page_title: 1868
section_title: October–December
hierarchical_section_title: 1868 / Events / October–December
caption_attribution_description: English: Custer and the 7th Cavalry raid the Native American (Cheyenne) encampment of Black Kettle on the Washita River, Oklahoma.
context_page_description: 1868 was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar, the 1868th year of the Common Era and Anno Domini designations, the 868th year of the 2nd millennium, the 68th year of the 19th century, and the 9th year of the 1860s decade. As of the start of 1868, the Gregorian calendar was 12 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.
context_section_description: October 1 – Chulalongkorn starts to rule in Siam.
  October 6 – The City of New York grants Mount Sinai Hospital a 99-year lease for a property on Lexington Avenue and 66th Street, for the sum of $1.00.
  October 10 – Carlos Manuel de Céspedes declares a revolt against Spanish rule in Cuba, in an event known as El Grito de Yara, initiating a war that lasts ten years (Cuba ultimately loses the war at a cost of 400,000 lives and widespread destruction).
  October 20
  English astronomer Norman Lockyer observes and names the D₃ Fraunhofer line in the solar spectrum, and concludes that it is caused by a hitherto unidentified element, which he later names helium.
  Pedro Figueredo creates the Cuban national anthem, El Himno de Bayamo.
  October 23 – The current Japanese era name is changed to the Meiji period. The 265-year-long Edo period ends.
  October 28 – Thomas Edison applies for his first patent, the electric vote recorder.
  November 2 – Time zone: New Zealand officially adopts a standard time, to be observed nationally.
  November 3 – U.S. presidential election, 1868: Republican Ulysses S. Grant defeats Democrat Horatio Seymour.
  November 7 – The Battle of Moturoa, New Zealand ends in a British defeat, due to an underestimate of Tītokowaru and his fortifications. Heavy casualties for the colonial army and light casualties for the Māori defenders.
  November 27 – American Indian Wars – Battle of Washita River: In the early morning, United States Army Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer leads an attack on a band of Cheyenne living on reservation land with Chief Black Kettle, killing 103 Cheyenne.
  December 4 – Battle of Hakodate begins in Japan.
  December 4 – Thomas Humber invented the safety bicycle.
  December 6 – Paraguayan War – Battle of Ytororó or Ytororó: Field-Marshal Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, Duke of Caxias leads 13,000 Brazilian troops against a Paraguayan fortified position of 5,000 troops.
  December 9 – The world's first traffic signal lights are installed at the junction of Great George Street and Bridge Street in the London Borough of Westminster.
  December 24 – The Greek Presidential Guard is established as the royal escort by King George I.
  December 25 – U.S. President Andrew Johnson grants unconditional pardon to all Civil War rebels.
caption: November 27: Battle of Washita River.
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