Events from the year 1871 in the United States.

Incumbents

Federal Government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

( R- Illinois) * Vice President: Schuyler Colfax ( R- Indiana) * Chief Justice:

Salmon P. Chase Salmon Portland Chase (January 13, 1808May 7, 1873) was an American politician and jurist who served as the sixth chief justice of the United States. He also served as the 23rd governor of Ohio, represented Ohio in the United States Senate, a ...

( Ohio) * Speaker of the House of Representatives:

James G. Blaine James Gillespie Blaine (January 31, 1830January 27, 1893) was an American statesman and Republican politician who represented Maine in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1863 to 1876, serving as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representative ...

( R- Maine) * Congress: 41st (until March 4),

42nd 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

(starting March 4)

Events

January–March

* February 21 ** District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871 * March 22 **In North Carolina, William Woods Holden becomes the first governor of a U.S. state to be removed from office by

impeachment Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In ...

. **The U.S. Army issues an order for the abandonment of Fort Kearny, Nebraska.

April–June

* April 20 – The U.S President

signs the Ku Klux Klan Act. * May 4 – The first supposedly Major League Baseball game is played. * May 8 – The first Major League Baseball home run is hit by Ezra Sutton of the Cleveland Forest Citys. * June 10 – Captain McLane Tilton leads 109

U.S. Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary warfare, exped ...

in a naval attack on the Han River forts in Korea.

July–September

* Summer – The

Harvard Summer School Harvard Summer School, founded in 1871, is a summer school run by Harvard University. It serves more than 5,000 students per year. History Harvard Summer School was founded in 1871. It is the first academic summer session established and the ol ...

is founded. * July 21–August 26 – First ever photographs of Yellowstone National Park region taken by the photographer

William Henry Jackson William Henry Jackson (April 4, 1843 – June 30, 1942) was an American photographer, Civil War veteran, painter, and an explorer famous for his images of the American West. He was a great-great nephew of Samuel Wilson, the progenitor of Ame ...

during

Hayden Geological Survey of 1871 The Hayden Geological Survey of 1871 explored the region of northwestern Wyoming that later became Yellowstone National Park in 1872. It was led by geologist Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden. The 1871 survey was not Hayden's first, but it was the first ...

. * July 28 – The ''Annie'', the first boat ever launched on Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park region. * July 30 – An explosion on the Staten Island Ferry kills 72 and injures 135 * September **

Whaling Disaster of 1871 The Whaling Disaster of 1871 was an incident off the northern Alaskan coast in which a fleet of 33 American whaling ships were trapped in the Arctic ice in late 1871 and subsequently abandoned. It dealt a serious blow to the American whaling indu ...

: 1,219 people abandon 33 whaling ships caught in the ice pack off the northern coast of Alaska. ** Seawanhaka Yacht Club founded at Centre Island, New York, one of the earliest surviving yacht clubs in the Western Hemisphere. * September 2 – The disastrous Polaris expedition reaches 82°45′N, the northernmost latitude of any ship to this time. * September 3 – New York City residents, tired of the corruption of the " Tammany Hall" political machine and "Boss" William M. Tweed, its "Grand Sachem", meet to form the ' Committee of Seventy' to reform local politics.

October–December

* October 8 – Four major fires break out on the shores of

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

in Chicago, Illinois, Peshtigo, Wisconsin, Holland, Michigan, and Manistee, Michigan. The Great Chicago Fire is the most famous of these, leaving nearly 100,000 people homeless, although the Peshtigo Fire kills as many as 2,500 people, making it the deadliest fire in United States history. * October 24 – Chinese massacre of 1871 18

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

immigrants in Chinatown, Los Angeles, are killed by a mob of 500 men. * October 27 –

Boss Tweed William Magear Tweed (April 3, 1823 – April 12, 1878), often erroneously referred to as William "Marcy" Tweed (see below), and widely known as "Boss" Tweed, was an American politician most notable for being the political boss of Tammany ...

of Tammany Hall is arrested for bribery, ending his grip on New York City. * c. November – The

South Improvement Company The South Improvement Company was a short lived Pennsylvania corporation founded in late 1871 which existed until the state of Pennsylvania suspended its charter on April 2, 1872. It was created by major railroad and oil interests, and was widely ...

is formed in Pennsylvania by John D. Rockefeller and a group of major railroad interests, in an early effort to organize and control the petroleum industry in the US. * November 5 – Wickenburg massacre: Six men travelling by stagecoach are reportedly murdered by the Yavapai Indians in

Arizona Territory The Territory of Arizona (also known as Arizona Territory) was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of ...

. * November 17 – The

National Rifle Association The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...

is granted a charter by the state of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. * December 19 ** The city of Birmingham, Alabama, is incorporated with the merger of three pre-existing towns. ** Albert L. Jones of

receives a patent for

corrugated paper Corrugated fiberboard or corrugated cardboard is a type of packaging material consisting of a fluted corrugated sheet and one or two flat linerboards. It is made on "flute lamination machines" or "corrugators" and is used for making corrugated ...

Ongoing

Reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the bloo ...

(1865–1877) * Gilded Age (1869–c. 1896)

Births

* February 14 – Florence Roberts, American actress (died

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 * ...

) * March 6 – Ben Harney, composer and ragtime pianist (died

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...

) * May 19 –

Walter Russell Walter Bowman Russell (May 19, 1871 – May 19, 1963) was an impressionist American painter (of the Boston School), sculptor, autodidact and author. His lectures and writing place him firmly in the New Thought Movement. Russell wrote extensivel ...

, polymath (died

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

) * May 31 – John G. Townsend, Jr., U.S. Senator from Delaware from 1929 to 1941 (died

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

) * June 17 – James Weldon Johnson, African American songwriter, author, diplomat and educator (died 1938) * June 21 – DeWitt Jennings, actor (died

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Fe ...

) * July 6 – Evelyn Selbie, actress (died

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

) * July 7 – Richard Carle, American actor (d.

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...

) * July 27 –

Ollie Murray James Ollie Murray James (July 27, 1871August 28, 1918) was an American politician. A Democrat, he represented Kentucky in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate. Biography James was born and raised in western Kentucky. ...

, U.S. Senator from Kentucky from 1913 to 1918 (died

1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...

) * August 19 **

Joseph E. Widener Joseph Early Widener (August 19, 1871 – October 26, 1943) was a wealthy American art collector who was a founding benefactor of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. A major figure in thoroughbred horse racing, he was head of New ...

, art collector (died

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 – ...

) ** Orville Wright, pioneer aviator (died

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

) * August 25 –

Ross Winn Ross Winn (August 25, 1871 – August 8, 1912) was an American anarchist writer and publisher from Texas who was mostly active within the Southern United States. Biography Ross Winn was born in Denton County, Texas in 1871. Prior to beginn ...

, American anarchist writer, publisher (died

1912 Events January * January 1 – The Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China is established. * January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens. * January 6 ...

) * August 27 – Theodore Dreiser, novelist (died

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. Januar ...

) * September 9 –

Magnus Johnson Magnus Johnson (September 19, 1871September 13, 1936) was an American farmer and politician. He served in the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives from Minnesota as a member of the Farmer–Labor Party. Johnson is the on ...

, U.S. Senator from Minnesota from 1923 to 1925 (died

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

) * October 2 –

Cordell Hull Cordell Hull (October 2, 1871July 23, 1955) was an American politician from Tennessee and the longest-serving U.S. Secretary of State, holding the position for 11 years (1933–1944) in the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ...

, United States Secretary of State, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (died

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

) * October 11 – Harriet Boyd Hawes, archaeologist (died

) * October 14 – William Howard Thompson, U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1913 to 1919 (died

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...

) * October 17 –

Thaddeus H. Caraway Thaddeus Horatius Caraway (October 17, 1871 – November 6, 1931) was a Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party politician from the US state of Arkansas who represented the state first in the US House of Representatives from 1913 to ...

, U.S. Senator from Arkansas from 1921 to 1931 (died

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

) * October 19 ** Walter Bradford Cannon, physiologist (died 1945) ** Clyde M. Reed, U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1939 to 1949 (died

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

) * November 1 – Stephen Crane, novelist (died

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

) * November 9 –

Florence R. Sabin Florence Rena Sabin (November 9, 1871 – October 3, 1953) was an American medical scientist. She was a pioneer for women in science; she was the first woman to hold a full professorship at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, the first woman el ...

, American medical scientist (died

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

) * November 10 –

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

, novelist (died

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

) * December 9 – Joe Kelley, baseball player (died 1943) * December 20 – Henry Kimball Hadley, composer (died

)

Deaths

* January 15 – Edward C. Delavan, temperance movement leader (born

1793 The French Republic introduced the French Revolutionary Calendar starting with the year I. Events January–June * January 7 – The Ebel riot occurs in Sweden. * January 9 – Jean-Pierre Blanchard becomes the first to fl ...

) * February 12 –

Alice Cary Alice Cary (April 26, 1820February 12, 1871) was an American poet, and the older sister of fellow poet Phoebe Cary (1824–1871). Biography Alice Cary was born on April 26, 1820, in Mount Healthy, Ohio, off the Miami River near Cincinnati. He ...

, poet, sister to Phoebe Cary (born

1820 Events January–March *January 1 – Nominal beginning of the Trienio Liberal in Spain: A constitutionalist military insurrection at Cádiz leads to the summoning of the Spanish Parliament (March 7). *January 8 – General Maritime T ...

) * April 2 –

Jacob M. Howard Jacob Merritt Howard (July 10, 1805 – April 2, 1871) was an American attorney and politician. He was most notable for his service as a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from the state of Michigan, and his political career spanned the Amer ...

, U.S. Senator from Michigan from 1862 to 1871 (born

1805 After thirteen years the First French Empire abolished the French Republican Calendar in favour of the Gregorian calendar. Events January–March * January 11 – The Michigan Territory is created. * February 7 – King Anouvong become ...

) * April 23 –

James Monroe Whitfield James Monroe Whitfield (c. April 10, 1822 – April 23, 1871) was an African-American poet, abolitionist, and political activist. He was a notable writer and activist in abolitionism and African emigration during the antebellum era. He published th ...

, African American barber, poet and abolitionist (born

1822 Events January–March * January 1 – The Greek Constitution of 1822 is adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus. *January 3 - The famous French explorer, Aimé Bonpland, is made prisoner in Paraguay accused of being a spy. ...

) * May 11 –

Thomas Buchanan Read Thomas Buchanan Read (March 12, 1822 – May 11, 1872), was an American poet and portrait painter. Biography Read was born in Corner Ketch, a hamlet close to Downingtown, in Chester County, Pennsylvania on March 12, 1822. Beside painting, ...

, poet and portrait painter (born 1822) * July 9 – John Slidell, U.S. Senator from Louisiana from 1853 to 1861 (born 1793) * July 15 –

Tad Lincoln Thomas "Tad" Lincoln (April 4, 1853 – July 15, 1871) was the fourth and youngest son of Abraham Lincoln, Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln. Early life and education Thomas Lincoln was born on April 4, 1853, the fourth son of Abraham Lincoln and Ma ...

, youngest son of President Lincoln (born

1853 Events January–March * January 6 – Florida Governor Thomas Brown signs legislation that provides public support for the new East Florida Seminary, leading to the establishment of the University of Florida. * January 8 – Taiping Reb ...

) * July 31 –

Phoebe Cary Phoebe Cary (September 4, 1824 – July 31, 1871) was an American poet, and the younger sister of poet Alice Cary (1820–1871).She was a great poet who composed a Legend of Northland which is a very beautiful poem. The sisters co-published poe ...

, poet, sister to Alice Cary (born

1824 May 7: The almost completely deaf Beethoven premieres his Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven) , Ninth Symphony Events January–March * January 8 – After much controversy, Michael Faraday is finally elected as a member of the Royal Society, ...

) * September 9 –

Stand Watie Brigadier-General Stand Watie ( chr, ᏕᎦᏔᎦ, translit=Degataga, lit=Stand firm; December 12, 1806September 9, 1871), also known as Standhope Uwatie, Tawkertawker, and Isaac S. Watie, was a Cherokee politician who served as the second princ ...

, Cherokee Nation leader and a general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War (born

1806 Events January–March * January 1 ** The French Republican Calendar is abolished. ** The Kingdom of Bavaria is established by Napoleon. * January 5 – The body of Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, lies in state in the Painted Hall ...

) * September 21 – Bird Beers Chapman, delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives * September 22 –

Lewis Golding Arnold Lewis Golding Arnold (January 15, 1817 – September 22, 1871) was a career U.S. Army officer and a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, primarily noted for his service in Florida. Birth and early years Lewis G. ...

, U.S. Army officer and a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (born 1817) * October 26 – Robert Anderson, United States Army officer during the American Civil War, died in Nice, France (born

)

References

External links

* {{Year in North America, 1871 1870s in the United States United States United States Years of the 19th century in the United States