Editing 1872 (section)

=== October&ndash;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]] &ndash; University College Wales (later to become [[Aberystwyth University]]) begins its first academic session.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/university/history/timelinepart1/|title=Aberystwyth University - Early Days|website=www.aber.ac.uk|access-date=2016-07-28|archive-date=July 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160720051746/http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/university/history/timelinepart1/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[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]] &ndash; The ''[[Mary Celeste]]'' sets sail from New York; bound for Genoa, Italy.
* [[November 9]] &ndash; [[Great Boston Fire of 1872]]: In [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]], a large fire begins to burn on Lincoln Street (the 2-day disaster destroys about {{convert|65|acre|km2}} of the city, 776 buildings, much of the financial district and causes US$60&nbsp;million in damage).
* [[November 11]] &ndash; U.S. government geologist [[Clarence King]] reveals the [[Diamond hoax of 1872|diamond hoax]] in [[Wyoming]].
* [[November 12]] – [[Dresdner Bank]] is founded in [[Dresden, Germany]].
* [[November 13]] &ndash; [[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.<ref>{{cite book|first=Donald W.|last=Olson|chapter=Dating Impression, Sunrise|title=Monet's Impression, Sunrise: the biography of a painting|location=Paris|publisher=Éditions Hazan; Musée Marmottan Monet|year=2014|isbn=978-0-300-21088-0|pages=80–105}}</ref>
* [[November 16]] &ndash; The first ever [[Metropolitan Police strike of 1872|Metropolitan Police strike]] in London.
* [[November 22]] &ndash; "Spitzeder Swindle": [[Adele Spitzeder]]'s pioneering [[Ponzi scheme]] in [[Munich]] collapses.
* [[November 27]] &ndash; 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 [[1872 United States presidential election|this year's U.S. presidential election]], dies. His electoral votes are divided among several candidates.
* [[November 30]] &ndash; 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.londonhearts.com/scotland/games/18721130.html|title=18721130 Sat 30 Nov 1872 Scotland 0 England 0|website=www.londonhearts.com}}</ref> [[England v Scotland representative football matches (1870–72)|Earlier international football matches]] have already taken place in 1870, [[England v Scotland (1871)|in 1871]] and [[England v Scotland (1872)|again in 1872]] at [[the Oval]], London.
* [[December 1]]
**[[Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada]] becomes constitutional [[President of Mexico]].<ref name="lerdo">{{cite web|title=Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada|url=https://historia-biografia.com/sebastian-lerdo-de-tejada/|website=Historia-Biografia.com|first=Leydy|last=Montoya|date=October 29, 2018|language=es |access-date=June 8, 2019}}</ref>
** [[Responsible government]] is granted to [[Cape Colony]] (South Africa). [[John Charles Molteno|Sir John Molteno]], first [[Cape Colony#Prime Ministers of the Cape of Good Hope (1872–1910)|Prime Minister of the Cape of Good Hope]], forms the first Cape Cabinet<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/first-cape-cabinet-formed-john-molteno-premier|title=The first Cape cabinet is formed, with John Molteno as premier.|last=tinashe|date=November 25, 2011}}</ref> which immediately plans to establish [[Cape Government Railways]] and take over the operation of all private railways in the Colony.<ref name="Holland 1">{{Holland-Vol 1}}</ref>
* [[December 3]] &ndash; Assyriologist [[George Smith (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]] &ndash; The now-crewless American ship ''[[Mary Celeste]]'' is found (still seaworthy) by the British brig ''Dei Gratia'' in the Atlantic.
* [[December 9]] &ndash; In [[Louisiana]], [[P. B. S. Pinchback]] becomes the first [[African-American]] to govern a U.S. state. 
* [[December 14]]  &ndash; President [[Ulysses S. Grant]] establishes the [[San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation#History|San Carlos Apache Reservation]], in southeastern [[Arizona]].
* [[December 21]] &ndash; [[Challenger expedition|''Challenger'' expedition]]: {{HMS|Challenger|1858}} sails from [[Portsmouth]], England, on the 4-year scientific expedition that lays the foundation for the science of [[oceanography]].