1881 CE

Cleopatra's Needle is erected in Central Park, New York City. (March 1 Old Style) – Assassination of Alexander II of Russia: Emperor Alexander II of Russia ("the Liberator") is killed near his palace in Saint Petersburg when bombs are thrown at him, an act committed by the revolutionary socialist group Narodnaya Volya coordinated by Sophia Perovskaya but falsely blamed upon Russian Jews. He is succeeded by his son, Alexander III. The assassin Ignacy Hryniewiecki is also killed by his own bomb. A meteorite strikes the Earth near the village of Großliebenthal, a few kilometers southwest of Odesa, Ukraine.

In the 1880s, the 19th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

9 January: Saraiva Law comes into effect after being passed on the Senate on 4 January.Brazil source
February 24 (February 12 Old Style) – Qing dynasty China signs the Treaty of Saint Petersburg with the Russian Empire providing for the return to China of the eastern part of the Ili Basin.source
February 24 - Zeng Jize and the Russian representative concluded the Treaty of Saint Petersburg.China source
14 March – The Parliament of Romania declares the dissolution of the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia and its replacement by the Kingdom of Romania.Romania source
March 26 (March 14 Old Style) – The Principality of Romania is proclaimed the Kingdom of Romania.source
31 March – last Anti-Socialist Law is passed by the German Reichstag.Germany source
May 12 – In North Africa, Tunisia becomes a French protectorate by the Treaty of Bardo.source
May 13 – The Pacific island of Rotuma cedes to Great Britain, becoming a dependency of the Colony of Fiji.source
June 18 – The League of the Three Emperors is resurrected.source
July 1 – General Order 70, the culmination of the Cardwell–Childers reforms of the British Army's organization, comes into effect.source
July 23 – The Boundary Treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina is signed in Buenos Aires.source
23 July – A boundary treaty is signed by Argentina and the neighbouring country of Chile. The treaty is signed in Buenos Aires by Bernardo de Irigoyen, on the part of Argentina, and Francisco de Borja Echeverría, on the part of Chile, with the aim to establish a precise and exact borderline between the two countries based on the uti possidetis juris principle. Despite dividing largely unexplored lands, the treaty lays the groundwork for nearly all of Chile's and Argentina's current 5600 km of shared borders.Argentina source
23 July - Boundary Treaty of 1881 between Chile and ArgentinaChile source
August 3 – The Pretoria Convention peace treaty is signed, officially ending the war between the Boers and Britain.source
August 3 – The Pretoria Convention peace treaty is signed, officially ending the war between the Boers and the Britain.South Africa source
21 August – Portuguese legislative election, 1881.Portugal source
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.source

Conflict & Security

January 1–24 – Siege of Geok Tepe: Russian troops under General Mikhail Skobelev defeat the Turkomans.source
January 1–January 24 – Siege of Geok Tepe: the Turkomans is defeated by Russian troops under General Mikhail Skobelev.Russia source
January 13 – War of the Pacific – Battle of San Juan and Chorrillos: The Chilean army defeats Peruvian forces.source
January 15 – War of the Pacific – Battle of Miraflores: The Chileans take Lima, capital of Peru, after defeating its second line of defense in Miraflores.source
15 January - Battle of MirafloresChile source
January 28 – The Boers defeat the British in the Battle of Laing's Nek during the First Boer War.South Africa source
19 February – First Wales national game, played at Blackheath against England. Wales lose heavily.Wales source
27 March – in Basingstoke, antagonism between the Salvation Army and supporters of the licensed trade becomes so great that the Riot Act is read and troops are called in to restore order.United Kingdom source
April 15 – Anti-Semitic pogroms in Southern Russia begin.source
June 26 – War of the Pacific – Battle of Sangrar: Peruvian and Chilean forces battle to a draw.source
1 July – formation, under the Childers Reforms of the British Army, of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), Gordon Highlanders, Highland Light Infantry and Seaforth Highlanders.Scotland source
July 2 – Assassination of James A. Garfield: United States President James A. Garfield is shot by lawyer Charles J. Guiteau in Washington, D.C. The wound becomes infected, killing Garfield on September 19.source
July 2 – Assassination of James A. Garfield: James A. Garfield, President of the United States, is shot by lawyer Charles J. Guiteau at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C. He survives the shooting but suffers from infection of his wound, dying on September 19.United States source
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.source
October 26 – The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral occurs in Tombstone, Cochise County, Arizona, USA.source
November 3 – The Mapuche uprising of 1881 begins with an attack on Quillem, Chile.source
5 November – The invasion of Parihaka by a colonial militia aiming to clear the non-violent resistance movement and enable the subdivision of land for European settlementNew Zealand source
November 19 – A meteorite strikes the Earth near the village of Großliebenthal, a few kilometers southwest of Odesa, Ukraine.source
December 25–27 – The Warsaw pogrom is carried out in Vistula Land, Russian Empire.source

Exploration & Expansion

March 1 – The Cunard Line's SS Servia, the first large steel transatlantic liner, is launched at Clydebank in Scotland.source
1 June – Cape Midland – Cookhouse to Cradock, 54 mi 73 ch.South Africa source
28 June – The Art Gallery of South Australia opened by Prince Albert Victor of the United Kingdom.Australia source
October 5–December 31 – The International Cotton Exposition is held in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.source
October 5–December 31 – International Cotton Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia.United States source
Hattori Watch Shop (服部時計店) is founded by Kanetarō Hattori in Ginza, Tokyo, Japan, predecessor of watch brand Seiko.source
Kinshasa (the capital of the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo) is founded by Henry Morton Stanley as a trading outpost called Léopoldville.source
Danish Distillers open in Aalborg.Denmark source
More than 600 Norwegians sign on as contract laborers for sugar plantations in Hawaii, making a four month journey to the islands.Norway source
Bruichladdich distillery established on the Rinns of Islay.Scotland source
Summer – First ever summer camp held, on Chocorua Island in Grafton County, New Hampshire.United States source

Religion & Belief

18 April – A law is passed that enables the "expulsion by decree of the Council of Ministers of foreigners who might disturb the peace or threaten national safety".Romania source
8 September – Isidore-Joseph du Rousseaux performs the canonical coronation of Our Lady of Tongre in Chièvres, mandated in a papal brief of Pope Leo XIII.Belgium source
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.source
13 October – 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.France source
December 25 – Catholic religious congregation Mothers of the Forsaken and Saint Joseph of the Mountain is founded by Blessed Petra of Saint Joseph.source
New York City's oldest independent school for girls, the Convent of the Sacred Heart New York (91st Street), is founded.source
Kilmacud Monastery established by Carmelite nuns.Ireland source

Economy & Finance

February 14 – Pine City, Minnesota, is incorporated.United States source
February 25 – Phoenix, Arizona, is incorporated.source
12 May – The Romanian National Party is founded by the union of the National Party of Romanians in Transylvania (Partidul Național al Românilor din Transilvania) and the National Party of Romanians in Banat and Hungary (Partidul Național al Românilor din Banat și Ungaria).Romania source
De Danske Spritfabrikker is founded by C.F. Tietgen, Isidor Henius and C.A. Olesen through the merger of a number of existing distilleries.Denmark source
First commercial bank of India was established (Oudh Commercial Bank). Having an entirely Indian board of directors. In Faizabad, IndiaIndia source
The Auckland Association is formed.New Zealand source
The government passes the Chinese Immigration Act 1881. This imposes a £10 tax per Chinese person entering New Zealand, and permits only one Chinese immigrant for every 10 tons of cargo.New Zealand source
Clydebank Co-operative Society formed.Scotland source

Technology & Infrastructure

January 25 – Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell form the Oriental Telephone Company.source
February 16 – The Canadian Pacific Railway is incorporated.source
May 16 – The world's first regular electric tram service is started near Berlin, by Siemens & Halske.source
16 May – Gross-Lichterfelde Tramway, world's first electric tramway, starts in Berlin.Germany source
June 20 – The current Cincinnati Reds baseball team plays its first game.source
21 September – the Statue of Niels Juel, created by the sculptor Theobald Stein, is unveiled in 1881 at Holmens Kanal.Denmark source
September 26 – Godalming becomes the first town in England to have its streets illuminated by electric light (hydroelectrically generated).source
1 October – The first telephone exchange in New Zealand is opened in Christchurch.New Zealand source
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.source
October – Clifton, Ontario, is renamed to Niagara Falls.Canada source
Rafaela, Argentina, is formed.source
The Alþingishúsið (The Parliament House) is constructed.Iceland source
East Indian Railway (Redemption Of Annuities) Act (British statute)India source
Construction begins on the Port Alfred-Grahamstown line.South Africa source
River Vyrnwy is dammed to create Lake Vyrnwy.Wales source

Science & Discovery

June – Oscar Wilde's Poems published in London.Ireland source
22 October – Tit-Bits weekly digest magazine founded by George Newnes.United Kingdom source
October 29 – Judge magazine is first published.United States source
Some Vatican archives are opened to scholars for the first time.source
The Pali Text Society is founded by British scholar Thomas William Rhys Davids, for the study of Pali (Ceylonese) texts.source
Gustave Den Duyts, Panoramic View of Ghent (c. 1881)Belgium source
Judicial Committee Act (British statute)India source

Health & Medicine

February 18 – Carlos Finlay introduces his discovery of the transmission of Yellow Fever by mosquitoes Aedes aegypti, in the Fifth International Sanitary Conference held in Washington, D.C.source
February 19 – Kansas becomes the first U.S. state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages.source
12 March – Andrew Watson of Glasgow's Queen's Park F.C. (from a mixed Scottish/British Guianese background) captains the Scotland national football team in a 6–1 victory against England, becoming the world's first mixed race international Association football player.United Kingdom source
April 4 – The 1881 census finds Canada's population to be 4,324,810Canada source
20 June – A law is passed to found first rural hospitals, initially in unoccupied monasteries until they could build their own buildings.Romania source
27 August – the Sunday Closing (Wales) Act prohibits the sale of alcohol in Wales on a Sunday. This is the first act of Parliament of the United Kingdom, Great Britain or England since the 1542 Act of Union between England and Wales whose application is restricted to Wales.United Kingdom source
27 August – The Sunday Closing (Wales) Act prohibits the sale of alcohol on a Sunday. This is the first Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom since the 1542 Act of Union whose application is restricted to Wales.Wales source
25 September – in Meckesheim physician Ferdinand Adolf Kehrer performs the first modern Caesarean section, the transverse incision technique to minimise bleeding.Germany source
Approximate date – St John Ambulance Ireland establishes its first centre, in Dublin.Ireland source
An Australian team tours the country playing twelve matches against provincial teams. None of the games have first-class status, with the home teams fielding between 12 and 22 players. Australia suffered one loss, but 10 wickets to the Wanganui XXII. ItineraryNew Zealand source

Crime & Justice

January 24 – William Edward Forster, chief secretary for Ireland, introduces his Coercion Bill, which temporarily suspends habeas corpus 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. Note that Coercion bills had been passed almost annually in the 19th century, with a total of 105 such bills passed from 1801 to 1921.source
April 28 – Billy the Kid escapes from his 2 jailers at the Lincoln County Jail in Mesilla, New Mexico, killing James Bell and Robert Ollinger, before stealing a horse and riding out of town.source
July 14 – Billy the Kid is shot and killed by Pat Garrett, outside Fort Sumner, New Mexico.source
Gold is discovered in the Barberton area.South Africa source
13 October – Charles Stewart Parnell imprisoned for to his part in land agitation in Ireland.United Kingdom source
November 17 – The trial of Charles J. Guiteau begins in Washington, D.C.United States source
December 28 – Virgil Earp is ambushed in Tombstone, Arizona, and loses the use of his left arm.source
Adolphe Vanderheggen, Halles Saint-Géry (Brussels)Belgium source
India Office (Sale Of Superfluous Land) Act (British statute)India source
New Zealand Derby winner: The DauphinNew Zealand source
Spanish general election, 1881Spain source
Chair – Evan Rees ("Dyfed"), "Cariad"Wales source

Disasters & Accidents

March 23 – A fire caused by a gas explosion destroys the Opéra de Nice in the south of France with fatalities.source
23 March – A fire caused by a gas explosion destroys the Opéra de Nice with fatalities.France source
April 30 – SS Tararua hits a reef and sinks off the coast of New Zealand's South Island with only 20 survivors of the 151 on board.source
May 24 – The overloaded steamer Victoria capsizes on the Thames River near London, Ontario, killing 182 people.Canada source
June 12 – The USS Jeannette is crushed in an Arctic Ocean ice pack.source
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.source
September 5 – The Thumb Fire in the U.S. state of Michigan destroys over a million acres (4,000 km²) and kills 282 people.United States source
13 October – 19 people drown when the Cyprian is wrecked off the Lleyn peninsula.Wales source
14 October – the Eyemouth disaster ("Black Friday"): a severe storm strikes the Berwickshire coast; 189 fishermen die.Scotland source
14 October – great gale across the country; in the Eyemouth disaster ("Black Friday"), a severe storm strikes the Berwickshire coast of Scotland and 189 fishermen die.United Kingdom source
December 8 – At least 380 die in a fire at the Vienna Ringtheater.source
20/21 July – 58 men, the crews of ten fishing boats (mostly sixareens) from Yell, Shetland, are drowned in a sudden storm.Scotland source

Climate & Environment

16 January – the lowest temperature ever recorded in Ireland, −19.1C (−2.4F) at Markree, County Sligo.Ireland source
January – At least five people freeze to death during blizzards and extreme low temperatures throughout Wales.Wales source
April 14 – The Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight erupts in El Paso, Texas.source
15 June - Chilean presidential election, 1881Chile source
July 20 - earthquake of magnitude 6.5 occurred in Gansu and Lanzhou.China source
August 27 – The fifth hurricane of the Atlantic season hits Florida and the Carolinas, killing about 700.source
August 27 – The fifth hurricane of the 1881 Atlantic hurricane season hits Florida and the Carolinas, killing about 700.United States source
5 December – a magnitude 6.0 earthquake strikes near Castle Hill, widely felt in the South Island and causing damage in ChristchurchNew Zealand source
The 7.9 Mw Nicobar Islands earthquake shook the area with a maximum EMS-98 intensity of VII (Damaging). It is probably the earliest earthquake for which rupture parameters were estimated instrumentally.India source
17–18 January – blizzard over southern parts of Britain.United Kingdom source

Culture & Society

February 13 – The first issue of the feminist newspaper La Citoyenne is published by Hubertine Auclert in Paris.source
February 22 – Cleopatra's Needle is erected in Central Park, New York City.United States source
12 March – The Welsh Rugby Union is formed as the Welsh Football Union in a meeting in Neath.Wales source
March 31 – Edward Rudolf founds the 'Church of England Central Society for Providing Homes for Waifs and Strays' (later The Children's Society).source
April 11 – Spelman College is established in Atlanta, Georgia.source
April 21 – The University of Connecticut is founded as the Storrs Agricultural School.source
April 25 – Caulfield Grammar School is founded in Melbourne, Australia.source
10 May – Princess Stéphanie of Belgium marries Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria, in the Augustinian Church, Vienna.Belgium source
10 May – Carol I is crowned King of Romania.Romania source
May 21 – The American Red Cross is established by Clara Barton.source
May 21 – The United States Tennis Association is established by a small group of tennis club members; the first U.S. Tennis Championships are played this year.source
May 22 (May 10 Old Style) – Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen is crowned King of Romania.source
July 4 – Tuskegee Institute opens in Alabama.source
July 7 – The first episode of Carlo Collodi's The Adventures of Pinocchio is published in Italy.source
July 14–20 – The London Social Revolutionary Congress is held; delegates include Marie Le Compte, Peter Kropotkin, Errico Malatesta, Saverio Merlino, Louise Michel, Nikolai Tchaikovsky and Émile Gautier.source
25 August – Edinburgh Royal Review of Volunteers ("The Wet Review"): Large numbers of Volunteer Forces from all over Scotland parade before Queen Victoria in Holyrood Park on a day of prolonged heavy rainfall.Scotland source
1 September – Rysensteen Gymnasium is established in Copenhagen.Denmark source
September 12 – Francis Howell High School (Howell Institute) in St. Charles, Missouri, and 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 west of the Mississippi River.source
October 29 – The satirical magazine Judge is first published in the United States.source
November 9 – Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 premieres in Budapest with the composer as soloist.source
November 11 – The Clarkson Memorial to an anti-slavery campaigner in Wisbech (England) is completed and unveiled to the public.source
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.source
Meiji Law School, predecessor of Meiji University, is founded in Yurakucho, Tokyo, Japan.source
Culford School, a public school in Suffolk, England, is founded as the East Anglian School for Boys.source
The Vocational and Technical College of Tokyo, later Tokyo Institute of Technology, is founded in Japan.source
Leyton Orient F.C. is founded in London.source
Tokyo Law College, predecessor of Hosei University, is founded in Japan.source
Setakaryancha Asuda(the whip-cord of the peasantry)India source
Norwegian playwright, Henrik Ibsen's, Ghosts, is released.Norway source

Births

January 24 – André Godard, French archeologist and architect.Iran source
March 9 – Ernest Bevin, British labour leader, politician and statesman (died 1951)source
March 25 – Béla Bartók, Hungarian composer (died 1945)source
April 16 – Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, British politician (died 1959)source
May 19 – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Turkiye and the first President of Turkey, Turkish field marshal and statesman (official birthday; d. 1938)source
May 20 – Władysław Sikorski, Polish general, politician (died 1943)source
July 30 – Smedley Butler, United States Marine Corps general (died 1940)source
August 6 – Sir Alexander Fleming, Scottish biomedical researcher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (died 1955)source
7 August – George Enescu, composer (died 1955).Romania source
August 12 – Cecil B. DeMille, American film director, producer (died 1959)source
September 29 – Ludwig von Mises, Austrian economist (died 1973)source
October 2 – Pannalal Bose, Indian educationist, first Education Minister of West Bengal, translated Rabindranath Tagore's ক্ষুধিত পাষাণ (Khudto Pashan) into The Hungry Stone (died 1956)source
October 11 – Hans Kelsen, Austrian legal theorist (died 1973)source
12 October – Carlos López Buchardo, classical composer (died 1948)Argentina source
October 15 – P. G. Wodehouse, English-born comic writer (died 1975)source
October 25 – Pablo Picasso, Spanish painter (died 1973)source
October 25 - Pablo Picasso, painter (died 1973 in France)Spain source
November 25 – Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Roncalli), Italian pontiff (1958–1963) (died 1963)source

Deaths

January 1 – Louis Auguste Blanqui, French socialist, political activist (born 1805)source
February 5 – Thomas Carlyle, Scottish writer, historian (born 1795)source
February 9 – Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Russian novelist (born 1821)source
11 February – Salvador Jovellanos, Paraguayan leader who settled in Buenos Aires (born 1833)Argentina source
February 14 – Fernando Wood, New York City mayor (born 1812)source
March 13 – Emperor Alexander II of Russia (assassinated) (born 1818)source
March 13 (March 1 Old Style) – Assassination of Alexander II of Russia: Emperor Alexander II of Russia ("the Liberator") is killed near his palace in Saint Petersburg when bombs are thrown at him, an act committed by the revolutionary socialist group Narodnaya Volya coordinated by Sophia Perovskaya but falsely blamed upon Russian Jews. He is succeeded by his son, Alexander III. The assassin Ignacy Hryniewiecki is also killed by his own bomb.source
March 28 – Modest Mussorgsky, Russian composer (born 1839)source
April 19 – Benjamin Disraeli, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1804)source
May 14 – Mary Seacole, British nurse (born 1805)source
July 14 – Billy the Kid, American gunslinger (born 1859)source
8 August – Alexandru G. Golescu, Prime Minister of the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia (born 1819).Romania source
September 13 – Ambrose Burnside, American Civil War general, inventor, politician from Rhode Island (born 1824)source
September 19 – James A. Garfield, 20th President of the United States (born 1831)source
September 19 – President James A. Garfield dies eleven weeks after being shot. Vice President Chester A. Arthur becomes the 21st president of the United States.source
October 3 – Orson Pratt, American religious leader (born 1811)source
José Eusebio Barros Baeza (born 1810)Chile source
? – Hakob Hovnatanyan, Armenian artist.Iran source