| January 4 | Thomas Stevens is 1st man to bicycle around the world (SF-SF) |
| January 5 | 1st U.S. school of librarianship opens at Columbia University |
| January 16 | Cliff House damaged when schooner "Parallel"'s powder cargo explodes |
| January 20 | U.S. Senate approves naval base lease of Pearl Harbor |
| January 21 | Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) forms |
| January 26 | Battle of Dogali: Abyssinian Emperor John IV defeats Italians |
| January 28 | England all out for 45 vs. Australia SCG, their lowest total ever |
| February 1 | Harvey Wilcox of Ks subdivides 120 acres he owned in Southern California and starts selling it off as a real estate development (Hollywood) |
| February 3 | To avoid disputed national elections, Congress creates Electoral Count Act |
| February 4 | Interstate Commerce Act authorizes federal regulation of railroads |
| February 5 | Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Otello" premieres at La Scala in Italy |
| February 5 | Snow falls on San Francisco |
| February 8 | Aurora Ski Club of Red Wing, Minnesota became the 1st U.S. ski club |
| February 8 | Dawes Act passed (indians living apart from tribe granted citizenship) |
| February 14 | Cubs sell Mike King Kelly to Boston for record $10,000 |
| February 16 | 1st newspaper convention in Rochester, New York |
| February 16 | Eduard Douwes Dekker writes his last text (Lf8-c5) |
| February 20 | 1st minor league baseball association organizes in Pittsburgh |
| February 20 | Germany, Austria-Hungary and France end Triple Alliance |
| February 21 | 1st U.S. bacteriology laboratory opens in Brooklyn |
| February 21 | Oregon becomes 1st U.S. state to make Labor Day a holiday |
| February 22 | Union Labor Party organized in Cincinnati |
| February 23 | Congress grants Seal Rocks to San Francisco |
| February 23 | French/Italian Riviera struck by Earthquake; 2,000 die |
| February 26 | George Lohmann took 1st 8-wkt haul in Test Crickets, 8-35 at SCG |
| March 2 | American Trotting Association organized in Detroit |
| March 3 | American Protective Association forms (anti-Catholic) in Clinton Iowa |
| March 3 | Anne Sullivan begins teaching 6 year old blind-deaf Helen Keller |
| March 8 | Everett Horton, Connecticut, patents fishing rod of telescoping steel tubes |
| March 13 | Chester Greenwood of Maine patents earmuffs |
| March 15 | 1st salaried fish and game warden (William Alden Smith in Michigan) |
| March 24 | Oscar Straus appointed 1st Jewish ambassador from U.S. (to Turkey) |
| April 4 | Susanna Medora Salter elected 1st U.S. woman mayor (Argonia, Kansas) |
| April 5 | Anne Sullivan teaches "water" to Helen Keller |
| April 10 | President Abraham Lincoln's re-buried with his wife in Springfield, Illinois |
| April 10 | Soccer team Be Quick forms in Hairs Groningen |
| April 12 | Henrik Ibsen's "Rosmersholm," premieres in Oslo |
| April 14 | Start of Sherlock Holmes adventure "Reigate Squires" |
| April 26 | Huntsville Electric Co forms to sell electricity |
| April 30 | 1st game played at Broad and Huntingdon St. Park (Baker Bowl) in Philadelphia; Phillies beat Giants 19-10 |
| May 2 | G Rossini's corpse transfered to Santa Croce, Florence |
| May 2 | Hannibal W. Goodwin patents celluloid photographic film |
| May 11 | 13th Kentucky Derby: Isaac Lewis aboard Montrose wins in 2:39 |
| May 13 | 15th Preakness: William Donohue aboard Dunboyne wins in 2:39 |
| May 18 | Emmanuel Chabriers opera "Le Roi Malgre Luis," premieres in Paris |
| May 23 | 1st transcontinental train arrives in Vancouver, BC |
| May 24 | Sultan Bargash of Zanzibar grants E Afr Association at East African harbors |
| May 25 | Gas lamp at Paris Opera catches fire; 200 die |
| May 26 | Racetrack betting becomes legal in New York state |
| June 7 | Monotype type-casting machine patented by Tolbert Lanston, Washington D.C. |
| June 9 | 21st Belmont: Jim McLaughlin aboard Hanover wins in 2:43 |
| June 15 | Carlisle D. Graham survives 2nd ride in Niagara waterfall in barrel |
| June 15 | New York Giants beat Philadelphia Phillies 29-1 |
| June 15 | Stanley's expedition reaches Yambuya waterfalls Congo |
| June 21 | Britain celebrates golden jubilee of Queen Victoria |
| June 28 | Phillies most lopsided shut-out beating Indianapolis 24-0 |
| July 6 | 4th Wimbledon Womens Tennis: Lottie Dod beats Blanche Hillyard (62 60) |
| July 26 | 1st Esperanto book published |
| August 2 | Rowell Hodge patents barbed wire |
| August 10 | Excursion train crashes killing 101. (Chatsworth, Illinois) |
| August 21 | Mighty (Dan) Casey struck-out in a game with New York Giants! |
| September 1 | Dutch Amateur Photography Cooperation established |
| September 5 | Gas lamp at Theater Royal in Exeter catches fire killing about 200 |
| September 15 | Philadelphia celebrates 100th anniversary of U.S. Constitution |
| September 26 | Emile Berliner patents the Gramophone |
| September 28 | Gele River (Huang Ho) in China floods, kills about 1.5 million |
| September 30 | Start of Sherlock Holmes Adventure "Five Orange Pips" |
| September 30 | Volunteer (U.S.) beats Thistle (Scotland) in 8th America's Cup |
| October 8 | Phillies set club record 16th straight victory |
| October 11 | A Miles patents elevator |
| October 18 | Start of Sherlock Holmes adventure "A Case of Identity" |
| October 21 | Detroit clinches best-of-15 touring World Championship with its 8th victory in Game 11 this afternoon in Baltimore, 13-3 |
| October 26 | Detroit (NL) beats St. Louis (AA) 10 games to 5 in World Series |
| October 31 | Rimski-Korsakov's "Capricio Espagnol," premieres in St. Petersburg |
| November 5 | Ottawa College (ORFU) defeats Montreal Football Club (QRFU) 10-5 to win the Dominion championship |
| November 15 | British SS Wah Yeung catches fire on Canton River off Hong Kong |
| November 19 | Start of Sherlock Holmes "Adventure of Dying Detective" |
| November 23 | Notre Dame loses its 1st football game 8-0 to Michigan |
| November 23 | Opera "Trumpeter of Sackingen" 1st American production (New York City) |
| November 24 | Victorien Sardou's "La Tosca," premieres in Paris |
| November 29 | U.S. receives rights to Pearl Harbor, on Oahu, Hawaii |
| November 30 | 1st indoor softball game (Chicago) |
| December 1 | Sherlock Holmes 1st appears in print: "Study in Scarlet" |
| December 1 | Sino-Portuguese treaty recognizes Portugal's control of Macao |
| December 2 | Amsterdam's Oscar Carres Circus Theater opens |
| December 2 | Charles Dickens' 1st public reading in U.S. (New York City) |
| December 2 | French president Grevy (80) resigns |
| December 5 | Stanley's expedition reaches plateau at Lake Albert Congo |
| December 10 | Austria-Hungary/Italy/Great Britain signs military treaty of Balkan |
| December 17 | Georges Feydeaus' "Tailleur Pour Dames" premieres in Paris |
| December 19 | Jake Kilrain and Jem Smith fight 106 round bare knuckle draw |
| December 27 | Start of Sherlock Holmes "Adventure of Blue Carbuncle" |
| December 28 | Sir John Layton Jarvis, 1st British race horse trainer knighted |
