May 25 — during Alexander II’s visit to Paris to attend the Exposition Universelle in Paris, a second attempt was made on his life. Anton Berezovsky, a Polish nobleman who had emigrated to France, fired in the direction of the carriage carrying Alexander II with his sons—Alexander and Vladimir—and the Emperor of France Napoleon III.
May 5 — in Russia, the zemstvo post was established. Zemstvo postal services were allowed to have their own postage stamps. It would be abolished in 1918.
From this year until the end of the century, coins worth 50 rubles would be minted from one pood of copper.