Editing 1871 (section)

=== October–December ===
* [[October 5]]
** The ''Società degli Spettroscopisti Italiani'' (later''Società Astronomica Italiana'') is established in [[Rome]], the first scientific organisation in the world dedicated to [[astrophysics]].
* [[October 7]] – The [[Peshtigo fire]] begins and destroys the town of [[Peshtigo, Wisconsin]], and kills as many as 2,500 people, becoming the deadliest wildfire in United States history. 
* [[October 8]] – The [[Great Chicago Fire]] breaks out in [[Chicago, Illinois]] and burns for 2 days, killing 300 people, destroying 17,500 buildings and leaving 100,000 people homeless.
** [[Continental AG]] is founded as ''Continental-Caoutchouc und Gutta-Percha Compagnie'' in [[Hanover]], Germany.
* [[October 11]] – [[Heinrich Schliemann]] begins the [[Excavation (archaeology)|excavation]] of [[Troy]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Schliemann |first=Heinrich |title=Ilios |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924028248593 |publisher=Harper |location=New York |language=en |year=1881 |page=21 |access-date=2020-01-20}}</ref>
* [[October 12]] – The [[Criminal Tribes Act]] is enacted by the [[British Raj]] in India, naming over 160 communities as "[[Denotified Tribes]]", allegedly habitually criminal (it will be repealed in [[1949]], after Indian independence).
* [[October 20]] – The [[Royal Regiment of Artillery]] forms the first regular Canadian army units, when they create two [[Artillery battery|batteries]] of [[garrison]] artillery, which later become the [[Royal Canadian Artillery]].
* [[October 24]] – [[Chinese massacre of 1871]]. In [[Los Angeles]]' [[Chinatown, Los Angeles|Chinatown]], 19 [[China|Chinese]] [[immigrants]] are killed by a mob of 500 men.
* [[October 26]] – Liberian President [[Edward James Roye]] is deposed in [[1871 Liberian coup d'état|a coup d'état]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dunn|first1= Elwood D.|last2=Beyan|first2=Amos J.|last3=Burrowes|first3=Carl Patrick|date=2000|title=Historical Dictionary of Liberia |trans-title=|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qt0_RrW8ghkC|language=English |location= |isbn=9781461659310|page=90|publisher= Scarecrow Press}}</ref>
* [[October 27]]
** British forces march into the [[Griqualand West#Diggers Republic (1870–71)|Klipdrift Republic]] and annex the territory as [[Griqualand West#Direct British rule (1871–1880)|Griqualand West Colony]].
** [[Henri, Count of Chambord]], refuses to be crowned "King Henry V of France" until France abandons its tricolor, and returns to the old Bourbon flag.
** [[Boss Tweed]] of [[Tammany Hall]] is arrested for bribery, ending his grip on New York City.
* c. November – The [[South Improvement Company]] is formed in Pennsylvania by [[John D. Rockefeller]] and a group of major United States railroad interests, in an early effort to organize and control the American petroleum industry.
* [[November 5]] – [[Wickenburg Massacre]]: Six men travelling by stagecoach, in the [[Arizona Territory]], are reportedly murdered by [[Yavapai people]].
* [[November 7]] – The London–Australia [[telegraph]] cable is brought ashore at [[Darwin, Northern Territory|Darwin]].<ref>{{cite web |title=1871 Java – Port Darwin Cable |url=http://atlantic-cable.com/Cables/1871Java-PortDarwin/ |work=History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications |date=2014-11-05 |access-date=2015-01-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150105222157/http://atlantic-cable.com/Cables/1871Java-PortDarwin/ |archive-date=January 5, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[November 10]] – [[Henry Morton Stanley]], Welsh-born correspondent for the ''[[New York Herald]]'', locates missing Scottish explorer and missionary Dr. [[David Livingstone]] in [[Ujiji]], near [[Lake Tanganyika]], and greets him by saying, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" (according to his later account).<ref name="Stanley">{{cite book |last=Stanley |first=Henry Morton |date=1872 |edition=1984 |chapter=XI. Through Uhawendi, Uvinza, and Uhha, to Ujiji |title=How I Found Livingstone: Travels, Adventures, and Discoveries in Central Africa; Including Four Months' Residence with Dr. Livingstone |location=London |publisher=Sampson Low, Marston, Low, and Searle |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_ddKYqb6A6gsC/page/411/mode/2up 412] |isbn=9780705415132}}</ref>
* [[November 17]]
** The [[National Rifle Association of America]] is granted a charter by the state of New York.
** [[George Biddell Airy]] presents his discovery that [[astronomical aberration]] is independent of the local medium.
* [[December 10]] – German chancellor [[Otto von Bismarck]] tries to ban [[Catholic Church|Catholics]] from the political stage by introducing harsh laws concerning the [[separation of church and state]].
* [[December 15]] – The [[Deseret Telegraph Company]] office in [[Pipe Spring National Monument|Pipe Spring]] begins service with a message keyed by [[Ella Stewart Udall|Ella Stewart]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=McKoy |first=Kathleen L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JsD9o6SQQ6UC&q=%22The%20first%20message%20was%20sent%20from%20there%20on%20December%2015,%201871.%22 |title=Cultures at a Crossroads: An Administrative History of Pipe Spring National Monument |publisher=[[United States Department of the Interior|U. S. Department of the Interior]], [[National Park Service]], Intermountain Region |year=2000 |pages=35}}</ref> It is the first telegraph sent from [[Arizona Territory]].<ref name=":6">{{Cite news |last=Boren |first=Ray |date=February 28, 2013 |title=A Visit to Pioneer Oasis: Arizona's Pipe Spring |work=Deseret News |url=https://www.deseret.com/2013/2/28/20515246/a-visit-to-pioneer-oasis-arizona-s-pipe-spring |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109160947/https://www.deseret.com/2013/2/28/20515246/a-visit-to-pioneer-oasis-arizona-s-pipe-spring#a-year-round-water-source-and-range-lands-south-of-the-vermilion-cliffs-drew-pioneer-cattlemen-to-pipe-spring-in-the-mid-1800s-however-drought-and-over-grazing-turned-the-once-grassy-plain-into-a-terrain-dominated-by-sagebrush-and-tumbleweeds-by-the-late-19th-century |archive-date=November 9, 2020}}</ref>
* [[December 19]] – The city of [[Birmingham, Alabama]], is incorporated with the merger of three existing towns.
* [[December 24]] – The opera ''[[Aida]]'' opens in Cairo, Egypt.
* [[December 25]] – [[Reading F.C.]] is formed as an [[Association football]] club in England.
* [[December 26]] – [[Thespis (opera)|''Thespis'']], the first of the [[Gilbert and Sullivan]] operas, premières in London. It does modestly well, but the two composers will not collaborate again for four years.