1880s
| Centuries: 18th century - 19th century - 20th century | |
| Decades: | |
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| Contents |
Events and Trends
Technology
- Development and commercial production of electric lighting
- Development and commercial production of gasoline-powered automobile by Karl Benz, Gottlieb Daimler and Maybach
- First commercial production and sales of phonographs and phonograph recordings.
- First steel frame construction "sky-scrapers"
Science
- Heinrich Hertz discovers the photoelectric effect
- Michelson-Morley experiment, showing that the speed of light is invariant
- James-Lange theory of emotion
War, peace and politics
- First Boer War
- The New Imperialism
Other
- Krakatoa, a volcano in Indonesia, erupts cataclysmically; 36,000 people are killed, the majority by the resulting tsunami
- About 300,000 Swedes emigrate to the United States
People
World Leaders
- Emperor Franz Josef (Austria-Hungary)
- Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald (Canada)
- Guangxu Emperor (China)
- Emperor Wilhelm I (Germany)
- Emperor Wilhelm II (Germany)
- Chancellor Otto von Bismarck (Germany)
- King Umberto I (Italy)
- Pope Leo XIII
- Emperor Meiji (Japan)
- Emperor Alexander II (Russia)
- Emperor Alexander III (Russia)
- Queen - Empress Victoria (United Kingdom)
- Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone (United Kingdom)
- Prime Minister Lord Salisbury (United Kingdom)
- President Rutherford B. Hayes (United States)
- President Chester A. Arthur (United States)
- President Grover Cleveland (United States)