Jan 2nd Standard Oil Trust is formed under John D. Rockefeller. The "trust" practice soon facilitates oligopolies
Mar 18th In retaliation for the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Morgan Earp is shot and killed while playing pool
Mar 20th At a train station in Tucson, AZ, the Earp Brothers, Doc Holliday, Sherman McMasters & Turkey Creek Jack Johnson kill Frank Stilwell, rumored killer of Morgan Earp
Apr 3rd Jesse James is shot in the back & killed by Robert Ford in his home in St. Joseph, MO for reward
Apr 26th President Arthur sends troops to Arizona to deal with "cowboy" terrorists
May 6th The Chinese Exclusion Act is passed. It is the first significant law that restricts immigration into the U.S.
Jun 6th The electric iron is patented
Jul 14th Outlaw Johnny Ringo is found dead in Arizona's Turkey Creek Canyon
Sep 4th Thomas Edison starts the first commercial electric power plant, lighting one square mile of lower Manhattan
Sep 5th Labor Day is observed for the first time
Nov 14th Frank Leslie shoots Billy Claiborne dead in the streets of Tombstone, AZ
Dec 25th The first electric Christmas tree is lit in New York City
Other
Depression of 1882-1885
P.T. Barnum purchases the "largest elephant in or out of captivity" for $10,000. His name is 'Jumbo' and the name begins common usage as an adjective in the English language
Black Bart continues to rob stagecoaches in northern California
Births
Jan 30th Franklin D. Roosevelt (32nd President)
Jun 17th Igor Stravinsky (Composer/Pianist)
Deaths
Mar 24th Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Poet, "Paul Revere's Ride," "The Song of Hiawatha")
Apr 19th Charles Darwin (Naturalist/Geologist/Author, "The Origin of Species")
