January 1
January 1
First modern Mummers’ Parade
In honor of the American centennial, the first area‑wide New Year’s Day Mummers’ Parade is held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mummers’ celebrations in America date back to colonial times, when the…
A Year In History: 1876
This Year in History:
1876
Discover what happened in this year with HISTORY’s summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.
January 12
January 12
Jack London is born
On this day, Jack London, the illegitimate son of an astrologer father and a spiritualist mother, is born in San Francisco. His father abandoned the family, and Jack, whose last…
February 2
February 2
National League of baseball is founded
On February 2, 1876, the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, which comes to be more commonly known as the National League (NL), is formed. The American League (AL) was…
March 7
March 7
Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone
On March 7, 1876, 29‑year‑old Alexander Graham Bell receives a patent for his revolutionary new invention: the telephone. The Scottish‑born Bell worked in London with his father, Melville Bell, who…
March 10
March 10
First speech transmitted by telephone
The first discernible speech is transmitted over a telephone system when inventor Alexander Graham Bell summons his assistant in another room by saying, “Mr. Watson, come here; I want you.”…
April 3
April 3
Wyatt Earp dropped from Wichita police force
After a public disturbance occurred between policeman Wyatt Earp and a candidate for Wichita, Kansas county sheriff, Earp is fined $30 and relieved of his job. Born in 1848, Wyatt…
April 22
April 22
First National League baseball game played
On April 22, 1876, the Boston Red Caps beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 6‑5, in the first official National League baseball game. The game, which lasts a little more than two hours,…
April 24
April 24
Erich Raeder, commander in chief of the German navy, is born on this day
On this day in 1876, Erich Raeder, proponent of an aggressive naval strategy and the man who convinced Adolf Hitler to invade Norway, is born. Raeder began his career by…
May 6
May 6
“Duchess of Devonshire” painting stirs interest—and theft
On May 6, 1876, Thomas Gainsborough’s painting, Duchess of Devonshire, causes a stir when it goes up for auction at Christie’s in London. It sells to a London art dealer,…
June 4
June 4
Express train crosses the nation in 83 hours
A mere 83 hours after leaving New York City, the Transcontinental Express train arrives in San Francisco. That any human being could travel across the entire nation in less than…
June 12
June 12
Journalist headed for Little Big Horn files dispatch
Marcus Kellogg, a journalist traveling with Custer’s 7th Cavalry, files one of his last dispatches before being killed at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. A native of Ontario,…
June 17
June 17
Native Americans score victory at the Battle of the Rosebud
Sioux and Cheyenne Native Americans score a tactical victory over General Crook’s forces at the Battle of the Rosebud, foreshadowing the disaster of the Battle of the Little Big Horn…
June 21
June 21
General Santa Anna dies in Mexico City
Embittered and impoverished, the once mighty Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna dies in Mexico City. Born in 1792 at Jalapa, Vera Cruz, Mexico, Santa Anna was the son of middle‑class…
June 25
June 25
Battle of the Little Bighorn
On June 25, 1876, Native American forces led by Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull defeat the U.S. Army troops of Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer in the Battle of the Little Bighorn…
June 25
June 25
Indians defeat Custer at Little Big Horn
Determined to resist the efforts of the U.S. Army to force them onto reservations, Indians under the leadership of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse wipe out Lieutenant Colonel George Custer…
June 26
June 26
Reno takes command of 7th Cavalry
Following Lieutenant Colonel George Custer’s death the previous day in the Battle of the Little Big Horn, Major Marcus Reno takes command of the surviving soldiers of the 7th Cavalry.…
June 30
June 30
Wounded soldiers evacuated from the Little Big Horn by steamboat
After a slow two‑day march, the wounded soldiers from the Battle of the Little Big Horn reach the steamboat Far West. The Far West had been leased by the U.S.…
August 2
August 2
Wild Bill Hickok is murdered
“Wild Bill” Hickok, one of the greatest gunfighters of the American West, is murdered in Deadwood, South Dakota. Born in Illinois in 1837, James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok first gained…
August 29
August 29
Charles F. Kettering, inventor of electric self‑starter, is born
Charles Franklin Kettering, the American engineer and longtime director of research for General Motors Corp. (GM), is born on August 29, 1876, in Loudonville, Ohio. Of the 140 patents Kettering…
September 7
September 7
Minnesotans attack the James‑Younger criminal gang
Attempting a bold daytime robbery of the Northfield Minnesota bank, the James‑Younger gang suddenly finds itself surrounded by angry townspeople and is nearly wiped out on September 7, 1876. The…
