Events from the year 1881 in the United States. For the second time in history (after 1841), the country had three different presidents in one calendar year: Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, and Chester A. Arthur.
Lieutenant Governor of Kansas: Lyman U. Humphrey (Republican) (until month and day unknown), David Wesley Finney (Republican) (starting month and day unknown)
Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee: John R. Neal (Democratic) (until month and day unknown), George H. Morgan (Democratic) (starting month and day unknown)
Lieutenant Governor of Texas: Joseph Draper Sayers (Democratic) (until month and day unknown), Leonidas J. Storey (Democratic) (starting month and day unknown)
February 2 – The 5.6 MlaParkfield earthquake affects central California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong). Some damage occurred near Imusdale northwest of Parkfield, including cracks in the roads, fallen chimneys, and partially collapsed buildings.[1]
February 5 – Phoenix, Arizona, is incorporated.
February 19 – Kansas becomes the first U.S. state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages.
February 22 – Cleopatra's Needle is erected in Central Park, New York City.
March – Barnum & Bailey's "Greatest Show on Earth" opens in Madison Square Garden.
March 4 – James A. Garfield is sworn in as the 20th President of the United States, and Chester A. Arthur is sworn in as Vice President of the United States.
March 15 – First plots of Abilene, Texas, are auctioned; the town is incorporated later in the year.
April–June[]
April 11 – Spelman College is established.
April 14 – The Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight erupts in El Paso, Texas.
April 16 – Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle in Dodge City, Kansas.
April 21 – The University of Connecticut is founded as the Storrs Agricultural School.
April 28 – Billy the Kid escapes from his two jailers at the Lincoln County Jail in Mesilla, New Mexico, killing James Bell and Robert Ollinger before stealing a horse and riding out of town.
May 21
The American Red Cross is established by Clara Barton.
The United States Tennis Association (USNLTA) is established by a small group of tennis club members; the first U.S. Tennis Championships are played this year.
June 12 – The USS Jeannette is crushed in an Arctic Ocean ice pack.
July–September[]
September 19: Vice President Chester A. Arthur becomes the 21st U.S. President after the death of Garfield
July 2 – Assassination of James A. Garfield: James A. Garfield, President of the United States, is shot by lawyerCharles J. Guiteau at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C. He survives the shooting but suffers from infection of his wound, dying on September 19.
July 4 – The Tuskegee Institute opens in Alabama.
July 14 – Billy the Kid is shot and killed by Pat Garrett outside Fort Sumner.
July 20 – Indian Wars: Sioux chief Sitting Bull leads the last of his fugitive people in surrender to United States troops at Fort Buford in Montana.
Summer – First ever summer camp held, on Chocorua Island in Grafton County, New Hampshire.
August 27 – The fifth hurricane of the 1881 Atlantic hurricane season hits Florida and the Carolinas, killing about 700.
September 5 – The Thumb Fire in the U.S. state of Michigan destroys over a million acres (4,000 km²) and kills 282 people.
September 12 – Francis Howell High School (Howell Institute) in St. Charles, Missouri, and Stephen F. Austin High School in Austin, Texas open on the same day, putting them in a tie for the title of the oldest public high school west of the Mississippi River.
September 19 – President James A. Garfield dies weeks after being shot. Vice President Chester A. Arthur becomes the 21st President of the United States.
October–December[]
October 5–December 31 – International Cotton Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia
October 18–21– is observed in Virginia, cornerstone laid.
October 22 – Boston Symphony Orchestra gives its inaugural concert.
October 26 – The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral occurs in Tombstone, Cochise County, Arizona.