Year 1886 Fun Facts, Trivia, and Historical Events

This quick read presents a collection of fun facts, trivia, and historical events from the year 1886. Discover the year’s top news stories, most influential people, sports facts, noteworthy inventions, historic firsts, famous marriages, and much more.

Take a journey through history in just minutes.

1. President of the United States: Grover Cleveland (D-New York)
2. Vice President: Vacant
3. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Morrison Waite (Ohio)
4. Speaker of the House of Representatives: John G. Carlisle (D-Kentucky)
5. In 1886, the 49th U.S. Congress was in session.
6. Unemployment rate: Around 4.72 percent (During the 1880s, no state or federal agencies compiled “accurate tallies” of America’s unemployment rate. Only “rough estimates” of the U.S. jobless rate were available.)
7. Inflation rate: -3.09 percent
8. $1.00 in 1886 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $35.00 today. In other words, the U.S. dollar has lost around 97 percent of its purchasing power since 1886.
9. The cost of a first-class stamp was two cents.
10. American companies and brands established in 1886 included the American Water Works, Barnes & Noble, Bazzini, the Burroughs Corporation, the Bon Ami Company, Johnson & Johnson, Munsingwear, S. C. Johnson, Shepley Bulfinch, the Schmidt Baking Company, Valvoline Instant Oil Change, and the Westinghouse Electric Corporation.
11. Consumer products launched during the year included Anchor dairy products, Bon Ami cleaning products, Coca-Cola, and Heinz baked beans.
12. In 1886, the average life expectancy at birth in the U.S. was 40 to 45 years because of a high infant mortality rate. Americans who survived childhood often lived into their 50s, 60s, and even 70s.
13. From February 6 to 9, anti-Chinese hysteria ignited a series of riots in Seattle, Washington.
14. On February 24, inventor Thomas Edison married Mina Miller in Akron, Ohio.
15. On May 4, the Haymarket Square riot unfolded in Chicago. According to Infoplease.com, “Demands for an eight-hour working day became increasingly widespread among American laborers in the 1880s. A demonstration, largely staged by a small group of anarchists, caused a crowd of some 1,500 people to gather at Haymarket Square. When policemen attempted to disperse the meeting, a bomb exploded and the police opened fire on the crowd. Seven policemen and four other persons were killed, and more than 100 persons were wounded.”
16. On April 24, Father Augustine Tolton, America’s first African American Roman Catholic priest, was ordained in Rome.
17. On May 8, American pharmacist Dr. John Stith Pemberton of Atlanta, Georgia, invented Coca-Cola.
18. On May 14, Paul Duffy, aboard the horse Ben Ali, won the 12th Kentucky Derby.
19. On June 2, U.S. President Grover Cleveland and Frances Folsom were married at the first wedding ceremony to be held at the White House.
20. On June 5, Jim McLaughlin, aboard the horse Inspector B, won the 20th Belmont Stakes.
21. On June 19, future U.S. President Howard Taft married Helen Herron in Cincinnati, Ohio.
22. On July 6, Horlick’s Dairy in Racine, Wisconsin, sold the first malted milk to the general public.
23. On August 11, education pioneer Booker T. Washington married Olivia Davidson in Athens, Ohio.
24. On August 20, a massive hurricane destroyed the town of Indianola, Texas.
25. On September 4, Apache leader Geronimo “surrendered his band to General Nelson Miles at Skeleton Canyon, Arizona,” effectively ending the 30-year Apache Wars.
26. On September 14, neurologist Sigmund Freud married Martha Bernays in Hamburg, Germany.
27. In October, at the World’s Championship Baseball Series, the St. Louis Browns (American Association) defeated the Chicago White Stockings (National League), 4 games to 2. (The World’s Championship Baseball Series was the precursor to the World Series.)
28. On October 10, Griswold Lorillard of Tuxedo Park, New York, fashioned the first tuxedo for men.
29. On October 28, President Grover Cleveland dedicated the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.
30. On December 21, Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts, married William Mackay Low in Savannah, Georgia.
31. In 1886, E. A. McIlhenny shot a 19-foot, 2-inch alligator in Louisiana, believed to be the largest alligator ever recorded.
32. California oranges were first shipped across the U.S. by rail.
33. Angelo Del Monte and “Papa” Marianetti opened Ristorante Fior d' Italia, America's oldest Italian restaurant. The eatery, which has survived six moves, was originally located in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood. Today, Ristorante Fior d' Italia is welcoming diners at 2237 Mason Street in SF.
34. American inventor Josephine Garis Cochran received a U.S. patent for the first “commercially successful” dishwashing machine. She later marketed and sold her dishwasher to a curious American public.
35. Willis Marshall of Chicago received a U.S. patent for improvements to a grain binder. (Grain binders are “agricultural devices” that help harvesters to not only cut the crop but also to pack the stems into bundles.)
36. Key literary works published during 1886: George A. Moore’s Confessions of a Young Man, Henry James’ The Bostonians, Jules Verne’s The Lottery Ticket, Leo Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Marie Corelli’s A Romance of Two Worlds, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Thomas Hardy’s The Mayor of Casterbridge
37. America’s most beloved songs included Oh, What a Surprise, Mississippi Rag, Semper Fidelis, The Gladiator, and Two Lovely Black Eyes.
38. Famous people born during 1886 included Al Jolson (pop singer), Clara Lemlich (civil rights leader), Frank Baker (baseball player), George Mallory (mountain climber), Hugh Lofting (children’s writer), Ma Rainey (blues singer), Rose Wilder Lane (journalist), and Ty Cobb (baseball player).
39. Notable people who died in 1886 included Ann Sophia Stephens (novelist), Emily Dickinson (poet), George Fletcher Moore (explorer), Isaac Lea (geologist), and John Deere (entrepreneur).
40. In 1886 as well, the words “alley cat,” “appendicitis,” “caregiver,” “coffee bar,” “crème brûlée,” “founding father,” “homing pigeon,” “jelly bean,” “milkshake,” “pasteurization,” “protein,” “racism,” “tennis shoe,” “uncluttered,” and “World Series” all appeared in print for the first time.
41. Beans: About 13 cents a quart
42. Brown sugar: Around 10 cents a pound
43. Butter: About 35 cents a pound
44. Cheese: Around 18 cents a pound
45. Coal: About $7.84 a ton
46. Cotton flannel: Around 16 cents a yard
47. Eggs: About 40 cents a dozen
48. Granulated sugar: Around 11 cents a pound
49. Lard: About 15 cents a pound
50. Men’s heavy boots: Around $3.19 a pair
51. Milk: About six cents a quart
52. New Orleans molasses: Around 67 cents a gallon
53. Oolong tea: About 58 cents a pound
54. Potatoes: Around $1.26 a bushel
55. Puerto Rico molasses: About 63 cents a gallon
56. Rice: Around 10 cents a pound
57. Roasted coffee: About 29 cents a pound
58. Rye flour: Around five cents a pound
59. Salted pork: About 13 cents a pound
60. Satinet: Around 54 cents a yard
61. Smoked ham: About 15 cents a pound
62. Soup beef: Around six cents a pound
63. Super-fine wheat flour: About $9.92 a barrel
64. Syrup: Around 77 cents a gallon
65. Wheat flour: About $8.57 a barrel

References:

1. https://www.foodreference.com/html/html/food-history-1885.html
2. https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/1886
3. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/year/1886.html
4. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/deceased/1886.html
5. https://www.onthisday.com/sport/events/date/1886
6. https://www.onthisday.com/weddings/date/1886
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1886_in_the_United_States
8. https://www.history.com/a-year-in-history/1886
9. https://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1886
10. https://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/history/north-america/us/haymarket-square-riot

Disclaimer: In writing and editing this article, Gregory DeVictor has made every effort to ensure historical accuracy and not to mislead his audience. In addition, the contents of this article, including text, graphics, and captions, are for general informational purposes only.

© 2026 Gregory DeVictor