VP: Schuyler Colfax until March 4th, Henry Wilson thereafter
Date, Event
Jan 30th "Around the World in 80 Days" is published by Jules Verne & sells a million copies
Feb 12th The Coinage Act of 1873 is passed removing silver coinage from circulation & establishing a gold standard Production of the Trade dollar begins; two & three cent pieces are eliminated
Mar 1st E. Remington start producing the first practical typewriter
Mar 3rd The Timber Culture Act grants homesteaders an additional 160 acres of land provided they plant trees on at least 40 acres
Mar 4th President Grant begins his second term
May Barbed wire is put on exhibit by Henry Rose at an Illinois county fair; Joseph Glidden mass-produces it
May Modoc Wars come to an end with the Battle of Dry Lake in N. California
May 23rd The Preakness Stakes horse race begins in Baltimore, MD
Jul 21st Jesse James & the Younger Gang pull off the first successful train robbery (Rock Island Express)
August Grasshoppers & droughts devastate the western farms, causing farmers to sell their farms & causing farmers to return to factories
Sep 18th The NY stock market crash triggers the Panic of 1873, part of the Long Depression. Primary causes include the failure of about 38 brokerage firms from over-speculation & inflated prices
Sep 20th The New York Stock Exchange closes for 10 days in an attempt to calm market fears
Oct 20th P.T. Barnum takes his Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan & Hippodrome to New York City at 4th & 26th Street; this space later becomes the site for Madison square Garden
Oct 27th Joseph Glidden applies for a patent on barbed wire
Other
Reconstruction era (1865-1877)
Depression of 1873-1879
The Winchester Company introduces the Model 1873 repeating rifle (aka "The Gun the Won the West")
"Home on the Range" is written by Higley & Kelley
Coors Brewing Company begins brewing beer in Golden, CO
Births
Feb 25th Enrico Caruso (Opera Singer)
Apr 1st Sergei Rachmaninoff (Composer/Pianist)
Deaths
Mar 3rd Oakes Ames (Politician/Capitalist/Committee Member, Union Pacific Railroad)
