- Jan 3 1st wax drinking straw patented, by Marvin C Stone in Washington, D.C.
- Jan 5 Dutch Heidemaatschappij (land reclamation) established
- Jan 13 The National Geographic Society is founded in Washington, D.C. for "the increase and diffusion of geographic knowledge" [1]
- Jan 30 Harry Moses 297 not out for NSW against Victoria
- Feb 2 Frank Sprague opens the first successful U.S. electric street railway system, the Richmond Union Passenger Railway, in Richmond, Virginia
- Feb 22 “Father of American Golf” John Reid first demonstrates golf on a Yonkers cow pasture to friends
- Feb 24 Louisville, Kentucky, becomes 1st government in US to adopt Australian ballot (i.e. secret ballot on standard voting forms)
- Feb 28 Ferry in San Pablo Bay explodes
- Feb 28 Vincent d'Indy's Wallenstein trilogy, premieres
- Mar 2 The Convention of Constantinople is signed, guaranteeing free maritime passage through the Suez Canal during war and peace
- Mar 10 1st performance of Caesar Franck's symphonic poem for chorus and orchestra "Psyché"
Sullivan vs Mitchell
Mar 10 Heavyweight Boxing champ John L. Sullivan draws Charlie Mitchell in 30 rounds
- Mar 11 Great blizzard of '88 strikes northeastern USA
- Mar 12 2nd day of the Great blizzard of '88 in north east US (400 die)
- Mar 13 Great Blizzard of 1888 rages across the east coast of the USA and Canada
- Mar 14 Second largest snowfall in NYC history (21")
- Mar 20 Premiere of the very first Romani language operetta staged in Moscow, Russia
- Mar 21 Arthur Pinero's "Sweet Lavender" premieres in London
- Mar 22 English Football League established
- Mar 23 50th Grand National: George Mawson aboard 40/1 outsider Playfair easily wins by 10 lengths from Frigate
- Mar 25 Socialist leader Domela Nieuwenhuis elected to Dutch 2nd chamber
- Apr 1 Students from Rotterdam, Netherlands establish a cricket club called Rotterdamsche Cricket & Football Club Sparta which evolves into Sparta Rotterdam
- Apr 11 The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam is inaugurated
- Apr 16 Drentse & Friese peat cutters go on strike in the Netherlands
Eastman Kodak Founded
Apr 24 Eastman Kodak founded by George Eastman
Stanley Meets Emin Pasha
Apr 29 Old Kavallison, Congo: Henry Morton Stanley meets Emin Pasha
- Apr 30 1888 Moradabad hailstorm: hail stones allegedly as big as oranges kill 246 people and some 1600 sheep and cattle in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh
- May 4 Italy & Spain sign military covenant
- May 7 Édouard Lalo's opera "Le roi d'Ys" premieres in Paris
- May 11 16th Preakness: F Littlefield aboard Refund wins in 2:49
- May 12 Crouching start 1st used in track and field by Charles Sherrill of Yale
- May 13 DeWolf Hooper 1st recites "Casey at Bat"
- May 13 Princess Isabel of Brazil acting as regent signs the "Lei Auréa" (Golden Law) abolishing slavery in Brazil
- May 14 14th Kentucky Derby: George Covington aboard MacBeth II wins in 2:38.00
- May 16 CPR opens Hotel Vancouver, Vancouver, British Columbia
- May 22 Leroy Buffington patents a system to build skyscrapers
- Jun 1 California gets its 1st seismograph
- Jun 3 Baseball poem "Casey at the Bat" 1st published by the San Francisco Examiner
- Jun 5 Unusual Rio de la Plata Earthquake measures magnitude 5.5
Cleveland Nominated for President
Jun 5 US Democrats nominate Grover Cleveland for president
Emperor Wilhelm II
Jun 15 Wilhelm II becomes Emperor of Germany
Frederick Douglass Nominated
Jun 23 Frederick Douglass is 1st African-American to be nominated for US Vice President
Benjamin Harrison Nominated
Jun 25 Republican Convention in Chicago nominates Benjamin Harrison
Wimbledon Men's Championship
Jul 16 Wimbledon Men's Tennis: 3-time runner-up Ernest Renshaw wins his lone major title; beats defending champion Herbert Lawford 6-3, 7-5, 6-0
Wimbledon Women's Championship
Jul 21 Wimbledon Women's Tennis: Lottie Dod retains her title beating Blanche Bingley-Hillyard 6-3, 6-3
- Aug 11 California Theatre closed (now a Pac Tel Phone Store)
- Aug 20 Longest US men's single tennis tournament match Palmer Presbrey defeats T S Tailer, 19-21, 8-6, 6-1, 6-4, an 80 game 1st-round contest
Burroughs' Adding Machine
Aug 21 American inventor William Seward Burroughs patents the adding machine
Jack the Ripper's 1st Victim
Aug 31 The body of Jack the Ripper's first victim, Mary Ann Nichols, is found in Whitechapel in London's East End
- Sep 1 Dutch Railway Deventer-Almelo opens
Kodak Registered
Sep 4 George Eastman patents the first roll-film camera and registers the brand name "Kodak"
- Sep 6 Charles Turner becomes the first bowler to take 250 wickets in an English season - a feat since accomplished only by Tom Richardson (twice), J.T. Hearne, Wilfred Rhodes (twice) and Tich Freeman (six times).
Imperial British East Africa Company
Sep 6 Queen Victoria grants William Mackinnon's Imperial British East Africa Company political & commercial rights
Baby Incubator
Sep 7 Edith Eleanor McLean is 1st baby to be placed in an incubator at State Emigrant Hospital on Ward’s Island, New York
- Sep 8 In England the first six Football League matches ever are played
Chile Annexes Easter Island
Sep 9 Easter Island / Rapa Nui in the Pacific is annexed by Chile
- Sep 11 Death of the Argentine politician Domingo Sarmiento, after whom the Latin American Teacher's Day is chosen.
- Sep 19 One of first known modern beauty contests held in Spa, Belgium
- Sep 25 Royal Court Theatre, London, opens
- Sep 30 "Jack the Ripper" murders 2 more women, Liz Stride & Kate Eddowes, in Whitechapel, London
- Oct 1 National Geographic magazine publishes for the 1st time
Nansen Crosses Greenland
Oct 3 Explorer Fridtjof Nansen and his team complete first known crossing of Greenland interior, arriving in Godthaab
- Oct 3 New Zealand Natives, a privately organised and mainly Māori rugby team, plays first game in UK; beats Surry 4-1; first national rugby team to wear all-black & perform the 'haka'
- Oct 8 British Open Men's Golf, St Andrews: Scotsman Jack Burns wins his lone Open title by 1 stroke from Ben Sayers and David Anderson Jr
- Oct 9 Washington Monument opens for public admittance
- Oct 10 Teatotalers excursion train crushed, killing 64 at Mud Run, Pennsylvania
Ecce Homo
Oct 15 German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche decides to write his autobiography "Ecce Homo" on his 44th birthday
Optical Phonograph
Oct 17 Thomas Edison files a patent for the Optical Phonograph (the first movie)
- Oct 19 Moshav Gederah is attacked by Arabs
- Oct 20 Chicago and All America baseball teams play exhibition in Auckland, New Zealand
- Oct 23 Pelham Bay Park in Bronx vested
- Oct 27 "World Championship" Baseball Series, Sportsman's Park, St. Louis; St. Louis Browns rout NY Giants, 18-7 in Game 10 but lose series, 6-4
British South Africa Company
Oct 29 Lord Salisbury grants Cecil Rhodes charter for British South Africa Company
- Oct 30 John J Loud patents ballpoint pen
- Oct 30 Ndebele-king Lobengula grants Cecil Rhodes, Mashonaland £100 per month
- Oct 31 Scottish vet John Boyd Dunlop patents pneumatic bicycle tyre
- Nov 3 Concertgebouw Orchestra debuts in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, under the baton of founding conductor Willem Kes
- Nov 6 Benjamin Harrison (R-Sen-Ind) is elected US President, defeating sitting President Grover Cleveland (D), 233 electoral votes to 168, Cleveland receives slightly more votes
- Nov 9 Jack Ripper's 5th and probably last victim, Mary Jane Kelly, found on her bed
- Nov 14 St Andrews Golf Club, Yonkers NY, opens with just 6 holes
- Nov 14 USC Trojans (then Methodists) play their 1st football game
Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony
Nov 17 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky' conducts the premiere of his 5th Symphony at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, Russia
- Nov 20 Willard Bundy patents timecard clock
- Dec 11 French Panama Canal Company fails
- Dec 18 Richard Wetherill and his brother in-law discover the ancient Anasazi ruins of Mesa Verde, Colorado
- Dec 19 Henry Morton Stanley's expedition reaches Fort Bodo, East-Africa
- Dec 22 Heavyweight boxing champ John L. Sullivan challenges Jake Kilrain
Van Gogh Cuts Off Ear
Dec 23 Vincent van Gogh cuts off his left ear with a razor, after argument with fellow painter Paul Gauguin, and sends to a female courtesan for safe keeping
- Dec 25 First indoor baseball game played at fairgrounds in Philadelphia; 2,000 watch the Uptowners beat the Downtowners, 6-1
Order of the African Star
Dec 30 Belgium's King Leopold II establishes Order of the African Star - for service to the Congo and to promote 'African civilisation'
Admirals
Aviators
Gangsters
Generals
Industrialists
Suffragists