1879

• The War of the Pacific breaks out between Chile and the Bolivia-Peru alliance over control of the resource-rich Atacama desert on the Pacific coast. The Chileans would ultimate triumph in 1883, leaving Boliva a land-locked country.
  • February 14 - Chilean armed forces initiate the hostilities when they invade and occupy the Bolivian port city of Antofagasta.
  • May 21 - In the Battle of Iquique, the Chilean Navy attempts to blockade the Peruvian port of Iquique, but is driven off.
  • October 8 - In the Battle of Angamos, the Chilean Navy surrounds and captures the Peruvian ironclad Huáscar, eliminating the last major ship in the Peruvian navy.

These people were born in 1879:

• Albert Einstein.
• Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.
• Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky.
• American poet Wallace Stevens.

These people died in 1879:

• American Union general Joseph Hooker.
• American Confederate general John Bell Hood.

1878 - 1879 - 1880

19th century

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