Jan 24th The Sam Bass gang robs a Houston & Texas Central train
Jan 28th The nation's first commercial telephone switchboard is installed in New Haven, CT
Feb 18th Lincoln County War: Notable figures (Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, etc.) fight over control of the mercantile business in Lincoln County, New Mexico. John Tunstall is murdered in the process
Feb 19th The phonograph is patented by Thomas Edison
Feb 21st The nation's first telephone book (directory) is published in Connecticut
Apr 1st William Bonney (aka "Billy the Kid") & 5 Regulators ambush & kill Sheriff Bill Brady, his Deputy & 3 others as revenge for the death of John Tunstall
Jul 21st Sam Bass dies after a botched bank robbery in Round Rock, TX
Jul 28th Black Bart makes a clean getaway after robbing a stagecoach in CA leaving another poem behind
Oct 2nd Black Bart robs a Wells Fargo stagecoach 12 miles from Ukiah, CA
Oct 15th Thomas Edison establishes the Electric Light Company in New York City
Dec 17th Greenbacks reach face value and can be redeemed 1:1 for gold for the first time since 1862
Dec 22nd Lincoln County War: After many gunfights, Billy the Kid surrenders to sheriff George Kimball. He later escapes to Las Vegas, New Mexico
Other
Depression of 1873-1879
Yellow Fever in Mississippi Valley kills approximately 14,000 people
The high-wheel bicycle (Penny farthing) is produced beginning a bicycle craze in the U.S.
George Eastman begins manufacturing photographic dry plates
Due to the depression in California, 532 businesses fail
Births
Jun 5th Pancho Villa (General, Mexican Revolution)
Dec 18th Joseph Stalin (Dictator, Soviet Union)
Dec 25th Louis Chevrolet (Founder, Chevrolet Car Company)
