January 1 England's Queen Victoria proclaimed empress of India January 15 U.S. Assay Office in Helena, Montana opens January 16 Color organ (for light shows) patented, by Bainbridge Bishop January 25 Congress determines presidential election between Hayes-Tilden January 30 Storm flood ravages Dutch coastal provinces February 7 1st Guernsey Cattle Club organizes (New York City) February 12 1st news dispatch by telephone, between Boston and Salem, Mass February 12 U.S. railroad builders strike against wage reduction February 20 1st cantilever bridge in U.S. completed, Harrodsburg, Kentucky February 20 International Association (minor baseball league) organizes February 27 U.S. Electoral College declares R. Hayes winner presidential election March 2 Rutherford B Hayes (R) declared president despite Samuel J Tilden (D) winning the popular vote, but is 1 electoral vote shy of victory March 3 Rutherford B. Hayes is sworn in as the 19th president March 4 Tsjaikovski's incomplete ballet "Zwanenmeer," premieres in Moscow March 5 Rutherford B. Hayes inaugurated as 19th U.S. president March 12 British annex Walvis Bay in southern Africa March 12 Great Britain annexes Walvis Bay at Cape colony March 15 Commencement of 1st Test Cricket, Australia vs. England at MCG March 16 Charles Bannerman completes 1st Test cricket century, 165 vs. Eng March 17 Bill Midwinter completes Test Crickets' 1st 5-wkt haul, 5-78 vs. Eng March 18 President Hayes appoints Frederick Douglass marshal of Washington D.C. March 19 Australia beat England by 45 runs in very 1st Test match March 24 University boat race between Oxford and Cambridge ends in a dead heat March 31 British high director/governor sir Bartle Frere arrives in Capetown March 31 Test Cricket debut of Fred "Demon" Spofforth, Australia vs. England MCG April 2 1st Easter egg roll held on White House lawn April 10 1st human cannonball act performed in London April 10 Federal troops withdrawn from Columbia, South Carolina April 12 British annex Transvaal, in South Africa April 12 Catcher's mask 1st used in a baseball game April 15 1st telephone installed: Boston-Somerville, Massachusetts April 19 Opera "Les Cloches de Cornerville" is produced (Paris) April 24 Last federal occupying troops withdraw from south in New Orleans April 24 Russia declares war on Turkey through Romania April 27 Opera "Le Roi de Lahore" is produced (Paris) April 27 President Hayes removes Federal troops from LA, Reconstruction ends May 8 1st Westminster Dog Show held May 12 Ottawa Rough Riders 1st outside competition vs Britannia May 13 Cesar Franck's "Lesson Eolides," premieres May 17 Edwin T. Holmes installs 1st telephone switchboard burglar alarm May 22 3rd Kentucky Derby: Billy Walker aboard Baden-Baden wins in 2:38 May 24 5th Preakness: C Holloway aboard Cloverbrook wins in 2:45 June 1 Society of American Artists forms June 1 U.S. troops authorized to pursue bandits into Mexico June 9 11th Belmont: C Holloway aboard Cloverbrook wins in 2:46 June 15 Henry O. Flipper becomes 1st black graduate at West Point July 1 1st edition of "Amsterdammer" published July 9 1st Wimbledon tennis championship is held July 14 General strike brings U.S. railroad to a stand still July 19 1st Wimbledon Mens Tennis: Spencer W Gore beats Marshall (61 62 64) July 20 Military shoots on stopped railroad workers in Balt, kills 9 July 21 U.S. Army breaks railroad strike July 23 1st telephone and telegraph line in Hawaii completed July 23 1st U.S. municipal railroad, Cincinnati Southern, begins operations July 24 1st time federal troops are used to combat strikers August 2 San Francisco Public Library opens with 5,000 volumes August 5 Henry Morton Stanley's letter in order to aid reaches Boma at Congo August 10 Big Hole River: Col John Gibbon murders Nez-Perce indians August 11 Asaph Hall discovers Mars's moon Deimos August 12 Thomas Edison invents Edisonphone, a sound recording device August 17 Asaph Hall discovers Mars' moon Phobos August 17 Phobos (Martian satellite) discovered (A Hall) August 22 Nez Perce-indians flee into to Yellowstone National Park September 5 Southern blacks led by Pap Singleton settle in Kansas September 11 Rijkslandbouwhoge school opens in Wageningen September 20 Chase National Bank opens in New York City (later merges into Chase Manhattan) September 23 Hurricane strikes Curaeao and Bonaire kills 200 September 27 John Mercer Langston named minister of Haiti September 30 1st U.S. amateur swim meet (New York Athletic Club) October 5 Chief Joseph surrenders, ending Nez Perce War October 9 American Humane Association organizes (Cleveland) October 15 45th Congress (1877-79) convenes October 17 Henry Morton Stanley reaches Boma during trip cross Africa October 20 Franz Schubert's 2nd Symphony in B, premieres November 1 Dutch government of Heemskerk-Van Lynden resigns November 9 American Chemical Society chartered in New York November 17 Gilbert/Sullivans operette "Sorcerer," premieres in London November 21 Tom Edison announces his "talking machine" invention (phonograph) November 27 Burkina adopts its constitution November 29 Thomas Edison demonstrates hand-cranked phonograph December 2 Camille Saint-Saens' opera "Samson et Dalila," premieres in Weimar December 6 1st sound recording made (Thomas Edison) December 6 Washington Post publishes 1st edition December 7 Thomas A Edison demonstrates the gramophone December 15 Thomas Edison patents phonograph December 16 Anton Bruckner's 3rd Symphony in D, premieres December 22 "American Bicycling Journal" begins publishing (Boston, Massachusetts) December 26 Socialist Labor Party of North America holds 1st national convention December 28 John Stevens, applies for a patent for his flour rolling mill December 30 Johnannes Brahms' 2nd Symphony in D, premieres in Vienna
