1883
| Years: 1880 1881 1882 - 1883 - 1884 1885 1886 | |
| Decades: 1850s 1860s 1870s - 1880s - 1890s 1900s 1910s | |
| Centuries: 18th century - 19th century - 20th century 1883 in topic: Lists of leaders: | |
1883 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar).
| Contents |
Events
- January 16 - The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, establishing the United States Civil service, is passed
- January 19 - The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires begins service (Roselle, New Jersey) It was built by Thomas Edison.
- February 16 - Ladies Home Journal is published for the first time.
- February 23 - Alabama becomes the first U.S. state to enact an antitrust law.
- February 28 - The first vaudeville theater is opened, in Boston, Massachusetts.
- March - An Australian Catholic school, Star of the Sea College is founded in Elsternwick, Victoria (now known as Gardenstown) by the Irish Presentation Sisters.
- May 24 - Brooklyn Bridge is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction.
- May 30 - In New York City, a rumor that the Brooklyn Bridge was going to collapse causes a stampede which crushes twelve people.
- July 22 – Zulu king Cetshwayo barely escapes rebel attack with his life.
- August 12 - The last quagga dies at the Artis Magistra zoo in Amsterdam.
- August 26 - 28 - Krakatau volcano eruption (local time)- 163 villages destroyed, 36380 dead.
- September 15 - The Bombay Natural History Society is founded.
- September 29 - A consortium of flour mill operators in Minneapolis, Minnesota form the Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie and Atlantic Railway as a means to get their product to the Great Lakes ports but avoid the high tariffs of Chicago.
- October 1 - Sydney Boys High School is founded in Sydney, Australia. It is the first boys public school in Australia.
- October 15 - The Supreme Court of the United States declares part of the Civil Rights Act of 1875 to be unconstitutional since it allowed individuals and corporations to discriminate based on race.
- November 3 - American Old West: Self-described "Black Bart the Po-8" gets away with his last stagecoach robbery, but leaves an incriminating clue that eventually leads to his capture.
- November 18 - US and Canadian railroads institute five standard continental time zones, ending the confusion of thousands of local times.
- November 28 - Whitman College is chartered as a four-year college in Walla Walla, Washington.
Unknown date
- Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch (German.bacteriologist) discovers the cholera bacillus.
- Antonio Gaudi begins to build Sagrada Familia cathedral.
- Fabian Society founded.
- Orient Express begins operation.
Births
January-June
- January 3 - Clement Attlee, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1967)
- January 6 - Khalil Gibran, Lebanese poet, painter, and novelist (d. 1931)
- January 10 - Francis X. Bushman, American actor (d. 1966)
- January 10 - Aleksei Nikolaevich Tolstoi, Russian writer (d. 1945)
- January 21 - Olav Aukrust, Norwegian poet (d. 1929)
- February 15 - Sax Rohmer, English author (d. 1959)
- February 7 - Eubie Blake, American musician and composer (d. 1983)
- February 11 - Paul August von Klenau, Danish composer and conductor
- February 23 - Karl Jaspers, German philosopher (d. 1969)
- February 23 - Victor Fleming, American film director (d. 1949)
- March 19 - Walter Haworth, British chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1950)
- March 19 - Joseph Stilwell, American soldier (d. 1946)
- April 1 - Lon Chaney, Sr., American actor (d. 1930)
- April 11 - Hozumi Shigeto, Japanese author (d. 1951)
- April 15 - Stanley Bruce, eighth Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1967)
- May 1 - Tom Moore, Irish actor (d. 1955)
- May 18 - Walter Gropius, German architect (d. 1969)
- May 20 - King Faisal I of Iraq (d. 1933)
- May 21 - Swan Glassey, inventor (d. 1962)
- May 23 - Douglas Fairbanks, American actor (d. 1939)
- May 31 - Lauri Kristian Relander, President of Finland (d. 1942)
- June 5 - John Maynard Keynes, English economist (d. 1946)
- June 21 - Lluís Companys i Jover, President of Catalonia (d. 1940)
- June 24 - Victor Franz Hess, American physicist (d. 1964)
July-December
- July 3 - Franz Kafka, Austrian writer (d. 1924)
- July 4 - Rube Goldberg, American cartoonist (d. 1970)
- July 29 - Porfirio Barba-Jacob, Colombian writer (d. 1942)
- July 29 - Benito Mussolini, dictator of Italy (d. 1945)
- August 19 - Elsie Ferguson, American actress (d. 1961)
- August 23 - Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright IV, American general (d. 1953)
- August 30 - Theo van Doesburg, Dutch artist, painter, architect, and poet (d. 1931)
- September 15 - Esteban Terradas i Illa, Catalan mathematician, scientist, and engineer (d. 1950)
- October 26 - Paul Pilgrim, American athlete (d. 1958)
- November 4 - Nikolaos Plastiras, Greek general and politician (d. 1953)
- November 8 - Arnold Bax, English composer (d. 1953)
- November 11 - Ernest Ansermet, Swiss conductor (d. 1969)
- November 18 - Carl Vinson, U. S. Congressman (d. 1981)
- November 25 - Harvey Spencer Lewis, American Rosicrucian mystic (d. 1939)
- November 25 - Merrill C. Meigs, American newspaper publisher and aviation promoter (d. 1968)
- December 3 - Anton Webern, Austrian composer (d. 1945)
- December 16 ? Max Linder, French actor (d. 1925)
- December 22 - Edgar Varčse, French composer (d. 1965)
- December 25 - Maurice Utrillo, French artist and illustrator (d. 1955)
Unknown date
- Alberto Gerchunoff, Argentine writer (d. 1949)
- T. F. O'Rahilly, Irish academic
Deaths
- January 10 - Samuel Mudd, American doctor to John Wilkes Booth (b. 1833)
- January 23 - Gustave Doré, French artist (b. 1832)
- January 24 - Friedrich von Flotow, German composer (b. 1812)
- February 13 - Richard Wagner, German composer (b. 1813)
- February 17 - Napoleon Coste, French guitarist and composer (b. 1806)
- March 14 - Karl Marx, German philosopher (b. 1818)
- April 30 - Edouard Manet, French painter (b. 1832)
- May 24 - Abdel Kadir, Algerian leader (b. 1808)
- May 26 - Edward Sabine, Irish astronomer (b. 1788)
- July 22 - Edward Ord, U.S. Army officer (b. 1818)
- October 30 - Robert Volkmann, German composer (b. 1815)