January 9
January 9
Record cold and snow decimates cattle herds
On one of the worst days of the “worst winter in the West,” nearly an inch of snow falls every hour for 16 hours, impeding the ability of already starving…
A Year In History: 1887
Also Within This Year in History:
1887
<span style="font-weight: 400">The monumental Dawes Severalty Act replaced tribal control of reservations with private land allotments, causing Native Americans to lose 62 percent of their pre-1887 holdings. In China, Yellow River flooding killed more than a million people. Queen Victoria celebrated her Golden Jubilee, marking 50 years on the British throne, construction began on the Eiffel Tower and a young deafblind girl named Helen Keller met her “miracle worker,” Anne Sullivan. In literature, Arthur Conan Doyle published “A Study in Scarlet,” introducing Sherlock Holmes. </span>
February 1
February 1
Official registration of Hollywood
On February 1, 1887, Harvey Wilcox officially registers Hollywood with the Los Angeles County recorder’s office. Wilcox and his wife, Daeida, had moved to Southern California four years earlier from…
February 2
February 2
First Groundhog Day observed in Punxsutawney
On February 2, 1887, Groundhog Day, featuring a rodent meteorologist, is celebrated for the first time at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. According to tradition, if a groundhog comes out…
February 8
February 8
Dawes Severalty Act approved, ending tribal control of land
In a well‑meaning but ultimately flawed attempt to assimilate Native Americans, President Grover Cleveland signs an act to end tribal control of reservations and divide their land into individual holdings.…
February 23
February 23
Earthquake strikes Mediterranean
On this day in 1887, an earthquake off the Mediterranean coast of southern France and northern Italy destroys villages and kills more than 2,000 people. At the time, the area…
March 3
March 3
Helen Keller meets Anne Sullivan, her teacher and ‘miracle worker’
On March 3, 1887, Anne Sullivan begins teaching six‑year‑old Helen Keller, who lost her sight and hearing after a severe illness at the age of 19 months. Under Sullivan’s tutelage,…
March 14
March 14
Sylvia Beach, bookstore owner and publisher of Ulysses, is born
Sylvia Beach, owner of the Paris‑based bookstore Shakespeare and Co., is born in Baltimore. Beach moved to Paris at the age of 14, when her father, a Presbyterian minister, was…
May 1
May 1
Alan G. Cunningham, British liberator of Ethiopia, is born
On this day, General Alan Gordon Cunningham, commander of the British forces that captured Ethiopia, liberating it from its Italian invaders, is born. The younger brother of Admiral Andrew Cunningham,…
May 9
May 9
“Buffalo Bill’s Wild West” show opens in London
Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show opens in London, giving Queen Victoria and her subjects their first look at a romanticized version of the American West. A well‑known scout for the…
May 27
May 27
Chinese gold miners are slaughtered in the Hells Canyon Massacre
The Hells Canyon Massacre begins on May 27, 1887, in Lewiston, Washington Territory, in what is now Idaho. The mass slaughter of Chinese gold miners by a gang of white horse thieves…
May 31
May 31
George Goodfellow investigates earthquake
Reflecting a scientific spirit that was rare among frontier physicians, Tombstone doctor George Goodfellow rushes south to investigate an earthquake in Mexico. Though keenly interested in earthquakes, Goodfellow is best…
July 3
July 3
Gunfighter Clay Allison killed
Clay Allison, eccentric gunfighter and rancher, is believed to have died on July 3, 1887, in a freak wagon accident in Texas. Born around 1840 in Waynesboro, Tennessee, Allison seemed…
July 10
July 10
Dam collapses in Switzerland, kills 70
On July 10, 1887, a dam breaks in Zug, Switzerland, killing 70 people in their homes and destroying a large section of the town. The dam at Zug was 80…
August 15
August 15
Edna Ferber, author of Show Boat, is born
Edna Ferber is born on this day in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Ferber went to work as a reporter for the Milwaukee Journal while still in her teens. She began publishing stories…
October 31
October 31
Chiang Kai‑Shek is born
On this day in 1887, in Chekiang province, China, Chiang Kai‑Shek, leader of the Nationalist government of China from 1928 to 1949, is born. As a young man training in…
November 8
November 8
Doc Holliday dies of tuberculosis
Doc Holliday—gunslinger, gambler, and occasional dentist—dies from tuberculosis. Though he was perhaps most famous for his participation in the shootout at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona, John Henry “Doc”…
November 17
November 17
Monty is born
On this day in 1887, Bernard Law Montgomery, British general and one of the most formidable Allied commanders of the war, as well as one of the most disliked, is…
