- January 16
- Refrigerator car patented by William Davis, a fish dealer in Detroit. [1]
- January 20
- Florida constitutional convention meets in Tallahassee. [1]
- January 22
- Moritz Ganz composer, dies at age 61. [1]
- January 28
- Adalbert Stifter Austrian author (Witiko), commits suicide at age 62. [1]
- January 30
- A shower of an estimated 100,000 stony meteorites totalling about 2 tons occurs at Pultusk, Poland. Largest known quantity of meteorites in one shower. [523.33]
- February 10
- Conservatives and military, seize Convention Hall in Florida. [1]
- February 11
- Léon Foucault discovers first physical proof of Earth's rotation, dies. [1]
- February 16
- Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks founded in New York. [1]
- February 24
- First US parade with floats (Mardi Gras-Mobile Alabama). [1]
- House of Representatives vote 126 to 47, to impeach President Andrew Johnson. [1]
- February 25
- Andrew Johnson impeached for violation of the Tenure of Office act. [1]
- February 29
- First British government of Disraeli forms. [1]
- [Charles] Louis I [Augustus] King of Bavaria (L Montez), dies at age 81. [1]
- March 2
- Carl Eberwein composer, dies at age 81. [1]
- University of Illinois opens. [1]
- March 5
- Arrigo Boito's opera "Mefistofele" premieres in Milan. [1]
- Stapler patented in England by C H Gould. [1]
- US Senate organizes to decide charges against President Andrew Johnson. [1]
- March 9
- The opera "Hamlet" premieres in Paris France. [1]
- March 12
- US Congress abolishes manufacturer's tax. [1]
- Great Britain annexes Basutoland in Africa. [1]
- March 13
- US Senate begins President Andrew Johnson impeachment trial. [1]
- March 17
- Postage stamp canceling machine patent issued. [1]
- March 20
- Jesse James Gang robs bank in Russelville Kentucky of $14,000. [1]
- March 21
- First US professional women's club, Sorosis, is founded in New York City, New York. [1]
- March 23
- University of California founded (Oakland CA). [1]
- March 24
- Metropolitan Life Insurance Company forms. [1]
- March 28
- James Thomas Brudenell 7th earl of Cardigan, dies at about age 70. [1]
- March 29
- In Ka'u District, Hawaii, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake occurs. [53]
- April 1
- Hampton Institute opens. [1]
- April 2
- In Ka'u District, Island of Hawaii, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake occurs. This earthquake caused 77 deaths (tsunami, 46; landslide, 31). [53]
- April 3
- Franz Adolf Berwald, Swedish composer, dies at age 71. [1]
- April 6
- Brigham Young marries his 27th and final wife. [1]
- April 10
- First performance of John Brahms' "Ein german Requiem". [1]
- British defeat King of Abyssinia at Magdala. [1]
- April 13
- Theodorus [Kasa] emperor of Abyssinia, commits suicide. [1]
- April 14
- South Carolina voters approve constitution, 70,758 to 27,228. [1]
- April 16
- Louisiana voters approve new constitution. [1]
- April 18
- San Francisco Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals formed. [1]
- May 3
- Olof Wilhelm Udden composer, dies at age 68. [1]
- May 9
- Anton Bruckner's first Symphony in C, premieres. [1]
- May 15
- Dutch Government of Zuylen van Nijevelt falls. [1]
- May 16
- Bedrich Smetana's opera "Dalibor" premieres in Prague. [1]
- President Andrew Johnson acquitted during Senate impeachment, by one vote. [1]
- May 20
- Republican National Convention, meets in Chicago, nominates Grant. [1]
- May 22
- Great Train Robbery; 7 men (Reno Brothers) make off with $98,000 in cash. [1]
- Julius Plücker German mathematician/physicist (formula of P), dies. [1]
- May 23
- Kit Carson, American frontiersman, dies. [5] (1881 [1])
- May 26
- Michael Barrett Irish nationalist, last British public execution. [1]
- President Andrew Johnson avoids impeachment by one vote. [1]
- May 31
- First Memorial Day parade held in Ironton Ohio. [1]
- June 1
- Texas constitutional convention meets in Austin. [1]
- June 9
- First meeting of the Board of Regents, University of California. [1]
- June 19
- Major General E R S Canby removes mayor of Columbia South Carolina. [1]
- June 23
- Christopher Latham Sholes patents "Type-writer". [1]
- (month unknown)
- The Ornans chondrite meteorite (type CO3) falls in France. [523.90]
- July 11
- J C Watson discovers asteroid #100 Hekate. [1]
- July 13
- Oscar J Dunn, former slave, installed as lt governor of Louisiana. [1]
- July 14
- Tape measure enclosed in a circular case patented, AJ Fellows, Connecticut. [1]
- July 20
- First use of tax stamps on cigarettes. [1]
- July 25
- Territory of Wyoming created. [1]
- August 8
- In Pillistfer, Estonia, a building is struck by a falling meteorite. [521]
- August 11
- Thaddeus Stevens architect of Radical Reconstruction, dies at age 76. [1]
- August 13
- In Arica, Peru, a magnitude 8.5-9.0 earthquake occurs, with catastrophic tsunamis killing 25,000 in South America. Damage extreme (US$300 million). [1] [53] [383.A8]
- August 18
- Pierre Janssan discovers helium in solar spectrum during eclipse. [1]
- September 8
- New York Athletic Club formed. [1]
- September 22
- Race riots in New Orleans Louisiana. [1]
- September 23
- Grito de Lares proclaims Puerto Rico's independence (crushed by Spain). [1]
- September 28
- Battle of Alcolea, causes Queen Isabella 2 of Spain to flee to France. [1]
- Opelousas Massacre at Saint Landry Parish Louisiana (200 blacks killed). [1]
- October 7
- Cornell University (Ithaca New York) opens. [1]
- October 10
- Cuba revolts for independence against Spain. [1]
- Declaration of the plan of Yara in Cuba. [1]
- October 17
- Constitution of Grand Duchy of Luxembourg comes into effect. [1]
- October 21
- Severe earthquake at 7:53 AM, centered in Hayward, California. [1]
- October 26
- B F Randolph South Carolina state senator, assassinated. [1]
- White terrorists kill several blacks in Saint Bernard Parish Louisiana. [1]
- November 3
- Ulysses Grant (Republican) wins presidential election over Horatio Seymour (Democrat). [1]
- November 11
- First American amateur track and field meet (New York City). [1]
- November 13
- American Philological Association organized in New York. [1]
- Gioacchino (Antonio) Rossini composer (Barber of Seville), dies at age 76. [1]
- November 23
- Louis Ducos du Hauron patents trichrome color photo process. [1]
- December 1
- John D Rockefeller begins anti oil war. [1]
- December 2
- First British government of Disraeli resigns. [1]
- December 5
- First American bicycle college opens (New York). [1]
- December 7
- Jesse James gang robs bank in Gallatin Missouri, kills 1. [1]
- December 9
- First British government of Gladstone forms. [1]
- December 25
- Linus Yale developer of cylinder lock, dies. [1]
1869
- January 13
- Colored National Labor Union, first Black labor convention. [1]
- National convention of black leaders meets in Washington DC. [1]
- January 17
- Alexander Sergeyevich Dargomyzhsky composer, dies at age 55. [1]
- January 18
- Elegant California Theatre opens in San Francisco California. [1]
- January 28
- Prudent-Louis Aubery du Boulley composer, dies at age 72. [1]
- February 1
- Frederik W Conrad hydraulic engineer/railway pioneer, dies at age 68. [1]
- February 2
- James Oliver invents the removable tempered steel plow blade. [1]
- February 3
- Booth theater at 23rd and 6th opens in New York City, New York (Romeo and Juliet). [1]
- February 4
- Johan M Dautzenberg Flemish author/novelist (Future), dies at age 60. [1]
- February 6
- Harper's Weekly publishes first picture of Uncle Sam with chin whiskers. [1]
- February 19
- US Assay Office in Boise ID authorized. [1]
- February 20
- Tennessee Governor W C Brownlow declares martial law in Ku Klux Klan crisis. [1]
- February 23
- Louisiana governor signs public accommodations law. [1]
- February 26
- 15th Amendment guaranteeing right to vote sent to states. [1]
- Franz Schubert's "4th Tragic" premieres. [1]
- March 1
- Alphonse MLP de Lamartine Fr poet (History of Girondins), dies at age 78. [1]
- Postage stamps showing scenes are issued for first time. [1]
- March 3
- University of South Carolina opens to all races. [1]
- March 4
- Ulysses Grant inaugurated as 18th President. [1]
- March 8
- Louis Hector Berlioz French composer (Symphony Fantastic), dies at age 65. [1]
- March 13
- Arkansas legislature passes anti-Klan law. [1]
- March 15
- Cincinnati Red Stockings beat Antioch 41-7. [1]
- March 16
- Hiram R Revels makes the first official speech by a black in the Senate. [1]
- March 19
- Guillaume Nerenburger Belgian General (triangulatie), dies at age 64. [1]
- March 23
- Charles Lucas composer, dies at age 60. [1]
- April 1
- Anthony G O Ridder van Rappard Minister of Reformed Worship, dies at age 69. [1]
- April 5
- Daniel Bakeman last surviving veteran of the Revolutionary War, dies at age 109. [1]
- April 6
- First plastic, Celluloid, patented. [1]
- April 8
- American Museum of Natural History opens (New York City, New York). [1]
- April 9
- Hudson Bay Company cedes its territory to Canada. [1]
- April 10
- US Congress increases number of Supreme Court judges from 7 to 9. [1]
- April 12
- North Carolina legislature passes anti-Klan Law. [1]
- April 13
- Steam power brake patented (George Westinghouse). [1]
- April 16
- Ebenezer Bassett, first US Negro diplomat, begins service in Haiti. [1]
- April 20
- Johann Carl Gottfried Loewe composer, dies at age 72. [1]
- Piotr Studzinski composer, dies at age 42. [1]
- April 30
- Hawaiian YMCA organized. [1]
- May 1
- "Folies-Bergère" opens in Paris France. [1]
- A colt is reported killed by a meteorite near New Concord Ohio. [1]
- May 10
- The final railroad spike is driven in Utah, completing the US Transcontinental Railroad. [1] [572.15]
- Wilhelm Bernard Molique composer, dies at age 66. [1]
- May 15
- Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the National Woman's Suffrage Association in the USA. [1] [5]
- May 29
- Philippe Vandermaelen Flemish cartographer/publisher, dies at age 73. [1]
- June 1
- Voting Machine patented by Thomas Edison. [1]
- June 8
- Ives W McGaffey of Chicago patents first vacuum cleaner (it sucks). [1]
- June 9
- Charles Elmer Hires sells his first root beer (Philadelphia). [1]
- June 10
- Agnes arrives in New Orleans with first ever shipment of frozen beef. [1]
- June 15
- Celluloid patented by John Wesley Hyatt, Albany, New York. [1]
- Mike McCoole (US) defeats Tom Allen (England) in bare-knuckle bout. [1]
- June 21
- The opera "Die Meistersinger" is produced (Munich). [1]
- (month unknown)
- The Angra dos Reis stony meteorite falls in Brazil. [523.104]
- July 6
- Black candidate for lt governor of Virginia, Dr J H Harris, defeated. [1]
- July 15
- A J Hayne black captain of Arkansas militia, assassinated. [1]
- Margarine is patented in Paris, for use by French Navy. [1]
- August 1
- First voyage down Colorado River. [1]
- August 17
- First international boat race (Thames River) (Oxford beats Harvard). [1]
- August 23
- First carload of freight (boots and shoes) arrives in San Francisco, from Boston. [1]
- August 24
- Waffle iron invented. [1]
- September 6
- The White Star Line is founded, with 400,000 pounds sterling capital. [274.11]
- First westbound train arrives in San Francisco. [1]
- Mine fire kills 179 at Avondale Pennsylvania. [1]
- September 10
- Baptist minister invents the rickshaw in Yokohama, Japan. [1]
- September 22
- The opera "Das Rheingold" is produced (Munich). [1]
- September 24
- "Black Friday" in the US: Wall Steet panic after Gould and Fisk attempt to corner gold; U.S. government begins to sell off large quantities of gold. [1] [5]
- October 1
- Vienna, Austria issues the world's first postcards. [1] [5]
- October 16
- The Cardiff Giant, one of the most famous American hoaxes, is discovered. [5]
- Hotel in Boston becomes the first to have indoor plumbing. [1]
- October 21
- First shipment of fresh oysters comes overland from Baltimore. [1]
- October 26
- First American steeplechase horserace (Westchester, New York). [1]
- November 17
- The 190km Suez Canal in Egypt is opened for traffic. First ship is French imperial yacht Aigle, followed by military ships of Austria, Britain, and Russia, total 50 ships. [1] [560.84] [722.52] [729.38]
- December 6
- Jan de Liefde II Dutch vicar/author (People's Welfare), dies at age 54. [1]
- December 8
- 20th Roman Catholic ecumenical council, Vatican I, opens in Rome. [1]
- December 9
- Noble Order of Knights of Labor founded, Philadelphia. [1]
- December 10
- Women suffrage (right to vote) granted in Wyoming Territory (US first). [1]
- December 18
- Louis Moreau Gottschalk composer, dies at age 40. [1]
- December 28
- William Finley Semple of Mount Vernon, Ohio, USA, patents chewing gum. [1] [5]
- December 30
- Philadelphia Knights of Labor forms. [1]
|
