1875

January 3

• Baldassare Galuppi Italian composer (opera's buff), dies at age 68. [1]
• George Bizet composer, dies. [1]

January 5

• Charles Garnier's new Opera opens in Paris. [1]
• President Grant sends federal troops to Vicksburg Mississippi. [1]

January 14

• The Specie Resumption Act is enacted, calling for the resumption of specie payments (gold, silver) at par on United States notes. [448.56] [471.22]

January 18

• Joseph Philbrick Webster composer, dies at age 55. [1]

January 23

• Charles Kingsley English vicar/writer (Westward Ho!), dies at age 55. [1]

January 24

• Camille Saint-Saëns' "Danse Macabre" premieres. [1]

January 25

• Anti-slavery society formed in New York. [1]
• Leopold Jansa composer, dies at age 79. [1]

January 26

• Electric dental drill (battery-operated) is patented by George F Green of Michigan, USA. [1] [55.47]

February 1

• William Sterndale Bennett composer, dies at age 58. [1]

February 3

• Everhardus J Potgieter writer (Liedekens van Bontekoe), dies at age 66. [1]

February 4

• Princess Louise marries Prince Philip von Saksen-Coburg-Gotha in Belgium. [1]

February 17

• Luís Varela Brazilian romantic poet, dies at age 33. [1]

February 19

• Jean B Vuillaume French violin maker (octobas), dies at age 76. [1]

February 22

• Charles Lyell British geologist (Elements of Geology), dies at age 77. [1]

February 25

• Kiowa Indians under Lone Wolf (Guipago) surrender at Fort Sill. [1]

March 1

• US Congress passes Civil Rights Act; invalidated by Supreme Court, 1883. [1]

March 3

• US Congress authorizes 20-cent coin, lasts only three years. [1]
• Georges Bizet's opera "Carmen" premieres (Paris France). [1]

March 10

• Louis Joseph Daussoigne-Mehul composer, dies at age 84. [1]

March 14

• Smetana's "Vysehrad" premieres. [1]

March 15

• First US cardinal (John McCloskey) invested. [1]

March 18

• Ferdinand Laub composer, dies at age 43. [1]

March 27

• Edgar Quinet French writer/historian (Ahasvérus), dies at age 72. [1]

March 30

• Marie Moke Pleyel composer, dies at age 63. [1]

April 7

• Georg Herwegh writer, dies at age 57. [1]

April 11

• Heinrich Schwabe discoverer of 11-year sunspot cycle, dies. [1]

April 17

• "Snooker" (variation of pool) invented by Sir Neville Chamberlain. [1]

April 24

• Jose Maria de la Purificacion Ventura composer, dies at age 58. [1]

April 25

• Latest date for measurable snow in New York City (3"). [1]

May 1

• 238 members of "Whiskey Ring" accused of anti-US activities. [1]

May 5

• Jan A C A van Nispen tot Sevenaer Dutch Member of Parliament (1848-75), dies at age 71. [1]

May 7

• German SS Schiller sinks near Scilly Islands, 312 killed. [1]

May 16

• Quake in Venezuela and Colombia kills 16,000. [1]

May 20

• Amalia wife of King Otto of Greece, dies at age 58. [1]
• International Bureau of Weights and Measures established by treaty. [1]

May 23

• Johann Wilhelm Mangold composer, dies at age 78. [1]

June 3

• C H F Peters discovers asteroid #144 Vibilia and #145 Adeona. [1]
• Georges Bizet France, composer (...and that's no Bull!). [1]

June 5

• Pacific Stock Exchange formally opens. [1]

June 6

• Netherlands goes on the gold standard. [411.46]

June 8

• A Borrelly discovers asteroid #146 Lucina. [1]

June 19

• Formal opening of US Marine Hospital at Presidio. [1]

July 1

• Universal Postal Union established. [1]

July 4

• White Democrats kill several blacks in terrorist attacks in Vicksburg. [1]

July 9

• Francis Preston Blair Jr famed Saint Louis lawyer, dies at age 54. [1]

July 10

• L Schulhof discovers asteroid #147 Protogeneia. [1]

July 19

• Emma Abbott, a floating hospital for sick kids, makes trial trip, New York City. [1]

July 31

• Andrew Johnson 17th pres, dies in Tennessee at age 66. [1]

August 25

• Matthew Webb becomes first to swim English Channel (21 hours 45 minutes). [1]

September 9

• Lotta's Fountain (Kearny and Market) dedicated. [1]

September 11

• First newspaper cartoon strip. [1]

September 29

• Argentina's national mint is established. [441.34]

October 5

• Palace Hotel on Market Street, San Francisco opens. [1]

October 22

• Sons of the American Revolution organized. [1]

November 2

• In Northern Georgia, USA, a magnitude 4.3 earthquake occurs. [53]

November 4

• "Pacific" collides with "Orpheus" off Cape Flattery Washington, 236 dies. [1]

November 5

• Susan B Anthony arrested for attempting to vote. [1]

November 7

• Verney Cameron is first European to cross equatorial Africa. [1]

November 17

• Amer Theosophical Society founded by Mme Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott. [1]

December 4

• William Marcy "Boss" Tweed (New York City-Tammany Hall) escapes from jail. [1]

December 6

• 44thUS Congress (1875-77) convenes. [1]

December 7

• Natives Sons of the West organized. [1]

December 8

• Aleksandr Ostrovsky's "Volki i Ovsty" premieres in Saint Petersburg. [1]

December 10

• Otogaki Rengetsu zen nun/benefactress of Tessai, dies at about age 84. [1]

December 17

• Violent bread riots in Montréal. [1]

December 20

• Michail P Pogodin Russian historian/writer (Povesti), dies at age 75. [1]

December 22

• Nikolay Alexeyevich Titov composer, dies at age 75. [1]

December 25

• The Lambs Club in New York is founded. [1]

December 30

• Andrassy Note calls for Christian-Muslim religious freedoms. [1]

1876

January 1

• Founding of the Reichsbank and the Mark becomes the German currency. [37]

January 3

• First free kindergarten in US opens in Florence Massachusetts. [1]

January 10

• Charles EH de Coussemaker Belgian musicologist/historian, dies at age 70. [1]

February 3

• Gino Capponi Italian marquis/literary/premier of Toscane, dies at age 83. [1]

February 7

• President Grant's private-secretary Orville acquitted in Whiskey Ring. [1]

February 10

• Johan August Soderman composer, dies at age 43. [1]

February 12

• Al Spalding opens his sporting good shop. [1]

February 14

• A G Bell and Elisha Gray apply separately for telephone patents; Supreme Court eventually rules Bell rightful inventor. [1]

February 15

• Historic Elm at Boston blown down. [1]

February

• Inman Line's Germanic sets an eastward Atlantic record crossing of 7 days, 15 hours, 17 minutes. [274.11]

February 17

• Sardines first canned (Julius Wolff-Eastport ME). [1]

February 18

• Direct telegraph link established between Britain and New Zealand. [1]

February 21

• Henry John Gauntlett composer, dies at age 70. [1]

February 22

• Johns Hopkins University opens. [1]

February 24

• Henrik Ibsen's "Peer Gynt" premieres in Oslo. [1]
• Jan Pieter Heije Dutch physician/writer/poet, dies at age 67. [1]

February 28

• Charles Edward Horsley composer, dies at age 53. [1]

March 1

• Guernsey Cattle Club forms (Farmington Connecticut). [1]

March 2

• Rutherford B Hayes elected President. [1]

March 4

• Alfred Holmes composer, dies at age 38. [1]
• US Congress decides to impeach Minister of War Belknap. [1]

March 5

• Marie-C-S de Flavigny Agoult [Daniel Stern], Fren author, dies at age 70. [1]

March 7

• Alexander Graham Bell is granted a patent for the telephone. [1] [5] [129]
• Battle at Gura: Ethiopian emperor Yohannes beats Egyptians. [1]

March 10

• First telephone call made (Alexander Graham Bell to Thomas Watson). [1]

March 17

• General Crook destroy Cheyennes and Oglala-Sioux Indian camps. [1]

March 18

• F Freiligrath writer, dies at age 65. [1]

March 19

• Jozef Stefani composer, dies at age 75. [1]

April 2

• Paul van Vlissingen Dutch ship owner, dies at age 78. [1]

April 3

• Henriette Davidis writer, dies. [1]

April 8

• Amiliare Ponchielli's opera "La Gioconda", premieres in Milan. [1]

April 11

• Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks is organized. [1]
• Sir Charles Gordon ends religious tolerance in Sudan. [1]

April 16

• Augustin-Philippe Peellaert composer, dies at age 83. [1]

April 18

• Daniel O'Leary completes a 500 mile walk in 139 hours 32 minutes. [1]

April 19

• Samuel Sebastian Wesley composer, dies at age 65. [1]

April 22

• Tchaikovsky completes his "Swan Lake" ballet. [1]

May 7

• Franz count of Pocci German artist/composer (Alchemist), dies at age 69. [1]

May 8

• Truganini last originating Tasmanian, dies. [1]

May 10

• Centennial Fair opens in Philadelphia. [1]

May 12

• Henri A Esquiros French poet (Evangile du peuple), dies at age 63. [1]

May 13

• Amersfoort-Zutphen railway opens. [1]

May 17

• 7th US Cavalry under Custer leaves Fort Lincoln. [1]

May 19

• Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer Dutch historian/politician, dies at age 74. [1]

May 20

• Harold grandson of English queen Victoria, dies at age 8 days old. [1]
• Khristo Botev Bulgarian poet, dies. [1]

May 24

• Henry Kingsley English/Australian writer, dies at age 46. [1]

May 26

• Frantisek Palacky Czechoslovakia, historian/Member of Parliament, dies at age 77. [1]
• HMS Challenger returns from 128,000-km oceanographic exploration. [1]

May 27

• Joseph Bosworth lexicographer/scholar, dies. [1]

June 5

• Bananas become popular in US, at Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. [1]

June 14

• California Street Cable Car Railroad Company gets its franchise. [1]

June 15

• Sara Spencer (Republican) is first woman to address a US presidential cconvention. [1]

June

• White Star Line's Britannic sets a westward Atlantic record crossing of 7 days, 16 hours, 35 minutes. [274.11]

June 21

• Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna Mexican general (took Alamo), dies at age 82. [1]

June 25

• US Army General George Custer attacks the Lakota and Cheyenne village. [246.70]
• Native American forces led by Chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull defeat the U.S. Army troops of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer in a bloody battle near southern Montana's Little Bighorn River. [1] [129] [246.70]

July 4

• First public exhibition of electric light in San Francisco. [1]

July 8

• White terrorists attack Black Republicans in Hamburg South Carolina, killing 5. [1]

July 12

• Paul Henry discovers asteroid #164 Eva. [1]

August 1

• Colorado becomes 38th US state. [1]

August 2

• In Deadwood, South Dakota, James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok is shot dead (from behind) by Jack McCall while playing poker, for no known reason. He reportedly held a pair of Aces and a pair of 8s. [1] [187.264]

August 8

• Dan O'Leacy completes 500 mile walk in 139h32m. [1]
• Thomas Edison patents mimeograph. [1]

August 13

• Reciprocity Treaty between US and Hawaii ratified. [1]

August 14

• Prairie View State University forms. [1]

August 15

• Gold is discovered in the Black Hills of South Dakota. [430.68]

August 16

• The opera "Siegfried" is produced (Bayreuth). [1]

August 17

• The opera "Götterdämmerung" is produced (Bayreuth). [1]

September 6

• Race riot in Charleston South Carolina. [1]
• Southern Pacific line from Los Angeles to San Francisco completed. [1]

October 6

• American Library Association organized in Philadelphia. [1]

October 9

• First two-way telephone conversation, first over outdoor wires. [1]

October 16

• Race riot at Cainhoy South Carolina (5 whites and one black killed). [1]

October 18

• Francis Preston Blair newspaper editor (Washington Globe), dies at age 85. [1]

October 23

• New Orleans Mint reopens as an assay office. [1]

October 26

• President sends federal troops to South Carolina. [1]

November 7

• Meharry Medical College established at Central Tennessee College. [1]
• President Rutherford B Hayes and Samuel J Tilden claim presidential victory. [1]

December 3

• Hermann Goetz composer, dies at age 35. [1]

December 5

• Daniel Stillson (Massachusetts) patents first practical pipe wrench. [1]
• Fire at Brooklyn Theater kills 295, trampled or burned to death. [1]

December 6

• First crematorium in US begins operation, Washington Pennsylvania. [1]
• City of Anaheim incorporated for second time. [1]
• US Electorial College picks Representative Hayes as President (although Tilden won). [1]

December 8

• Suriname begins compulsory education for 7-12 years. [1]

December 20

• Hannah Omish at age 12 is youngest ever hanged in US. [1]

December 23

• Turkey's first constitution proclaimed. [1]

December 28

• Frederik Paludan-Müller Danish poet (Abels död), dies at age 67. [1]

December 29

• Eleven passenger cars crash in a ravine near Ashtabula Ohio, 92 die. [1]
• Frédéric A Bartholdi (Statue of Liberty sculptor) weds Jeanne-Emilie. [1]

1877

January 1

• England's Queen Victoria proclaimed empress of India. [1]

January 4

• Cornelius Vanderbilt US robber baron, dies at age 82. [1]

January 8

• Crazy Horse and his warriors fight their final losing battle against the U.S. Cavalry in Montana. [129]

January 11

• Pietro Romani composer, dies at age 85. [1]

January 12

• Death of Wilhelm Hofmeister in Lindenau, Germany; botanist, pioneer in comparative plant morphology, professor at the University of Tübingen. [37]

January 15

• US Assay Office in Helena, Montana opens. [1]

January 16

• Color organ (for light shows) patented, by Bainbridge Bishop. [1]

January 25

• US Congress determines presidential election between Hayes-Tilden. [1]

January 30

• Storm flood ravages Dutch coastal provinces. [1]

February 1

• Joseph-Leon Gatayes composer, dies at age 71. [1]

February 7

• First Guernsey Cattle Club organizes (New York City, New York). [1]

February 12

• First news dispatch by telephone, between Boston and Salem Massachusetts. [1]
• US railroad builders strike against wage reduction. [1]

February 20

• First cantilever bridge in US completed, Harrodsburg Kentucky. [1]

February 27

• US Electoral College declares R Hayes winner Presidential election. [1]

March 2

• Rutherford B Hayes (Republican) declared President despite Samuel J Tilden (Democrat) winning the popular vote, but is one electoral vote shy of victory. [1]

March 3

• Rutherford B Hayes is sworn in as the 19th President. [1]

March 4

• Hendrik E van Rijgersma Dutch Governor (Saint Maarten), dies at age 42. [1]
• Tsjaikovski's incomplete ballet "Zwanenmeer" premieres in Moscow. [1]

March 5

• Rutherford B Hayes inaugurated as 19th US President. [1] [397.96]

March 9

• Mark Prager Lindo English/Dutch author (Netherlands Spectator), dies at age 58. [1]

March 12

• Crystobal Oudrid y Segura composer, dies at age 52. [1]
• Great Britain annexes Walvis Bay at Cape colony. [1]

March 13

• US Patent Office awards a patent to Chester Greenwood of Farmington, Maine for ear protectors (earmuffs). [66.4]

March 18

• President Hayes appoints Frederick Douglass marshal of Washington DC. [1]

March 19

• Australia beat England by 45 runs in very first Test match. [1]

March 24

• University boat race between Oxford and Cambridge ends in a dead heat. [1]
• Walter Bagehot English economist/critic/banker, dies at age 51. [1]

March 28

• Vincenzo Fioravanti composer, dies at age 77. [1]

March 31

• Antoine A Cournot French mathematician (rule of C), dies at age 75. [1]
• British high director/Governor sir Bartle Frere arrives in Capetown. [1]

April 2

• At West's Amphitheatre in London, England, Zazel performs the first human-cannonball circus act. The Cannon is powered by elastic springs. [55.39] (April 10 [1])
• First Easter egg roll held on White House lawn. [1]

April 7

• Errico Petrella composer, dies at age 63. [1]

April 10

• Federal troops withdrawn from Columbia South Carolina. [1]

April 12

• British annex Transvaal, in South Africa. [1]

April 15

• First telephone installed Boston-Somerville Massachusetts. [1]

April 19

• The opera "Les Cloches de Corneville" is produced (Paris France). [1]

April 24

• Last federal occupying troops withdraw from south (New Orleans). [1]
• Russia declares war on Turkey through Romania. [1]

April 27

• President Rutherford Hayes removes Federal troops from Louisiana, Reconstruction ends. [1]
• The opera "Le Roi de Lahore" is produced (Paris France). [1]

May 6

• Crazy Horse leads about 1,100 Indians to the Red Cloud reservation near Nebraska's Fort Robinson and surrenders. [129]

May 7

• Cincinnati Enquirer, first uses the term "Bullpen" to indicate foul territory. [1]

May 8

• At Gilmore's Gardens in New York City, the first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show opens. [1] [5]

May 10

• In Chile, a magnitude 8.3 earthquake occurs, producing a 24 metre tsunami that caused extensive damage along the Peru-Chile coast. The tsunami was observed at all the islands of the Hawaiian archipelago, and caused fatalities in Hawaii and Japan. [53]

May 13

• César Franck's "Lesson Eolides" premieres. [1]

May 14

• John Roberts composer, dies at age 54. [1]

May 17

• Edwin T Holmes installs first telephone switchboard burglar alarm. [1]

May 29

• John Lothrop Motley (History of United Netherlands), dies at age 63. [1]

June 1

• US troops authorized to pursue bandits into Mexico. [1]

June 14

• In the USA, the first Flag Day observance is held on the 100th anniversary of the adoption of the Stars and Stripes. [129]

June 20

• Alexander Graham Bell installs the world's first commercial telephone service in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. [5]

July 23

• First US municipal railroad, Cincinnati Southern, begins operations. [1]
• First telephone and telegraph line in Hawaii completed. [1]

July 24

• First time federal troops are used to combat strikers. [1]

August 2

• San Francisco Public Library opens with 5,000 volumes. [1]

August 12

• Asaph Hall discovers Deimos, the smaller of Mars' two moons. [1] [5]
• Thomas Edison invents the Edisonphone, a sound recording device. [1]

August 17

• Asaph Hall discovers Mars' moon Phobos. [1]

August 29

• Brigham Young second president of Mormon Church, dies. [1]

September 5

• Southern blacks led by Pap Singleton settle in Kansas. [1]

September 20

• Chase National Bank opens in New York City (later merges into Chase Manhattan). [1]

September 23

• Urbain JJ Leverrier codiscoverer of Neptune, dies. [1]

September 27

• John Mercer Langston named minister of Haiti. [1]

October 5

• Chief Joseph surrenders, ending Nez Percé War. [1]

October 9

• American Humane Association organized in Cleveland. [1]

October 15

• 45thUS Congress (1877-79) convenes. [1]

November 9

• American Chemical Society chartered in New York. [1]

November 15

• In Eastern Nebraska, a magnitude 5.1 earthquake occurs. [53]

November 21

• Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph, a machine that could record and play sound. [1] [5]

November 29

• Thomas Edison demonstrates the hand-cranked phonograph. [1]

December 2

• Camille Saint-Saëns' opera "Samson et Dalila" premieres in Weimar. [1]

December 6

• First sound recording made (Thomas Edison). [1]
• Washington Post publishes first edition. [1]

December 7

• Thomas A Edison demonstrates the gramophone. [1]

December 10

• Federico Ricci composer, dies at age 68. [1]
• Jared Kirtland US physician/naturalist, dies. [1]

December 12

• José M de Alencar Brazilian writer/minister of Justice, dies at age 48. [1]

December 15

• Thomas Edison patents phonograph. [1]

December 16

• Anton Bruckner's third Symphony in D, premieres. [1]

December 26

• Socialist Labor Party of North America holds first national convention. [1]

December 27

• Nikolai A Nekrasov Russian poet (Metshty into Zvuki), dies at age 56. [1]

December 28

• John Stevens, Wisconsin, applies for a patent on his flour rolling mill. [1]

December 29

• Willem Sassen Dutch Attorney General on Curaçao (Affair-S), dies. [1]

December 30

• Johnannes Brahms' second Symphony in D, premieres in Vienna. [1]

December 31

• Alberto Mazzucato composer, dies at age 64. [1]
• JD Gustave Courbet French painter (Baigneuses), dies at age 58. [1]