Events Date 1875 | History by KabAstro

Music History

Jan 24 Camille Saint-Saëns' orchestral tone poem "Danse Macabre" premieres

Jan 25 Anti-slavery society forms in New York
Jan 26 Electric dental drill is patented by George F Green
Feb 24 The SS Gothenburg hits the Great Barrier Reef and sinks off the Australian east coast, killing approximately 100, including a number of high profile civil servants and dignitaries
Feb 25 Kiowa Indians under Lone Wolf (Guipago) surrender at Ft Sill
Mar 1 US Congress passes Civil Rights Act; invalidated by Supreme Ct, 1883
Mar 3 1st recognised hockey game played at the Victoria Skating Rink, Montreal (according to International Ice Hockey Federation), though likely much earlier [1]

Carmen

Mar 3 Georges Bizet's last and greatest opera "Carmen" premieres at the Opéra-Comique in Paris, France

Mar 3 US Congress authorizes 20 cent coin, lasts only 3 years
Mar 13 English FA Cup Final, Kennington Oval, London: Royal Engineers and Old Etonians draw 1-1; replay won by Engineers, 2-0

Music Premiere

Mar 14 Bedřich Smetana's symphonic poem "Vysehrad" (The High Castle) premieres in Prague; it later becomes the first section of the "Má Vlast" collection

Mar 15 1st US cardinal (John McCloskey) invested
Mar 16 English FA Cup Final Replay, Kennington Oval, London: Royal Engineers beat Old Etonians, 2-0 after initial 1-1 draw
Mar 18 37th Grand National: Tommy Pickernell wins his 3rd GN aboard 100/6 chance Pathfinder
Apr 17 Modern Snooker invented by Sir Neville Chamberlain, a bored British officer in Jabalpur, India
Apr 25 Latest date for measurable snow in NYC (3")
Apr 27 The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NYSPCC), the world's 1st such agency is incorporated
May 1 238 members of "Whiskey Ring" accused of anti-US activities
May 1 Alexandra Palace, London, reopens after being burnt down in 1873
May 7 German SS Schiller sinks near Scilly Islands, 312 killed
May 11 George "Charmer" Zettlein pitches the 1st 9 inning shutout
May 16 Eathquake in Venezuela & Colombia kills 16,000
May 17 1st Kentucky Derby: Oliver Lewis aboard Aristides wins in 2:37.75
May 20 International Bureau of Weights & Measures formed by the signing of the Metre Convention treaty by 17 states and prototypes of the meter and the kilogram selected
May 28 3rd Preakness: L Hughes aboard Tom Ochiltree wins in 2:43.5
May 31 Reciprocity Treaty between US & Hawaii ratified

1st Sound Transmission

Jun 2 Alexander Graham Bell makes first sound transmission

Jun 2 James Augustine Healey became 1st Black Catholic Bishop in US
Jun 4 Pacific Stock Exchange opens
Jun 5 Pacific Stock Exchange formally opens in San Francisco
Jun 6 Netherlands joins the gold standard
Jun 7 California Rifle and Pistol Association founded
Jun 12 9th Belmont: Bobby Swim aboard Calvin wins in 2:42.25
Jun 19 Formal opening of US Marine Hospital at Presidio in San Francisco
Jun 19 The Herzegovinian rebellion against the Ottoman Empire begins
Jun 22 Garonne Flood: great damage in Verdun & Toulouse, kills about 1,000
Jul 1 Universal Postal Union comes into effect after established in the Bern treaty, to organize international mail services
Jul 4 White Democrats kill several blacks in terrorist attacks in Vicksburg

Jesse James Robbery

Jul 7 Jesse James gang robs train in Otterville, Missouri

Jul 19 Emma Abbott, a floating hospital for sick children, makes trial trip, NYC
Aug 14 Society of Regte Afrikaanders establishes in Paarl
Aug 22 The Treaty of Saint Petersburg between Japan and Russia is ratified, providing for the exchange of Sakhalin for the Kuril Islands.

Captain Webb Conquers English Channel

Aug 25 Captain Matthew Webb makes the 1st observed and unassisted swim across the English Channel in 21 hours and 45 minutes

An artist from the Illustrated London News drew this scene depicting Captain Webb’s arrival at Calais

Sep 1 A murder conviction effectively forces the violent Irish anti-owner coal miners, the "Molly Maguires", to disband
Sep 9 Lotta's Fountain (corner Kearny & Market) dedicated in San Francisco

British Golf Open

Sep 10 British Open Men's Golf, Prestwick GC: Willie Park Sr. wins his 4th title; beats fellow Scot Bob Martin by 2 strokes

Billy the Kid Arrested

Sep 23 Billy the Kid is arrested for the 1st time and jailed after receiving clothing stolen from a Chinese laundry. Escapes two days later.

Sep 25 Billy the Kid escapes jail in Silver City, New Mexico, by climbing out of a chimney and becomes a fugitive
Oct 5 Palace Hotel on Market Street opens in San Francisco
Oct 16 1st Quebec vs Ontario football game, Ontario wins

Brigham Young University

Oct 16 Brigham Young University is founded in Provo, Utah.

LDS Religious Leader and Founder of Salt Lake City Brigham Young

Oct 22 First telegraphic connection in Argentina.
Oct 22 Sons of American Revolution organizes

Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1

Oct 25 The first performance of the Piano Concerto No. 1 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is given in Boston, Massachusetts with Hans von Bülow as soloist

Nov 2 Verney Cameron reaches Benguela in Angola, from Africa's east coast, 1st European to cross equatorial Africa from sea to sea
Nov 4 Massachusetts Rifle Association is founded in Boston
Nov 4 Passenger Steamship "Pacific" collides with sailing vessel "Orpheus" off Cape Flattery, Washington, 236 die
Nov 4 Tonga adopts constitution
Nov 7 Verney Cameron is 1st European to cross equatorial Africa
Nov 13 Harvard-Yale game is 1st college football contest with uniforms
Nov 13 National Bowling Association organized in NYC
Nov 16 Battle of Gundet: Ethiopian emperor Yohannes beats Egyptians
Nov 16 William Bonwill, patents dental mallet to impact gold into cavities
Nov 17 American Theosophical Society founded by Mme Blavatsky & Colonel Olcott
Nov 28 British explorer Verney Cameron reaches East Africa

Event of Interest

Dec 1 Henry John Heinz's first company, the Heinz Noble & Company, goes bankrupt in the aftermath of the Panic of 1873

Tweed Escapes Jail

Dec 4 Influential New York politician William Magear Tweed "Boss Tweed" of Tammany Hall escapes from jail where he was being held for embezzlement (flees to Spain but later recaptured)