1880 in Belgium

The following lists events that happened during 1880 in the Kingdom of Belgium.

Incumbents

 * Monarch: Leopold II
 * Prime Minister: Walthère Frère-Orban

Events

 * January – The White slave trade affair is exposed in Brussels and attracts international attention.
 * 7 March – Reception in the winter garden at Royal Palace of Laken to celebrate the engagement of Princess Stéphanie of Belgium to Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria.
 * 24 May – Provincial elections
 * 5 June – Belgian government breaks off diplomatic relations with the Holy See.
 * 8 June – Partial legislative elections of 1880
 * 16 August – Celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Belgian independence in Cinquantenaire Park
 * 22-28 August – International Educational Congress held in Brussels.
 * September – Queen Marie Henriette visits Aachen for her health.
 * 25 December – Pope Leo XIII issues a breve to establish a new chair in Thomist philosophy at the Catholic University of Louvain.

Publications

 * Periodicals
 * Bulletin de l'Association Belge de Photographie, vol. 7
 * La Jeune Belgique begins publication.


 * Exhibition catalogues
 * F.G. Dumas, Catalogue illustré de l'exposition historique de l'art belge et du Musée moderne de Bruxelles (Brussels and Paris)
 * Exposition nationale: IVe section, industries d'art en Belgique antérieurs au XIXe siècle (Brussels, Veuve Ch. Vanderauwera)

Art and architecture

 * Buildings
 * Cinquantenaire


 * Paintings
 * Jan Verhas, The Parade of the Schools in 1878

Births

 * 10 January – Frans Van Cauwelaert, politician (died 1961)
 * 4 December – Eugène Soudan, politician (died 1960).

Deaths

 * 30 January – Paul Devaux (born 1801), politician
 * 28 April – Louis Dubois (born 1830), painter
 * 13 May – Lievin De Winne (born 1821), painter