1887 (MDCCCLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). [edit] Events of 1887 [edit] January–March - January 24 – Battle of Dogali: Abyssinian troops defeat the Italians.
- January 28 – In a snowstorm at Fort Keogh, Montana, USA, the largest snowflakes on record are reported. They are 15 inches (38 cm) wide and 8 inches (20 cm) thick.
- February 2 – In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, the first Groundhog Day is observed.
- February 5 – The Giuseppe Verdi opera Otello premieres at La Scala.
- February 8 – The Dawes Act, or the General Allotment Act, is enacted.
- February 23 – The French Riviera is hit by a large earthquake, killing around 2,000 along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
- February 26 – At the Sydney Cricket Ground, George Lohmann becomes the first bowler to take eight wickets in a Test innings.
- March 3 – Anne Sullivan begins teaching Helen Keller.
- March 4 – Gottlieb Daimler unveils his first automobile.
- March 7 – North Carolina State University is established as North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts.
- March 13 – Chester Greenwood patents earmuffs.
- March 19 – Henry Cogswell College is established by Henry D. Cogswell.
[edit] April–June [edit] July–September [edit] October–December - October 1 – The British Empire takes over Balochistan.
- November – Results of the Michelson-Morley experiment are published, indicating that the speed of light is independent of motion.
- November 3 – The Associação Académica de Coimbra, the students' union of the University of Coimbra in Portugal, is founded.
- November 10 – Louis Lingg, sentenced to be hanged for his alleged role in the Haymarket Riot bomb, kills himself by dynamite.
- November 11 – August Spies, Albert Parsons, Adolph Fischer, George Engel, Michael Schwab, and Samuel Fielden are hanged for inciting riot and murder in the Haymarket Riot of May 4, 1886.
- November 13 – Bloody Sunday: Police clash with pro-Irish independence protesters.
[edit] Undated  Yellow River flood kills 900,000 people living along its banks. Eiffel Tower starts being built [edit] Births [edit] January–June - January 1 – Wilhelm Canaris, head of German military intelligence in World War II (d. 1945)
- January 3 – August Macke, German painter (d. 1914)
- January 10 – Robinson Jeffers, American poet (d. 1962)
- January 13 – Jorge Chavez, pioneer Peruvian aviator (d. 1910)
- January 17 – Ola Raknes, Norwegian psychoanalyst and philologist (d. 1975)
- January 19 – Alexander Woollcott, American intellectual (d. 1943)
- January 21 – Maude Davis, oldest person in the World (d. 2002)
- January 22 – Helen Hoyt, American poet (d. 1972)
- January 23 – Dorothy Payne Whitney, American-born philanthropist and social activist (d. 1968)
- January 28 – Arthur Rubinstein, Polish-born pianist and conductor (d. 1982)
- February 1 – Charles Nordhoff, English-born author (d. 1947)
- February 2 – Pat Sullivan, Australian director and producer of animated films (d. 1933)
- February 3 – Georg Trakl, Austrian poet (d. 1914)
- February 4 – Sheila Kaye-Smith, English writer (d. 1955)
- February 6 – Josef Frings, Archbishop of Cologne (d. 1978)
- February 10 – John Franklin Enders, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1985)
- February 11
- February 17 – Leevi Madetoja, Finnish composer (d. 1947)
- February 20 – Vincent Massey, Governor-General of Canada (d. 1967)
- February 26
- March 3 – Lincoln Beachey, American stunt pilot (d. 1915)
- March 4 – Violet MacMillan, American Broadway theatre actress (d. 1953)
- March 5 – Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazilian composer (d. 1959)
- March 9 – Phil Mead, English cricketer (d. 1958)
- March 14 – Sylvia Beach, American publisher in Paris (d. 1952)
- March 14 – Charles Reisner, American silent actor and film director (d. 1962)
- March 22 – Chico Marx, American comedian and actor (d. 1961)
- March 23 – Juan Gris, Spanish-born painter and graphic artist (d. 1927)
- March 23 – Prince Felix Yussupov, Russian assassin of Rasputin (d. 1967)
- March 24 – Fatty Arbuckle, American actor (d. 1933)
- April 10 – Bernardo Houssay, Argentine physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
- April 15 – Mike Brady, American golfer (d. 1972)
- May 2 – Eddie Collins, baseball player (d. 1951)
- May 5 – Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1972)
- May 10 – Mir Ghotbeddin Mohammad Angha, 40th master of the Oveyssi Sufi Order (d. 1962)
- May 11 – Paul Wittgenstein, Austrian-born pianist (d. 1951)
- May 25 – Pio of Pietrelcina, Italian saint (d. 1968)
- May 26 – Paul Lukas, Hungarian-born actor (d. 1971)
- May 31 – Saint-John Perse, French diplomat and writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1975)
- June 2 – Orrick Johns, American poet and playwright (d. 1946)
- June 22 – Julian Huxley, British biologist (d. 1975)
- June 25 – George Abbott, American playwright (d. 1995)
[edit] July–December - July 7 – Marc Chagall, Russian-born painter (d. 1985)
- July 16 – Shoeless Joe Jackson, baseball player (d. 1951)
- July 18 – Vidkun Quisling, Norwegian politician and traitor (d. 1945)
- July 22 – Gustav Hertz, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1975)
- July 28 – Marcel Duchamp, French-born artist (d. 1968)
- July 29 – Sigmund Romberg, Hungarian-born composer (d. 1951)
- August 3 – Rupert Brooke, British war poet (d. 1915)
- August 12 – Erwin Schrödinger, Austrian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1961)
- August 13 – Julius Freed, American inventor and banker (d. 1952)
- August 15 – Edna Ferber, American novelist (d. 1968)other sources give year of her birth as 1885
- August 17
- August 24 – Harry Hooper, baseball player (d. 1974)
- September 1 – Blaise Cendrars, Swiss writer (d. 1961)
- September 3 – Frank Christian, American jazz musician (d. 1973)
- September 13 – Lavoslav Ružička, Croatian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1976)
- September 16
- September 26 – Edwin Keppel Bennett, British writer (d. 1958)
- September 28 – Avery Brundage, American sports official (d. 1975)
- October 1 – Violet Jessop, RMS Titanic survivor (d. 1971)
- October 5 – René Cassin, French judge, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1976)
- October 6 – Le Corbusier, Swiss architect (d. 1965)
- October 8 – Huntley Gordon, Canadian-born actor (d. 1956)
- October 22 – John Reed, American journalist (d. 1920)
- October 31 – Chiang Kai-shek, 1st ～ 5th President of the Republic of China (d. 1975)
- November 1 – L. S. Lowry, English painter (d.1976)
- November 6 – Walter Johnson, baseball player (d. 1946)
- November 10 – Arnold Zweig, German writer (d. 1968)
- November 15 – Georgia O'Keeffe, American Woman Painter (d.1986)
- November 17 – Bernard Montgomery, World War II British commander (d. 1976)
- November 19 – James B. Sumner, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1955)
- November 23 – Boris Karloff, English actor (d. 1969)
- November 28 – Jacobo Palm, Curaçao born composer (d. 1982)
- December 12 – Kurt Atterberg, Swedish composer (d. 1974)
- December 13 – Alvin Cullum York, American war hero during World War I (d. 1964)
- December 22 – Srinivasa Aaiyangar Ramanujan, Indian mathematician (d. 1920)
- date unknown – Pauline Sabin, American activist for the repeal of prohibition in the U.S. (d. 1955)
[edit] Deaths [edit] January–June - February 26 – Anandi Gopal Joshi, first Indian woman doctor (b. 1865)
- February 27 – Alexander Borodin, Russian composer (b. 1833)
- March 8 – Henry Ward Beecher, American clergyman and reformer (b. 1813)
- March 24 – Ivan Kramskoi, painter (b. 1837)
- March 28 – Ditlev Gothard Monrad, Danish politician (b. 1811)
- April 23 – John Ceiriog Hughes, Welsh poet (b. 1832)
- May 8 – Aleksandr Ulyanov, Russian revolutionary, brother of V. I. Lenin (b. 1866)
- May 14 – Lysander Spooner, American philosopher and abolitionist (b. 1808)
- June 10 – Richard Lindon, Inventor of the rugby ball, the India-rubber inflatable bladder and the brass hand pump for the same (b. 1816)
[edit] July–December - July 8 – John Wright Oakes, landscape painter (b. 1820)
- July 17 – Dorothea Dix, American social activist (b. 1802)
- July 25 – John Taylor, American religious leader (b. 1808)
- August 8 – Alexander William Doniphan, American lawyer and soldier (b. 1808)
- August 19 – Alvan Clark, telescope manufacturer (b. 1804)
- August 20 – Jules Laforgue, French poet (b. 1860)
- October 17 – Gustav Kirchhoff, German physicist (b. 1824)
- October 21 – Bernard Jauréguiberry, admiral (b. 1815)
- November 2 – Jenny Lind, Swedish soprano (b. 1820)
- November 8 – Doc Holliday, American gambler and gunfighter (b. 1851)
- November 19 – Emma Lazarus, American poet (b. 1859)
- November 28 – Gustav Fechner, experimental psychologist (b. 1801)
- December 28 – Ali Raza, Proude of Pakistan (b. 1804)
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