| January 3 | 1st wax drinking straw patented, by Marvin C Stone in Washington D.C. |
| January 5 | Dutch Heidemaatschappij established |
| January 7 | Start of Sherlock Holmes adventure "Valley of Fear" |
| January 13 | National Geographic Society founded in Washington, D.C. |
| January 27 | National Geographic Society organizes in Washington D.C. |
| January 30 | Harry Moses 297 not out for NSW against Victoria |
| February 22 | John Reid of Scotland demonstrates golf to Americans in Yonkers, New York |
| February 24 | Louisville, Kentucky becomes 1st government in U.S. to adopt Australian ballot |
| February 28 | Ferry in San Pablo Bay explodes |
| February 28 | Vincent d'Indy's Wallenstein-trilogy, premieres |
| March 10 | 1st performance of Cesar Franck's "Psyche" |
| March 10 | HW Boxing champ John L Sullivan draws Charlie Mitchell in 30 rounds |
| March 11 | Great blizzard of '88 strikes the North East U.S. |
| March 12 | 2nd day of the Great blizzard of '88 in NE U.S. (400 die) |
| March 13 | Great Blizzard of 1888 rages |
| March 14 | 2nd largest snowfall in New York City history (21") |
| March 20 | Start of the Sherlock Holmes Adventure, "A Scandal in Bohemia" |
| March 21 | Arthur Pinero's "Sweet Lavender," premieres in London |
| March 22 | English Football League established |
| March 25 | Socialist leader Domela Nieuwenhuis elected to Dutch 2nd chamber |
| April 1 | Soccer team Sparta forms in Rotterdam |
| April 7 | Start of Sherlock Holmes adventure "Yellow Face" |
| April 16 | Drentse and Friese peat cutters go on strike |
| April 20 | 246 reported killed by hail in Moradabad, India |
| April 24 | Eastman Kodak forms |
| April 29 | Old Kavallison, Congo: Stanley meet Emin Pasha |
| April 30 | Hail stones kills about 250 in Moradabad district of Delhi |
| May 4 | Italy and Spain sign military covenant |
| May 7 | Edouard Lalo's opera "Le roi d'Ys," premieres in Paris |
| May 7 | George Eastman patents "Kodak box camera" |
| May 11 | 16th Preakness: F Littlefield aboard Refund wins in 2:49 |
| May 12 | Crouching start 1st used by Charles Sherrill of Yale |
| May 13 | DeWolf Hooper 1st recited "Casey at Bat" |
| May 13 | Princess Isabel of Brazil signs "Lei Aurea" abolishing slavery |
| May 14 | 14th Kentucky Derby: George Covington aboard MacBeth II wins in 2:38 |
| May 16 | CPR opens Hotel Vancouver, Vancouver, BC |
| May 22 | Leroy Buffington patents a system to build skyscrapers |
| June 1 | California gets its 1st seismograph |
| June 3 | "Casey at the Bat" published, SF Examiner |
| June 5 | Democrats nominate Grover Cleveland for president |
| June 9 | 22nd Belmont: Jim McLaughlin aboard Sir Dixon wins in 2:40 |
| June 13 | Congress creates Department of Labor |
| June 15 | Wilhelm II becomes emperor of Germany |
| June 20 | Pope Leo XIII publishes encyclical Libertas |
| June 23 | Frederick Douglass is 1st African-American nominated for president |
| June 25 | Republican Convention, in Chicago, nominates Benjamin Harrison |
| July 3 | New York Giant pitcher Rube Marquard ties record of 19 game win-streak |
| July 4 | 1st organized rodeo competition held, Prescott, Arizona |
| July 11 | 118 degrees F (48 degrees C), Bennett, Colorado (state record) |
| July 11 | Pennsylvania's Monongehela River rises 32' after 24 hour rainfall |
| July 15 | Bandai volcano (Japan) erupts for 1st time in 1,000 years |
| July 23 | John Boyd Dunlop, applies to patent pneumatic tire |
| July 27 | Philip Pratt unveils 1st electric automobile |
| August 7 | Theophilus Van Kannel of Philadelphia patents revolving door |
| August 10 | New York Giant pitcher Tim Keefe sets a 19 game win streak record |
| August 12 | Bertha, wife of inventor Karl Benz, makes 1st motor tour |
| August 19 | 1st beauty contest (Spa, Belgium), 18 yr old West Indian wins |
| August 20 | Longest U.S. men's single tournament match Palmer Presbrey defeats T S Tailer, 19-21, 8-6, 6-1, 6-4, an 80-game 1st-round contest |
| August 21 | William Seward Burroughs patents adding machine |
| August 25 | 8th U.S. Mens Tennis: Henry W Slocum, Jr. beats Howard A Taylor (64 61 60) |
| August 30 | Lord Walsingham kills 1070 grouse in a single day |
| September 1 | Dutch Railway Deventer-Almelo opens |
| September 3 | East Africa Company political and commercial rights |
| September 3 | Queen Victoria grants William Mackinnons Imperial British |
| September 4 | George Eastman patents 1st roll-film camera and registers "Kodak" |
| September 7 | Edith Eleanor McLean is 1st baby place in an incubator |
| September 12 | Start of Sherlock Holmes adventure "Greek Interpreter" |
| September 18 | Start of Sherlock Holmes adventure "Sign of Four" |
| September 19 | World's 1st beauty contest (Spa Belgium) |
| September 25 | Royal Court Theatre, London, opens |
| September 25 | Start of Sherlock Holmes "Hound of Baskervilles" |
| September 30 | "Jack the Ripper" butchers 2 more women, Liz Stride and Kate Eddowes |
| October 1 | National Geographic magazine publishes for 1st time |
| October 9 | Washington Monument opens for public admittance |
| October 10 | Teatotalers excursion train crushed, killing 64 (Mud Run Pa) |
| October 19 | Moshav Gederah is attacked by Arabs |
| October 20 | Chicago and All America baseball teams play exhibition in Auckland, New Zealand |
| October 23 | Pelham Bay Park in Bronx, vested |
| October 29 | Lord Salisbury grants Cecil Rhodes charter for BSA Company |
| October 30 | John J Loud patents ballpoint pen |
| October 30 | Ndebele-king Lobengula grants Cecil Rhodes, Mashonaland 100 pounds per month |
| October 31 | John Boyd Dunlop patents pneumatic bicycle tire |
| November 3 | Amsterdam: 1st concerto of Concert worker, under Willem Kes |
| November 6 | Benjamin Harrison (R-Sen-Ind) beats President Grover Cleveland (D), 233 electoral votes to 168, Cleveland received slightly more votes |
| November 14 | St. Andrews Golf Club, Yonkers NY, opens with just 6 holes |
| November 14 | USC Trojans (then Methodists) play their 1st football game |
| November 17 | St. Tsjaikovsky's 5th Symphony premieres in Petersburg |
| November 20 | William Bundy patents timecard clock |
| December 11 | French Panama Canal company fails |
| December 19 | Stanley's expedition reaches Fort Bodo, East-Africa |
| December 22 | Heavyweight boxing champ John L Sullivan challenges Jake Kilrain |
| December 23 | Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh cuts off his left ear |
| December 25 | 1st indoor baseball game played at fairgrounds in Philadelphia |
| December 30 | Belgium: king Leopold II installs Order of African Star |
