The Tenth National Saengerfest of the North East States of the Union was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania over six days. Ninety German-American choral groups, including dozens from New York and almost twenty from Philadelphia attended and competed for prizes.  The City Council held receptions, the Grand Concert was held at the Academy of Music, and massive picnics were held at Lemon Hill and, at the close of the celebration, and Engel and Wolf's Farm just outside the city.  (By John Osborne)

Several Scottish cultural societies in the United States and Canada, notably the New York Caledonian Club, had been meeting for a year to inaugurate an international gathering of the clans in North America.  On this day, clubs from both countries, along with visitors from Scotland, celebrated a Highland Games held at Jones Wood in New York City.  Other gatherings followed although interest tended to wane in the later years of the nineteenth century until a mid-twentieth century revival.  (By John Osborne)

Tsar Alexander II of Russia was visiting Paris during the International Exhibition when he was subjected to one of the various assassination attempts he suffered during his twenty year reign. Antoni Berezowski, a Polish emigré, fired a pistol around five o'clock in the evening at the carriage in which he was travelling with the French Emperor Napoleon III through the Bois de Boulogne after a military review at the Longchamp racecourse.  The pistol misfired, wounding one of the horses.  Berozowski was captured and spent life in prison in the French Pacific possession of New Caledonia.  Alexander II survived five other attacks but eventually fell to assassins, suffering horrific injuries in a bombing of his carriage in St. Petersburg on March 13, 1881.  (By John Osborne)

The Grand Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons of Massachusetts invited President Andrew Johnson, a famous fellow Mason, to the dedication of the new Masonic Temple at the intersection of Tremont and Boylston Streets in the city. The Boston City Council also hosted the presidential party at a reception and on a cruise around the harbor. City records indicate that Boston spent a total of $5738.50 on welcoming Johnson during the visit, including $342.25 on police "refreshments." (By John Osborne)