Historical Events in 1872

Mar 2 Louis Riel goes into voluntary exile in St. Paul, Minnesota

Mar 5 George Westinghouse Jr patents triple air brake for trains

Mar 7 -8°F (-22°C ) in Boston, MA
Mar 11 Construction of the Seven Sisters Colliery, South Wales, begins; located on one of the richest coal sources in Britain
Mar 11 The Meiji Japanese government officially annexes the Ryukyu Kingdom into what would become the Okinawa prefecture
Mar 16 1st FA Cup Final: Wanderers defeat Royal Engineers 1-0 at Kennington Oval in London
Mar 21 33rd Grand National: John Page aboard Casse Tete wins
Mar 22 Illinois becomes 1st state to require sexual equality in employment
Mar 26 7.8 earthquake shakes Owens Valley, California
Mar 26 Thomas J Martin patents fire extinguisher
Apr 1 1st edition of The Standard
Apr 2 US engineer George Brayton patents an internal combustion engine (Brayton Cycle)

Apr 12 Jesse James gang robs bank in Columbia, Kentucky (1 dead/$1,500)

May 10 Victoria Woodhull becomes 1st woman nominated for US presidency by Equal Rights Party at Apollo Hall, NYC

May 16 Metropolitan Gas Company lamps lit for 1st time
May 17 Bohemian Club incorporated in San Francisco
May 22 Amnesty Act restores civil rights to Southerners (except for 500)
Jun 1 6th Belmont: James Roe aboard Joe Daniels wins in 2:58.25
Jun 5 Republican National Convention meets (Philadelphia)
Jun 8 US Congress endorses penny post card
Jun 14 Trade unions are legalised in Canada.
Jun 18 Woman's Suffrage Convention held at Merchantile Liberty Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jul 9 Doughnut cutter patents granted to John Blondel, Thomaston, Maine
Jul 18 The Ballot Act introduces the secret ballot in elections in Britain; previously votes made openly

Jul 23 African American inventor Elijah McCoy is granted a patent for lubricators for steam-engines

Sep 10 Karl Marx speaks in Amsterdam

Sep 13 12th British Golf Open: Tom Morris, Jr. shoots a 166 at Prestwick Golf Club
Sep 14 Britain pays US$15½m for damages during Civil War

Sep 17 Phillip W Pratt patents his sprinkler system for extinguishing fires
Sep 18 King Oscar II accedes to the throne of Sweden-Norway
Sep 21 John Henry Conyers of South Carolina becomes first black student at Annapolis
Sep 24 Franz Grillparzer's "Ein Bruderzwist in Habsburg" premieres in Vienna
Sep 26 The first Shriners Temple (called Mecca) was established in New York City.
Sep 29 "3 Fingers" Mackenzie destroys Kwahadi-Commanche village
Sep 29 Kiowa-chief Lone Wolf captures Satanta & Big Tree
Oct 2 Morgan State University founded

Oct 2 Phileas Fogg sets out on his journey as depicted in Jules Verne's "Around the World in Eighty Days"

Nov 5 American women's right to vote advocate Susan B. Anthony votes for Ulysses S. Grant

Nov 5 Ulysses S. Grant re-elected US President

Nov 7 Cargo ship Mary Celeste sails from Staten Island for Genoa; mysteriously found abandoned four weeks later
Nov 9 The Great Boston Fire of 1872. Close to 1,000 buildings destroyed
Nov 18 Suffragette Susan B. Anthony is arrested by a U.S. Deputy Marshal and charged with illegally voting
Nov 19 E.D. Barbour of Boston is awarded the first U.S. patent for the first 'calculator', an adding machine capable of printing totals and subtotals
Nov 22 Franz Grillparzer's "Die Judin von Toledo" premieres in Prague
Nov 29 Indian Wars: The Modoc War begins with the Battle of Lost River.
Nov 30 First international soccer game, Scotland draws with England (0-0) in Glasgow
Dec 5 Ship the Mary Celeste is discovered mysteriously abandoned by her crew in the Atlantic Ocean
Dec 7 HMS Challenger sets sail on 3½ year world oceanographic cruise
Dec 11 Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback takes office as the first African American US Govenor in Louisiana
Dec 21 Phileas Fogg completes his round the world trip in 80 days, in Jules Verne's "Around the World in Eighty Days"
Dec 26 4th largest snowfall in NYC history (18")