| January 1 | 1st U.S. public bath opens, in New York City |
| January 1 | Netherlands begins issuing postage stamps |
| January 3 | 1st Chinese arrive in Hawaii |
| January 17 | British recognize independence of Transvaal (in South Africa) |
| February 2 | 1st British public men's toilet opens (Fleet St. London) |
| February 2 | Alexandre Dumas Jr's "Le Dame aux Camelias," premieres in Paris |
| February 11 | 1st British public female toilet opens (Bedford Street London) |
| February 15 | Great Ormond St. Hospital for Sick Children, London, admits 1st patient |
| February 26 | British frigate Birkenhead sinks off South Africa-458 die |
| March 7 | Dutch telegraph traffic regulated by law |
| March 13 | Uncle Sam cartoon figure made its debut in the New York Lantern weekly |
| March 20 | Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" published (Boston) |
| March 25 | Friedrich Hebbel's "Agnes Bernauer," premieres in Munich |
| March 29 | Ohio makes it illegal for children under 18 and women to work more than 10 hours a day |
| April 19 | California Historical Society forms |
| April 29 | 1st edition of Peter Roget's Thesaurus published |
| April 30 | Anton Rubinsteins opera "Dmitri Donskoi," premieres in St. Petersburg |
| May 18 | Massachusetts rules all school-age children must attend school |
| July 3 | Congress authorizes U.S.'s 2nd mint (San Francisco, California) |
| July 9 | Fire destroys 1,100 construction sites in Montreal Canada and no one die |
| July 23 | 1st interment in U.S. National Cemetery at Presidio |
| July 31 | Hottest July in Netherlands since at least 1783 (68.4 degrees F (20.2 degrees C) avg) |
| August 1 | San Francisco Methodists establish 1st black church, Zion Methodist |
| August 3 | 1st intercollegiate rowing race, Harvard beats Yale by 4 lengths |
| August 20 | Steamer "Atlantic" collided with fishing boat, sinks with 250 aboard |
| September 3 | Anti Jewish riots break out in Stockholm |
| September 11 | Olympia Columbian is 1st newspaper published north of Columbia R |
| September 14 | 18th Postmaster General: Samuel D Hubbard of Connecticut takes office |
| September 24 | Henri Giffard, a French engineer, makes 1st dirigible flight |
| September 27 | George L Aiken's "Uncle Tom's Cabin," premieres in Troy, New York |
| October 16 | Dutch Government recognize Catholics right to organize |
| November 2 | Franklin Pierce elected as president of U.S. |
| November 18 | State funeral of duke of Wellington (London) |
| November 20 | Charles Reade/Tom Taylor's "Masks and Faces," premieres in London |
| November 21 | Duke U, founded in 1838 as Union Institute chartered as Normal College |
| November 23 | Just past midnight, a sharp jolt causes Lake Merced to drop 30' (9m) |
| December 1 | Telegraph company opens throughout Netherlands |
| December 2 | 2nd French empire established; Louis Napoleon becomes emperor |
| December 8 | Gustav Freytag's "Die Journalisten," premieres in Breslau |
| December 17 | 1st Hawaiian cavalry organized |
| December 23 | 1st Chinese theater in U.S., Celestial John, opens in San Francisco |
| December 29 | Emma Snodgrass arrested in Boston for wearing pants |
| December 31 | Future president and Mrs. Rutherford B Hayes marry |
