Archbishop of New York John McCloskey is named the first cardinal in the United States.

The Archbishop of New York is the head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, who is responsible for looking after its spiritual and administrative needs. As the archdiocese is the metropolitan see of the ecclesiastical province encompassing nearly all of the state of New York, the Archbishop of New York also administers the bishops who head the suffragan dioceses of Albany, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Ogdensburg, Rochester, Rockville Centre and Syracuse. The current archbishop is Timothy M. Dolan.

John McCloskey was an American Catholic prelate who served as the first American-born Archbishop of New York from 1864 until his death in 1885, having previously served as Bishop of Albany (1847–1864). In 1875, McCloskey became the first American cardinal. He served as the first president of St. John's College, now Fordham University, beginning in 1841.

A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. Cardinals are chosen and formally created by the pope, and typically hold the title for life. Collectively, they constitute the College of Cardinals. The most solemn responsibility of the cardinals is to elect a new pope in a conclave, almost always from among themselves, with a few historical exceptions, when the Holy See is vacant.

March 15 is the 74th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 291 days remain until the end of the year.