1872 Events

1872 A. N. Lodygin Patents an Incandescent Light Bulb with Tungsten Filaments
In 1872 A. N. Lodygin invented an incandescent light bulb. In 1874 he obtained a patent for his invention.
1872 Mark Twain Publishes "Roughing It"
Roughing It is a book of semi-autobiographical travel literature written by American humorist Mark Twain. It was written during 1870–71 and published in 1872 as a prequel to his first boo...
1872 William "Buffalo Bill" Cody receives Medal of Honor
Cody received a Medal of Honor in 1872 for "gallantry in action" while serving as a civilian scout for the 3rd Cavalry Regiment. In 1917, the U.S.Congress—after revising the standards for...
1872 Feb 24 John Arthur Jarvis Is Born
John Arthur Jarvis (24 February 1872 – 9 May 1933) was a British swimmer who competed in the late 19th century and early 20th century. He participated in Swimming at the 1900 Summer Olymp...
1872 Mar 7 Piet Mondrian is Born
Pieter Cornelis Mondrian was born on March 7th 1872 in Amersvoort in central Holland and lived there for the first eight years of his life. He was the second child of four, with two broth...
1872 Mar 26 Lone Pine Earthquake
The Great Lone Pine earthquake was one of the largest earthquakes to hit California in recorded history. The quake struck on March 26, 1872 and its epicenter was near Lone Pine, Californi...
1872 Apr 10 First Arbor Day
Nebraskans planted more than one million trees on April 10, 1872, in celebration of the first Arbor Day. The occasion fulfilled the dream of J. Sterling Morton, a newspaper editor and fo...
1872 May 10 Victoria Woodhull Becomes the First Woman to Run for President
Victoria Claflin Woodhull (September 23, 1838 – June 9, 1927) was an American suffragist who was described by Gilded Age newspapers as a leader of the American woman's suffrage movement i...
1872 Jun 27 Paul Laurence Dunbar Is Born
Paul Laurence Dunbar was born on June 27, 1872, in Dayton, Ohio. Although he died when he was only thirty-three, Dunbar had achieved international acclaim as a poet, short story writer, n...
1872 Jul 4 Calvin Coolidge is Born
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was born in Plymouth Notch, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4, 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the Fourth of July. He was the elder of two children ...
1872 Dec Buffalo Bill Makes Stage Debut in 'The Scouts of the Prairie'
In December 1872 Cody traveled to Chicago to make his stage debut with friend Texas Jack Omohundro in The Scouts of the Prairie, one of the original Wild West shows produced by Ned Buntli...