Events
January–March
*
January 1
January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the yea ...
–
24 –
Siege of Geok Tepe
The Battle of Geok Tepe in 1881 was the main event in the 1880/81 Russian campaign to conquer the Teke Turkomans. Its effect was to give the Russian Empire control over most of what is now Turkmenistan, thereby nearly completing the Russian co ...
: Russian troops under General
Mikhail Skobelev
Mikhail Dmitriyevich Skobelev (russian: Михаил Дмитриевич Скобелев; 29 September 1843 – 7 July 1882), a Russian general, became famous for his conquest of Central Asia and for his heroism during the Russo-Turkish War ...
defeat the
Turkomans.
*
January 13 –
War of the Pacific
The War of the Pacific ( es, link=no, Guerra del Pacífico), also known as the Saltpeter War ( es, link=no, Guerra del salitre) and by multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought ...
–
Battle of San Juan and Chorrillos
The Battle of San Juan, also known as the Battle of San Juan and Chorrillos, was the first of two battles in the Lima Campaign during the War of the Pacific, and was fought on 13 January 1881. This battle is really a group of smaller, yet fierce ...
: The Chilean army defeats Peruvian forces.
*
January 15 –
War of the Pacific
The War of the Pacific ( es, link=no, Guerra del Pacífico), also known as the Saltpeter War ( es, link=no, Guerra del salitre) and by multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought ...
–
Battle of Miraflores
The Battle of Miraflores occurred on January 15, 1881 in the Miraflores District of Lima, Peru. It was an important battle during the War of the Pacific that was fought between Chile and the forces of Peru. The Chilean army led by Gen. Manuel ...
: The Chileans take Lima, capital of Peru, after defeating its second line of defense in Miraflores.
*
January 24
Events Pre-1600
* 41 – Claudius is proclaimed Roman emperor by the Praetorian Guard after they assassinate the previous emperor, his nephew Caligula.
* 914 – Start of the First Fatimid invasion of Egypt.
*1438 – The Cou ...
–
William Edward Forster
William Edward Forster, PC, FRS (11 July 18185 April 1886) was an English industrialist, philanthropist and Liberal Party statesman. His supposed advocacy of the Irish Constabulary's use of lethal force against the National Land League ea ...
, chief secretary for Ireland, introduces his Coercion Bill, which temporarily suspends
habeas corpus
''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...
so that those people suspected of committing an offence can be detained without trial; it goes through a long debate before it is accepted
February 2.
*
January 25 –
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventi ...
and
Alexander Graham Bell form the
Oriental Telephone Company
The Oriental Telephone Company was established on January 25, 1881, as the result of an agreement between Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, the Oriental Bell Telephone Company of New York and the Anglo-Indian Telephone Company, Ltd. The company ...
.
*
February 13 – The first issue of the feminist newspaper ''
La Citoyenne
''La Citoyenne'' (''The Citizeness'') was a French feminist newspaper published in Paris from 1881 through 1891 by Hubertine Auclert. It was first published on February 13, 1881, and appeared bi-monthly. The newspaper was a forceful and unrelen ...
'' is published by
Hubertine Auclert
Hubertine Auclert (; 10 April 1848 – 4 August 1914) was a leading French feminist and a campaigner for women's suffrage.
Early life
Born in the Allier ''département'' in the Auvergne area of France into a middle-class family, Hubertine Aucl ...
.
*
February 16
Events Pre-1600
*1249 – Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khagan of the Mongol Empire.
*1270 – Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Livonian Order in the Battle of Kar ...
– The
Canadian Pacific Railway is incorporated.
*
February 18
Events Pre-1600
* 1229 – The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, signs a ten-year truce with al-Kamil, regaining Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem with neither military engagements nor support from the papacy.
*1268 & ...
–
Carlos Finlay
Carlos Juan Finlay (December 3, 1833 – August 20, 1915) was a Cuban epidemiologist recognized as a pioneer in the research of yellow fever, determining that it was transmitted through mosquitoes ''Aedes aegypti''.
Biography
Early life and ...
introduces his discovery of the transmission of
Yellow Fever
Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. ...
by mosquitoes ''
Aedes aegypti
''Aedes aegypti'', the yellow fever mosquito, is a mosquito that can spread dengue fever, chikungunya, Zika fever, Mayaro and yellow fever viruses, and other disease agents. The mosquito can be recognized by black and white markings on its le ...
'', in the Fifth
International Sanitary Conference held in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
*
February 19 –
Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...
becomes the first U.S. state to
prohibit all
alcoholic beverages.
*
February 24 (February 12
Old Style
Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, this is the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries between 158 ...
) –
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...
China signs the
Treaty of Saint Petersburg with the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
providing for the return to China of the eastern part of the
Ili Basin.
*
February 25 –
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...
, is incorporated.
*
March 1
Events Pre-1600
*509 BC – Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia.
* 293 – Emperor Diocletian ...
– The
Cunard Line's , the first
steel transatlantic liner, is launched at
Clydebank in Scotland.
*
March 4
Events Pre-1600
*AD 51 – Nero, later to become Roman emperor, is given the title '' princeps iuventutis'' (head of the youth).
* 306 – Martyrdom of Saint Adrian of Nicomedia.
* 852 – Croatian Knez Trpimir I issues a st ...
–
James A. Garfield
James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881 until his death six months latertwo months after he was shot by an assassin. A lawyer and Civil War gene ...
is
sworn in as the 20th president of the United States.
*
March 12 –
Andrew Watson makes his
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
debut as the world's first black international football player.
*
March 13
Events Pre-1600
*624 – The Battle of Badr, the first major battle between the Muslims and Quraysh.
*1567 – The Battle of Oosterweel, traditionally regarded as the start of the Eighty Years' War.
*1591 – At the Battle of Tond ...
–
Alexander II of Russia is killed near his palace when a bomb is thrown at him, an act
falsely blamed upon
Russian Jews
The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...
. He is succeeded by his son,
Alexander III.
*
March 23
Events Pre-1600
*1400 – The Trần dynasty of Vietnam is deposed, after one hundred and seventy-five years of rule, by Hồ Quý Ly, a court official.
*1540 – Waltham Abbey is surrendered to King Henry VIII of England; the last rel ...
** The
First Boer War
The First Boer War ( af, Eerste Vryheidsoorlog, literally "First Freedom War"), 1880–1881, also known as the First Anglo–Boer War, the Transvaal War or the Transvaal Rebellion, was fought from 16 December 1880 until 23 March 1881 betwee ...
comes to an end.
** A fire caused by a gas explosion destroys the
Opéra de Nice
The Opéra de Nice is the principal opera venue in Nice, France, which houses the Ballet Nice Méditerrannée and the Nice Philharmonic Orchestra. It offers three types of performances: operas, ballets and classical music concerts.
History
The ...
in the south of France with fatalities.
*
March 26
Events Pre-1600
* 590 – Emperor Maurice proclaims his son Theodosius as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
*1021 – On the feast of Eid al-Adha, the death of the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, kept secret for six weeks, ...
(March 14
Old Style
Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, this is the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries between 158 ...
) – The
Principality of Romania
The United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia ( ro, Principatele Unite ale Moldovei și Țării Românești), commonly called United Principalities, was the personal union of the Principality of Moldavia and the Principality of Wallachia, ...
is proclaimed the
Kingdom of Romania
The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian ...
.
April–June
*
April 11
Events Pre-1600
* 491 – Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine emperor, with the name of Anastasius I.
*1241 – Batu Khan defeats Béla IV of Hungary at the Battle of Mohi.
*1512 – War of the League of Cambrai: Franco-Ferrare ...
–
Spelman College
Spelman College is a private, historically black, women's liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. It is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium in Atlanta. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman rece ...
is established in Atlanta, Georgia.
*
April 14
Events Pre-1600
* 43 BC – Legions loyal to the Roman Senate, commanded by Gaius Pansa, defeat the forces of Mark Antony in the Battle of Forum Gallorum.
* 69 – Vitellius, commanding Rhine-based armies, defeats Roman emperor Otho ...
– The
Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight
The Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight was a famous gun fight that occurred on April 14, 1881, on El Paso Street, in El Paso, Texas. Witnesses generally agreed that the incident lasted no more than five seconds after the first gunshot, though a ...
erupts in
El Paso, Texas
El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...
.
*
April 15
Events Pre-1600
* 769 – The Lateran Council ends by condemning the Council of Hieria and anathematizing its iconoclastic rulings.
* 1071 – Bari, the last Byzantine possession in southern Italy, is surrendered to Robert Guiscar ...
**
Temuco
Temuco () is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune, capital (political), capital of the Cautín Province and of the Araucanía Region in southern Chile. The city is located south of Santiago de Chile, Santiago. The city ...
,
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
, is founded.
**
Anti-Semitic pogroms in Southern Russia begin.
*
April 21 – The
University of Connecticut
The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...
is founded as the Storrs Agricultural School.
*
April 25
Events Pre-1600
*404 BC – Admiral Lysander and King Pausanias of Sparta blockade Athens and bring the Peloponnesian War to a successful conclusion.
* 775 – The Battle of Bagrevand puts an end to an Armenian rebellion against the ...
–
Caulfield Grammar School is founded in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, Australia.
*
April 28
Events Pre-1600
* 224 – The Battle of Hormozdgan is fought. Ardashir I defeats and kills Artabanus V effectively ending the Parthian Empire.
* 357 – Emperor Constantius II enters Rome for the first time to celebrate his victory ...
–
Billy the Kid
Billy the Kid (born Henry McCarty; September 17 or November 23, 1859July 14, 1881), also known by the pseudonym William H. Bonney, was an outlaw and gunfighter of the American Old West, who killed eight men before he was shot and killed at th ...
escapes from his 2 jailers at the
Lincoln County Jail in
Mesilla,
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...
, killing James Bell and Robert Ollinger, before stealing a horse and riding out of town.
*
May 12
Events Pre-1600
* 254 – Pope Stephen I succeeds Pope Lucius I, becoming the 23rd pope of the Catholic Church, and immediately takes a stand against Novatianism.
* 907 – Zhu Wen forces Emperor Ai into abdicating, ending the Tang d ...
– In North Africa,
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
becomes a French protectorate by the
Treaty of Bardo.
*
May 13
Events Pre-1600
*1373 – Julian of Norwich has visions of Jesus while suffering from a life-threatening illness, visions which are later described and interpreted in her book '' Revelations of Divine Love''.
* 1501 – Amerigo Vespu ...
– The Pacific island of
Rotuma
Rotuma is a Fijian dependency, consisting of Rotuma Island and nearby islets. The island group is home to a large and unique Polynesian indigenous ethnic group which constitutes a recognisable minority within the population of Fiji, known as " ...
cedes to Great Britain, becoming a dependency of the
Colony of Fiji
The Colony of Fiji was a Crown colony that existed from 1874 to 1970 in the territory of the present-day nation of Fiji. London declined its first opportunity to annex the Kingdom of Fiji in 1852. Ratu Seru Epenisa Cakobau had offered to c ...
.
*
May 16 – The world's first regular electric
tram
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
service is started in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
, by
Siemens & Halske
Siemens & Halske AG (or Siemens-Halske) was a German electrical engineering company that later became part of Siemens.
It was founded on 12 October 1847 as ''Telegraphen-Bauanstalt von Siemens & Halske'' by Werner von Siemens and Johann Ge ...
.
*
May 21
Events Pre-1600
* 293 – Roman Emperors Diocletian and Maximian appoint Galerius as ''Caesar'' to Diocletian, beginning the period of four rulers known as the Tetrarchy.
* 878 – Syracuse, Sicily, is captured by the Muslim Aghlabi ...
** The
American Red Cross is established by
Clara Barton.
** The
United States Tennis Association
The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, ...
is established by a small group of tennis club members; the first U.S.
Tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
Championships are played this year.
*
May 22
Events Pre-1600
* 192 – Dong Zhuo is assassinated by his adopted son Lü Bu.
* 760 – Fourteenth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
* 853 – A Byzantine fleet sacks and destroys undefended Damietta in Egypt.
* 1 ...
(May 10
Old Style
Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, this is the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries between 158 ...
) –
Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen is crowned King of
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
.
*
June 12
Events Pre-1600
* 910 – Battle of Augsburg: The Hungarians defeat the East Frankish army under King Louis the Child, using the famous feigned retreat tactic of the nomadic warriors.
* 1240 – At the instigation of Louis IX of Fr ...
– The
USS ''Jeannette'' is crushed in an Arctic Ocean ice pack.
*
June 18
Events Pre-1600
* 618 – Li Yuan becomes Emperor Gaozu of Tang, initiating three centuries of Tang dynasty rule over China.
* 656 – Ali becomes Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate.
* 860 – Byzantine–Rus' War: A fleet of about ...
– The
League of the Three Emperors
The League of the Three Emperors or Union of the Three Emperors (german: Dreikaiserbund) was an alliance between the German, Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires, from 1873 to 1887. Chancellor Otto von Bismarck took full charge of German foreign p ...
is resurrected.
*
June 20 – The current
Cincinnati Reds baseball team plays its first game.
*
June 26
Events Pre-1600
* 4 – Augustus adopts Tiberius.
* 221 – Roman emperor Elagabalus adopts his cousin Alexander Severus as his heir and receives the title of Caesar.
* 363 – Roman emperor Julian is killed during the retreat fr ...
–
War of the Pacific
The War of the Pacific ( es, link=no, Guerra del Pacífico), also known as the Saltpeter War ( es, link=no, Guerra del salitre) and by multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought ...
–
Battle of Sangrar: Peruvian and Chilean forces battle to a draw.
July–September
*
July 1 – General Order 70, the culmination of the
Cardwell–Childers reforms of the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
's organization, comes into effect.
*
July 2
Events Pre-1600
* 437 – Emperor Valentinian III begins his reign over the Western Roman Empire. His mother Galla Placidia ends her regency, but continues to exercise political influence at the court in Rome.
* 626 – Li Shimin, t ...
–
Assassination of James A. Garfield
James A. Garfield, the 20th president of the United States, was shot at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C., at 9:30 am on Saturday, July 2, 1881. He died in Elberon, New Jersey, 79 days later on September 19, 1881. ...
: United States President
James A. Garfield
James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881 until his death six months latertwo months after he was shot by an assassin. A lawyer and Civil War gene ...
is shot by lawyer
Charles J. Guiteau in Washington, D.C. The wound becomes
infected, killing Garfield on
September 19
Events Pre-1600
* 85 – Nerva, suspected of complicity of the death of Domitian, is declared emperor by Senate. The Senate then annuls laws passed by Domitian and orders his statues to be destroyed.
* 634 – Siege of Damascus: Th ...
.
*
July 4
Events Pre-1600
*362 BC – Battle of Mantinea: The Thebans, led by Epaminondas, defeated the Spartans.
* 414 – Emperor Theodosius II, age 13, yields power to his older sister Aelia Pulcheria, who reigned as regent and proclaime ...
–
Tuskegee Institute
Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature.
The campus was de ...
opens in
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County
, LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham
, area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...
.
* July 7 – The first episode of Carlo Collodi's ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' is published in Italy.
* July 14–July 20, 20 – The International Anarchist Congresses, International Anarchist Congress is held in London; delegates include Marie Le Compte, Peter Kropotkin, Errico Malatesta, Saverio Merlino, Louise Michel, Nicholas Tchaikovsky and Émile Gautier.
* July 14 –
Billy the Kid
Billy the Kid (born Henry McCarty; September 17 or November 23, 1859July 14, 1881), also known by the pseudonym William H. Bonney, was an outlaw and gunfighter of the American Old West, who killed eight men before he was shot and killed at th ...
is shot and killed by Pat Garrett, outside Fort Sumner,
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...
.
* July 20 – American Indian Wars: Sioux chief Sitting Bull leads the last of his people in surrender to United States troops at Fort Buford in Montana.
* July 23 – The Boundary Treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina is signed in Buenos Aires.
* August 3 – The Pretoria Convention peace treaty is signed, officially ending the war between the Boers and United Kingdom, Britain.
* August 27 – The 1881 Atlantic hurricane season, fifth hurricane of the Atlantic season hits Florida and the Carolinas, killing about 700.
* September 5 – The Thumb Fire in the U.S. state of Michigan destroys over a million acres (4,000 km
2) and kills 282 people.
* September 12 – Francis Howell High School (Howell Institute) in St. Charles, Missouri, and Stephen F. Austin High School (Austin, Texas), Stephen F. Austin High School in Austin, Texas, open on the same day, putting them in a tie for the title of the oldest public High school (North America), high school west of the Mississippi River.
*
September 19
Events Pre-1600
* 85 – Nerva, suspected of complicity of the death of Domitian, is declared emperor by Senate. The Senate then annuls laws passed by Domitian and orders his statues to be destroyed.
* 634 – Siege of Damascus: Th ...
– President
James A. Garfield
James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881 until his death six months latertwo months after he was shot by an assassin. A lawyer and Civil War gene ...
dies eleven weeks after being shot. Vice President Chester A. Arthur becomes the 21st president of the United States.
* September 20 – President Chester A. Arthur is Inauguration of Chester A. Arthur, sworn in.
* September 26 – Godalming in England becomes the first town to have its streets illuminated by electric light (hydroelectricity, hydroelectrically generated).
October–December
* October 5–December 31 – The International Cotton Exposition is held in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
* October 10 – Richard D'Oyly Carte's Savoy Theatre opens in London, the world's first public building to be fully lit by electricity, using Joseph Swan's incandescent light bulbs.
The stage is first lit electrically on December 28.
* October 13 – Determined to bring about the revival of the Hebrew language as a way of unifying Jews, Eliezer Ben-Yehuda has what is believed to be the first conversation in Modern Hebrew, with friends living in Paris.
* October 26 – The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral occurs in Tombstone, Arizona, Tombstone, Cochise County, Arizona, USA.
* October 29 – The satirical magazine ''Judge (magazine), Judge'' is first published in the United States.
* November – Newcastle United F.C. is founded in the northeast of England as Stanley F.C., with a further name change to Newcastle East End F.C. the following year.
* November 3 – The Mapuche uprising of 1881 begins with an attack on Quillem, Chile.
* November 9 – Brahms' ''Piano Concerto No. 2 (Brahms), Piano Concerto No. 2'' premieres in Budapest.
* November 11 – The Clarkson Memorial to an anti-slavery campaigner in Wisbech (England) is completed and unveiled to the public.
* November 19 – A meteorite strikes the Earth near the village of Großliebenthal, a few kilometers southwest of Odessa, Ukraine.
* December 8 – '':de:Ringtheaterbrand, Ringtheaterbrand'': At least 380 die in a fire at the Vienna Ringtheater.
* December 25–December 27, 27 – The Warsaw pogrom (1881), Warsaw pogrom is carried out in Vistula Land,
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
.
* December 28 – Virgil Earp is ambushed in Tombstone, Arizona, and loses the use of his left arm.
Date unknown
* Kinshasa (the capital of the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo) is founded by Henry Morton Stanley as a trading outpost called Léopoldville.
* On the Isle of Man (an internally self-governing dependent territory of the United Kingdom), the House of Keys Election Act extends the franchise for the national legislature to spinsters and widows owning real estate of a certain value.
* Edward Rudolf founds the ''Church of England Central Society for Providing Homes for Waifs and Strays'' (modern-day The Children's Society).
* The Pali Text Society is founded by British scholar Thomas William Rhys Davids, for the study of Pali (Ceylonese) texts.
* Some Vatican Secret Archives, Vatican archives are opened to scholars for the first time.
* Abilene, Texas, is founded.
* Rafaela, Argentina, is formed.
* New York City's oldest independent school for girls, the Convent of the Sacred Heart (New York City), Convent of the Sacred Heart New York (91st Street), is founded.
* Culford School, a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Suffolk, England, is founded as the East Anglian School for Boys.
* Leyton Orient F.C. is founded in London.
* Meiji Law School, as predecessor of Meiji University, founded in Yurakucho, Tokyo, Japan.
* Tokyo Law College, as predecessor of Hosei University, was founded in Japan.
* The Vocational and Technical College of Tokyo, later Tokyo Institute of Technology, was founded in Japan.
* Hattori Watching Shop (服部時計店) founded by Kanetarō Hattori in Ginza, Tokyo, as predecessor of watch brand Seiko in Japan.
Births
January
![Anna Pavlova as the Dying Swan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Anna_Pavlova_as_the_Dying_Swan.jpg)
* January 9
** Lascelles Abercrombie, English poet, critic (d. 1938)
** Giovanni Papini, Italian essayist, poet and novelist (d. 1956)
*
January 13 – Essington Lewis, Australian industrialist (d. 1961)
*
January 15 – John Rodgers (naval officer, World War I), John Rodgers, American naval officer, naval aviation pioneer (d. 1926
* January 23 – Luisa Casati, Italian heiress, artistic muse and patron of the arts (d. 1957)
* January 30 – Whitford Kane, Irish-born American actor (d. 1956)
* January 31 – Irving Langmuir, American chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
February
*
February 2 – Gustav Herglotz, German mathematician (d. 1953)
* February 4
** Eulalio Gutiérrez, President of Mexico (d. 1939)
** Fernand Léger, French artist (d. 1955)
** Kliment Voroshilov, Russian military officer, politician (d. 1969)
* February 11 – Carlo Carrà, Italian painter (d. 1966)
* February 12 – Anna Pavlova, Russian ballerina (d. 1931)
*
February 13 – Eleanor Farjeon, English children's writer, poet (d. 1965)
* February 17 – Bess Streeter Aldrich, American fiction writer (d. 1954)
* February 21 – Kenneth J. Alford, British soldier, composer (d. 1945)
*
February 25 – Alexei Rykov, Premier of Russia and Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1938)
* February 27 – Sveinn Björnsson, 1st president of Iceland (d. 1952)
* February 28 – Otto Dowling, United States Navy Captain (USN), Captain, 25th Governor of American Samoa (d. 1946)
March
![Mary webb](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Mary_webb.jpg)
*
March 4
Events Pre-1600
*AD 51 – Nero, later to become Roman emperor, is given the title '' princeps iuventutis'' (head of the youth).
* 306 – Martyrdom of Saint Adrian of Nicomedia.
* 852 – Croatian Knez Trpimir I issues a st ...
** T. S. Stribling, American novelist (d. 1965)
** Richard C. Tolman, American mathematical physicist (d. 1948)
* March 9 – Ernest Bevin, British labour leader, politician and statesman (d. 1951)
* March 10 – Thomas Quinlan (impresario), Thomas Quinlan, English operatic impresario (d. 1951)
* March 17 – Walter Rudolf Hess, Swiss physiologist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973)
* March 22 – Hans Wilsdorf, German-Swiss watchmaker, founder of Rolex (d. 1960)
*
March 23
Events Pre-1600
*1400 – The Trần dynasty of Vietnam is deposed, after one hundred and seventy-five years of rule, by Hồ Quý Ly, a court official.
*1540 – Waltham Abbey is surrendered to King Henry VIII of England; the last rel ...
** Roger Martin du Gard, French writer, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
** Hermann Staudinger, German chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1965)
* March 25
** Béla Bartók, Hungarian composer (d. 1945)
** Mary Webb, English novelist (d. 1927)
*
March 26
Events Pre-1600
* 590 – Emperor Maurice proclaims his son Theodosius as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
*1021 – On the feast of Eid al-Adha, the death of the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, kept secret for six weeks, ...
– Guccio Gucci, Italian fashion designer, founder of ''Gucci'' (d. 1953)
April
* April 1 – Octavian Goga, 37th prime minister of Romania (d. 1938)
* April 3 – Alcide De Gasperi, Italian statesman, politician, 30th prime minister of Italy (d. 1954)
* April 12 – Rudolf Ramek, 5th Chancellor of Austria (d. 1941)
*
April 14
Events Pre-1600
* 43 BC – Legions loyal to the Roman Senate, commanded by Gaius Pansa, defeat the forces of Mark Antony in the Battle of Forum Gallorum.
* 69 – Vitellius, commanding Rhine-based armies, defeats Roman emperor Otho ...
– Husain Salaahuddin, Maldivian writer (d. 1948)
* April 16 – Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, British politician (d. 1959)
* April 24 – Harald Giersing, Austrian painter (d. 1927)
* April 27 – Móric Esterházy, 18th prime minister of Hungary (d. 1960)
May
* May 1 – Mary MacLane, Canadian writer (d. 1929)
* May 4 – Alexander Kerensky, Russian politician (d. 1970)
*
May 13
Events Pre-1600
*1373 – Julian of Norwich has visions of Jesus while suffering from a life-threatening illness, visions which are later described and interpreted in her book '' Revelations of Divine Love''.
* 1501 – Amerigo Vespu ...
– Lima Barreto, Brazilian writer (d. 1922)
* May 14 – George Murray Hulbert, American politician (d. 1950)
* May 19 – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder and first President of Turkey (official birthday; d. 1938)
* May 20 – Władysław Sikorski, Polish general, politician (d. 1943)
* May 26 – Adolfo de la Huerta, 38th President of Mexico (d. 1955)
* May 30 – Georg von Küchler, German field marshal (d. 1968)
June
![Maggie Gripenberg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Maggie_Gripenberg.jpg)
* June 3 – Juliusz Rómmel, Polish general (d. 1967)
* June 9 – Marion Leonard, American silent film actress (d. 1956)
* June 11 – Maggie Gripenberg, Finnish dancer and choreographer (d. 1976)
* June 17 – Tommy Burns (Canadian boxer), Tommy Burns, Canadian boxer (d. 1955)
July
![Demille - c1920](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Demille_-_c1920.JPG)
* July 3 – Leon Errol, Australian actor and comedian (d. 1951)
*
July 4
Events Pre-1600
*362 BC – Battle of Mantinea: The Thebans, led by Epaminondas, defeated the Spartans.
* 414 – Emperor Theodosius II, age 13, yields power to his older sister Aelia Pulcheria, who reigned as regent and proclaime ...
– Ulysses S. Grant III, American soldier, planner (d. 1968)
* July 22 – Kenneth Whiting, United States Navy officer, submarine and naval aviation pioneer (d. 1943)
* July 27 – Hans Fischer, German chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1945)
* July 28 – Günther Quandt, German industrialist, founder of the industrial empire that in modern times includes ''BMW'' and ''Altana'' (d. 1954)
* July 30 – Smedley Butler, United States Marine Corps general (d. 1940)
August
* August 6 – Sir Alexander Fleming, Scottish biomedical researcher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1955)
* August 7 – François Darlan, French admiral and 81st prime minister of France from 1941 to 1942 (d. 1942)
* August 8 – Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist, German field marshal (b. 1954)
* August 12 – Cecil B. DeMille, American film director, producer (d. 1959)
* August 19 – George Enescu, Romanian composer (d. 1955)
* August 20 – Edgar A. Guest, English poet (d. 1959)
September
* September 5
**Otto Bauer, Austrian Social Democratic politician (d. 1938)
**Henry Maitland Wilson, British field marshal (d. 1964)
* September 8
** Harry Hillman, American track athlete (d. 1945)
** Refik Saydam, 4th prime minister of Turkey (d. 1942)
* September 11 – Asta Nielsen, Danish silent film star (d. 1972)
* September 12 – Daniel Jones (phonetician), Daniel Jones, British Phonetics, phonetician (d. 1967)
* September 15 – Ettore Bugatti, Italian car designer, founder of Bugatti (d. 1947)
* September 16 – Clive Bell, English art critic (d. 1964)
* September 17 – Aubrey Faulkner, South African cricketer (d. 1930)
* September 25 – Lu Xun, leading figure of modern Chinese literature (d. 1936)
* September 26 – Hiram Wesley Evans, American Ku Klux Klan Imperial Wizard (d. 1966)
* September 29 – Ludwig von Mises, Austrian economist (d. 1973)
October
![Pablo picasso 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Pablo_picasso_1.jpg)
* October 1 – William E. Boeing, American engineer, airplane manufacturer (d. 1956)
* October 4 – Walther von Brauchitsch, German field marshal (d. 1948)
* October 11 – Hans Kelsen, Austrian legal theorist (d. 1973)
* October 15
** William Temple (bishop), William Temple, English Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1944)
** P. G. Wodehouse, English-born comic writer (d. 1975)
* October 22 – Clinton Davisson, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
* October 25 – Pablo Picasso, Spanish painter (d. 1973)
* October 26 – Margaret Wycherly, English stage, film actress (d. 1956)
November
![Ioannes XXIII, by De Agostini, 1958–1963](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Ioannes_XXIII%2C_by_De_Agostini%2C_1958%E2%80%931963.jpg)
* November 4 – Gaby Deslys, French dancer, actress (d. 1920)
* November 5 – George A. Malcolm, American lawyer, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines and educator (d. 1961)
* November 8 – Robert Esnault-Pelterie, French aircraft designer, pioneer rocket theorist (d. 1957)
* November 12 – Maximilian von Weichs, German field marshal (d. 1954)
* November 14 – Nicholas Schenck, Russian-born American film studio executive (d. 1969)
* November 15 – Franklin P. Adams, American columnist, poet (d. 1960)
* November 24 – Al Christie, Canadian-born director, producer (d. 1951)
* November 25
** Jacob Fichman, Romanian-born Israeli poet, essayist (d. 1958)
** Pope John XXIII (b. Angelo Roncalli), Italian pontiff (1958-1963) (d. 1963)
* November 28 – Stefan Zweig, Austrian writer (d. 1942)
December
* December 2 – Heinrich Barkhausen, German physicist (d. 1956)
* December 3 – Henry Fillmore, American composer, bandleader (d. 1956)
* December 16 – Henri Dentz, French general (d. 1945)
* December 23 – Juan Ramón Jiménez, Spanish writer, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
* December 30 – Wiktor Thommée, Polish general (d. 1962)
Deaths
January–June
*
January 1
January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the yea ...
– Louis Auguste Blanqui, French socialist, political activist (b. 1805)
* January 3 – Anna McNeill Whistler, James Whistlers mother, subject of his painting (b. 1804)
* January 18 – Auguste Mariette, French Egyptologist (b. 1821)
* January 21 – Wilhelm Matthias Naeff, member of the Swiss Federal Council (b. 1802)
*
January 24
Events Pre-1600
* 41 – Claudius is proclaimed Roman emperor by the Praetorian Guard after they assassinate the previous emperor, his nephew Caligula.
* 914 – Start of the First Fatimid invasion of Egypt.
*1438 – The Cou ...
– Frances Stackhouse Acton, British botanist, archaeologist, writer and artist (b. 1794)
* February 5 – Thomas Carlyle, Scottish writer, historian (b. 1795)
* February 8 – Marie Jules Dupré, French admiral and colonial governor (b. 1813)
* February 9 – Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Russian novelist (b. 1821)
* February 14 – Fernando Wood, New York City mayor (b. 1812)
* February 23 – Robert F. R. Lewis, American naval officer (b. 1826)
* March 2 – John Cracroft Wilson, Sir John Cracroft Wilson, British civil servant, and politician in New Zealand (b. 1808)
*
March 13
Events Pre-1600
*624 – The Battle of Badr, the first major battle between the Muslims and Quraysh.
*1567 – The Battle of Oosterweel, traditionally regarded as the start of the Eighty Years' War.
*1591 – At the Battle of Tond ...
– Emperor
Alexander II of Russia (assassinated) (b. 1818)
* March 28 – Modest Mussorgsky, Russian composer (b. 1839)
* March 31 – Lucy Virginia French, American blank verse poet (b. 1825)
* April 19 – Benjamin Disraeli, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1804)
* April 26 – Ludwig Freiherr von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen, Bavarian general (b. 1815)
* April 27 – Ludwig von Benedek, Austrian general (b. 1804)
* May 24 – Samuel Palmer, English artist (b. 1805)
* May 25 – Giuseppe Maria Giulietti, Italian explorer (b. 1847)
* June 6 – Henri Vieuxtemps, Belgian composer (b. 1820)
* June 28 – Jules Armand Dufaure, 3-time prime minister of France (b. 1798)
* June 30 – Gustav von Alvensleben, Prussian general (b. 1803)
July – December
![JV Snellman](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/JV_Snellman.jpg)
*
July 1
** Baron Jules Dupotet de Sennevoy, French writer (b. 1796)
** Hermann Lotze, German philosopher and logician (b. 1817)
*
July 4
Events Pre-1600
*362 BC – Battle of Mantinea: The Thebans, led by Epaminondas, defeated the Spartans.
* 414 – Emperor Theodosius II, age 13, yields power to his older sister Aelia Pulcheria, who reigned as regent and proclaime ...
– J. V. Snellman, Finnish statesman and an influential Fennoman philosopher (b. 1806)
Johan Vilhelm Snellman
at the ''Encyclopædia Britannica''
* July 14 – Billy the Kid
Billy the Kid (born Henry McCarty; September 17 or November 23, 1859July 14, 1881), also known by the pseudonym William H. Bonney, was an outlaw and gunfighter of the American Old West, who killed eight men before he was shot and killed at th ...
, American gunslinger (b. 1859)
* July 17 – Jim Bridger, American explorer and trapper (b. 1804)
*August 3 – William Fargo, American expressman and politician, Mayor of Buffalo, New York (b. 1818)
* August 11 – Jane Digby, English adventurer (b. 1807)
* August 15 – Alexandru G. Golescu, 11th prime minister of Romania (b. 1819)
* September 7 – Sidney Lanier, American writer (b. 1842)
* September 8 – Prince Frederick of the Netherlands, Dutch noble, general (b. 1797)
* September 13 – Ambrose Burnside, American Civil War general, Burnside carbine, inventor, politician from Rhode Island (b. 1824)
* September 19
Events Pre-1600
* 85 – Nerva, suspected of complicity of the death of Domitian, is declared emperor by Senate. The Senate then annuls laws passed by Domitian and orders his statues to be destroyed.
* 634 – Siege of Damascus: Th ...
– James A. Garfield
James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881 until his death six months latertwo months after he was shot by an assassin. A lawyer and Civil War gene ...
, 20th President of the United States (b. 1831)
* September 22 – Solomon L. Spink, U.S. Congressman from Illinois (b. 1831)
* October 3
** Orson Pratt, American religious leader (b. 1811)
** Princess Sumiko, Japanese princess (b. 1829)
* October 31 – George W. De Long, American naval officer, explorer (starvation) (b. 1844)
* December 4 – Hugh Judson Kilpatrick, American general, politician, and diplomat (b. 1836)
* December 18 – George Edmund Street, British architect (b. 1824)
See also
* Upside down year
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1881
1881,