- 1880
| Jan 21 | First US sewage disposal system separate from storm drains, Memphis TN. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 12 | The National Croquet League was organized in Philadelphia, PA. | Ref: 4 |
| Mar 08 | President Rutherford B. Hays declares that the United States will have jurisdiction over any canal built across the isthmus of Panama. | Ref: 2 |
| Mar 10 | Salvation Army of England sets up US welfare & religious activity. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 24 | Tobacco Growers' Mutual Insurance Company incorporates in Connecticut. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 31 | The first electric street lights ever installed by a municipality were turned on in beautiful Wabash, IN. | Ref: 4 |
| Jul 23 | First commercial hydroelectric power planet begins, Grand Rapids, Mich. | Ref: 5 |
- 1881
| Jan 22 | Ancient Egyptian obelisk "Cleopatra's Needle" erected in Central Park. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 01 | US Assay Office in St Louis MO authorized. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 05 | Phoenix AZ incorporates. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 18 | [PT] Barnum & [James A] Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth opens (Madison Square Garden, NY). | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 30 | Henry Highland Garnet, named minister to Liberia. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 01 | US Assay Office in St Louis, Missouri opens | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 05 | 47th US Congress (1881-83) convenes. | Ref: 5 |
- 1882
| Jan 14 | A country club named The Country Club became the first country club in the United States -- in Brookline, MA. Of course, playing golf in mid-January in New England didn’t work out, so hunters went out to pick off the wildlife right off the fairways. | Ref: 4 |
| Feb 02 | Knights of Columbus, fraternal benefit association founded in New Haven CT. | Ref: 17 |
| Mar 16 | The U.S. Senate approved a treaty allowing the United States to join the Red Cross. | Ref: 4 |
| Mar 22 | Edmunds Act adopted by US to suppress polygamy in the territories. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 29 | The Knights of Columbus, founded by Father Michael J. McGivney, was chartered by the General Assembly of Connecticut. Established as a lay fraternal society, the K of C encourages benevolence, patriotism and racial tolerance among its members. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 10 | Matson founds his shipping company (San Francisco & Hawaii). | Ref: 5 |
| May 06 | Over President Chester A. Arthur's veto, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which bars Chinese immigrants from the United States for 10 years. | Ref: 70 |
| Aug 03 | Congress passes the Immigration Act, banning Chinese immigration for ten years. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 07 | Hatfields of south WV & McCoys of east KY feud, 100 wounded or die. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 01 | The first Labor Day is observed in New York City by the Carpenters and Joiners Union. | Ref: 2 |
| Sep 30 | The first US hydroelectric power plant was opened in Appleton Wisconson. A single dynamo of 180 lights each of ten candle power was erected | Ref: 62 |
- 1883
| Jan 06 | The Pendleton Act reforms US civil service, initiating competetive examinations for placement. | Ref: 17 |
| Jan 16 | The United States Civil Service Commission was established as the Pendleton Act goes into effect. | Ref: 4 |
| Feb 23 | American Anti-Vivisection Society is organized in Philadelphia. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 23 | Alabama becomes first US state to enact an antitrust law. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 03 | Congress authorizes the first steel vessels in US navy. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 24 | Long-distance telephone service is inaugurated between Chicago and New York. | Ref: 5 |
| May 24 | The Brooklyn Bridge, linking Manhattan and Brooklyn, is opened by President Arthur & Governor Cleveland. Construction began January 1, 1870. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 18 | The weather station at the top of Ben Nevis, Scotland, the highest mountain in Britain, is declared open. Weather stations were set up on the tops of mountains all over Europe and the Eastern United States in order to gather information for the new weather forecasts. | Ref: 2 |
| Oct 31 | World Women's Christian Temperance Union organized at convention in Detroit. | Ref: 10 |
| Dec 03 | 48th US Congress (1883-85) convenes. | Ref: 5 |
- 1884
| Mar 13 | Standard Time was adopted throughout the United States. | Ref: 70 |
| Mar 27 | The first long-distance telephone call was made, between Boston and New York City. | Ref: 70 |
| Apr 10 | US Senate accepts Belgian administration of Congo. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 21 | Potters Field reopened as Madison Park. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 22 | US recognizes King Leopold II's Congo Free State. | Ref: 5 |
| May 01 | The first skyscraper in America was under construction. No, it wasn’t in NY. It was a 10-story building located on the corner of LaSalle and Adams in Chicago, IL. | Ref: 4 |
| May 14 | Anti-Monopoly party forms in the US. | Ref: 5 |
| May 17 | Alaska becomes a US territory. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 04 | Statue of Liberty was given to U.S. to commemorate the French and American revolutions | Ref: 17 |
| Jul 07 | By act of Congress a new "Great Seal of the United States" was recut based on the original design and the old seal, known as the "illegal seal", made illegally by the Secretary of State in 1841, was removed from use. | Ref: 62 |
| Aug 05 | The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty was laid on Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor. | Ref: 70 |
| Sep 17 | American Kennel Club (AKC) established to set rules for dog shows. | Ref: 10 |
| Oct 06 | The Naval War College was established in Newport, R.I. | Ref: 70 |
| Nov 15 | Samuel Sidney McClure of NY City started the first literary syndicate -- the McClure Syndicate. It bought authors’ works and then sold the right to print them to various newspapers across the U.S. | Ref: 4 |
| Dec 06 | The Washington Monument is completed when the aluminum capstone set at its top, 101 years after George Washington himself approved the location halfway between the proposed sites of the Capitol and the White House. Ref | |
- 1885
| Jan 31 | C.D. Wright was appointed as the first Commissioner of Labor in the United States. A lofty job for a gentleman whose salary was $3,000. Of course, in 1885, you could buy a house for $3,000 and a cow. | Ref: 4 |
| Feb 21 | The Washington Monument is dedicated. Ref | |
| Feb 25 | US Congress condemns barbed wire around government grounds. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 03 | First US state (California) establishes a permanent forest commission. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 03 | American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T) incorporates. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 03 | Congress passes Indian Appropriations Act (Indians wards of federal government). | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 28 | The Salvation Army is officially organized in the United States. | Ref: 2 |
| May 19 | First mass production of shoes (Jan Matzeliger in Lynn MA). | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 19 | The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York City aboard the French ship Isere. (The History Magazine, p.63, May/June 2003) | |
| Nov 06 | US mint at Carson City, NV directed to close. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 07 | 49th Congress (1885-87) convenes. | Ref: 5 |
- 1886
| Jan 01 | Tournament of Roses parade started in Pasadena by Valley Hunt Club followed by amateur athletics. ("Who Was Who in America, 1607-1896") | |
| Feb 09 | President Cleveland declares a state of emergency in Seattle because of anti-Chinese violence. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 06 | First US alternating current power plant starts, Great Barrington MA. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 20 | First AC power plant in US begins commercial operation, Massachusetts. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 04 | The first rodeo in America was held at Prescott, Arizona. | Ref: 4 |
| Oct 01 | The US mint at Carson City, Nevada closes. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 28 | The last rivet on the Statue of Liberty (originally named Liberty Enlightening the World) is driven and the statue is dedicated by President Grover Cleveland. A gift from France, the statue was designed by Frenchsculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi and was erected at the entrance of New York harbor as a symbol of freedom to welcome immigrants and others from around the world. | Ref: 2 |
- 1887
| Feb 03 | To avoid disputed national elections, Congress creates Electoral Count Act. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 08 | Congress passes the Dawes Act, which gives citizenship to Indians living apart from their tribe. | Ref: 2 |
| Feb 22 | Union Labor Party organized in Cincinnati. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 03 | American Protective Association forms (anti-Catholic) in Clinton IA. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 15 | Michigan appoints first salaried game & fish warden in US(William Alden Smith). | Ref: 5 |
| May 26 | Racetrack betting becomes legal in New York state. | Ref: 5 |
- 1888
| Jan 13 | National Geographic Society founded at Cosmos Club opposite White House, DC. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 27 | The National Geographic Society is founded in Washington, DC. | Ref: 4 |
| Feb 24 | Louisville KY becomes 1st government in US to adopt the Australian ballot. | Ref: 5 |
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| Jun 01 | The first seismographs to be installed in California are installed in the Lick Observatory | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 13 | Congress creates the Department of Labor. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 09 | The Washington Monument, designed by Robert Mills, opens to the public. | Ref: 2 |
| Nov 27 | National Geographic Society organizes (Washington DC). | Ref: 5 |
- 1889
| Jan 03 | Admissions convention meets in Ellensburg WA, asks for statehood. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 19 | The Salvation Army split, as one faction within the denomination renounced allegiance to founder William Booth. Booth's son Ballington and his wife Maud led the American splinter group, which in 1896 incorporated itself as a separate denomination known as the Volunteers of America. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 22 | The Columbia Phonograph Company was formed in Washington, DC. | Ref: 4 |
| Feb 13 | Norman Coleman became the first U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. He had previously held the title of Commissioner of Agriculture. | Ref: 4 |
| Feb 22 | President Cleveland signed a bill to admit the Dakotas, Montana and Washington state to the Union. | Ref: 70 |
| Mar 02 | Congress passes the Indian Appropriations Bill, proclaiming unassigned lands in the public domain; the first step toward the famous Oklahoma Land Rush. | Ref: 2 |
| Mar 23 | President Harrison opens Oklahoma for white colonization. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 03 | Savings Bank of the Order of True Reformers opens in Richmond, Va | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 22 | The U.S. government purchases almost two million acres of land in Central Oklahoma from the Crete and Seminole Indians and opened it up on this day to the settlers to claim their stakes. | Ref: 4 |
| Apr 30 | The first national holiday in the United States was celebrated. The citizens of the US observed the centennial of George Washington’s inauguration. | Ref: 4 |
| Jun 08 | Cable Cars begin service in Los Angeles | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 01 | Frederick Douglass named Minister to Haiti. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 01 | US mint at Carson City, Nevada reopens. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 04 | Washington state constitutional convention holds first meeting | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 08 | Clams containing pearls are found in the Sugar River in Wisconsin. | |
| Oct 01 | Washington voters adopt state constitution in referendum. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 02 | (new state) North and South Dakota were admitted to the Union; the first time that two states simultaneously became a part of the United States. President Benjamin Harrison decided it was easier to mix up the admissions papers so no one would know and just list the states alphabetically. That’s why North Dakota is the 39th and South Dakota is the 40th of the United States of America. | Ref: 4 |
| Nov 08 | (new state) The Treasure State or Montana entered the United States of America as number 41. And, it turned out to be quite a treasure. Coal, copper, lead, zinc and silver have all been mined in Montana. Helena is the capital of Montana; the western meadowlark is the state bird and the bitterroot is the state flower. Of course, this has nothing to do with some of Montana’s bitter history, its most notorious event: The Battle of Little Big Horn (Custer’s Last Stand). | Ref: 4 |
| Nov 11 | (new state) Washington became the 42nd of the United States of America on this day. Known as the Evergreen State because of its rich stands of Douglas fir, white and ponderosa pine, and spruce trees, Washington calls the willow goldfinch its state bird. The colorful rhododendron is the official flower. Olympia, home of the famous Olympia oyster (from Puget Sound), is the state capital. | Ref: 4 |
| Dec 14 | American Academy of Political & Social Science organized, Philadelphia. | Ref: 5 |
- 1890
| May 02 | The Oklahoma Territory was organized. | Ref: 70 |
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US History 1880 to 1889 Chronology