1881

Centuries: 18th century - 19th century - 20th century

Decades: 1830s 1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s - 1880s - 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s

Years: 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 - 1881 - 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886

Events:

• January 25 - Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell form the Oriental Telephone Company
• February 5 - Phoenix, Arizona is incorporated.
• February 19 - Kansas became the first U.S. state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages.
• March 13 - Alexander II of Russia is killed near his palace when a bomb is thrown at him.
• May 12 - In North Africa, Tunisia becomes a French protectorate.
• May 21 - The American Red Cross is established by Clara Barton.
• July 4 - In Alabama, the Tuskegee Institute opens.
• Change of US presidency from Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881) to James Garfield
• Change of US presidency from James Garfield to Chester A. Arthur (1881-1885)
• Founding of the Pali Text Society[?]
• The United States National Lawn Tennis Association (USNLTA) is founded, and the first U.S. Championships are played.

Arts, Sciences, Literature and Philosophy

• 1881 in literature:

Births:

• January 4 - Wilhelm Lehmbruck[?], sculptor (+ 1919)
• January 6 - Sam Rayburn[?], Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (+ 1961)
• January 16 - Sir Arthur Percy Morris Fleming[?], radio pioneer
• February 4 - Fernand Leger, painter (+ 1955)
• February 12 - Anna Pavlova, ballerina (+ 1931)
• March 12 - Kemal Ataturk, founder and first president of the Turkish Republic (+ 1938)
• March 25 - Béla Bartók, Hungarian composer.
• March 25 - Mary Gladys Webb[?], writer (+ 1927)
• June 17 - Tommy Burns, World Heavyweight Boxing Champion
• August 6 - Sir Alexander Fleming, British discoverer of penicillin.
• October 15 - P. G. Wodehouse, British-American writer.
• Kemal Ataturk
• October 25 - Pablo Picasso, outstanding artist of the 20th century
• November 24 - Al Christie, early Hollywood director/producer (+ 1951)

Deaths:

• February 9 - Fyodor Dostoyevsky, author
• March 13 - Tsar Alexander II of Russia
• March 28 - Modest Mussorgsky, Russian composer
• May 26 - Jakob Bernays, philologist

Science:

• Michelson[?] and Morley discover speed of light is independent of Earth's orbital motion.