The World of the Play - Macro

From 1872 until 1905, Norway was under the rule of Oscar II, King of Sweden. In 1879, the Norwegian parliament (called the Storthing) struggled for power of rule over their own country. Oscar II reportedly told Ibsen that Ghosts was "not a good play." Source

From 1873 until 1982 biennial assemblies were formed in the Church of Norway in order to push more democracy into the formal proceedings of the Church. Source

From 1874 until 1896, the world was experiencing the global financial crisis known as the Long Depression. Source

 

In 1875, Norway replaced the Norwegian speciedaler with the Norwegian krone as a form of currency. This enabled Norway to join the Scandinavian Monetary Union. Source

In March 1876, Alexander Graham Bell was awarded the first patent for the electric telephone. Source

In October 1877, Thomas Edison invents the phonograph. Source

The Treaty of Berlin was signed in July 1878, revising the  Treaty of San Stefano and leading to three new independent kingdoms and the fall of the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary. Source

In 1878 Louis Pasteur presented his Germ Theory of Disease Source

Thomas Edison invents the long-lasting electric lightbulb in 1879 Source

In 1879 the Reichsbank is founded in Germany which begins producing the Goldmark. Source