1884: Encyclopedia II - 1884 - Events

1884 - Events

• January 4 - The Fabian Society is founded in London.
• January 18 - Dr William Price attempts to cremate the body of his infant son, Jesus Christ Price, setting a legal precedent for cremation in the UK.
• 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 earthquake, 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.
• August 10 - A severe earthquake, magnitude 5.5, (intensity VII) occurs off the northeast Atlantic coast. The area affected extends from central Virginia to southern Maine, and west as far as Cleveland.
• October - International Meridian Conference in Washington, D.C. 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.
• October 22 - The first woman recieves a degree from an Irish university. The degree is granted by the Royal University of Ireland.
• November 1 - The Irish Gaelic Athletic Association is founded in Thurles, Ireland.
• November 2 - Timisoara is the first town of Europe with streets illuminated by electric light.
• 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.
• November 15 - The Berlin Conference which regulated European colonisation and trade in Africa begins (ends February 26, 1885).
• November 25 - British surgeon John Dooglee makes the first successful removal of a brain tumor.
• 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.
• Bechuanaland becomes British protectorate.
• Stefan-Boltzmann law reformulated by Ludwig Boltzmann.
• British Police officers go on armed patrol in London.
• Mark Twain writes The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

1884 - Environmental change

• The Water Hyacinth is introduced in the US and quickly becomes an invasive species

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Events", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki