1870-1889

This page contains a timeline of major events related to the Lost Generation between 1870 and 1889, with U.S. and world events to provide context.

Next: 1890-1899

• 1873

  December 17 – Ford Madox Ford born in Merton, Surrey, England

• 1874

  February 3 – Gertrude Stein born in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania

• 1876

  September 13 – Sherwood Anderson born in Camden, Ohio

• 1877

  March 5 –Rutherford B. Hayes sworn in as 19th U.S. President

• 1878

  March 3 – Edward Thomas born in Lambeth, England

• 1880

  June 17 – Carl Van Vechten born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

  September 12 – H.L. Mencken born in Baltimore, Maryland

• 1881

  March 4 –James A. Garfield sworn in as the 20th U.S. President

  July 2 –President Garfield assassinated

  September 20 – Chester A. Arthur sworn in as the 21st US President

• 1882

  January 25 – Virginia Woolf born in London, England

  February 2 – James Joyce born in Dublin, Ireland

• 1883

  November 7 –Sara Murphy born in Cincinnati, Ohio

• 1884

  September 20 – Maxwell Perkins born in New York, New York

• 1885

  February 7 – Sinclair Lewis born in Sauk Centre, Minnesota

  March 4 – Grover Cleveland sworn in as the 22nd U.S. President

  March 6 – Ring Lardner born in Niles, Michigan

  August 15 – Edna Ferber born in Kalamazoo, Michigan

  October 30 – Ezra Pound born in Hailey, Idaho

• 1886

  February 16 – Van Wyck Brooks born in Plainfield, New Jersey

  May 10 – Olaf Stapledon born near Liverpool, England

  November 24 – Margaret Anderson born in Indianapolis, Indiana

• 1887

  March 14 – Sylvia Beach born in Baltimore, Maryland
  August 3 – Rupert Brooke born in Rugby, Warwickshire, England

• 1888

  March 25 – Gerald Murphy born in Boston, Massachusetts

  June 22 – Alan Seeger born in New York City, New York

  July 2 – James Boyd born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

  September 26 – T. S. Eliot born in St. Louis, Missouri

• 1889

  March 4 – Benjamin Harrison sworn in as the 23rd U.S. President

  November 2 –North Dakota becomes the 39th state, South Dakota the 40th

  November 8 – Montana becomes the 41st state

  November 11 – Washington becomes the 42nd state

See also: 1890s, 1900s, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s