January 3 1st free kindergarten in U.S. opens in Florence, Mass February 2 Baseball's National League forms with teams in Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Hartford, Louisville, New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis February 3 Albert Spalding with $800 starts sporting goods co, manufacturing 1st official baseball, tennis ball, basketball, golf ball, and football February 7 President Grants private-secretary Orville acquitted in Whiskey Ring February 12 Al Spalding opens his sporting good shop February 14 A G Bell and Elisha Gray apply separately for telephone patents Supreme Court eventually rules Bell rightful inventor February 15 Historic Elm at Boston blown down February 17 Sardines 1st canned by Julius Wolff-Eastport, Maine February 18 Direct telegraph link established between Britain and New Zealand February 22 Johns Hopkins University opens February 24 Henrik Ibsen's "Peer Gynt," premieres in Oslo March 1 Guernsey Cattle Club forms in Farmington, Connecticut March 4 U.S. Congress decides to impeach Minister of War Belknap March 7 Alexander Graham Bell patents telephone March 7 Battle at Gura: Ethiopian emperor Yohannes beats Egyptians March 10 1st telephone call made (Alexander Graham Bell to Thomas Watson) March 16 Nelly Saunders and Rose Harland fight 1st female boxing match (NY) March 17 1st record high jump over 6' (Marshall Jones Brooks) March 17 General Crook destroy Cheyennes and Oglala-Sioux indian camps March 25 Glasgow 1st soccer match Scotland-Wales (4-0) April 1 1st official NL baseball game (Boston-6, Philadelphia-5) April 2 Philadelphia A's and Boston Red Caps play 1st NL game, in Phila April 8 Amiliare Ponchielli's opera "La Gioconda," premieres in Milan April 11 Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks organizes April 11 Sir Charles Gordon ends religious tolerance in Sudan April 18 Daniel O'Leary completes a 500 mile walk in 139 hours 32 min April 22 1st NL game, Boston Braves beat Philadelphia Athletics 6-5 April 22 Philadelphia Nationals Wes Fisler scores baseball's 1st run April 22 Tsjaikovsky completes his "Swan Lake" ballet April 25 Chicago Cubs 1st NL game, beats Louisville 4-0 (1st NL shutout) May 2 Ross Barnes hit 1st home run in National League May 10 Centennial Fair opens in Philadelphia May 13 Amersfoort-Zutphen railway opens May 15 2nd Kentucky Derby: Bobby Swim aboard Vagrant wins in 2:38 May 17 7th U.S. Cavalry under Custer leaves Ft. Lincoln May 23 1st NL no-hitter (Joe Borden, Boston) May 25 1st tie in NL history (Athletics and Louisville, 2-2 in 14) May 25 4th Preakness: G Barbee aboard Shirley wins in 2:44.75 May 26 HMS Challenger returns from 128,000-km oceanographic exploration June 3 Lacrosse introduced in Britain and Canada June 5 Bananas become popular in U.S., at Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia June 10 10th Belmont: William Donohue aboard Algerine wins in 2:40 June 11 Republicans pick Rutherford B Hayes as presidental candidate June 14 1st player to hit for cycle (George Hall, Philadelphia Athletics) June 14 California Street Cable Car Railroad Co gets its franchise June 15 Sara Spencer (R) is 1st woman to address a U.S. presidential convention June 15 Tsunami's after earthquake floods NE coast of Japan, kills 28,000 June 17 1st to hit 2 home runs; and score 5 runs in 9 inn NL game (George Hall, A's) June 17 Battle of Rosebud/Battle Where Girl Saved Her Brother June 25 Custer and 7th Cavalry wiped out by Sioux and Cheyenne at Little Big Horn June 27 1st NLer to get 6 hits in 9 inn game (Dave Force, Philadelphia Athletics) June 27 Democratic Party elects Samuel Tilden as presidential candidate June 30 Serbia declares war on Turkey July 3 Montenegro declares war on Turkey July 4 1st public exhibition of electric light in San Francisco July 4 Batholdi visits Bedloe Island, future home of his Statue of Liberty July 8 White terrorists attack Black Republicans in Hamburg, South Carolina, killing 5 July 9 Black landowner murdered in Hamburg, South Carolina July 13 29th Postmaster General: James N. Tyner of Indiana takes office July 15 Baseball's 1st no-hitter, St. Louis' George W Bradley no-hits Hartford July 20 1st U.S. intercollegiate track meet held, Saratoga, New York; Princeton wins July 31 U.S. Coast Guard officers' training school established New Bedford, Massachusetts August 1 Colorado becomes 38th state August 8 Dan O'Leacy completes 500 mile walk in 139h32m August 8 Thomas Edison patents mimeograph August 12 Madeline (U.S.) beats Countess Dufferin (Canada) in 4th America's Cup August 13 Reciprocity Treaty between U.S. and Hawaii ratified August 13 Wagner's "Of the Ring," premieres August 14 Prairie View State University forms August 15 U.S. law removes Indians from Black Hills after gold find August 16 Opera "Siegfried" premieres in Bayreuth August 17 Opera "Gotterdammerung" premieres in Bayreuth August 24 Riot abolishes fairs in Amsterdam, 2 killed September 6 Race riot in Charleston SC September 6 Southern Pacific line from LA to San Francisco completed September 7 Bank robbery by James/Younger fails (Cole/Bob/Jim Younger arrested) September 12 King Leopold II opens Congo-conference September 14 Henry Morton Stanley's expedition leaves Rwanda September 14 Leopold II closes Congo-conference September 19 1st carpet sweeper patented (Melville Bissell of Grand Rapids, Michigan) September 19 Talks begin to set up a football club in Ottawa September 20 Ottawa Football Club forms September 23 Ottawa Rough Riders play their 1st game September 26 1st Belgian parachute jump (Glorieux) October 6 American Library Association organized in Philadelphia October 9 1st 2-way telephone conversation, 1st over outdoor wires October 16 Race riot at Cainhoy South Carolina (5 whites and 1 black killed) October 17 Henry Morton Stanley's reaches Lualaba River October 23 New Orleans Mint reopens as an assay office October 31 Cyclone hits Bengal, about 200,000 die November 1 King Willem III opens North Sea Canal (Amsterdam-IJmuiden) November 4 John Brahms' 1st Symphony in C, premieres November 5 Henry Morton Stanley's expedition leaves Nyangwe November 7 Edward Bouchet, is 1st African-American to receive a PhD in U.S. college, Yale November 7 Meharry Medical College forms at Central Tennesse College November 7 President Rutherford B Hayes and Samuel J Tilden claim presidential victory Tilden (D) wins election but Electoral college selects Hayes (R) November 21 Skirmish between HM Stanley's expedition and natives November 23 Columbia, Harvard and Princeton form Intercollegiate Football Association December 5 Daniel Stillson (Mass) patents 1st practical pipe wrench December 5 Fire at Brooklyn Theater kills 295, trampled or burned to death December 6 1st crematorium in U.S. begins operation, Washington, Penn December 6 City of Anaheim incorporated for 2nd time December 6 U.S. Electorial College picks Rep Hayes as President (although Tilden won) December 7 NY Mutuals and Philadelphia A's expelled from NL for not completing sked December 8 Suriname begins compulsory education for 7-12 years December 23 Turkey's 1st constitution proclaimed December 29 11 passenger cars crash in a ravine near Ashtabula Ohio, 92 die December 29 Frederic A Bartholdi (Statue of Liberty sculptor) weds Jeanne-Emilie
