| Jan 25 | Signs an agreement with Alexander Graham Bell and others to organize the Oriental Telephone Company. |
| Feb 28 | Employs Samuel lnsull as his private secretary. |
| Mar 1 | Establishes a testing department at the Edison Lamp Works, which also becomes headquarters for lamp experiments. |
| c. Mar 10 | Moves his business operations to 65 5th Avenue in New York City, where he daily advises the managers of the various Edison light companies. |
| Mar | Moves his residence to New York City. |
| Winter | Organizes the Edison Electric Lamp Company, the Edison Machine Works, and other companies to manufacture lamps, generators, conductors, and other components for his electric lighting system. |
| Apr 30 | Places Charles Hughes in charge of experiments to preserve fruit by placing it in a vacuum. |
| May 17-June 25 | Executes twenty-three patent applications on electric lighting. |
| Spring | Begins laying conductors for the Pearl Street central station in New York City. |
| July 1 | Sends Charles Batchelor to Paris to supervise the Edison exhibit at the International Electrical Exhibition and to oversee Edison electric lighting interests in Europe. |
| July 26 | Executes a patent application with Patrick Kenny for a facsimile telegraph (U.S. Pat. 479,184). |
| Aug 10 | Edison's exhibit opens at the Paris Electrical Exhibition. |
| Sep 14 | Signs a contract with Henry Villard, who agrees to provide funds for experiments on electric railroads. |
| Sep | Edison's ore separator is used by the Edison Ore Milling Company to separate iron ore from black sand at Quonocontaug, Rhode Island. |
| Fall | Establishes at the Edison Machine Works a testing department that also becomes the headquarters for dynamo and other electric lighting experiments. |
