1881 Events

1881 Douglass Publishes Third Autobiography - The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass
The 1892 Life and Times is divided into three sections, with the first devoted to "His Early Life as a Slave," the second to "His Escape from Bondage," and the third to "His Complete Hist...
1881 Jane Addams graduates from Rockford College
Today, the spirit of Jane Addams (Rockford College alumna) lives on at Rockford College. As Jane Addams’ college in the 21st century, we seek to create a world that is more just, more ...
1881 Metal Detector First Used By Alexander Graham Bell
Toward the end of the 19th century, many scientists and engineers used their growing knowledge of electrical theory in an attempt to devise a machine which would pinpoint metal. The use o...
1881 Mohandes Gandhi Enters High School in Rajkot
Gandhi was a shy and fearful child. Short and spindly, he shied away from athletics, and his lack of physical prowess was matched by his difficulties in school. Though in later years he w...
1881 Swan Founds Swan Electric Light Company
Swan received a British patent for his device in 1878, about a year before Thomas Edison. Swan had reported success to the Newcastle Chemical Society and at a lecture at Sunderland Techni...
1881 Ulysses S. Grant Goes Bankrupt
In 1881, Grant purchased a house in New York City and placed almost all of his financial assets into an investment banking partnership with Ferdinand Ward, as suggested by Grant's son Buc...
1881 Mar 4 James Garfield is inaugurated as the 20th president of the United States
Snow on the ground discouraged many spectators from attending the ceremony at the Capitol. Congressman Garfield had been nominated on his party's 36th ballot at the convention; and he had...
1881 Apr 28 Billy The Kid Escapes
Billy the Kid escaped from the Lincoln County, New Mexico jail house on April 28, 1881, killing two deputies on guard. He avoided capture until July 14, when he was ambushed and killed b...
1881 Apr 29 Wreck of the SS Tararua
The second greatest loss of life in New Zealand waters came in 1881 when 131 people died in the wreck of the Tararua. On a voyage from Port Chalmers to Melbourne, the ship struck a reef o...
1881 Jun 2 Louis Pasteur Demonstrates Anthrax Vaccine
In 1877, Louis Pasteur began his animal experiments with anthrax. After years of attempting to infect animals, he announced that he had developed a means of protecting sheep against anthr...
1881 Jun 3 Davis Publishes "The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government"
In 1876, he promoted a society for the stimulation of U.S. trade with South America. Davis visited England the next year, returning in 1878 to Beauvoir (Biloxi, Mississippi). Over the nex...
1881 Jul 2
9:30AM
 President James A. Garfield Assassinated
Less than four months after his inauguration, President Garfield arrived at the Washington railroad depot on July 2, 1881, to catch a train for a summer's retreat on the New Jersey seasho...
1881 Sep 5 Great Thumb Forest Fire
In the Lower Peninsula of the state of Michigan, a widespread drought had begun to dry out pastures, crops, wells and, eventually, forests. The area was rich in timber, and a great deal o...
1881 Sep 20 President Chester A. Arthur Takes Oath of Office After the Assassination of James Garfield
On this day in 1881, Chester Arthur is inaugurated, becoming the third person to serve as president in that year. The year 1881 began with Republican Rutherford B. Hayes in office. Hay...
1881 Oct 26
3:00PM
 Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral was a gunfight that occurred at about 3 P.M. on Wednesday, October 26, 1881, in Tombstone, Arizona Territory, United States. The famous gunfight did not ac...
1881 Oct 29 Henry James' "The Portrait of a Lady" Is Published
The Portrait of a Lady is a novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in The Atlantic Monthly and Macmillan's Magazine in 1880–1881 and then as a book in 1881. It is one of James'...
1881 Nov 25 "Der Lustige Krieg" Is Released
Der lustige Krieg (The Merry War) is the name of a three-act operetta composed by Johann Strauss II. The work was first performed on 25 November 1881 at the Theater an der Wien. The opere...
1881 Dec 8 Ring Theatre Fire
A fire at the Ring Theater in Vienna, Austria, kills at least 620 people and injures hundreds more on this day in 1881. The luxurious, ornate theater hosted the most popular performanc...
1881 Dec 31 Charles Guiteau Writes A Letter To His Jailer
On December 31, 1881, Charles Guiteau, the assassin of President James Garfield, wrote a New Year's greeting to his jailer. Charles Julius Guiteau shot President James A. Garfield in t...