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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1868 | |
| 2 | 1869 | - 4 Mar 1869—3 Mar 1877: Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of the United States
 Ulysses S. Grant
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| 3 | 1870 | - 1870: GPO takes over the privately-owned Telegraph Companies (nationalised)
- 1870: Dr Thomas Barnardo opens his first home for destitute children
- 1870: Water closets come into wide use
- 1870: Diamonds discovered in Kimberley, South Africa
- 1870: Smallpox epidemic in the Netherlands. In 1871 the number of deaths rises to 15,787
- 1870: Netherlands abolished the death penalty
- 1 Oct 1870: First British postcard
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| 4 | 1871 | - 27 Mar 1871: First Rugby Football international, England v Scotland, played in Edinburgh
- 29 Mar 1871: Opening of Royal Albert Hall, London
- 29 Jun 1871: Trades Unions legalised in Britain, but picketing made illegal
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