Year by year · 19th century

1881

1881 in world history: 18 events, 20 births, 18 deaths, 1 work, 4 states founded and 3 that came to an end. 944 recorded states existed that year.

Events

  1. 25 January

    Edison and Bell interests form the Oriental Telephone Company

    Companies holding the telephone patents of Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell combined to form the Oriental Telephone Company. It built early telephone exchanges in India and other parts of Asia.

    Alexander Graham Bell

  2. 13 March

    Tsar Alexander II assassinated in St Petersburg

    Members of the revolutionary group People's Will threw bombs at the Tsar's carriage. Alexander, who had freed the serfs, died within hours, and his son's reign brought harsh reaction.

  3. 21 May

    Clara Barton founds the American Red Cross

    Clara Barton, a nurse in the Civil War, set up the American Association of the Red Cross in Washington. It became the country's main organisation for disaster relief and blood donation.

  4. 19 September

    President James Garfield dies 79 days after being shot

    Garfield died of infection and complications from the wound inflicted by Charles Guiteau. His doctors' unsterile probing of the wound almost certainly contributed to his death.

  5. 26 October

    The gunfight near the O.K. Corral erupts in Tombstone

    Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan Earp and Doc Holliday shot dead Billy Clanton and Tom and Frank McLaury in about 30 seconds in Tombstone, Arizona. The fight became the Wild West's most famous legend.

  6. Treaty

    Treaty of Bardo

    The Treaty of Bardo was signed on 12 May 1881 at the Ksar Saïd palace near Tunis by Muhammad as-Sadiq Bey, under pressure from an invading French army.

  7. Treaty · Peace

    Pretoria Convention

    The Pretoria Convention was the peace settlement signed on 3 August 1881 that ended the First Boer War.

  8. Battle · Siege

    Battle of Geok Tepe

    The Battle of Geok Tepe was the Russian siege and storming of the Teke Turkmen fortress of Geok Tepe, near present-day Ashgabat, by General Mikhail Skobelev in December 1880 and January 1881.

  9. Battle

    Battle of Majuba Hill

    The Battle of Majuba Hill, fought on 27 February 1881, was the decisive engagement of the First Boer War.

  10. Battle

    Battle of Laing's Nek

    The Battle of Laing's Nek was fought on 28 January 1881 at a pass in the Drakensberg on the border between Natal and the Transvaal, during the First Boer War.

ProfileState811 states with a known seat in 1881Open the atlas at 1881 →

In the profiles

  • Republic of El SalvadorThe abolition of communal lands opens the way for coffee estates
  • Merina KingdomThe Code of 305 Articles is promulgated
  • South African RepublicThe Boers defeat a British force at Majuba Hill and regain self-government
  • HebrewEliezer Ben-Yehuda settles in Jerusalem and begins his campaign to revive spoken Hebrew

Wars and longer events

Born in 1881 20

Died in 1881 18

Works 1

States founded 4

States that came to an end 3

All years → The 19th century →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). 1881. In The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1881
MLA
“1881.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1881. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “1881.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1881.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘1881’, The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1881 (Accessed: ).