| January 1 | 1st Tournament of Roses (Pasadena California) |
| January 15 | Weekly Herald, 1st Vancouver, BC newspaper, publishes 1st issue |
| January 19 | Aurora Ski Club, 1st in U.S., founded in Minnesota |
| January 26 | Karl Benz patents 1st auto with burning motor |
| January 27 | 1st British government of Salisbury resigns |
| January 29 | 1st successful gasoline-driven car patented, Karl Benz, Karlsruhe |
| February 9 | President Cleveland declares a state of emergency in Seattle because of anti-Chinese violence |
| February 12 | 2nd British government of Salisbury forms |
| February 13 | Painter Thomas Eakins resigns from Philadelphia Academy of Art after controversial over use of male nudes in a coed art class |
| February 23 | Aluminum manufacturing process developed |
| February 23 | London Times publishes world's 1st classified ad |
| February 23 | Tsjaikovski's symphony "Manfred," premieres |
| March 6 | 1st U.S. alternating current power plant starts, Great Barrington, MA |
| March 6 | 1st U.S. nurses' magazine, The Nightingale, 1st appears, New York City |
| March 17 | Carrollton Massacre, (Mississippi) 20 blacks killed |
| March 20 | 1st AC power plant in U.S. begins commercial operation, Massachusetts |
| March 26 | 1st cremation in England |
| March 29 | Chemist John Pemberton begins to advertise for Coca-Coke |
| April 6 | City of Vancouver BC incorporated |
| April 6 | Declaration of Berlin neutralizes Tonga |
| April 25 | Sigmund Freud opens practice at Rathausstrasse 7, Vienna |
| April 29 | 1st public Dutch electricity opens |
| May 1 | U.S. general strike for 8 hour day, begins |
| May 3 | M A Maclean elected 1st mayor of Vancouver, BC |
| May 4 | Haymarket riot in Chicago; bomb kills 7 policemen |
| May 8 | Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta sells 1st Coca-Coke (contained cocaine) |
| May 14 | 12th Kentucky Derby: Paul Duffy aboard Ben Ali wins in 2:36 |
| May 19 | Camille Saint-Saens' 3rd Symphony in C, premieres |
| May 21 | 14th Preakness: S Fisher aboard Bard wins in 2:45 |
| June 2 | Grover Cleveland is 1st to wed during presidency, Frances Folsom |
| June 3 | 24 Christians burn to death in Namgongo Uganda |
| June 5 | 20th Belmont: Jim McLaughlin aboard Inspector B wins in 2:41 |
| June 8 | 1st Civil Rights Act passes |
| June 13 | Fire destroys nearly 1,000 buildings in Vancouver |
| July 3 | 1st New York Tribune printing using 1st commercial linotype machine |
| July 3 | In Germany, Karl Benz drives 1st automobile |
| July 4 | 1st scheduled transcontinental passenger train reaches Pt Moody, BC |
| July 6 | Horlick's of Wisconsin offers 1st malted milk to public |
| July 10 | Eruption of Tarawera volcano destroys famous pink and white calcium carbonate hot-spring terraces (North Island, New Zealand) |
| July 10 | George Goldie gets charter for Royal Niger Company |
| July 23 | Steve Brodie supposedly survives plunge from Brooklyn Bridge |
| July 24 | China takes British protectorate of Burma |
| July 28 | English Salisbury government forms |
| August 1 | Great Britain annexes Kermadec-Island near New Zealand |
| August 4 | Colombia adopts constitution |
| August 12 | W G Grace made his highest Test Cricket score, vs. AuAustraliast, The Oval |
| August 15 | Guy Hecker scores 7 runs in 1 game |
| August 18 | Carr Baker Neel and Samuel Neel win U.S. Lawn Tennis Association doubles |
| August 25 | 1st International polo meet, U.S. vs England |
| August 31 | 1st major earthquake recorded in eastern U.S., at Charleston SC, 110 die |
| August 31 | Crocker-Woolworth National Bank organized |
| September 1 | Netherlands New Code of Criminal law enforced |
| September 4 | Apache Chief Geronimo surrenders ending last major US-Indian war |
| September 6 | Queen Victoria establishes Distinguished Service Order (DSO) award |
| September 11 | Mayflower (U.S.) beats Galatea (England) in 7th America's Cup |
| September 14 | George K Anderson of Memphis, Tennessee patents typewriter ribbon |
| September 25 | Comedy opera "Dorothy," 1st produced in London |
| October 1 | U.S. Mint at Carson City, Nevada closes |
| October 6 | Start of Sherlock Holmes adventure "Resident Patient" |
| October 7 | Spain abolishes slavery in Cuba |
| October 8 | Start of Sherlock Holmes adventure "Noble Bachelor" |
| October 10 | 1st dinner jacket worn to autumn ball at Tuxedo Park, New York (tuxedo) |
| October 12 | Hurricane and sea surge kills 250 at Indianola, Texas |
| October 12 | Start of Sherlock Holmes "Adventure of 2nd Stain" |
| October 23 | St. Louis Browns win World Championship by beating Chicago 4-3 in 10 |
| October 26 | Modest Mussorgsky's "A Night on Bald Mountain," premieres in Russia |
| October 27 | Musical fantasy "Night on Bald Mountain," performed in Russia |
| October 28 | Statue of Liberty dedicated by President Grover Cleveland |
| October 30 | Great Britain/Germany divide boundaries in East-Africa |
| November 3 | Friars of Tilburg arrives on Curaeao |
| November 4 | Edward MacDowell's "Ophelia," premieres |
| November 22 | Victoria Street Cable Tram route begins in Melbourne, Australia |
| November 30 | 1st commercially successful AC electric power plant opens, Buffalo |
| December 8 | American Federation of Labor (AFL) formed by 26 craft unions Samuel Gompers elected AFL president |
| December 16 | Rift at Dutch Reformed Church over "Doleantie" |
| December 22 | 1st national accountants' society in U.S. formed (New York City) |
