Events in Sport
- Jan 5 1st steamboat the North Star sails up the northern Red River, America
Event of Interest
Feb 26 Paul Morphy's chess match vs Augustus Mongredien begins; Morphy wins
Paul Morphy
- Mar 2 21st Grand National: Chris Green aboard 7/1 Half Caste wins by only a short neck from Jean Du Quesne
- Apr 30 Paul Morphy returns from 10-month chess tour of Europe, retires
- May 31 Philadelphia A's organize to play "town ball" became baseball 20 years later
- Jul 1 1st intercollegiate baseball game, Amherst beats Williams 66-32 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts
- Jul 22 Underarm slow right arm bowler V E Walker takes 10-74 in 1st innings for an All-England Cricket XI v Surrey CCC at The Oval in London
Birthdays in Sport
- Jan 30 Tony Mullane, Irish-American baseball player, born in Cork, Ireland (d. 1944)
- Mar 13 Ivo Bligh, British noble (8th Earl of Darnley) and cricketer (Lord Darnley England capt v Australia 1882-83), born in Westminster, London (d. 1927)
- Mar 19 Edward J. McKeever, American baseball executive (co-owner Brooklyn Dodgers), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1925)
- Mar 27 George Giffen, Australian cricketer (one of Australia's greatest all-rounders), born in Norwood, South Australia (d. 1927)
- Apr 7 Walter Camp, father of American football (Yale), born in New Britain, Connecticut (d. 1925)
- Jul 8 Hank O'Day, American Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher/umpire/manager (umpire 10 World Series), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1935)
- Aug 19 Charles Comiskey, American baseball player, team owner and manager (Chicago White Sox), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1931)
- Oct 17 William "Buck" Ewing, hall of fame catcher (NY Giants, Cincinnati Reds)
- Oct 20 George Studd, English cricket batsman (4 Tests; Middlesex), born in Netheravon, Wiltshire, England (d. 1945)
- Oct 29 Charles Ebbets, American sports executive (co-owner of Brooklyn Dodgers 1897-1902), born in NYC, New York (d. 1925)
- Nov 1 Bid McPhee, American Baseball Hall of Fame second baseman (Cincinnati Reds; last 2nd baseman to play without a glove), born in Massena, NY (d. 1943)
- Dec 12 Edward R. Bradley, American businessman and horse owner (1st to own 4 Kentucky Derby winners), born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania (d. 1946)
- Dec 29 Jack Simpson, Scottish golfer (British Open 1884), born in Earlsferry, Fife (d. 1895)