References are numbered in [brackets], which are listed here. A number after the dot gives the page in the source.

Last updated: 2008 April 30.

1865 January 3 Con Orem and Hugh O'Neill box 193 rounds before darkness ends match. [1] Jozef Lies Flemish painter, dies at 43. [1] January 16 Confederate Brigadier General John Pegram marries Hetty Cary. [1] San Francisco Dramatic Chronicle started. [1] January 19 NV Suriname Bank established. [1] February 1 JS Rock, first black lawyer to practice in Supreme Court, admitted to bar. [1] February 4 Hawaiian Board of Education formed. [1] February 8 First black major in US army, Martin Robinson Delany. [1] February 12 Henry Highland Garnet, is first black to speak in US House of Representatives. [1] February 15 Nicholas Wiseman first Archbishop of Westminster (1850-65), dies. [1] February 20 M I T establishes first US collegiate architectural school. [1] February 22 Tennessee adopts a new constitution abolishing slavery. [1] February 25 Otto Ludwig German writer (Zwischen Himmel und Erde), dies at 47. [1] March 1 Anna Paulowna Romanova great monarch of Russia, dies at 70. [1] March 2 British newspaper "Morning Chronicle" begins publishing. [1] Freedman's Bureau founded for Black Education, 1865. [1] March 3 Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands established to help destitute free blacks. [1] March 4 President Lincoln inaugurated for his second term as President. [1] March 6 President Lincoln's second Inaugural Ball. [1] March 20 Michigan authorizes workers' cooperatives. [1] March 25 SS General Lyon at Cape Hatteras catches fire and sinks, killing 400. [1] March 26 Thomas Hancock pioneer of rubber industry (Stoke Newington), dies. [1] March 28 Albert G Bilders Dutch landscape painter, dies at 26. [1] April 2 Richard Cobden founder Anti-Corn-Law League, dies at 60. [1] April 8 John Park composer, dies at 61. [1] April 14 President Abraham Lincoln shot in Ford's Theatre by John Wilkes Booth. [1] April 15 Otto von Bismarck elevated to Earl. [1] President Abraham Lincoln dies, at 7:22 am, morning after being shot by John Wilkes Booth. [1] [5] April 17 Mary Surratt is arrested as a conspirator in Lincoln's assassination. [1] April 20 Chicago's Crosby Opera House opens. [1] April 21 Abraham Lincoln's funeral train leaves Washington. [1] April 24 Fire alarm and police telegraph system put into operation (San Francisco). [1] April 26 Charles J Sax Belgian inventor (saxophone), dies at 74. [1] John Wilkes Booth assassin, is shot dead near Bowling Green Virginia at 27. [1] April 27 Cornell University (Ithaca New York) is chartered. [1] April 28 Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera "L'Africaine", premieres in Paris France. [1] May 5 First US train robbery (North Bend Ohio). [1] May 23 Flag flown at full staff over White House, first time since Lincoln shot. [1] Grand Review begins in Washington DC. [1] May 30 William Clarke Quantrill criminal/Confederate bushwhacker, dies at 27. [1] June 10 Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde" first performance München Germany. [1] June 19 All slaves in Texas freed. [1] July 4 First edition of "Alice in Wonderland" is published. [1] July 5 William Booth founded Salvation Army in London. [1] July 7 Four Lincoln assassination conspirators, including Mary Surratt, hanged. [1] July 13 Horace Greeley advises his readers to "Go west young man". [1] PT Barnum's museum burns down. [1] July 14 First ascent of Matterhorn. [1] July 26 Patrick Francis Healy is first black awarded PhD (Louvain Belgium). [1] August 17 Near Memphis, Tennessee, a magnitude 5.0 earthquake occurs. Felt from St. Louis, Missouri, to Jackson, Mississippi. [53] September 1 Joseph Lister performs first antiseptic surgery. [1] September 24 James Cooke walks tightrope from Cliff House to Seal Rocks, San Francisco. [1] October 8 In Santa Cruz Mountains, California, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake occurs; severe damage in several towns. [1] [53] October 10 John Hyatts patents the billiard ball. [1] October 31 William Parson third Earl of Rosse and maker of large telescopes, dies. [1] November 7 London Gazette, oldest surviving journal, is founded. [1] November 10 Henry Wirzm Confederate prison superintendant executed for excessive cruelty. [1] November 11 Mary Edward Walker, first Army female surgeon, awarded Medal of Honor. [1] November 13 PT Barnum's New American museum opens in Bridgeport. [1] US issues first gold certificates. [1] November 18 Mark Twain publishes "Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County". [1] November 26 Alice in Wonderland published. [1] December 1 Constant van Crombrugghe Flemish monastery founder, dies at 76. [1] December 6 13th Amendment is ratified, abolishing slavery. [1] Sebastian de Iradier Spanish composer (Arreglito), dies at 56. [1] December 17 Franz Schubert's "Unvolendete Symphony" premieres. [1] December 18 First US cattle importation law passed. [1] Francisco Manuel da Silva composer, dies at 70. [1] December 20 De Clear-Alkmaar railway opens. [1] December 26 James H Mason (Massachusetts) patents first US coffee percolator. [1] 1866 January 9 Fisk University establishes. [1] January 11 Steamship London sinks in storm off Land's End England, kills 220. [1] January 15 Bedrich Smetana's opera "Branibori vs Cechach" premieres in Prague. [1] M T d'Azeglio writer, dies. [1] January 20 Prim's Insurrection in Spain ends. [1] January 27 John Gibson sculptor, dies. [1] February 4 Mary Baker Eddy cures her injuries by opening a bible. [1] February 10 Dutch government Frans van der Putte forms. [1] February 13 Jesse James holds up his first bank, Liberty Missouri ($15,000). [1] February 21 Lucy B Hobbs (Taylor) becomes first US woman to earn a DDS degree. [1] February 26 New York Legislature establishes New York City Metropolitan Board of Health. [1] March 1 Paraguayan canoes sink two Brazilian ironclads on Rio Parana. [1] March 2 First US company to make sewing needles by machine incorporated, Connecticut. [1] March 4 Alexander Campbell Irish/US founder Disciples of Christ, dies at 77. [1] March 10 Antonio Francesco Gaetano S Pacini composer, dies at 87. [1] March 19 Immigrant ship Monarch of the Seas sinks in Liverpool; 738 die. [1] Louis Clapisson composer, dies at 57. [1] March 20 Rikard Nordraak composer, dies at 23. [1] March 21 US Congress authorizes national soldiers' homes. [1] March 24 Maria Amalia of Bourbon-Sicily, wife of Louis Filips of Austria, dies. [1] March 27 Andrew Rankin patents the urinal. [1] President Johnson vetoes civil rights bill; it later becomes 14th Amendment. [1] March 28 First ambulance goes into service. [1] March 29 Menachem Mendel of Lubavitch Rabbi/Chassidic leader, dies. [1] March 30 Bedrich Smetana's "Verkaufte Braut" (Sold Bride), premieres. [1] April 1 Aime Ambroise Simon Leborne composer, dies at 98. [1] Johannes C H de Meijere Dutch zoologist, dies. [1] US Congress rejects presidential veto gives all equal rights in US. [1] April 6 G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) is established. [1] April 9 Civil Rights Bill passes over President Andrew Johnson's veto. [1] April 10 American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) forms. [1] April 15 William Jackson composer, dies at 51. [1] April 16 Karakozov attempts to assassinate Tsar Alexander II of Russia. [1] Nitroglycerine at Wells Fargo and Company office explodes. [1] May 1 American Equal Rights Association forms. [1] May 4 Woodward's Gardens opens to public. [1] May 7 German premier Otto von Bismarck seriously wounded in assassin attempt. [1] May 16 Charles Elmer Hires invents root beer. [1] US Congress authorizes nickel 5-cent piece (replaces silver half-dime). [1] May 17 Adolf Bernhard Marx composer, dies at 70. [1] May 18 French Government of De Putte resigns. [1] May 21 First-class debut of G F Grace aged 15 years 159 days. [1] May 24 Berkeley California named (for George Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne). [1] May 28 Dutch Government of Zuylen van Nijevelt/Heemskerk forms. [1] May 30 The opera "Die Verkaufte Braut" premieres (Prague). [1] June 1 Renegade Irish Fenians invade Fort Erie Ontario from US. [1] June 2 Renegade Irish Fenians surrender to US forces. [1] June 7 Irish Fenians raid Pigeon Hill, Québec. [1] June 13 House passes 14th Amendment. [1] June 15 C H F Peters discovers asteroid #88 Thisbe. [1] Prussia attacks Austria. [1] July 4 Firecracker thrown in wood starts fire destroying half of Portland, Me. [1] July 10 Indelible pencil patented by Edson P Clark, Northampton, Massachusetts [1] July 25 US Grant named first general of Army. [1] July 26 Canoe Club opens in England. [1] July 27 The Atlantic Cable is successfully completed (1,686 miles long), allowing transatlantic telegraph communication for the first time. [1] [5] July 28 Metric system becomes a legal measurement system in US. [1] August 10 Transatlantic cable laid - Former President Buchanan communicates over it to Queen Victoria. [1] August 11 World's first roller rink opens (Newport, Rhode Island). [1] August 20 President Andrew Johnson formally declares Civil War over. [1] August 23 Treaty of Prague ends Austro-Prussian war. [1] September 4 First Hawaiian daily newspaper published. [1] October 6 First train robbery in US. [1] November 4 Kingdom of Italy annexes Venetia. [1] November 17 The opera "Mignon" is produced (Paris). [1] November 20 First national convention of Grand Army of the Republic (veterans' organization). [1] Howard University founded (Washington, DC). [1] Pierre Lalemont patents rotary crank bicycle. [1] November 30 Work begins on first US underwater highway tunnel, Chicago. [1] December 3 Johann Wenzel Kalliwoda composer, dies at 65. [1] Paid fire department replaces volunteer companies. [1] December 6 Chicago water supply tunnel 3,227 metres into Lake Michigan completed. [1] December 11 First yacht race across the Atlantic Ocean. [1] December 21 Cheyennes, Arapho's, Sioux, Fetterman Massacre. [1] December 26 Samuel Ryan Curtis Union General-Major, dies at 49. [1] 1867 January 8 Legislation gives suffrage to DC blacks, despite President Johnson's veto. [1] January 12 Leo Tolstoy's "Smert Ioonna Groznogo" premieres in Saint Petersburg. [1] Victor Cousin French philosopher/minister of Education, dies at 74. [1] February 1 Bricklayers start working 8-hour days. [1] February 3 Prince Mutsuhito, 14, becomes Emperor Meiji of Japan (1867-1912). [1] February 5 Salomon Munk published Arabic edition of Maimounides, dies. [1] February 6 Peabody Fund forms to promote Black education in South. [1] February 9 Nebraska becomes 37th US state. [1] February 13 Johann Strauss' "Blue Danube" waltz premieres in Vienna. [1] February 14 Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company issues first policy. [1] Morehouse College organizes (Augusta Georgia). [1] February 17 First ship passes through Suez Canal. [1] Gyula Andressy becomes premier of Hungary. [1] February 23 George Thomas Smart composer, dies at 90. [1] March 1 Howard University, Washington DC, chartered. [1] Most of Nebraska becomes 37th US state (expanded later). [1] March 2 US Congress abolishes peonage in New Mexico. [1] French A Durlet Belgian sculptor/architect, dies at 50. [1] Howard University established. [1] Jesse James-gang robs bank in Savannah Missouri, one dead. [1] US Congress creates the Department of Education. [1] March 6 Wiktor Kazynski composer, dies at 54. [1] March 11 Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Don Carlos" premieres in Paris France. [1] Great Mauna Loa eruption (Hawaiian volcano). [1] March 12 Last French troops leave Mexico. [1] March 15 Michigan becomes first state to tax property to support a university. [1] March 16 Benjamin Hanby composer, dies at 33. [1] March 22 Ferdinando Giorgetti composer, dies at 70. [1] March 29 British North America Act (Canadian constitution) is passed. [1] US Congress approves Lincoln Memorial. [1] March 30 US purchases Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000 (2 cents an acre-Seward's Folly). [1] April 1 Blacks vote in municipal election in Tuscumbia Alabama. [1] International Exhibition opens in Paris France. [1] Singapore, Penang and Malakka become British crown colonies. [1] April 8 The first World's Fair is inaugurated in Paris. [5] April 18 Robert Smirke architect, dies. [1] April 19 Robert Smirke British architect, dies. [1] April 23 Queen Victoria and Napoleon III turn down plans for a channel tunnel. [1] April 24 In Manhattan, Kansas, a magnitude 5.1 earthquake occurs. [53] Black demonstrators stage ride-ins on Richmond Virginia streetcars. [1] April 25 Tokyo is opened for foreign trade. [1] April 27 The opera "Roméo et Juliette" is produced (Paris France). [1] May 1 Howard University chartered. [1] May 5 Battle of Pueblo; Mexicans defeat Maximilian's forces (Cinco de Mayo). [1] May 7 Blacks stage ride-in to protest segregation in New Orleans. [1] May 11 Treaty of London drawn, concerning Luxembourg. [1] May 13 Birth of Sir Frank Brangwyn Wales, painter/muralist/cartoonist (Willam Morris). [1] May 20 British parliament rejects John Stuart Mills law on women suffrage. [1] Royal Albert Hall foundation laid by Queen Victoria. [1] May 23 Archibald Alison Scottish historian, dies at 74. [1] Jesse James-gang rob bank in Richmond Missouri (two die, $4,000 taken). [1] June 12 Austro-Hungarian Empire forms. [1] June 19 First Belmont Stakes, Ruthless wins. [1] Maximilian Mexican emperor, executed, Mexican republic restored. [1] June 20 US President Andrew Johnson announces purchase of Alaska. [1] June 25 Barbed wire is patented by Lucien Smith of Kent, Ohio. [55.22] June 27 Bank of California opens doors. [1] July 1 Dominion of Canada formed (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Québec). [1] July 2 First US elevated railroad begins service, New York City. [1] July 7 C H F Peters discovers asteroid #92 Undina. [1] July 17 First permanent university dental school in US, Harvard. [1] July 21 City Gardens on Folsom opens. [1] August 1 Blacks vote for first time in a state election in South (Tenn). [1] August 6 Faustin-Élie Soulouque emperor of Haiti, dies (birth date unknown). [1] August 7 Ira Aldridge actor dies at 63 in Lodes Poland. [1] August 10 Ira Frederick Aldridge US Negro tragedian, dies (birth date unkn). [1] August 12 President A Johnson defiesUS Congress suspending Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. [1] August 15 Second Reform Bill extends suffrage in England. [1] August 28 US occupies Midway Islands in the Pacific. [1] September 9 Luxembourg gains independence. [1] September 13 General E R S Canby orders South Carolina courts to impanel blacks jurors. [1] September 28 Toronto becomes the capital of Ontario. [1] September 30 Midway Islands formally declared a US possession. [1] October 5 Last day of Julian calendar in Alaska. [1] October 14 15th and last Tokugawa Shogun resigns in Japan. [1] October 16 Alaska adopts the Gregorian calendar, crosses international date line. [1] October 18 US takes formal possession of Alaska from Russia ($7.2 million). [1] October 29 Mail packets "Rhone" and "Wye" capsizes off Saint Thomas Virgin Islands. [1] November 4 90 kegs of powder used to get rock from Telegraph Hill for seawall. [1] November 25 Alfred Nobel invents dynamite. [1] December 4 Grange organized to protect farm interests. [1] December 6 Giovanni Pacini composer, dies at 71. [1] December 7 Rudolf Viole composer, dies at 42. [1] December 19 Jean-Georges Kastner composer, dies at 57. [1] Victims of "Angola Horror" burned to death (Angola New York). [1] December 22 Jean-Victor Poncelet French mathematician (kinematics), dies at 79. [1] December 23 First self-made millionairess (Sarah Breedlove-hair straightener). [1] December 27 Ontario and Québec legislatures hold first meeting. [1] December 29 First telegraph ticker used by a brokerage house, Groesbeck and Company, New York. [1]