australia arrives in London, aboard the SS Strathleven.
February 4 – The Black Donnelly Massacre takes the lives of five members of one family in Biddulph Township, Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada.
February 24 – The SS Columbia, which will be the first outside usage of Thomas Edison's incandescent light bulb, is launched at the Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works of John Roach & Sons in Chester, Pennsylvania.

April – The government of Cape Colony sets a deadline for the Basuto people to surrender their weapons; non-compliance leads to the Basuto Gun War.
April 18 – 1880 United Kingdom general election: William Ewart Gladstone defeats Benjamin Disraeli, to become Prime Minister for the second time.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
April 19 – The Prime Minister of Sweden, Louis De Geer, resigns over the defeat of a defense reform bill in the country's Riksdag; he is succeeded by Count Arvid Posse (1880–1883).
April 27 – The Royal University of Ireland is founded by charter, allowing the Catholic University of Ireland to re-form as University College Dublin.
May 2 – After having her lights installed by Edison's personnel, the SS Columbia is lit up for the first time at the foot of Wall Street, in New York City.
May 13 – In Menlo Park, New Jersey, Thomas Edison performs the first test of his electric railway.
June – The SS Columbia sets off on her maiden voyage around Cape Horn to Portland, Oregon, carrying 13 locomotives and 200 railcars.
June 1 – Tinius Olsen is awarded a United States Patent, for the Little Giant Testing Machine.
June 28 – Australian police capture bank robber Ned Kelly, after a gun battle at Glenrowan, Victoria.
June 29 – France annexes Tahiti.

July – John Venn popularises Venn diagrams.<ref>Template:Cite journal [1] [2]</ref>
July 14 – Dorchester Penitentiary opens in Canada.
July 22 – Abdur Rahman Khan becomes Emir of Afghanistan.
July 27 – Second Anglo-Afghan War – Battle of Maiwand: Afghan troops under Ayub Khan defeat British and Indian forces, under Brigadier General George Burrows.
August 14 – Cologne Cathedral is completed, after construction began in 1248, 632 years earlier.
August 24 – The SS Columbia completes her maiden voyage, arriving without incident in Portland, Oregon, after a stopover in San Francisco.
August 26 – Competing circus owners P. T. Barnum and James A. Bailey sign a contract in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to create the Barnum & Bailey Circus. In 1907, the circus will merge forces with another competitor, the Ringling Brothers Circus.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
September 1 – Second Anglo-Afghan War – Battle of Kandahar: General Frederick Roberts, commanding British forces, defeats the Afghan troops of Mohammad Ayub Khan, bringing an end to the war.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

October 1 – German company Munich Re is founded in Munich.
October 6 – The University of Southern California opens its doors to 53 students and 10 faculty.
October 15
- A blizzard marks the start of the Hard Winter in North America.
- Mexican soldiers kill Victorio, one of the greatest Apache military strategists.
October 28 – The first stone is laid for the Clarkson Memorial in Wisbech, England.
November 2 – 1880 United States presidential election: James Garfield defeats Winfield S. Hancock.
November 4 – The first cash register is patented by James and John Ritty of Dayton, Ohio.
November 9 – A major earthquake strikes Zagreb and destroys many buildings, including Zagreb Cathedral.
November 11 – Australian bushranger and bank robber Ned Kelly is hanged in Melbourne.
November 22 – Vaudeville actress Lillian Russell makes her debut at Tony Pastor's Theatre, in New York City.
December 1 – Manuel González Flores becomes the 31st President of Mexico.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>
December 20 – First Boer War: The Battle of Bronkhorstspruit results in a Boer victory over the British.
December 30 – The Transvaal becomes a republic, and Paul Kruger becomes its first president.

Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza signs a treaty of protection with the chief of the large Teke tribe, and begins to establish a French protectorate on the north bank of the Congo River.
Piezoelectricity is discovered by Pierre Curie and Jacques Curie.
The Capuchin catacombs of Palermo are officially closed (there will be some burials afterwards).
The Department of Scientific Temperance Instruction, of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, is established in the United States.

January 1 – Vajiravudh, Rama VI, King of Siam (d. 1925)
January 2 – Louis Charles Breguet, French aircraft designer, builder and aviation pioneer (d. 1955)
January 3 – Francis Browne, Irish Jesuit priest, famous for his last photos of the Template:RMS (d. 1960)
January 6 – Tom Mix, American Western film actor (d. 1940)
January 10
- Manuel Azaña, 2nd President of the Spanish Second Republic, 55th Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1940)
- Grock (Charles Adrien Wettach), Swiss-born clown (d. 1959)
January 11 – Rudolph Palm, Curaçao-born composer (d. 1950)
January 17 – Mack Sennett, Canadian-born comedy film director, producer (d. 1960)
January 18 – Paul Ehrenfest, Austrian-Dutch physicist (d. 1933)
January 19 – Henryk Minkiewicz, Polish general and politician (d. 1940)
January 26 – Douglas MacArthur, American general (d. 1964)
January 29 – W. C. Fields, American actor, comedian (d. 1946)
February 5 – Gabriel Voisin, French aviation pioneer (d. 1973)
February 8 – Franz Marc, German artist (d. 1916)
February 12 – George Preca, Maltese saint (d. 1962)
February 14 – Frederick J. Horne, American four-star admiral (d. 1959)
February 19 – Álvaro Obregón, 39th President of Mexico (d. 1928)
February 21 – Waldemar Bonsels, German writer (d. 1952)
February 22
- Eric Lemming, Swedish athlete (d. 1930)
- Frigyes Riesz, Hungarian mathematician (d. 1956)
February 26 – Lionel Logue, Australian speech and language therapist (d. 1953)