References are numbered in [brackets], which are listed here. A number after the dot gives the page in the source.

Last updated: 2008 April 30.

1883 January 4 Nicolas Ledesma composer, dies at 91. [1] January 10 Fire at uninsured Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee WI kills 71; General Tom Thumb of P T Barnum fame, escapes unhurt. [1] January 13 Fire in circus Ferroni in Berditschoft Poland kills 430. [1] Henrik Ibsen's "En Folkefiende" premieres in Oslo. [1] January 16 Pendleton Act creates basis of US Civil Service system. [1] January 20 Billy Barnes takes a hat-trick, England vs Australia MCG. [1] January 21 Jacopo Tomadini composer, dies at 62. [1] January 23 Gustave Doré French illustrator, dies at 51. [1] January 24 Friedrich von Flotow German baron/composer, dies at 70. [1] February 1 French Lieutenant-Colonel Gustave Borgnis-Desbordes reaches Bamako on the Niger. [1] Pavel Melnikov Russian historian/author, dies. [1] February 7 Lieutenant-Colonel Borgnis-Desbordes founds Fort Bamako Niger. [1] February 8 Louis Waterman begins experiments to invent the fountain pen. [1] February 10 Fire at un-insured New Hall Hotel in Milwaukee Wisconsin, kills 71. [1] February 13 Pavel Melnikov [Petsjerski], Russian historian, dies at 64. [1] Wilhelm Richard Wagner German composer (Die Walküre), dies in Venice at 69. [1] February 14 First state labor union legislation; New Jersey legalizes unions. [1] February 16 "Ladies Home Journal" begins publication. [1] February 17 A Ashwell patents free-toilet in London. [1] Napoleon Coste composer, dies at 76. [1] February 21 Second French government of Ferry begins. [1] February 23 Alabama becomes first US state to enact an antitrust law. [1] American Anti-Vivisection Society organized (Philadelphia). [1] February 27 Oscar Hammerstein patents first cigar-rolling machine. [1] February 28 First US vaudeville theater opens (Boston). [1] March 3 US Congress authorizes the first steel vessels in US navy. [1] March 4 Alexander H Stephens Vice President Confederate States, dies at 71. [1] John Gordon Cashmans begins "Vicksburg Evening Post" in Mississippi. [1] March 14 Karl Marx, German philosopher (Communist Manifesto), dies at 64. [1] [5] March 15 Karol Studzinski composer, dies at 55. [1] March 19 Jan Matzeliger invents first machine to manufacture entire shoes. [1] March 20 Unity treaty of Paris signed; protects industrial property. [1] March 24 First telephone call between New York and Chicago. [1] March 31 First performance of César Franck's "Le Chasseur Maudit". [1] Utrecht begins water pipe system. [1] April 2 Battle at Bamako French assault on Fabous arm forces attack. [1] April 6 Start of Sherlock Holmes "Adventure of the Speckled Band" (BG). [1] April 12 French troops under Lieutenant-Colonel Borgnis-Desbordes occupy Bamako Senegal. [1] April 13 Alfred Packer convicted of cannibalism. [1] April 14 Leo Delibes' opera "Lakmé", premieres in Paris France. [1] April 16 Paul Kruger chosen President of Transvaal. [1] April 18 Agnes Tyrrell composer, dies at 36. [1] April 22 Octave Fouque composer, dies at 38. [1] April 23 John Heemskerk Azn forms Dutch government. [1] April 24 28 Surinamers depart to Amsterdam World's Fair. [1] May 1 "Buffalo Bill" Cody put on his first Wild West Show. [1] Amsterdam World's Fair opens. [1] New York Athletic Club hires Bob Rogers as first American pro sports trainer. [1] May 4 John Gordon Cashmans begins "Vicksburg Evening Post" (Mississippi). [1] May 15 Italy signs military treaty with Austria-Hungary and Germany. [1] May 17 Buffalo Bill Cody's first wild west show premieres in Omaha. [1] Lydia Estes Pinklham patent-medicine manufacturer, dies. [1] May 20 William Chambers author/publisher, dies. [1] May 23 Cyprian K Norwid Polish painter/poet/playwright (Wanda), dies. [1] May 24 Brooklyn Bridge opened by President Arthur and Governor Cleveland. [1] May 26 Abd el-Kader Algerian sultan/religious ruler, dies at about 74. [1] May 27 Czar Alexander III crowned in Moscow. [1] May 28 August Freyer composer, dies at 79. [1] May 29 Albrecht of Prussia mistress of John van Rossum, dies at 73. [1] WFLC Marianne princess of Orange-Nassau, dies. [1] May 30 Rumor that the Brooklyn Bridge is going to collapse caused a stampede that kills 12. [1] May 31 French fleet under Pierre begins siege of Tamatave, Madagascar. [1] June 2 Chicago's "El" opens to traffic. [1] June 9 First commercial electric railway line begins operation (Chicago El). [1] June 11 Birth of Frank O. King Cashton, Wisc., "Gasoline Alley" cartoonist. [1] July 4 Buffalo Bill Cody presents first wild west show, North Platte, Nebr. [1] July 27 Montgomery Blair lawyer (Dred Scot V Sandford), dies at 70. [1] July 28 In Ischia, Italy, volcano Epomeo erupts, causing a magnitude 5.6 earthquake. The thermal resort of Casamicciola is devastated, over 2,000 people killed, over 1,200 houses were destroyed. [1] [53] August 26 Krakatoa erupts with increasingly large explosions; kills 36,000. [1] August 27 Krakatoa, west of Java, explodes with a force of 1,300 megatons. [1] August 29 Seismic sea waves created by the Krakatoa eruption create a rise in the English Channel 32 hours after the explosion. [1] September 8 Northern Pacific Railroad's last spike driven at Independence Creek, Mont. [1] September 13 Cleveland Hugh Daily no-hits Philadelphia 1-0. [1] September 24 National black convention meets in Louisville, Kentucky. [1] October 4 Orient Express' first run, linking Turkey to Europe by rail. [1] October 15 Supreme Court declares Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional. [1] October 20 Treaty of Ancon, Peru cedes Tarapaca to Chile. [1] October 22 First New York Horse Show held (Madison Square Garden). [1] Original Metropolitan Opera House (New York City) grand opening (Faust). [1] November 3 Race riots in Danville Virginia (4 blacks killed). [1] November 18 Standard time zones established by railroads in US and Canada. [1] November 26 Sojourner Truth abolitionist, women's rights advocate, dies. [1] December 2 Johannes Brahms' third Symphony in F, premieres. [1] December 3 48th US Congress (1883-85) convenes. [1] December 9 New Brunswick adopts Eastern Standard Time (until 1902). [1] December 20 International cantilever railway bridge opens at Niagara Falls. [1] December 22 August Strindberg's "Lycko-Pers Reja" premieres. [1] December 25 Marek Konrad Sokolowski composer, dies at 65. [1] 1884 January 4 Last sighting of an eastern cougar (Ontario). [1] January 6 Death of Gregor Mendel in Brunn, Austria-Hungary at age 61; Augustinian monk, pioneer of the science of genetics. [1] [37] Paul Taglioni "the Great", Italian/Austrian choreographer, dies at 75. [1] January 8 Chrome tanning process for leather patented by Augustus Schultz. [1] January 18 General Charles Gordon departs London for Khartoum. [1] January 19 Jules Massenet's opera "Manon" premieres in Paris. [1] January 21 Auguste Franchomme composer, dies at 75. [1] January 24 Johann Christian Gebauer composer, dies at 75. [1] January 26 First Dutch Wagner version of Elizabeth aria. [1] February 1 First volume of the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary : A-Ant, published. [1] [5] February 8 Arnold Henry Guyot Swiss/US geologist/meteorologist, dies at 76. [1] February 18 General Charles Gordon arrives in Khartoum. [1] Police seize all copies of Tolstoy's "What I Believe In". [1] February 19 Tornadoes in Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana kill 800 people. [1] February 21 John Pike Hullah composer, dies at 71. [1] February 23 Tambo Tambo Australian aboriginal/US circus attraction, dies at 23. [1] February 26 British and Portuguese treaty signed in Congo by Leopold II. [1] March 8 First performance of Edward MacDowell's second Piano suite. [1] March 12 Mississippi establishes first US state college for women. [1] March 13 Siege of Khartoum Sudan begins. [1] US adopts Standard Time. [1] March 17 John Joseph Montgomery makes first glider flight, Otay California. [1] March 19 Alfonse Charles Renaud de Vilback composer, dies at 54. [1] March 27 First long-distance telephone call, Boston-New York. [1] March 30 Hans Hampel composer, dies at 61. [1] March 31 Jan T Beelen Netherlands/Belgian catholic bible expert, dies at 77. [1] April 2 London prison for debtors closed. [1] April 3 Carel JCH van Nispen tot Sevenaer Dutch Cath politician, dies at 59. [1] April 6 Emanuel Geibel writer, dies at 68. [1] April 7 Maria van Ackere-Doolaeghe Flemish poet (Avondlamp), dies at 80. [1] April 10 US Senate accepts Belgian administration of Congo. [1] April 20 Pope Leo XIII encyclical "On Freemasonry". [1] April 21 Potters Field reopened as Madison Park. [1] April 22 Thomas Stevens starts first bicycle trip around the world (2 years 9 months). [1] US recognizes King Leopold II's Congo Free State. [1] April 24 National Medical Association of Black physicians organizes (Atlanta Georgia). [1] May 1 Construction begins on Chicago's first skyscraper (10 stories). [1] May 7 Judah P Benjamin confederate minister of War, dies at 72. [1] May 9 Hermanus W Witteveen theologist, dies at 69. [1] May 12 Bedrich Friedrich Smetana Czechoslovakia, composer (2 Widows), dies at 60. [1] May 13 Cyrus Hall McCormick inventor, dies. [1] Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is founded. [1] May 14 Anti-Monopoly party forms in the US. [1] May 17 Alaska becomes a US territory. [1] Louis Brassin composer, dies at 43. [1] May 18 Heinrich R Göppert German paleo-botanist, dies. [1] May 19 Ringling Brothers circus premieres. [1] May 24 Anti-Monopoly party and Greenback Party form People's Party in the US. [1] May 26 Fred Spofforth takes 7-34 and 7-3 vs England XI in four hours. [1] May 29 First steam cable trams start in highgate. [1] May 31 Dr John Harvey Kellogg patents "flaked cereal". [1] June 3 John Lynch (Republican-Mississippi) chosen first black major-party national convention chair. [1] June 24 John Lynch is first black elected chairman of Republican convention. [1] June 27 J Palisa discovers asteroid #237 Coelestina. [1] July 1 V Knorre discovers asteroid #238 Hypatia. [1] July 3 Dow Jones publishes its first stock average. [5] July 4 First US bullfight held (Dodge City Ks). [1] Statue of Liberty presented to US in Paris. [1] July 10 Paul Morphy US chess wizard, dies. [1] August 5 Cornerstone for Statue of Liberty laid on Bedloe's Island (New York City). [1] August 10 In New York City, New York, a magnitude 5.5 earthquake occurs. The total felt area was estimated at 181,000 square kilometers. [53] August 28 First known photograph of a tornado is made near Howard, South Dakota, USA. [1] [5] Mickey Welsh strikes-out first 9 men he faces. [1] September 20 6.2 mile Arlberg railroad tunnel completed in Austria. [1] Equal Rights Party nominates female candidates for President and Vice President. [1] October 6 Naval War College established in Newport Rhode Island. [1] October 14 George Eastman patents paper-strip photographic film. [1] November 4 Grover Cleveland (Democrat) beats James G Blaine (Republican) for first presidential term. [1] November 6 British protectorate proclaimed over southeast New Guinea. [1] November 15 Colonization of Africa organized at international conference in Berlin. [1] November 17 Cops arrest John L Sullivan in second round for being "cruel". [1] November 22 T Thomas Fortune starts New York Freeman (New York Age) newspaper. [1] November 25 John B Meyenberg of Saint Louis patents evaporated milk. [1] December 4 Alice Mary Smith composer, dies at 45. [1] December 6 Aluminum capstone set atop Washington Monument, Washington DC. [1] December 9 Levant Richardson patents ball-bearing skate. [1] December 12 First Test match played at the Adelaide Oval. [1] December 16 Great Britain recognizes King Leopold II's Congo Free State. [1] December 19 Italy recognizes King Leopold II's Congo Free State. [1] December 24 Austria-Hungary admits King Leopold II's Congo Free State. [1] December 27 Netherlands recognizes king Leopold II's Congo Free State. [1] December 28 Gerben Colmjon Frisian linguist/publisher, dies at 56. [1] December 30 Anton Bruckner's 7th Symphony in E, premieres in Leipzig. [1]