Henry Steinway and his three sons begin the New York firm of piano manufacturers. Melbourne University is founded in Australia. Washington University is founded at St. Louis, Missouri. The University of Florida is founded at Gainesville. The German family magazine, Die Gartenlaube , is founded in Leipzig.
Extreme drought parches the Southwest, lowering prices of land and cattle.
Concord, Mass., horticulturist Ephraim Wales Bull, exhibits the first Concord grapes to the Massachusetts Horticulture Society. The word 'maverick' comes into use as a term for unbranded cattle when rancher Samuel Maverick rounds up his unbranded cattle for sale before retiring from ranching. The Mount Vernon Hotel that opens at Cape May, N.J., is the world's first hotel with private baths. Charleston's 125-room Mills House opens at the corner of Meeting and Queen streets. New York's state legislature authorizes the city to purchase land for a public park, and some 624 acres are acquired from 59th Street north to 106th Street between Fifth and Eighth Avenues.