President: Andrew Johnson until March 4th; Ulysses S. Grant thereafter
VP: vacant until March 4th; Schuyler Colfax thereafter
Date, Event
Feb 6th First appearance of "Uncle Sam" appears in Harper's Weekly
Mar 4th Ulysses S. Grant succeeds Andrew Johnson as the 18th President
Apr 10th The number of Supreme Court judges increases to 9 from 7
May 10th The "golden spike" is driven into the final track completing the First Transcontinental Railroad in Promontory, UT. The nation cheers from coast to coast. Cross country travel now takes 8 days.
May 15th Susan B. Anthony & Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the National Woman Suffrage Association
Jun 1st The Cincinnati Red Stockings open the baseball season as the first professional baseball team
Jul 13th Riots against the Chinese erupt in San Francisco. Chinese laborers are numerous & work hard for low wages and are a threat to westward settlers
Sep 24th Black Friday: Gold prices escalate then collapse as cooked manipulators over-speculate in the commodity
Nov 6th The first American football game is played (between Rutgers & Princeton) in a forerunner to current day football
Dec 7th Jesse James (and Frank) rob a bank in Gallatin, MO killing the cashier, John Sheets in the process
Dec 10th The Wyoming territory gives women the right to vote, one of the first such laws in the world
Dec 28th Chewing gum is patented by William Finley Sample
Other
Reconstruction era (1865-1877)
P.T. Barnum writes "Struggles & Triumphs"
Births
Apr 8th Harvey Cushing (Father of Neurosurgery)
Sep 23rd Typhoid Mary (Chef)
Deaths
Mar 8th Hector Berlioz (Composer)
Jul 22nd John Roebling (Civil Engineer/Designer of Suspension Bridges, Including the Brooklyn Bridge)
