October–December
- October 7 – Spain abolishes slavery in Cuba.
- October 28 – In New York Harbor, U.S. President Grover Cleveland dedicates the Statue of Liberty. The ensuing spontaneous celebration in New York City leads to the first Ticker tape parade.
- November – extremely harsh Winter of 1886–1887 begins, killing tens of thousands of cattle on the Great Plains
- November 3 – In Pakistan one of the biggest schools in the country, Aitchison College, Lahore, was founded by Sir Charles Umpherston Aitchison
- November 11 – Heinrich Hertz verifies at the University of Karlsruhe the existence of the electromagnetic waves.
- November 30 – The Folies Bergère stages its first revue.
- December 17 – English adventurer Thomas Stevens concludes the first circumnavigation by bicycle in Yokohama, having set out on his penny-farthing from San Francisco in 1884.
- December 25 – Arsenal Football Club is founded.