| January 3 | Meiji Restoration returns authority to Japan's emperors |
| January 7 | Arkansas constitutional convention meets in Little Rock |
| January 7 | Mississippi constitutional convention meets in Jackson |
| January 14 | North Carolina constitutional convention meets in Raleigh |
| January 14 | South Carolina constitutional convention, meets with a black majority |
| January 16 | Refrigerator car patented by William Davis, a fish dealer in Detroit |
| January 20 | Florida constitutional convention meets in Tallahassee |
| February 10 | Conservatives and military, seize Convention Hall in Florida |
| February 16 | Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks forms (New York) |
| February 24 | 1st U.S. parade with floats (Mardi Gras-Mobile Alabama) |
| February 24 | House of Representatives vote 126 to 47, to impeach President Andrew Johnson |
| February 29 | 1st British government of Disraeli forms |
| March 2 | University of Illinois opens |
| March 5 | Arrigo Boito's opera "Mefistofele," premieres in Milan |
| March 5 | Stapler patented in England by C. H. Gould |
| March 5 | U.S. Senate organizes to decide charges against President Andrew Johnson |
| March 9 | The opera "Hamlet" premieres in Paris |
| March 12 | Britain annexed Basutoland in Africa |
| March 12 | Congress abolishes manufacturer's tax |
| March 12 | Great Britain annexes Basutoland in Africa |
| March 13 | Senate begins President Andrew Johnson impeachment trial |
| March 17 | Postage stamp canceling machine patent issued |
| March 20 | Jesse James Gang robs bank in Russelville Kentucky of $14,000 |
| March 21 | 1st U.S. professional women's club, Sorosis, forms in New York City |
| March 23 | University of California founded (Oakland California) |
| March 24 | Metropolitan Life Insurance Co forms |
| March 31 | Chinese Embassy arrives aboard steamship China |
| April 1 | Hampton Institute opens |
| April 3 | An Hawaiian surfs on highest wave ever, he rides a 50' tidal wave |
| April 6 | Brigham Young marries his 27th and final wife |
| April 10 | 1st performance of John Brahms' "Ein german Requiem" |
| April 10 | Brits defeat King of Abyssinia at Magdala |
| April 14 | South Carolina voters approved constitution, 70,758 to 27,228 |
| April 16 | Louisiana voters approve new constitution |
| April 18 | San Francisco Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals formed |
| May 9 | Anton Bruckner's 1st Symphony in C, premieres |
| May 15 | Dutch Government of Zuylen van Nijevelt falls |
| May 16 | Bedrich Smetana's opera "Dalibor," premieres in Prague |
| May 16 | By one vote, Senate fails to impeach President Andrew Johnson |
| May 20 | Republican National Convention, meets in Chicago, nominates Grant |
| May 22 | Great Train Robbery-7 men (Reno Brother) make off with $98,000 in cash |
| May 25 | Australia Aboriginal Cricket tour of England begins vs. Surrey Gentlemen |
| May 26 | President Andrew Johnson avoids impeachment by 1 vote |
| May 30 | Memorial Day 1st observed when 2 women in Columbus Mississippi placed flowers on both Confederate and Union graves |
| May 31 | 1st Memorial Day parade held in Ironton, Ohio |
| May 31 | Dr. James Moore (UK) wins 1st recorded bicycle race, (2k) velocipede race at Parc fde St. Cloud, Paris |
| June 1 | Texas constitutional convention meets in Austin |
| June 4 | Van Bosse/Fock government begins |
| June 9 | 1st meeting of Board of Regents, University of California |
| June 10 | 2nd Belmont: Bobby Swim aboard General Duke wins in 3:02 |
| June 13 | Oscar J. Dunn, is elected Lt Governor of Louisiana |
| June 19 | Major General E R S Canby removes mayor of Columbia SC |
| June 21 | Wagner's opera "Meistersinger von Nuernberg," premieres in Munich |
| June 22 | Arkansas re-enters U.S. |
| June 23 | Christopher Latham Sholes patents "Type-writer" |
| June 25 | FL, AL, LA, GA, North Carolina and South Carolina readmitted to US |
| June 25 | President Andrew Johnson passes a law that government workers would work 8 hour day |
| July 4 | Battle at Ueno: last Tokugawa armies defeated |
| July 7 | Ed Pooley takes 12 dismissals as keeper in match Surrey vs. Sussex |
| July 9 | 1st black cabinet member in South Carolina (Francis L Cardozo-sect of state) |
| July 13 | Oscar J Dunn, former slave, installed as lt governor of Louisiana |
| July 14 | Alvin J. Fellows patents tape measure |
| July 20 | 1st use of tax stamps on cigarettes |
| July 25 | U.S. Congress forms Wyoming Territory (Dakota, Utah and Idaho) |
| July 28 | 14th Amendment ratified, grants citizenship to ex-slaves |
| August 8 | Quake destroyes Arica, Chile |
| August 13 | Earthquakes kill 25,000 and causes $300 million damages (Peru and Ecuador) |
| August 18 | Pierre Janssan discovers helium in solar spectrum during eclipse |
| September 8 | New York Athletic Club forms |
| September 14 | Golf's 1st recorded hole-in-one (Tom Morris at Prestwick's 8th hole) |
| September 23 | Grito de Lares proclaims Puerto Rico's independence (crushed by Spain) |
| September 28 | Battle of Alcolea, causes Queen Isabella 2 of Spain to flee to France |
| September 28 | Opelousas Massacre at St. Landry Parish Louisiana (200 blacks killed) |
| September 30 | Spain's Queen Isabella is deposed, flees to France |
| October 1 | 1st edition of Maasbode published |
| October 7 | Cornell University (Ithaca New York) opens |
| October 10 | 1st written account of a Canadian football game |
| October 10 | Cuba revolts for independence against Spain |
| October 11 | Thomas Edison patents his 1st invention: electric voice machine |
| October 17 | Constitution of Grand Duchy of Luxembourg comes into effect |
| October 21 | Severe earthquake at 7:53 AM, centered in Hayward, California |
| October 22 | Jacques Offenbach's opera "Genevieve de Brabant," premieres in New York City |
| October 30 | John Menard of Louisiana is 1st black elected to Congress |
| October 31 | Standard uniform approved for postal carriers |
| November 3 | 1st black elected to Congress (John W Menard, Louisiana) |
| November 3 | Ulysses Grant (R) wins presidential election over Horatio Seymour (D) |
| November 11 | 1st American amateur track and field meet (New York City) |
| November 13 | American Philological Association organized in NY |
| November 23 | Louis Ducos du Hauron patents trichrome color photo process |
| November 26 | 1st baseball game played in enclosed field in SF, at 25th and Folsom |
| November 27 | Battle at Washita, General Custer defeats Cheyennes |
| December 1 | John D. Rockefeller begins anti oil war |
| December 2 | 1st British government of Disraeli resigns |
| December 3 | Trial of Jefferson Davis starts; 1st blacks on U.S. trial jury |
| December 5 | 1st American bicycle college opens (NY) |
| December 7 | Jesse James gang robs bank in Gallatin, Missouri, kills 1 |
| December 9 | 1st British government of Gladstone forms |
| December 25 | Despite bitter opposition, President A Johnson grants unconditional pardon to all persons involved in Southern rebellion (Civil War) |
BrainyHistory
