| January 3 | 1st patent list issued by U.S. Patent Office |
| January 20 | California Stock Exchange Board organized |
| January 29 | Francis L Cardoza elected State Treasurer of South Carolina |
| February 7 | Alcorn A and M College opens |
| February 14 | 1st state bird refuge authorized (Lake Merritt, California) |
| February 20 | Hydraulic electric elevator patented by Cyrus Baldwin |
| February 20 | Luther Crowell patents a machine that manufactures paper bags |
| February 20 | Metropolitan Museum of Art opens in New York City |
| February 20 | Silas Noble and JP Cooley patents toothpick manufacturing machine |
| February 22 | 1st national convention of Prohibition Party (Columbus Ohio) |
| February 27 | Charlotte Ray, 1st Black woman lawyer, graduated Harvard University |
| March 1 | Yellowstone becomes world's 1st national park |
| March 5 | George Westinghouse, Jr. patents triple air brake for trains |
| March 7 | -8 degrees F in Boston, Massachusetts |
| March 16 | 1st FA Cup Final: Wanderers-Royal Engineers 1-0 in Bolton |
| March 22 | Illinois becomes 1st state to require sexual equality in employment |
| March 26 | 7.8 earthquake shakes Owens Valley, California |
| March 26 | Thomas J. Martin patents fire extinguisher |
| April 1 | 1st edition of The Standard |
| April 2 | George B Brayton patents gasoline powered engine |
| April 9 | Samuel R. Percy patents dried milk |
| April 10 | 1st National black convention meets in New Orleans |
| April 10 | Arbor day 1st celebrated in Nebraska, later changed to Apr 22 |
| April 12 | Jesse James gang robs bank in Columbia, Kentucky (1 dead/$1,500) |
| April 14 | Dominion Lands Act passed-Canada's Homestead Act |
| April 14 | San Francisco organizes Bar Association |
| April 20 | SF Bar Association organized |
| April 24 | Volcano Vesuvius erupts |
| May 10 | Victoria Woodhull becomes 1st woman nominated for U.S. president |
| May 16 | Metropolitan Gas Company lamps lit for 1st time |
| May 17 | Bohemian Club incorporated |
| May 22 | Amnesty Act restores civil rights to Southerners (except for 500) |
| May 30 | Mahlon Loomis patents wireless telegraphy |
| June 1 | 6th Belmont: James Roe aboard Joe Daniels wins in 2:58 |
| June 5 | Republican National Convention meets, Philadelphia |
| June 6 | Susan B Anthony is fined for trying to vote |
| June 8 | Congress endorses penny post card |
| June 18 | Woman's Suffrage Convention held at Merchantile Liberty Hall |
| July 18 | Britain introduces secret ballot voting |
| July 20 | Mahlon Loomis patents wireless radio |
| August 18 | 1st mail-order catalog issued by A. M. Ward |
| September 10 | Karl Marx speaks in Amsterdam |
| September 14 | Britain pays U.S. $15 M for damages during Civil War |
| September 17 | Phillip W Pratt patents his sprinkler system for extinguishing fires |
| September 21 | John Henry Conyers of South Carolina becomes 1st black student at Annapolis |
| September 24 | Franz Grillparzer's "Ein Bruderzwist in Habsburg," premieres in Vienna |
| September 29 | "3 Fingers" Mackenzie destroys Kwahadi-Commanche village |
| September 29 | Kiowa-chief Lone Wolf captures Satanta and Big Tree |
| October 2 | Morgan State University founded |
| October 3 | Bloomingdale's department store in New York opens |
| October 9 | Aaron Montgomery started his mail-order business |
| October 12 | Montreal Foot Ball Club 1st game playing Quebec City to 0-0 tie |
| October 19 | World's largest gold nugget (215 kg) found in New South Wales |
| October 29 | J. S. Risdon patents metal windmill |
| November 5 | Susan B. Anthony fined for trying to vote |
| November 5 | Ulysses S. Grant re-elected U.S. president |
| November 7 | U.S. cargo ship Mary Celeste set sail from New York on a journey which ended when it is found mysteriously abandoned the following month |
| November 9 | Fire destroys nearly 1,000 buildings in Boston |
| November 22 | Franz Grillparzer's "Die Judin von Toledo," premieres in Prague |
| November 30 | 1st International soccer game, Scotland-England 0-0 (Glasgow) |
| December 7 | HMS Challenger sets sail on 3 -year world oceanographic cruise |
| December 11 | 1st black U.S. Governor took office, Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback (La) |
| December 26 | 4th largest snowfall in New York City history (18") |
BrainyHistory
