1892 in the United States

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See also:	History of the United States (1865–1918) ; Timeline of United States history (1860–1899) ; List of years in the United States ;

Last updated June 10, 2024

Events from the year 1892 in the United States.

Incumbents

Federal government

Governors and lieutenant governors
Governors Governor of Alabama: Thomas G. Jones (Democratic) Governor of Arkansas: James Philip Eagle (Democratic) Governor of California: Henry Markham (Republican) Governor of Colorado: John Long Routt (Republican) Governor of Connecticut: Morgan G. Bulkeley (Republican) Governor of Delaware: Robert J. Reynolds (Democratic) Governor of Florida: Francis P. Fleming (Democratic) Governor of Georgia: William J. Northen (Democratic) Governor of Idaho: N. B. Willey (Republican) Governor of Illinois: Joseph W. Fifer (Republican) Governor of Indiana: Ira Joy Chase (Republican) Governor of Iowa: Horace Boies (Democratic) Governor of Kansas: Lyman U. Humphrey (Republican) Governor of Kentucky: John Y. Brown (Democratic) Governor of Louisiana: Francis T. Nicholls (Democratic) (until May 10), Murphy James Foster, Sr. (Democratic) (starting May 10) Governor of Maine: Edwin C. Burleigh (Republican) Governor of Maryland: Elihu Emory Jackson (Democratic) (until January 13), Frank Brown (Democratic) (starting January 13) Governor of Massachusetts: William E. Russell (Democratic) Governor of Michigan: Edwin B. Winans (Democratic) Governor of Minnesota: William R. Merriam (Republican) Governor of Mississippi: John M. Stone (Democratic) Governor of Missouri: David R. Francis (Democratic) Governor of Montana: Joseph Toole (Democratic) Governor of Nebraska: John Milton Thayer (Republican) (until February 8), James E. Boyd (Democratic) (starting February 8) Governor of Nevada: Roswell K. Colcord (Republican) Governor of New Hampshire: Hiram A. Tuttle (Republican) Governor of New Jersey: Leon Abbett (Democratic) Governor of New York: Roswell P. Flower (Democratic) (starting January 1) Governor of North Carolina: Thomas Michael Holt (Democratic) Governor of North Dakota: Andrew H. Burke (Republican) Governor of Ohio: James E. Campbell (Democratic) (until January 11), William McKinley (Republican) (starting January 11) Governor of Oregon: Sylvester Pennoyer (Democratic) Governor of Pennsylvania: Robert E. Pattison (Democratic) Governor of Rhode Island: Herbert W. Ladd (Republican) (until May 31), D. Russell Brown (Republican) (starting May 31) Governor of South Carolina: Benjamin Ryan Tillman (Democratic) Governor of South Dakota: Arthur C. Mellette (Republican) Governor of Tennessee: John P. Buchanan (Democratic) Governor of Texas: James Stephen Hogg (Democratic) Governor of Vermont: Carroll S. Page (Republican) (until October 6), Levi K. Fuller (Republican) (starting October 6) Governor of Virginia: Philip W. McKinney (Democratic) Governor of Washington: Elisha Peyre Ferry (Republican) Governor of West Virginia: Aretas B. Fleming (Democratic) Governor of Wisconsin: George W. Peck (Democratic) Governor of Wyoming: Amos W. Barber (Republican) Lieutenant governors Lieutenant Governor of California: John B. Reddick (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Colorado: William Story (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut: Samuel E. Merwin (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Idaho: John S. Gray (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Illinois: Lyman Ray (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Indiana: Francis M. Griffith (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Iowa: Alfred N. Poyneer (Republican) (until month and day unknown), Samuel L. Bestow (Democratic) (starting month and day unknown) Lieutenant Governor of Kansas: Andrew J. Felt (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky: Mitchell Cary Alford (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana: James Jeffries (Democratic) (until month and day unknown), Charles Parlange (Democratic) (starting month and day unknown) Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts: William H. Haile (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Michigan: John Strong (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota: Gideon S. Ives (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi: M. M. Evans (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Missouri: Stephen Hugh Claycomb (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Montana: John E. Rickards (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska: Thomas J. Majors (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Nevada: Joseph Poujade (political party unknown) Lieutenant Governor of New York: William F. Sheehan (Democratic) (starting January 1) Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina: vacant Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota: Roger Allin (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Ohio: William V. Marquis (Republican) (until January 11), Andrew L. Harris (Republican) (starting January 11) Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania: Louis Arthur Watres (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island: Henry A. Stearns (political party unknown) (until May 31), Melville Bull (Republican) (starting May 31) Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina: Eugene B. Gary (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota: George H. Hoffman (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee: William C. Dismukes (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Texas: George Cassety Pendleton (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Vermont: Henry A. Fletcher (Republican) (until October 6), F. Stewart Stranahan (Republican) (starting October 6) Lieutenant Governor of Virginia: James Hoge Tyler (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Washington: Charles E. Laughton (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin: Charles Jonas (Democratic)

Events

January–March

January 1 – Ellis Island begins receiving immigrants to the United States.^[1]
January 15 – James Naismith's rules for basketball are published for the first time in the Springfield YMCA International Training School's newspaper, in an article titled "A New Game".
January 20 – At the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts, the first official basketball game is played.
February 1 – The historic Enterprise Bar and Grill is established in Rico, Colorado.
February 12 – Former President Abraham Lincoln's birthday is declared a national public holiday in the United States.
February 18 – Pennsauken Township, New Jersey is incorporated.
February 23 – The 7.1–7.2 M_w  Laguna Salada earthquake shakes Southern California and northern Mexico with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe).
March 15 – Jesse W. Reno patents the first working escalator, used at Old Iron Pier, Coney Island , New York City.

April–June

April – The Johnson County War breaks out between small farmers and large ranchers in Wyoming.
April 15 – The General Electric Company is established through merger of the Thomson-Houston Company and the Edison General Electric Company.
April 19 – The 6.4 M_La Vacaville–Winters earthquake shakes the North Bay are of California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). This first event in a doublet earthquake results in one death and is followed two days later by a 6.2 M_La shock. Total damage from the events is $225,000–250,000.
April 28 – Redondo Beach, California, is founded.
April 30 – Lynching of Ephraim Grizzard, an African American, in Nashville, Tennessee.
May 10 – Glen Ellyn, Illinois is incorporated.
May 11 – The 18th Kentucky Derby is run in Louisville, Kentucky; Azra finishes first, Huron second and Phil Dwyer third in a race with only three horses.
May 28 – The Sierra Club is organized by John Muir in San Francisco, California.
June 6 – The Chicago "L" elevated railway opens.
June 7 – Homer Plessy, who is one-eighth African heritage with light skin, is arrested for sitting (deliberately) on the whites-only car in Louisiana, leading to the landmark Plessy v. Ferguson court case.
June 30 – The Homestead Strike begins in Homestead, Pennsylvania, culminating in a battle between striking workers and private security agents on July 6.

July–September

July 4 – Samoa changes its time zone to being 3 hours behind California, such that it crosses the international date line and July 4 occurs twice.
July 6 – Homestead Strike: The arrival of a force of 300 Pinkerton detectives from New York City and Chicago results in a fight in which about 10 men are killed.
August 4
- The father and stepmother of Lizzie Borden are found violently murdered in their Fall River, Massachusetts home; she will be acquitted of their murder.
- Franklin Park, Illinois is incorporated as a village.
August 9 – Thomas Edison receives a patent for a two-way telegraph.
August 13 – The Baltimore Afro-American newspaper, the country's longest-running African American family owned newspaper business, publishes its first issue (publisher, John H. Murphy, Sr.).

October–December

October 5 – The Dalton Gang, attempting to rob two banks in Coffeyville, Kansas, is shot by the townspeople; only Emmett Dalton, with 23 wounds, survives to spend 14 years in prison.
October 12 – To mark the 400th anniversary Columbus Day holiday, the "Pledge of Allegiance" is first recited in unison by students in U.S. public schools.
October 24 – Boston Beaneaters win their Fifth National League Pennant by defeating Cleveland Spiders 5 games to 0.
November 8
- 1892 U.S. presidential election: Grover Cleveland is elected over Benjamin Harrison and James B. Weaver to win the second of his non-consecutive terms.
- The four-day New Orleans General Strike begins.
November 12 – Pudge Heffelfinger is paid $525 by the Allegheny Athletic Association, becoming the first professional American football player on record.
December 17 – Vogue magazine launched.

Undated

Shredded wheat breakfast cereal first sold to restaurants by Henry Perky.
Ithaca College founded as Ithaca Conservatory of Music in New York (state) by William Grant Egbert.
Lowell High School is founded in Lowell, Indiana.
Aberdeen, Maryland, is founded.
The Cadet Band (modern-day Highty-Tighties) of the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College (modern-day Virginia Tech) is established in the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets.
Andrew Carnegie combines all of his separate businesses into the Carnegie Steel Company, allowing him to gain a monopoly in the United States steel industry.

Ongoing

Garza Revolution in Texas and Mexico (1891–1893)
Gilded Age (1869–c. 1896)
Gay Nineties (1890–1899)
Progressive Era (1890s–1920s)

Births

January 9 – Eva Bowring, U.S. Senator from Nebraska in 1954 (died 1985)
January 14 – Hal Roach, film and television producer, director and actor (died 1992)
January 16
- Homer Burton Adkins, chemist (died 1949)
- Charles W. Ryder, general (died 1960)
- William A. Stanfill, U.S. Senator from Kentucky from 1945 to 1946 (died 1971)
January 26 – Zara Cully, actress (died 1978)
February 19 – Scott W. Lucas, U.S. Senator from Illinois from 1939 to 1951 (died 1968)
February 29
- Ed Appleton, baseball player (died 1932)
- Augusta Savage, African American sculptor (died 1962)
March 9 – Arthur Caesar, screenwriter (died 1953)
March 26 – Paul Douglas, U.S. Senator from Illinois from 1949 to 1967 (died 1976)
April 8 – Rose McConnell Long, U.S. Senator from Louisiana from 1936 to 1937 (died 1970)
May 5 – Rajarsi Janakananda, millionaire and disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda (died 1955)
May 10 – Arthur E. Nelson, U.S. Senator from Minnesota from 1942 to 1943 (died 1955)
May 16 – Osgood Perkins, actor (died 1937)
May 19 – Pops Foster, jazz bass player (died 1969)
May 20 – Harry J. Anslinger, 1st Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (died 1975)
May 24 – Joe Oeschger, baseball pitcher (died 1986)
June 6 – Donald F. Duncan, Sr., toymaker and businessman, founder of Duncan Toys Company (died 1971)
June 15 – Wallace Wade, American football coach, University of Alabama, Duke University (died 1986)
July 4 – Henry M. Mullinnix, admiral (d. 1943)
July 10 – Spessard Holland, U.S. Senator from Florida from 1946 to 1971 (died 1971)
July 24 - Alice Ball, American chemist who developed the "Ball Method", for treating leprosy (died 1916)
July 26 – Sad Sam Jones, baseball player (died 1966)
July 29 – William Powell, film actor (died 1984)
August 6 – Edith Achilles, psychologist (died 1989)
August 16 – Otto Messmer, cartoonist (died 1983)
August 20 – George Aiken, U.S. Senator from Vermont from 1941 to 1975 (died 1984)
August 23 – Alexander G. Barry, U.S. Senator from Oregon from 1938 to 1939 (died 1952)
October 6 – Jackie Saunders, silent film actress (died 1954)
October 13 – Malcolm McGregor, silent film actor (died 1945)
October 28 – Dink Johnson, jazz musician (died 1954)
November 10 – Frank A. Barrett, U.S. Senator from Wyoming from 1953 to 1959 (died 1962)
December 15 – J. Paul Getty, industrialist (died 1976)

Deaths

January 2 – Montgomery C. Meigs, career U.S. Army officer and civil engineer, Quartermaster General of the United States Army during and after the American Civil War (born 1816)
February 28 – Elias Nelson Conway, 5th Governor of Arkansas from 1852 to 1860 (born 1812)
March 26 – Walt Whitman, poet, author of Leaves of Grass (born 1819).
April 6 – Willard Saulsbury, Sr., U.S. Senator from Delaware from 1873 to 1892 (born 1820)
May 14 – John S. Barbour, Jr., U.S. Senator from Virginia from 1889 to 1892 (born 1820)
June 8 – Robert Ford, outlaw, killer of Jesse James (born 1862)
July 14 – Newton Booth, U.S. Senator from California from 1875 to 1881 (born 1825)
August 16 – Thomas H. Watts, 18th Governor of Alabama, 3rd Confederate States Attorney General (born 1819)
September 23 – John Pope, career U.S. Army officer and Union general in the Civil War (born 1822)
October 5 – outlaw members of Dalton Gang (shot)
- Bob Dalton (born 1869)
- Grat Dalton (born 1861)
October 18 – William W. Chapman, politician and lawyer (born 1808)
October 25 – Caroline Harrison, First Lady of the United States as wife of President Benjamin Harrison (born 1832)
November 29 – Graham N. Fitch, U.S. Senator from Indiana from 1857 to 1861 (born 1809)
December 2 – Jay Gould, railroad developer and speculator (born 1836)
December 15 – Randall L. Gibson, U.S. Senator from Louisiana from 1883 to 1892 (born 1832)
December 31 – Henry P. Baldwin, Governor of Michigan from 1869 to 1873 and U.S. Senator from Michigan from 1879 to 1881 (born 1814)
Zenas King, bridge builder (born 1818)

References

↑ Harlan D. Unrau (1984). Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty National Monument, New York-New Jersey. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. p. 208.

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[1] Harlan D. Unrau (1984). Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty National Monument, New York-New Jersey. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. p. 208.

[1]

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