A comparison of the 1877–78 and 1982–83 El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events was made using monthly and seasonal values of sea surface temperature (SST) and station pressure in the tropics, sea level pressure (SLP) in North America and the North Atlantic, temperature in North America and precipitation in several key areas around the globe. SST anomalies in the eastern tropical Pacific, heavy rains in coastal Peru and extreme pressure anomalies across the Pacific and Indian Oceans during 1877–78 indicate an ENSO event of comparable magnitude to that during 1982–83. Both events were also associated with drought conditions in the Indonesian region, India, South Africa, northeastern Brazil and Hawaii. Wintertime teleconnections in the midlatitudes of the Northern Hemisphere were similar in terms of SLP from the North Pacific to Europe, resulting in significantly higher than normal temperatures over most of the United States and extreme rains in California.