1884

Centuries: 18th century - 19th century - 20th century

Decades: 1830s 1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s - 1880s - 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s

Years: 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 - 1884 - 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889

This is a leap year starting on Tuesday (click on link to calendar)

Table of contents

1 Events
2 Year in topic
3 Births
4 Deaths
5 Heads of State

Events

January 4 - The Fabian Society is founded in London
February 1 - Edition one of the Oxford English Dictionary is published.
March 13 - The siege of Khartoum, Sudan begins (ends on January 26, 1885).
April 22 - Colchester eathquake, England; the UK's most destructive.
May 1 - the first proclamation of eight-hour workday by the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions in the United States. May 1st, called May Day or Labour Day, is now a holiday recognized in almost every industrialized country.
July 5 - Germany takes possession of Cameroon.
August 5 - The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty is laid on Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor.
October - World time convention in Washington DC fixes the Greenwich meridian as the world's prime meridian.
October 6 - United States Naval War College established in Newport, Rhode Island.
October 18 - University of Wales, Bangor (UK) founded.
November 1 - The Irish Gaelic Athletic Association is founded in Thurles, Ireland.
November 4 - U.S. presidential election: Democrat Grover Cleveland defeats Republican James G. Blaine in a very close contest to win the first of his non-consecutive terms.
December 1 - American Old West - Near Frisco, New Mexico (now Reserve, New Mexico), deputy sheriff Elfego Baca holds off a gang of 80 Texan cowboys who want to kill him for arresting cowboy Charles McCarthy (the cowboys were terrorizing the area's Hispanos and Baca was working against them).
December 6 - Washington Monument was completed.
December 16 - World Cotton Centennial World's Fair opens in New Orleans, Louisiana
Stefan-Boltzmann law reformulated by Ludwig Boltzmann
British Police officers go on armed patrol in London.

Year in topic

Births

January 2 - Oscar Micheaux, African-American, filmmaker & author (d. 1951)
January 12 - Texas Guinan, vaudeville performer (d. 1933)
January 13 - Sophie Tucker, singer, comedienne, vaudeville performer (d. 1966)
January 21 - Roger Baldwin, ACLU president, social activist (d. 1981)
January 28 - Auguste Piccard, physicist (d. 1962)
January 31 - Theodor Heuss, politician and publicist (d. 1963)
February 12 - Max Beckmann, painter and graphic artist (d. 1950)
February 12 - Marie Vassilieff, artist (d. 1957)
February 16 - Robert J. Flaherty, filmmaker (d. 1951)
March 13 - Oskar Loerke, lyricist, narrator and essayist (d. 1941)
March 13 - Sir Hugh Walpole, novelist (d. 1941)
March 17 - Alcide Nunez, jazz musician (d. 1934)
March 26 - Wilhelm Backhaus, pianist (d. 1969)
April 4 - Isoroku Yamamoto, naval commander (d. 1943)
April 6 - Walter Huston, Academy Award winning actor (d. 1950)
May 1 - Henry Norwest, one of the most famous snipers of World War I
May 8 - Harry S. Truman, former President of the United States (d. 1972)
May 14 - Claude Dornier, aircraft designer (d. 1969)
May 27 - Max Brod, author (d. 1968)
May 28 - Edvard Benes, politician (d. 1948)
July 12 - Amedeo Modigliani, painter, sculptor
July 23 - Emil Jannings, actor
October 11 - Eleanor Roosevelt, human rights activist, wife of US president
December 30 - Tojo Hideki, Japanese wartime prime minister

Deaths

January 25 - Johann Gottfried Piefke, conductor and composer
March 21 - Ezra Abbot, american bible scholar
April 4 - Marie Bashkirtseff, artist
May 12 - Bedrich Smetana, composer
May 13 - Cyrus McCormick, inventor
June 25 - Hans Rott, composer
July 10 - Paul Morphy, American chess player.
November 25: Adolph Wilhelm Hermann Kolbe, chemist

Heads of State

China - GuāngxÃÂÃÂ¹ Emperor of China, Qing Dynasty (1875-1908)
Denmark - Christian IX, King of Denmark (1863-1906)
Germany - Wilhelm I, German Kaiser (1871-1888)
Holy See - Pope Leo XIII, Bishop of Rome (1878-1903)
Japan - Mutsuhito, Meiji emperor (1867-1912)
Norway - Oscar II, King of Sweden and Norway (1872-1905)
Ottoman Empire - Abdul Hamid II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1876-1909)
Russia - Alexander III, Tsar of Russia (1881-1894)
Spain - Alfonso XII of Spain, King of Spain (1875-1885)
United States - Chester A. Arthur, President of the United States (1881-1885)