1885
1885 is a common year starting on Thursday.
EventsJanuary January 4 - The first successful appendectomy is performed by Dr. William W. Grant on Mary Gartside. January 20 - L.A. Thompson patents the roller coaster. January 26 - Troops loyal to the Mahdi conquer Khartoum
February February 5 - King Leopold II of Belgium establishes the Congo Free State as a personal possession. February 9 - The first Japanese arrive in Hawaii. February 18 - Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is published for the first time. February 21 - The newly completed Washington Monument is dedicated. February 26 - Final Act of the Berlin Conference regulates European colonisation and trade in Africa.
March March-May - North-West Rebellion took place and was put down in Canada. March 3 - A subsidiary of the American Bell Telephone Company, American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T), is incorporated in New York. March 4 - Grover Cleveland replaces Chester A. Arthur as President of the United States. March 31 - The United Kingdom establishes a protectorate over Bechuanaland.
May May 9-12 - Canadian government forces inflict decisive defeat on Métis rebels at the Battle of Batoche.
June June 17 - The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor.
July July 6 - Louis Pasteur successfully tests his vaccine against rabies. The patient is Joseph Meister; a boy who was bitten by a rabid dog. July 20 - Professional football legalized in Britain
September September 2 - In Rock Springs, Wyoming, 150 white miners attack their Chinese coworkers, killing 28, wounding 15, and forcing several hundred more out of town. September 18 - Union of Eastern Rumelia with Bulgaria proclaimed at Plovdiv. September 30 - A British force abolishes the Boer republic of Stellaland and adds it to British Bechuanaland.
November November 7 - Canadian Pacific Railway finished: In Craigellachie, British Columbia, construction ends on a railway extending across Canada. Prime Minister John A. Macdonald considered the project to be vital to Canada. November 14-28 - Serbo-Bulgarian War: Serbia declares war against Bulgaria but is defeated in Battle of Slivnitsa on November 17-19. November 16 - Canadian rebel leader of the Métis, Louis Riel is executed for high treason.
December December 1 - The US Patent Office acknowledges this date as the day Dr Pepper was served for the very first time; the exact date of Dr Pepper's invention is unknown. December 28 - 72 Indian lawyers, academicians and journalists gather in Bombay to form the Congress Party
Unknown DatesCreation of the first genuine bicycle, the Rover, by John K Starley.John Boyd Dunlop invents the pneumatic tire.W.S. Gilbert & Arthur Sullivan's The Mikado The Times reports that "A lady well-known in literary and scientific circles" has been cremated by the Cremation Society in Woking, Surrey. She is the first person to be officially cremated in the United Kingdom Cholera epidemic in Spain – one of the victims is the king Alfonso XII Third Burmese War begins Sitting Bull joins Buffalo Bill Randolph Churchill becomes a viceroy of India Nikola Tesla sells a number of his patents to George Westinghouse William Stanley, Jr builds the first practical alternating current transformer device, the induction coil. Local anesthetic First skyscraper – Home Insurance Building in Chicago, Illinois, USA (10 floors) Bicycle Playing Cards first produced
Births January 6 - Florence Turner, American actress (d. 1946) January 8 - John Curtin, Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1945) January 11 - Alice Paul, women's rights activist January 21 - Umberto Nobile, Italian politician and airship designer (d. 1978) January 27 - Jerome Kern, American composer (d. 1945) January 27 - Eduard Künnecke, composer (d. 1953) January 29 - Leadbelly, musician February 7 - Sinclair Lewis, American novelist February 9 - Alban Berg, Austrian composer (d. 1935) February 9 - Anita Ree, painter (d. 1933) February 13 - Bess Truman, wife of US President Harry S. Truman February 15 - Her Serene Highness Princess Alice of Battenberg February 21 - Sacha Guitry, dramatist, writer, director, and actor (d. 1957) February 24 - Chester Nimitz, U.S. admiral (d. 1966) February 24 - Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (a.k.a. “Witkacy”), Polish writer and painter (d. 1939) March 6 - Ring Lardner, American writer (d. 1933) March 11 - Sir Malcolm Campbell, land and water racer (d. 1948) March 14 - Raoul Lufbery, World War I American pilot (d. 1918) March 31 - Pascin, the "Prince of Montparnasse" April 1 - Wallace Beery, actor (d. 1949) April 3 - Allan Dwan, film director (d. 1981) April 4 - Arthur Murray, dancer May 2 - Hedda Hopper, columnist (d. 1966) May 7 - George 'Gabby' Hayes, actor (d. 1969) May 14 - Otto Klemperer, German conductor May 21 - Oscar A.C. Lund, Swedish film actor, director, and writer (d. 1963) May 22 - Toyoda Soemu, Japanese admiral June 14 - E. L. Grant Watson June 22 - Milan Vidmar, Slovenian electrical engineer and chess player (d. 1962) July 28 - Monte Attell, bantamweight world boxing champion (d. 1960) September 11 - D.H. Lawrence, English author September 22 - Ben Chifley, Prime Minister of Australia October 7 - Niels Bohr, Danish physicist (d. 1962) October 30 - Ezra Pound, American poet (d. 1972) November 2 - Harlow Shapley, American astronomer (d. 1972) November 5 - William James Durant, Will Durant, American philosopher and writer (d. 1981) November 11 - George Patton, American general (d. 1945) December 19 - Joe "King" Oliver, jazz musician (d. 1938)
Deaths January 26 - Charles "Chinese" Gordon, British general (killed in battle) April 2 - Justo Rufino Barrios, Central American leader May 22 - Victor Hugo, French author (b. 1802) July 23 - Ulysses Simpson Grant, American Civil War general and the 18th U.S. President August 10 - James Wilson Marshall, contractor and builder of Sutter's Mill September 15 - Jumbo the elephant (train accident) November 16 - Louis Riel, Canadian Métis leader (hanged for treason) November 25 - King Alfonso XII of Spain December 8 - William Henry Vanderbilt, entrepreneur
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