| January 2 | Alice Sanger becomes 1st female White House staffer |
| January 2 | Record 19'2" alligator shot in Louisiana by E A McIlhenny |
| January 3 | 1st U.S. college-level dairy school opens at University of Wisconsin |
| January 7 | W B Purvis patents fountain pen |
| January 10 | Edward Macdowell's "Lancelot and Elaine," premieres |
| January 10 | Pope Leo XIII publishes encyclical Sapientiae Christianae |
| January 21 | 1st issue of Propria Cures, Amsterdam student-weekly newspaper |
| January 22 | Jose Marti forms La Liga (Union of Cuban exiles) in New York City |
| January 25 | National Afro-American League forms in Chicago |
| January 25 | Nellie Bly beats Phileas Fogg's time around world by 8 days (72 days) |
| January 25 | United Mine Workers of America forms |
| February 10 | Around 11M acres, ceded to U.S. by Sioux Indians opens for settlement |
| February 14 | 1st NSW vs. South Australia 1st-class cricket game |
| February 20 | Amsterdam Theater destroyed by fire |
| February 27 | D Needham and P Kerrigan box 100 rounds (6 h 39 m), SF; match is draw |
| March 1 | 1st U.S. edition of Sherlock Holmes (Study in Scarlet) published |
| March 2 | Oscar Fredriksen skates world record 5 km (9:19) |
| March 18 | 1st U.S. state naval militia organized (Massachusetts) |
| March 20 | General Federation of Womans' Clubs founded |
| March 20 | German emperor Wilhelm II fires republic chancellor Otto Von Bismarck |
| March 21 | Austrian Jewish communities are defined by law |
| March 24 | Start of Sherlock Holmes "The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge" |
| April 6 | French troops under captain Archinard occupy Segu, West-Sudan |
| April 11 | Ellis Island designated as an immigration station |
| April 14 | Pan American Day-1st conference of American states (Washington D.C.) |
| April 18 | New York Commission of Emigration ends, closing Castle Clinton |
| April 19 | Henry Morton Stanley inaugurated in Brussels |
| April 26 | Henry Morton Stanley inaugurated in London |
| April 27 | French troops under Captain Archinard occupy Oussebougou West Sudan |
| May 2 | Territory of Oklahoma created |
| May 6 | Mormon Church renounces polygamy |
| May 12 | Louisiana legalized prize fighting |
| May 13 | 18th Preakness: W Martin aboard Montague wins in 2:36.75 |
| May 13 | Lord Salisbury offers Germany Helgoland in exchange for Zanzibar, Uganda and Equatoria |
| May 14 | 16th Kentucky Derby: Isaac Murphy aboard Riley wins in 2:45 |
| May 17 | Clyde Fitch's "Beau Brummel," premieres in New York City |
| May 17 | Comic Cuts, 1st weekly comic paper, published in London |
| May 17 | Pietro Costanzi's opera "Rustic Chivalry," premieres in Rome |
| May 24 | Caprivi succeeds Bismarck on as chancellor of Germany |
| May 24 | Geo Train and Sam Wall circle world in record 67 days, Tacoma-Tacoma |
| May 24 | Tivoli Theater of Varities opens in London |
| May 30 | 1st Dodger home run (Dave Foutz) |
| June 1 | U.S. census at 62,622,250 |
| June 6 | United States Polo Association forms, New York City |
| June 9 | Opera "Robin Hood" premieres in Chicago |
| June 10 | 24th Belmont: Pike Barnes aboard Burlington wins in 2:07.75 |
| June 13 | Eagle Ave in the Bronx is cut out and named |
| June 27 | Cecil Rhodes' colonies attack Motlousi at Matabeleland |
| June 27 | George Dixon becomes 1st black boxing champ (Bantam weight) |
| July 1 | Great Britain and Germany sign Zanzibar-Helgoland Treaty |
| July 2 | Congress passes Sherman Antitrust Act |
| July 3 | Idaho admitted as 43rd U.S. state |
| July 3 | King Leopold II gives Congo to Belgium |
| July 10 | Wyoming becomes 44th state of U.S., 1st with female suffrage |
| July 17 | Cecil Rhodes becomes premier of Cape colony |
| July 20 | "Gibbons Stamp Monthly" begins publishing |
| July 20 | Snow and hail in Calais, ME |
| July 23 | Jack Barrett carries his cricket bat for Australia at Lord's (67) |
| August 1 | Cecil Rhodes' colonies reach Lundi |
| August 5 | British and French accord to divide African colonization |
| August 6 | Cy Young pitches and wins 1st game |
| August 8 | Daughters of American Revolution organizes |
| August 9 | 1st 44 Javans arrive in Suriname, to work 5 year on sugar plantations |
| August 14 | Cecil Rhodes' colonies reach Mashonaland (Fort Victoria) |
| August 16 | Alexander Clark, journalist/lawyer, named minister to Liberia |
| August 25 | Would be start of England/Australia Test Cricket at Old Trafford Washout |
| September 1 | 1st baseball tripleheader-Boston vs Pittsburgh |
| September 3 | Oliver S. Campbell wins U.S. Tennis Open |
| September 12 | Cecil Rhodes' colonies reach Mashonaland (Ft. Salisbury) |
| September 13 | Cecil Rhodes' colonies hoist Union Jack in Mashonaland and Salisbury |
| September 16 | Newswriter George Whitney Calhoun names Green Bay team Packers |
| September 19 | Turkish frigate "Ertogrul" burns off of Japan, kills 540 |
| September 23 | Ed Cartwright bats in 7 RBIs in 1 inning |
| September 24 | President of Mormon Church in Salt Lake City issues a manifesto advising members that teaching and practice of polygamy should be abandoned |
| September 25 | Congress establishes Yosemite National Park |
| September 25 | Start of Sherlock Holmes adventure "Silver Blaze" |
| September 26 | U.S. stops minting $1 and $3 gold coin and 3 cent piece |
| September 29 | 1st pro baseball game, New York Metropolitans beat Washington Nationals 4-2 in 5 innings at Polo Grounds in New York City |
| October 1 | Congress creates Weather Bureau |
| October 1 | Yosemite National Park forms |
| October 3 | Captain Guillaume of Kerckhoven marches into Boma Congo |
| October 6 | Mormon Church outlaws polygamy |
| October 9 | Start of Sherlock Holmes adventure "Red-Headed League" |
| October 11 | 1st 100 yard dash under 10 seconds (John Owens 9-4/5 seconds, Washington D.C.) |
| October 11 | Daughters of American Revolution forms |
| October 15 | Alabama Penny Savings Bank organizes in Birmingham |
| October 18 | John Owen is 1st man to run 100 yd dash in under 10 seconds |
| October 23 | Opera "Prince Igor" is produced (St. Petersburg) |
| October 28 | Last NL-AA World Series game Brooklyn ties Louisville 3 games and 1 tie |
| November 4 | Great Britain proclaims Zanzibar as a protectorate |
| November 4 | Prince of Wales opens 1st underground (Station Stockwell, London) |
| November 4 | St. Aleksandr Borodons opera "Prins Igor," premieres in Petersburg |
| November 11 | D. McCree patents portable fire escape |
| November 20 | Pope Leo XIII encyclical On slavery in missions |
| November 27 | 1st signal box for San Francisco Police Department goes into operation |
| November 29 | 1st Army-Navy football game, Score: Navy 24, Army 0 at West Point |
| December 4 | Willem III, Dutch king, buried |
| December 5 | Berlioz' opera "Les Troyens," premieres in Karlsruhe |
| December 18 | Lugards expedition to Mengo/Kampala, Uganda |
| December 19 | Start of Sherlock Holmes "Adventure of Beryl Coronet" |
| December 21 | Pim Mulier 1st and only trip to "Alvesteddetocht" |
| December 26 | King Mwanga of Uganda signs contract with East Africa Company |
| December 29 | U.S. 7th Cavalry massacre about 300 captive Sioux at Wounded Knee, South Dakota |
| December 31 | Ellis Island, in New York City, opens as a U.S. immigration depot |
