1868 - What happened in 1868 ?

January 1868

Friday 03:

The Japanese Meiji dynasty is restored and the Shogunate is abolished.

February 1868

Sunday 16:

In New York City the Jolly Corks organization is renamed the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE).

Monday 24:

Andrew Johnson becomes the first President of the United States to be impeached by the United States House of Representatives. He is later acquitted.

March 1868

Thursday 05:

Mefistofele, an opera by Arrigo Boito premieres at La Scala.

Monday 23:

The University of California is founded in Oakland, California when the Organic Act is signed into law.

Tuesday 24:

Metropolitan Life Insurance Company is formed.

April 1868

Wednesday 01:

Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute is established in Hampton, Virginia

Saturday 11:

The Shogunate is abolished in Japan

May 1868

Saturday 09:

The city of Reno, Nevada, is founded.

Saturday 16:

President Andrew Johnson is acquitted during his impeachment trial, by one vote in the United States Senate.

Tuesday 26:

The impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson ends, with Johnson being found not guilty by one vote.

Saturday 30:

Memorial Day (then known as "Decoration Day") is observed in the United States for the first time (it was proclaimed on May 5 by General John Logan).

July 1868

Saturday 25:

Wyoming becomes a United States territory.

Tuesday 28:

The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution is adopted guaranteeing African Americans full citizenship and all persons in the United States due process of law.

August 1868

Tuesday 18:

French astronomer Pierre Jules César Janssen discovers helium.

September 1868

Wednesday 23:

Grito de Lares (Lares Revolt) occurs in Puerto Rico against Spanish rule.

Monday 28:

Battle of Alcolea, causes Queen Isabella II of Spain to flee to France.

October 1868

Wednesday 07:

Cornell University holds opening day ceremonies; initial student enrollment is 412.

Saturday 10:

Carlos Céspedes issued the Grito de Yara from his plantation, La Demajagua, proclaiming Cuba's independence.

Wednesday 28:

Thomas Edison applied for his first patent, the electric vote recorder.

November 1868

Monday 02:

Time zone: New Zealand officially adopts a standard time to be observed nationally, and is perhaps the first country to do so.

Tuesday 03:

U.S. presidential election: Republican Ulysses S. Grant is elected to the first of his two terms in a victory over Democrat Horatio Seymour.

Friday 27:

United States Army Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer leads an attack on a band of peaceful Cheyenne living on reservation land.

December 1868

Friday 25:

Ezo Republic founded in Hokkaido by Shogunate rebels.