1872 followed by 1873
1872 (MDCCCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar, the 1872nd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 872nd  year of the 2nd millennium, the 72nd  year of the 19th century, and the  3rd   year of the 1870s decade. As of the start of 1872, the Gregorian calendar was 12 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.October–December
October 1
The Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College begins its first academic session (the university is later renamed Virginia Tech).
The first case is reported in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, of the Great Epizootic of 1872 (equine influenza, or the "horse flu") which will substantially disrupt life in North America by mid-December.
October 16 – University College Wales (later to become Aberystwyth University) begins its first academic session.
November 5
1872 United States presidential election: Ulysses S. Grant defeats Horace Greeley.
Women's suffrage: In defiance of the law, American suffragist Susan B. Anthony votes for the first time (on November 18 she is served an arrest warrant, and in the subsequent trial is fined $100, which she never pays).
November 7 – The Mary Celeste sets sail from New York; bound for Genoa, Italy.
November 9 – Great Boston Fire of 1872: In Boston, Massachusetts, a large fire begins to burn on Lincoln Street (the 2-day disaster destroys about 65 acres (0.26 km2) of the city, 776 buildings, much of the financial district and causes US$60 million in damage).
November 11 – U.S. government geologist Clarence King reveals the diamond hoax in Wyoming.
November 12–13 (night) – The 1872 Baltic Sea flood ravages the Baltic Sea coast from Denmark to Pomerania, also affecting Sweden.
November 13 (07:35) (probable date) – Claude Monet begins painting Impression, Sunrise (Impression, soleil levant, the painting that will give a name to Impressionism) as viewed from his hotel room at Le Havre in France.
November 16 – The first ever Metropolitan Police strike in London.
November 22 – "Spitzeder Swindle": Adele Spitzeder's pioneering Ponzi scheme in Munich collapses.
November 27 – A meteor shower display of Andromedids is seen over France.
November 29
American Indian Wars: The Modoc War begins with the Battle of Lost River.
Horace Greeley, President Ulysses S. Grant's opponent in this year's U.S. presidential election, dies. His electoral votes are divided among several candidates.
November 30 – The first international Association football match to be recognised (retrospectively) by FIFA as "official" takes place at Hamilton Crescent, Scotland; the result is Scotland 0-0 England. Earlier international football matches have already taken place in 1870, in 1871 and again in 1872 at the Oval, London.
December 1
Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada becomes constitutional President of Mexico.
Responsible government is granted to Cape Colony (South Africa). Sir John Molteno, first Prime Minister of the Cape of Good Hope, forms the first Cape Cabinet which immediately plans to establish Cape Government Railways and take over the operation of all private railways in the Colony.
December 3 – Assyriologist George Smith presents the first translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh, to a meeting of the Society of Biblical Archaeology in London.
December 4 – The now-crewless American ship Mary Celeste is found (still seaworthy) by the British brig Dei Gratia in the Atlantic.
December 6 – Springwell Pit disaster at Dawley, England: Eight coal miners fall to their death when a winding chain snaps.
December 14
6.5-7 magnitude earthquake takes place in the Cascade mountains in northern Washington.
President Ulysses S. Grant establishes the San Carlos Apache Reservation, in southeastern Arizona.
December 21 – Challenger expedition: HMS Challenger (1858) sails from Portsmouth, England, on the 4-year scientific expedition that lays the foundation for the science of oceanography.