In the autumn of 1876, Heinrich Schliemann dug into the grave circle inside the citadel of Mycenae, in southern Greece, and found shaft graves with gold death masks, swords, cups and jewellery. On finding a mask he reportedly telegraphed the king of Greece that he had 'gazed upon the face of Agamemnon'. In fact the graves, from about 1600 BC, are some 300 years older than the date of the Trojan War, but they proved that Homer's tales were based on a real Bronze Age civilisation, the Mycenaean, which had been forgotten.
Before and after
- 27 February 1876Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876
- 2 March 1876Birth of Pius XII
- May 1876Batak massacre
- from 30 June 1876 to 3 March 1878First Serbian–Ottoman War
- November 1876Schliemann finds the 'Mask of Agamemnon' at Mycenae
- 25 December 1876Birth of Mohammad Ali Jinnah
- 1877Invention of phonograph
- 1877Publication of Anna Karenina
- from 1877 to 1892Bone Wars
More in Civilizations & archaeology
- 15 July 1799The Rosetta Stone is found
- 16 March 1815Founding of Kingdom of the Netherlands
- 27 September 1822Champollion deciphers the hieroglyphs
- from 1 March 1867 to 28 October 1918Austria–Hungary
- 7 August 1908Discovery of Venus of Willendorf
- 24 July 1911Hiram Bingham reaches Machu Picchu
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 19th century.