Year 1892 in Review: Fun Facts, Trivia, and Historic Highlights

This quick read is a collection of fun facts, trivia, and historical events from the year 1892. Discover the year’s top news stories, most influential people, U.S. economic trends, historic firsts, entertainment news, and much more.

Take a journey through history in just minutes.

1. In 1892, Benjamin Harrison (R-Indiana) was the 23rd U.S. president, and Levi B. Morton (R-New York) was the 22nd vice president of the United States.
2. The U.S. unemployment rate was an estimated 3%, and the nation's inflation rate was 2.71%. The following year, the Panic of 1893 triggered a significant increase in the U.S. jobless rate, with an estimated 17-19% of Americans out of work. (In the 1890s, no state or federal agencies compiled “accurate tallies” of America’s unemployed. Only “rough estimates” of the U.S. jobless rate were available.)
3. American companies and brands launched in 1892 included Abercrombie & Fitch, the Coca-Cola Company, Florsheim Shoes, General Electric, the Hamilton Watch Company, the Olin Corporation, Philco, Sears Roebuck and Co., Stop & Shop, and the United States Rubber Company.
4. On January 1, Ellis Island, an island in the New York City harbor, began processing immigrants entering the United States.
5. On January 15, James Naismith, the Scottish-American inventor of basketball, published the rules of basketball in the Springfield (Massachusetts) YMCA International Training School newspaper.
6. On January 20, America’s first basketball game was played at the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts.
7. In April, the Johnson County War, also known as the War on Powder River, ignited between small farmers and large ranchers in Wyoming. According to Visit Buffalo Wyoming, “The lush grasslands of Johnson County became a battleground where cattle barons and homesteaders faced off over grazing rights in a violent competition for control of the open ranges in the Powder River Country.” The conflict began “when cattle companies started ruthlessly persecuting alleged rustlers in the area, many of whom were settlers who competed with them for livestock, land, and water rights.” The Johnson County War ended in 1893 “with the intervention of the U.S. Cavalry,” but “the tensions between the two groups continued for years.”
8. On April 15, the General Electric Company was created by merging the Thomson-Houston Company and the Edison General Electric Company.
9. On June 6, Chicago’s elevated railway—the “L”—opened to passengers.
10. On July 13, the United International Bureau for the Protection of Intellectual Property (UIBPIP) was established in Bern, Switzerland. The UIBPIP’s objective is “to promote the protection of intellectual property throughout the world through cooperation among states and, where appropriate, in collaboration with any other international organization.”
11. In August, Francis Bellamy, an American Baptist minister and author, wrote the Pledge of Allegiance, “a patriotic recited verse that promises allegiance to the flag of the United States.” In its original form, the Pledge of Allegiance read, "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." (Just so you know, the most recent change to the Pledge’s wording occurred on Flag Day in 1954, when the words “under God” were added.)
12. August 4: Andrew and Abby Borden, the father and stepmother of Lizzie Borden, were found brutally murdered in their home in Fall River, Massachusetts. Lizzie Borden was arrested and later acquitted of their murders. (Just so you know, the Borden murders and subsequent trial received “widespread publicity” throughout the United States and have remained a popular topic in films and literary works ever since.)
13. On August 13, the Baltimore Afro-American, the country's longest-running African American newspaper, began publication.
14. On October 12, American students first recited the Pledge of Allegiance to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s landing in the New World.
15. On November 8, in the 1892 presidential election, Grover Cleveland (D-New York) defeated incumbent U.S. President Benjamin Harrison (R-Indiana). Cleveland won 277 electoral votes, Harrison received 145, and James B. Weaver, the Populist candidate, secured 22.
16. In 1892, industrialist Andrew Carnegie combined all of his “separate” steel businesses into the Carnegie Steel Company, “allowing him to gain a monopoly in the United States steel industry.”
17. Court Avenue in Bellefontaine, Ohio, became America’s first concrete-paved street.
18. American inventor and attorney Joshua Pusey created book matches. One or two years later, he sold the patent to the Diamond Match Company.
19. American dental surgeon Dr. Washington Sheffield of New England, Connecticut, invented the toothpaste tube.
20. African American inventor George Sampson received a U.S. patent for an automatic clothes dryer.
21. American businessman Joel Owsley Cheek devised a special coffee blend for the Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. His creation later became known as Maxwell House coffee.
22. American engineer and inventor Jesse Reno received a U.S. patent for the world’s first escalator.
23. Popular music artists and groups in 1892 included Al Reeves, Charles Harris, Charles Hoyt, Dan Quinn, George Johnson, Gilmore’s Band, Harry Kennedy, Holding’s Military Band, Issler’s Orchestra, James Thornton, John Philip Sousa’s Band, Len Spencer, and Press Eldridge.
24. Famous people born in 1892 included Bessie Coleman (pilot), Donald Wills Douglas (aircraft industrialist), J. Paul Getty (oil magnate), J.R.R. Tolkien (novelist), and Mary Pickford (stage actress).
25. Famous people who died in 1892 were Louis Vuitton (fashion designer), Walt Whitman (poet), Alfred Lord Tennyson (novelist), James Augustus Grant (explorer), and Henry Walter Bates (explorer).
26. In 1892 as well, the words “after-hours,” “benchwarmer,” “blue chip,” “Boston terrier,” “chain reaction,” “Columbus Day,” “dark roast,” “devil’s food cake,” “double pneumonia,” “floor lamp,” “kilowatt-hour,” “meatloaf,” “mothball,” “off one’s trolley,” “push broom,” “student union,” “thumbs-up,” and “want ad” all appeared in print for the first time.
27. Bacon: About 12.5 cents a pound
28. Beef: About $8.00 per barrel
29. Butter: About 25.5 cents a pound
30. Cheese: About five cents a pound
31. Coffee: About five cents a pound
32. Corn: About 40 cents per bushel
33. Eggs: About 20.8 cents a dozen
34. Flour: About 14.5 cents for five pounds
35. Lard: About six cents a pound
36. Molasses: About 15 cents per gallon
37. Milk: About 13.6 cents for a half gallon
38. Potatoes: About 16 cents for five pounds
39. Round steak: About 12.3 cents a pound
40. Sugar: About 34.5 cents for five pounds

References:

1. https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/1892
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1892_in_the_United_States
3. https://www.history.com/a-year-in-history/1892
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1892_United_States_presidential_election
5. https://www.foodreference.com/html/html/food-history-1890.html
6. https://rateyourmusic.com/charts/top/single/1892/
7. https://www.flickchart.com/charts.aspx?year=1892

Disclaimer: In writing and editing this article, Gregory DeVictor has made every effort to ensure historical accuracy and not to mislead his audience. In addition, the contents of this article, including text, graphics, and captions, are for general informational purposes only.

© 2026 Gregory DeVictor