Key Events in American History: 1880
President: Rutherford B. Hayes
VP: William A. Wheeler
Date, Event
Jan 10th Billy the Kid kills Joe Grant in a saloon in Ft. Sumner, New Mexico
Jan 21st Memphis, TN becomes the first city to establish a separate sewage disposal system
Feb 2nd The first electric streetlight is installed in Wabash, Indiana
March The Salvation Army is established in America
Mar 23rd The first flour rolling mill is patented
Apr 18th At least 24 tornadoes erupt in the Midwestern states & kill over 100 people
May 1st The first issue of the Tombstone Epitaph is published
May 13th Thomas Edison performs the first test of his electric railway in Menlo Park, CA
Jun 1st The first pay telephone goes into service in New Haven, CT
Oct 4th The University of Southern California (USC) opens its doors to 53 students and 10 faculty for the first time
Oct 16th Blizzards paralyze Dakota Territory & Minnesota. Railroads are blocked for the duration of winter
Oct 27th Curly Bill Brocius kills Marshal Fred White in Tombstone
Oct 30th An anti-Chinese riot breaks out in Denver's Hop Alley
Nov 2nd In the presidential election, James Garfield defeats Winfield S. Hancock
Nov 23rd Billy the Kid shoots & kills George Neill in a gunfight in Coyote Springs, NM
Dec 17th The Edison Electric Illuminating Company is incorporated
Dec 24th Pat Garrett & his posse capture Billy the Kid at Stinking Spring, NM
Other
The British Perforated Paper Company invents a form of toilet paper
George Eastman patents a roll of film for cameras
Census in the U.S. reports a total population of 50.1 million. The most populous state or territory west of the Mississippi is Missouri
The Indian population in California has fallen from 100,000 in 1849 to just 20,500
Births
Jan 6th Tom Mix (Actor)
Jan 26th Douglas MacArthur (General, U.S. Army, World War II)
Jun 27th Helen Keller (Author)
Deaths
Jun 18th John Sutter (Explorer)
Jun 28th Texas Jack Omohundro (Frontier Scout/Actor/Cowboy)
Oct 5th Jacques Offenbach (Composer)
