Feb 12th First formal observance of Lincoln's birthday
Feb 13th First robbery committed in daylight in the U.S. occurs in Liberty, MO; Considered to be Jesse James first robbery
Apr 9th Civil Rights Act of 1866 is passed despite a veto by President Johnson
Apr 30th Race riots occur in Memphis, TN leaving 47 dead
May 16th Congress approves the minting of a 5 cent nickel (Shield nickel)
May Cholera is spreading in the West; St. Louis reports 200 deaths per day from the disease
Jul 24th Tennessee becomes the first state readmitted to the Union
Jul 25th Ulysses S. Grant becomes the first to achieve the rank of Lieutenant General of the Army
Sep 18th The cornerstone of the mint in Carson City, NV is laid
Oct 6th First armed train robbery in the United States occurs on the Ohio & Mississippi RR in Jackson County, IN
Nov 1st Holladay Overland Mail and the Express Company consolidate with the Overland Mail Company, Wells Fargo & other express companies, retaining the name Wells Fargo
Dec 21st The Fetterman Massacre occurs where 2,000 Cheyenne, Arapahoe & Sioux Indians killing all 81 of Fetterman's soldiers near present day Buffalo, WY
Other
Reconstruction era (1865-1877)
Red Cloud's War (1866-1868) - Lakota, Cheyenne & Arapahoe vs. the U.S. in Wyoming & Montana
Winchester Repeating Arms Corp. opens in Connecticut
The Goodnight-Loving Trail is blazed from Texas to New Mexico
The Chisholm Trail opens. It will become a well traveled cattle trail from Texas to Kansas
The Winchester Model 1866, the first Winchester rifle, is produced
Alfred Nobel invents dynamite
Births
Apr 13th Robert Leroy Parker (aka "Butch Cassidy") (Outlaw)
Jul 28th Beatrix Potter (Author, "The Tale of Peter Rabbit")
Sep 21st H.G. Wells (Author, "The Invisible Man," "The Time Machine")
