| January 1 | Building of Panama Canal, begins |
| January 6 | Record snow cover in Seattle-120 cm |
| January 9 | 6' (1.8 meters) of snow falls in Seattle in 5 days |
| January 21 | 1st U.S. sewage disposal system separate from storm drains, Memphis |
| January 27 | Thomas Edison patents electric incandescent lamp |
| February 2 | SS Strathleven arrives in London with 1st Australian frozen mutton |
| February 4 | Steele MacKay's "Hazel Kirke," premieres in New York City |
| February 10 | Pope Leo XIII publishes encyclical Arcanum about Christian marriage |
| February 12 | National Croquet League organizes in Philadelphia |
| February 16 | American Society of Mechanical Engineers forms (New York City) |
| February 17 | Tsar Alexander II of Russia survives an assassination attempt |
| February 29 | Gotthard railway tunnel between Switzerland and Italy completed |
| March 1 | Pennsylvania is 1st American state to abolish slavery |
| March 4 | New York Daily Graphic publishes 1st half-tone engraving, by S. H. Horgan |
| March 10 | General Wolseley opens new legislative council in Pretoria |
| March 10 | Salvation Army of England sets up U.S. welfare and religious activity |
| March 23 | Flour rolling mill patented (John Stevens of Wisconsin) |
| March 24 | Tobacco Growers' Mutual Insurance Company incorporates in Connecticut |
| March 31 | 1st town completely illuminated by electric lighting (Wabash, Indiana) |
| April 24 | Amateur Athletic Association, governing body for men's athletics in England and Wales, is founded in Oxford, England |
| May 10 | General Wolseley opens new legislative council in Pretoria |
| May 18 | 6th Kentucky Derby: George Lewis aboard Fonso wins in 2:37 |
| May 28 | 8th Preakness: L Hughes aboard Grenada wins in 2:40 |
| May 31 | League of American Wheelmen (1st U.S. bicycle association), forms in Newport, Rhode Island |
| June 1 | 1st pay telephone installed |
| June 1 | U.S. census at 50,155,783 |
| June 10 | Charlie Jones becomes 1st to hit 2 home runs in 1 inning |
| June 12 | 1st baseball perfect game, John Richmond of Worcester beats Cleveland |
| June 12 | John Lee Richmond pitches 1st major league perfect game, Worcester 1, Cleveland's Forest City 0 |
| June 14 | 14th Belmont: L Hughes aboard Grenada wins in 2:47 |
| June 16 | Salvation Army forms in Londo |
| June 17 | John Ward, Providence, pitches perfect game vs Buffalo |
| June 29 | France annexes Otaheite (Tahiti) |
| July 19 | SF Public Library starts lending books |
| July 21 | Compressed air accident kills 20 workers on Hudson River tunnel, New York |
| July 23 | 1st commercial hydroelectric power planet begins, Grand Rapids, Michigan |
| July 27 | A P Abourne patents a process for refining coconut oil |
| July 27 | Battle of Maiwand, at which Dr. Watson is wounded, breaks out |
| August 3 | American Canoe Association founded at Lake George, New York |
| August 14 | Construction of Cologne Cathedral completed (began in 1248) |
| September 6 | Commencement of 1st Test Cricket in England, vs. Australia at The Oval |
| September 6 | W G Grace scores 152 in debut Test Cricket innings, vs. Australia The Oval |
| September 7 | Geo Ligowsky patents device to throw clay pigeons for trapshooters |
| September 10 | Pierre de Brazza signs treaty with King Makoko of Congo |
| September 23 | Jules Ferry forms French government |
| September 30 | Henry Draper takes that 1st photograph of Orion Nebula |
| October 1 | John Philip Sousa becomes new director of U.S. Marine Corps Band |
| October 4 | University of California founded in Los Angeles |
| October 15 | Koln cathedral completed, 633 years after it begun |
| October 20 | Amsterdam Free University opens |
| October 27 | Theodore Roosevelt marries Alice Hathaway Lee, on his 22nd birthday |
| November 2 | James A. Garfield (R) elected president |
| November 4 | 1st cash register patented by James and John Ritty of Dayton Ohio |
| November 8 | Sarah Bernhardt, French actress, made U.S. debut at New York's Booth Theater |
| November 21 | Henry Stanley and Pierre de Brazza quarrel about possession of Congo |
| November 24 | Southern University forms |
| December 8 | 5,000 armed Boers gather in Paardekraal South Africa |
| December 16 | Republic of South Africa forms |
| December 20 | Battle at Bronker's Spruit, Transvaal: Farmers beat Britten |
| December 20 | NY's Broadway lit by electricity, becomes known as "Great White Way" |
