The Cologne Cathedral, begun in 1248, is completed. The North Carolina Synod ordains David J. Koontz, an African-American. Another wave of colonial expansion begins in Africa. 1880 Chinese Exclusion Act passed to restrict immigration except for merchants, students, teachers and other visitors. Robert Louis Stevenson writes Treasure Island.
First skyscraper is built in Chicago.
The Metropolitan Opera is founded in New York City. Wis. This ministry continued until the Evangelical Lutheran Church closed it in 1955. Congo becomes the personal possession of King Leopold II of Belgium. The Icelandic Synod, The Evangelical Lutheran Church Organization of Icelanders in the Western Hemisphere, is formed among persons from the U.S. and Canada and formerly part of the Norwegian Synod of 1853. In 1942 the Icelandic Synod was received into the United Lutheran Church in America.