1885
Centuries: 18th century - 19th century - 20th century
Decades: 1830s 1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s - 1880s - 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s
Years: 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 - 1885 - 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890
Events
- January 4 - The first successful appendectomy is performed (Dr. William Grant; patient was Mary Gartside).
- January 20 - L.A. Thompson patents the roller coaster.
- January 26 - Troops loyal to the Mahdi conquer Khartoum
- February 5 - King Leopold II of Belgium establishes the Congo 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
- March 3 - A subsidiary of the American Bell Telephone Company, American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T), is incorporated in New York.
- March 31 - The United Kingdom establishes a protectorate over Bechuanaland.
- May 12 - The four day Battle of Batoche, pitting rebel French Canadians against the Canadian government, comes to an end with a decisive rebel defeat.
- Change of US presidency from Chester A. Arthur (1881-1885) to Grover Cleveland (1885-1889)
- The North-West Rebellion took place and was put down in Canada (March to May).
- W.S. Gilbert & Arthur Sullivan's The Mikado
Arts, Sciences, Literature and Philosophy
Births
- January 11 - Alice Paul, women's rights activist
- January 21 - Umberto Nobile, politician and airship designer (+ 1978)
- January 27 - Eduard Künneke, composer (+ 1953)
- January 27 - Jerome Kern, composer (+ 1945)
- January 29 - Leadbelly
- February 7 - Sinclair Lewis, novelist
- February 9 - Alban Berg, Austrian composer
- February 9 - Anita Ree, painter (+ 1933))
- February 13 - Bess Truman, First Lady, wife of President Harry S Truman
- February 21 - Sacha Guitry, dramatist, writer, director, actor (+ 1957)
- February 24 - Chester Nimitz, United States admiral (+ 1966)
- March 6 - Ring Lardner, writer (+ 1933)
- March 31 - Pascin, the "Prince of Montparnasse"
- April 1 - Wallace Beery, actor (+ 1949)
- April 3 - Allan Dwan, pioneer film director ( + 1981)
- April 4 - Arthur Murray, dancer
- May 7 - George 'Gabby' Hayes, actor (+ 1969)
- May 14 - Otto Klemperer, conductor
- June 22 - Milan Vidmar, Slovene electrical engineer and chess player (+ 1962).
- September 11 - D.H. Lawrence, author
- September 22 - Ben Chifley, Australian Prime Minister
- October 7 - Niels Bohr, Danish physicist
Deaths
- April 2 - Justo Rufino Barrios, Central American leader
- May 22 - Victor Hugo, author
- November 16 - Louis Riel, controversial Canadian figure (hanged for treason)
- November 25 - King Alfonso XII of Spain