- Dec 12 Jules Janssen discovers dark lines in solar corona spectrum
- Dec 19 Albert L Jones of New York City patents corrugated paper
- Dec 24 Giusseppi Verdi's "Aida" opera premieres in Cairo, Egypt
- Dec 26 Gilbert and Sullivan collaborate for the first time, on their lost opera, Thespis. It does modestly well, but the two would not collaborate again for four years.