- Jan 1 Eritrea is consolidated into a colony by the Italian government.
- Jan 1 The Rose Parade, then known as the Tournament of Roses, is first held in Pasadena, California
- Jan 2 Alice Sanger becomes 1st female White House staffer
- Jan 2 Record 19.2 feet alligator shot in Louisiana by American businessman Edward Avery McIlhenny
- Jan 3 1st US college-level dairy school opens at University of Wisconsin
- Jan 7 African American inventor William Purvis receives a patent for the fountain pen
- Jan 10 Edward Macdowell's "Lancelot & Elaine" premieres
Bly Beats Verne's Fogg
Jan 25 Journalist Nellie Bly beats the fictitious journey of Jules Verne's Phileas Fogg around the world by 8 days (72 days)
National Afro-American League
Jan 25 National Afro-American League founded in Chicago by Timothy Thomas Fortune, one of earliest civil rights organizations in America
Sherlock Holmes
Mar 1 1st US edition of Sherlock Holmes' first story "A Study in Scarlet" by Arthur Conan Doyle published
- Mar 2 Norwegian speed skater Oskar Fredriksen sets inaugural 5,000m world record of 9:19.8 in Stockholm, Sweden
Forth Bridge
Mar 4 Longest bridge in Great Britain, the Forth Bridge (railway) at 1,710 ft in length is opened in Scotland by the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII
- Mar 18 1st US state naval militia organized (Massachusetts)
Bismarck Resigns
Mar 18 German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck resigns after 19 years after a disagreement with German Emperor Wilhelm II
- Mar 20 General Federation of Women's Clubs founded in the United States
- Mar 21 Austrian Jewish communities are defined by law
- Mar 27 A tornado strikes Louisville, Kentucky, killing 76 and injuring 200.
- Mar 28 52nd Grand National: Arthur Nightingall wins aboard 4/1 favourite Ilex
- Apr 6 French troops under capt Archinard occupy Segu, West-Sudan
- Apr 7 Completion of the first Lake Biwa Canal, Japan
- Apr 11 Ellis Island, New York, designated as an immigration station
- Apr 14 Pan American Day-1st conference of American states (Washington, D.C.)
- Apr 18 NY Commission of Emigration ends, closing Castle Garden, NYC (now known as Castle Clinton) [1]
Stanley Proclaimed Hero
Apr 19 Henry Morton Stanley is awarded the Order of Leopold in Brussels, proclaimed a hero and taken from one banquet hall to another
- Apr 27 French troops under Capt Archinard occupy Oussebougou, West Sudan
- May 2 Territory of Oklahoma created - exists until 1907
- May 12 First official County Cricket Championship match begins; Yorkshire beats Gloucestershire by 8 wickets at Bristol; James Cranston scores first century (101) in the competition
- May 12 Louisiana legalizes prize fighting
- May 13 18th Preakness: W Martin aboard Montague wins in 2:36.75
Britain, Germany Trade African Territories
May 13 British PM Lord Salisbury offers Heligoland islands to Germany in exchange for Zanzibar, Uganda & Equatoria (becomes Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty that July)
- May 14 16th Kentucky Derby: Isaac Murphy aboard Riley wins in 2:45
Beatty Promoted
May 14 British sailor David Beatty is promoted to sub-lieutenant
Beau Brummel
May 17 Clyde Fitch's play "Beau Brummel" premieres in NYC
- May 17 Comic Cuts, 1st weekly comic paper, published in London
- May 17 Pietro Mascagni's opera "Rustic Chivalry" premieres in Rome at the Teatro Costanzi
- May 24 Geo Train & Sam Wall circle world in record 67 days, Tacoma-Tacoma
- May 24 Leo von Caprivi succeeds Otto von Bismarck as Chancellor of Germany
- May 24 Tivoli Theater of Varieties opens in London
- May 30 First baseman Dave Foutz hits Brooklyn Bridegrooms' (later Dodgers) first ever home run during doubleheader defeats to Chicago Colts at Washington Park, Brooklyn
- May 31 Ulm Minster, in Ulm, Germany, the tallest church in the world with a steeple 161.5m high, is finally completed (begun 1377)
- Jun 1 US census at 62,622,250
- Jun 6 United States Polo Association forms, NYC
- Jun 9 Comic opera "Robin Hood" by Reginald De Koven, Harry B. Smith, and Clement Scott premieres in Chicago
- Jun 10 24th Belmont: Pike Barnes riding Burlington wins in 2:07.75
- Jun 13 Eagle Avenue in the Bronx is cut out and named
- Jun 13 US National Championship Women's Tennis, Philadelphia Cricket Club: Ellen Roosevelt beats defending champion Bertha Townsend 6-2, 6-2
Second Volksraad
Jun 23 In an effort to solve the "Uitlander" (British and foreign) grievances regarding voting rights, President of Transvaal Paul Kruger institutes a Second Volksraad voting chamber, responsible for controlling local matters
- Jun 27 Canadian boxer George Dixon becomes first black world champion when he stops English bantamweight champion Edwin "Nunc" Wallace in 18 rounds in London, England
Attack on Motlousi
Jun 27 Cecil Rhodes' colonists attack Motlousi in Matabeleland
Congo Given to Belgium
Jul 3 King Leopold II gives Congo, previously a private possession, to Belgium
- Jul 4 Wimbledon Women's Tennis: Lena Rice becomes the only Irish female to win at Wimbledon beating May Jacks 6-4, 6-1
- Jul 7 Wimbledon Men's Tennis: Irishman Willoughby Hamilton wins his only Wimbledon title beating 7-time champion William Renshaw 6-8, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1
- Jul 10 Wyoming becomes 44th state of US (1st with female suffrage)
- Jul 17 Cecil Rhodes becomes Premier of Cape Colony
- Jul 20 "Gibbons Stamp Monthly" begins publishing
- Jul 20 Snow and hail in Calais, Maine
Van Gogh's Suicide
Jul 27 Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh shoots himself in Auvers-sur-Oise, dies of injuries 2 days later
- Aug 1 Cecil Rhodes' colonists reach Lundi
- Aug 5 British and French accord to divide African colonization
- Aug 6 At Auburn Prison in New York, murderer William Kemmler becomes the 1st person to be executed by electric chair
- Aug 9 First 44 Javans arrive in Suriname to work 5 years on sugar plantations
- Aug 14 Cecil Rhodes' British colonists reach Masvingo (Fort Victoria), oldest colonial settlement in Zimbabwe
- Aug 16 Alexander Clark, journalist and lawyer, named minister to Liberia
- Aug 27 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Newport R.I.: Oliver Campbell beats 2-time defending champion Henry Slocum 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1
Meat Inspections Begin
Aug 30 President Benjamin Harrison signed the first U.S. law requiring inspection of meat products
- Sep 1 Brooklyn Bridegrooms win 3 MLB games in one day‚ feasting on the Pittsburgh Alleghenys 10 - 9‚ 3 - 2‚ and 8 - 4
- Sep 11 British Open Men's Golf, Prestwick GC: John Ball becomes first Englishman and first amateur to win the Open; beats Willie Fernie and Archie Simpson by 3 strokes
- Sep 12 Cecil Rhodes' colonists found Fort Salisbury (now Harare, Zimbabwe)
- Sep 13 Cecil Rhodes' colonists hoist the Union Jack in Mashonaland & Salisbury (modern Zimbabwe)
- Sep 19 Turkish frigate "Ertogrul" burns off of Japan, kills 540
- Sep 22 First known ascent of Mt. Olympus, Washington, by an expedition led by Joseph P. O'Neil [1]
- Sep 23 Ed Cartwright bats in 7 RBIs in 1 inning
- Sep 24 The President of the Latter-day Saints Wilford Woodruff issues a manifesto advising members that the teaching and practice of polygamy should be abandoned
- Sep 25 Sequoia National Park established by US President Benjamin Harrison - California's first national park and the country's second
- Sep 26 US stops minting $1 & $3 gold coin & 3 cent piece
- Oct 1 Germany's anti-socialist laws lapse
- Oct 1 US Congress creates Weather Bureau
- Oct 1 US Congress establishes Yosemite National Park (California)
- Oct 3 Capt Guillaume of Kerckhoven marches into Boma Congo
- Oct 6 General Conference of the Latter-day Saints outlaws polygamy
- Oct 11 Daughters of American Revolution founded
- Oct 11 First 100 yard dash under 10 seconds run by John Owen in 9.8 sec at Analostan Island, Washington, D.C.
- Oct 13 The Delta Chi fraternity is founded by 11 law students at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
- Oct 15 Alabama Penny Savings Bank organizes in Birmingham
- Oct 28 "World Championship" Baseball Series, Washington Park, NY: Louisville Colonels beat Brooklyn Bridegrooms, 6-2 in Game 7 to tie series 3-3-1; deciding game never played
- Nov 4 Alexander Borodin's opera "Prince Igor" debuts at Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, Russia
- Nov 4 Great Britain proclaims Zanzibar as a protectorate
- Nov 4 Prince of Wales opens first underground station at Stockwell, South London
- Nov 11 D McCree patents portable fire escape
Poems by Emily Dickinson
Nov 12 Mabel Loomis Todd publishes the first edition of "Poems by Emily Dickinson"
First Surviving Motion Picture
Nov 21 Edison lab records the 1st surviving motion picture, "Monkeyshines No. 1", shot by William am Kennedy Dickson and William Heise [date disputed between June 1889 and November 21–27, 1890]
- Nov 23 General elections in Italy won by the Left group headed by Francesco Crispi
- Nov 23 King William III of the Netherlands dies (b. 1817) without a male heir and a special law is passed to allow his daughter Princess Wilhelmina to inherit
- Nov 27 1st signal box for SF Police Department goes into operation
- Nov 29 1st US Army - US Navy football game, Score: Navy 24, Army 0 at West Point
Les Troyens
Dec 5 Hector Berlioz's opera "Les Troyens" premieres in Karlsruhe, Germany
- Dec 16 Negro Methodist Episcopal Church founded in Jackson, TN
- Dec 18 Frederick Lugard's British expedition to Meng and Kampala, Uganda
- Dec 21 Pim Mulier 1st & only trip to "Alvesteddetocht"
- Dec 22 Cornwallis Valley Railway begins operation between Kingsport and Kentville, Nova Scotia.
- Dec 26 King Mwanga of Uganda signs contract with East Africa Company
Wounded Knee Massacre
Dec 29 US 7th Cavalry massacre 200+ captive Sioux at Wounded Knee, South Dakota
Authors
Civil Rights Activists
Inventors
Kings
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