1892 in the United States

Events from the year 1892 in the United States.

Federal government

 * President: Benjamin Harrison (R-Indiana)
 * Vice President: Levi P. Morton (R-New York)
 * Chief Justice: Melville Fuller (Illinois)
 * Speaker of the House of Representatives: Charles Frederick Crisp (D-Georgia)
 * Congress: 52nd

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" ! 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)
 * }

January–March

 * January 1 – Ellis Island begins receiving immigrants to the United States.
 * 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 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 MLa 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 MLa 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)