| January 6 | Patent for reducing zinc ore granted to Samuel Wetherill, Penn |
| January 8 | Dion Boucicauly's "Poor of NY," premieres in New York City |
| January 9 | 7.9 earthquake shakes Fort Tejon California |
| January 15 | 1st first-class game in Sydney, NSW vs. Vic at The Domain |
| January 22 | National Association of Baseball Players founded, New York |
| February 16 | Gallaudet College (National Deaf Mute college) forms (Washington D.C.) |
| February 18 | Insurrection of Chinese in Sarawak, Borneo |
| February 21 | Congress outlaws foreign currency as legal tender in U.S. |
| February 21 | U.S. issues flying eagle cents |
| February 24 | 1st perforated U.S. postage stamps delivered to government |
| February 24 | Los Angeles Vineyard Society organized |
| March 6 | Dred Scott Decision: Supreme Court rules slaves cannot be citizens |
| March 7 | Baseball decides 9 innings constitutes an official game, not 9 runs |
| March 12 | Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Simon Boccanegra," premieres in Venice |
| March 21 | Earthquake hits Tokyo; about 107,000 die |
| March 23 | Elisha Otis' 1st elevator installed (488 Broadway, New York City) |
| March 25 | Frederick Laggenheim takes 1st photo of a solar eclipse |
| April 12 | Gustave Flaubert's "Madame Bovary" published |
| April 21 | Alexander Douglas patents the bustle |
| April 27 | Establishment of Jewish congregations in Lower Austria prohibited |
| April 29 | U.S. Army, Pacific Div HQ permanently forms at Presidio |
| April 30 | San Jose State University forms |
| May 1 | William Walker, conqueror of Nicaragua, surrenders to U.S. Navy |
| May 10 | Indian Mutiny begins with revolt of Sepoys of Meerut |
| May 10 | Sepoy-revolt in Meerutkazerne, Delhi |
| May 19 | William Francis Channing and Moses G Farmer patents electric fire alarm |
| June 2 | James Gibbs, Va, patents chain-stitch single-thread sewing machine |
| June 5 | Walter Woodbury and James Page open photo studio in Batavia, Djakarta |
| June 10 | England passes an act putting Canada on the decimal currency system |
| June 15 | San Francisco Water Works organized |
| June 26 | 62 receive Victoria Cross |
| June 26 | Cawnpore England massacre |
| June 29 | Battle at Chinhat (Indies rebel under Barkat Ahmed beat British) |
| July 16 | Sir Henry Havelock arrives at Battle of Cawnpore |
| September 12 | 423 die when "Central America" sinks off Cape Romain SC |
| September 15 | Timothy Alder patents typesetting machine |
| September 16 | Mexican constitution of force (fiercely attacked by Pope Pius IX) |
| September 23 | Russian warship Leffort disappears in Finland Gulf in storm; 826 die |
| September 25 | Relief of Lucknow by Havelock and Outram begins |
| September 30 | U.S. occupies Sand, Baker, Howland and Jarvis Is south of Hawaii |
| October 6 | American Chess Association organized; 1st major U.S. chess tournament (New York City) |
| October 10 | American Chess Association formed (New York City) |
| October 24 | World's 1st soccer club, Sheffield F C, founded in England |
| November 9 | Atlantic Monthly magazine 1st published |
| December 8 | 1st production of Dion Boucicaults "Poor of NY" |
| December 16 | Earthquake in Naples, Italy |
| December 29 | Franz Liszt's "Die Hunnenschlacht," premieres in Weimar |
| December 31 | Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa as new capital of Canada |
BrainyHistory
