Jaffa-Jerusalem Railway Line DebutsCIE+
The first passenger train arrives in Jerusalem from Jaffa as part of the first railroad project in the Ottoman-controlled Levant, the Jaffa-Jerusalem railway line.
Blackstone Memorial Is Presented to President HarrisonCIE+
William E. Blackstone, a Methodist lay leader and real estate investor, petitions President Benjamin Harrison on behalf of creating “a home for these wandering millions of Israel.” The Blackstone Memorial was the name of the signed petition.
Avraham (Granot) Granovsky Is Born
Avraham (Granot) Granovsky, a signatory of the Israeli Declaration of Independence and Director-General of the Jewish National Fund, is born in Moldova.
First Tu B’Shevat Tree Planting in Land of IsraelCIE+
The custom of planting trees in Israel on Tu B’Shevat begins when Ze’ev Yavetz, an educator in Zichron Ya’akov, takes his students to plant trees on the holiday.
Future Knesset Speaker Sprinzak Is BornCIE+
Yosef Sprinzak, who would serve as the first Speaker of the Knesset and twice as Interim President, is born in Moscow.
Writer Peretz Smolenskin DiesCIE+
February 1, 1885 Russian Jewish novelist, editor and early Zionist Peretz Smolenskin dies of tuberculosis at 43 in Italy. Smolenskin was born in the Mogilev province of White Russia in 1842 and had a traditional…
First Gathering of Hovevei Zion Takes PlaceCIE+
Delegates convene in Katowice (presently southern Poland) for the first gathering of the Hovevei Zion (Lovers of Zion) movement.
May Laws Are Instituted in RussiaCIE+
The May Laws, which restrict Jewish land-tenure and residency rights, are passed amidst widespread pogroms in Russia.
BILU Forms, Laying Groundwork for First AliyahCIE+
The groundwork for the First Aliyah is laid with the formation of the BILU group at a meeting in the home of Israel Belkind in Kharkov, Ukraine.
Pogrom Strikes Jews of KyivCIE+
Following the assassination of Czar Alexander II in March 1881, a wave of pogroms (violent attacks) against Jewish communities sweeps through southwestern Russia.
Czar Alexander II Is AssassinatedCIE+
Czar Alexander II, the leader of Russia, is assassinated in St. Petersburg when a bomb is thrown into his carriage.
Joseph Trumpeldor Is BornCIE+
Known for dying while defending the Jewish settlement of Tel Hai in 1920, Joseph Trumpeldor, a Zionist political activist and military hero, is born in Pyatigorsk, Russia.
Ze’ev Vladimir Jabotinsky Is BornCIE+
Ze’ev Vladimir Jabotinsky is born in Odessa, Ukraine. He is mostly known for his revisionist attitudes towards Zionism, which serve as the ideological foundation of Israel’s Likud political party.
Engineer Pinhas Rutenberg BornCIE+
February 5, 1879 Engineer and activist Pinhas Rutenberg, who is credited with bringing electricity to Palestine during the British Mandate, is born in the small town of Romny in present-day Ukraine. While working in a…
Avraham Yeshayahu Karelitz Is BornCIE+
November 7, 1878 Rabbi Avraham Yeshayahu Karelitz, who becomes one of the 20th century’s leading Talmud scholars, is born in Kosava, Russia, now part of Belarus, to the head of the local rabbinical court, Rabbi…
Petah Tikvah Is FoundedCIE+
Petah Tikvah (Gateway of Hope), today Israel’s fifth largest city, is established by a group of religious Jews wishing to leave Jerusalem and establish an agricultural moshav.
Moshe Smilansky BornCIE+
February 24, 1874 Early Zionist leader Moshe Smilansky, whose influence ranges from the military to agriculture and literature, is born near Kyiv, Ukraine. Smilansky first visits Palestine in 1890 and settles in Rehovot in 1893…
Unification of German Empire Leads to Jewish EmancipationCIE+
Jews in all of Germany were finally given emancipation when the North German Confederation Constitution was extended to Bavaria.
British Philanthropist and Zionist Alfred Mond Is BornCIE+
An early Zionist supporter in England, Alfred Mond (who would later become the first Lord Melchett) is born in England. Despite the fact that his parents were Jewish, Mond was not raised as a Jew and in fact was married in the Anglican church and raised his children as Christians.
Leo Motzkin Is BornCIE+
Raised in a traditional Jewish household, early Zionist activist Leo Motzkin is born in present-day Brovary, Ukraine.
Yehoshua Hankin Is Born in UkraineCIE+
One of the most distinguished land purchasers of the Yishuv, Yehoshua Hankin was born in Ukraine in 1864.
Theodor Herzl, the Founder of Modern Zionism, Is Born in HungaryCIE+
Theodor Herzl is born in Pest, Hungary. In addition to creating the World Zionist Organization, Herzl will help found the Jewish Colonial Trust in 1899 and the Jewish National Fund in 1901.
Ottomans Introduce Title Deeds for Arab LandsCIE+
December 14, 1858 The Ottoman Empire enacts the Tapu Law, which introduces title deed registration in the empire’s Arab provinces. An effort to apply the principles of the Ottoman Land Code of 1858, the land…
Eliezer Ben-Yehuda Is BornCIE+
January 7, 1858 Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, considered the father of the modern Hebrew language, is born Eliezer Yitzchak Perelman in the Lithuanian village of Luzhky. Expected to become a rabbi, Ben-Yehuda becomes interested in the secular…
