Events
January–March
![Washington Monument Dusk Jan 2006](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Washington_Monument_Dusk_Jan_2006.jpg)
*
January 3
Events Pre-1600
*AD 69, 69 – The Roman legions on the Rhine refuse to declare their allegiance to Galba, instead proclaiming their legate, Aulus Vitellius, as emperor.
* 250 – Emperor Decius orders everyone in the Roman Empire (ex ...
–
4 –
Sino-French War
The Sino-French War (, french: Guerre franco-chinoise, vi, Chiến tranh Pháp-Thanh), also known as the Tonkin War and Tonquin War, was a limited conflict fought from August 1884 to April 1885. There was no declaration of war. The Chinese arm ...
–
Battle of Núi Bop
The Battle of Núi Bop (3–4 January 1885) was a French victory during the Sino-French War. The battle was fought to clear Chinese forces away from the French forward base at Chu, and was an essential preliminary to the Lạng Sơn Campaign ...
: French troops under General
Oscar de Négrier
François Oscar de Négrier (2 October 1839 – 22 August 1913) was a French general of the Third Republic, winning fame in Algeria in the Sud-Oranais campaign (1881) and in Tonkin during the Sino-French War (August 1884 – April 1885).
Early ...
defeat a numerically superior
Qing Chinese force, in northern
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
.
*
January 4
Events Pre-1600
*46 BC – Julius Caesar fights Titus Labienus in the Battle of Ruspina.
* 871 – Battle of Reading: Æthelred of Wessex and his brother Alfred are defeated by a Danish invasion army.
1601–1900
*1649 – Engli ...
– The first successful
appendectomy
An appendectomy, also termed appendicectomy, is a Surgery, surgical operation in which the vermiform appendix (a portion of the intestine) is removed. Appendectomy is normally performed as an urgent or emergency procedure to treat complicated acu ...
is performed by Dr. William W. Grant, on Mary Gartside.
*
January 17
Events Pre-1600
* 38 BC – Octavian divorces his wife Scribonia and marries Livia Drusilla, ending the fragile peace between the Second Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey.
* 1362 – Saint Marcellus' flood kills at least 25,000 people on ...
–
Mahdist War
The Mahdist War ( ar, الثورة المهدية, ath-Thawra al-Mahdiyya; 1881–1899) was a war between the Mahdist Sudanese of the religious leader Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah, who had proclaimed himself the "Mahdi" of Islam (the "Guided On ...
in
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
–
Battle of Abu Klea
The Battle of Abu Klea, or the Battle of Abu Tulayh took place between the dates of 16 and 18 January 1885, at Abu Klea, Sudan, between the British Desert Column and Mahdist forces encamped near Abu Klea. The Desert Column, a force of approxim ...
: British troops defeat Mahdist forces.
*
January 20
Events Pre-1600
* 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution.
* 649 – King Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowns his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom.
* 1156 &ndas ...
– American inventor
LaMarcus Adna Thompson
LaMarcus Adna Thompson (March 8, 1848 – May 8, 1919) was an American inventor and businessman most famous for developing a variety of gravity rides and roller coasters.
Early years
Thompson was born in Jersey, Licking County, Ohio on March ...
patents a
roller coaster
A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are o ...
.
*
January 24
Events Pre-1600
* 41 – Claudius is proclaimed Roman emperor by the Praetorian Guard after they assassinate the previous emperor, his nephew Caligula.
* 914 – Start of the First Fatimid invasion of Egypt.
*1438 – The Cou ...
– Irish rebels damage
Westminster Hall
The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parli ...
and the
Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...
with dynamite.
*
January 26
Events Pre-1600
* 661 – The Rashidun Caliphate is effectively ended with the assassination of Ali, the last caliph.
*1531 – The 6.4–7.1 1531 Lisbon earthquake, Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people.
*1564 – ...
–
Mahdist War
The Mahdist War ( ar, الثورة المهدية, ath-Thawra al-Mahdiyya; 1881–1899) was a war between the Mahdist Sudanese of the religious leader Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah, who had proclaimed himself the "Mahdi" of Islam (the "Guided On ...
in Sudan: Troops loyal to
Mahdi
The Mahdi ( ar, ٱلْمَهْدِيّ, al-Mahdī, lit=the Guided) is a Messianism, messianic figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the Eschatology, end of times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a de ...
Muhammad Ahmad
Muhammad Ahmad ( ar, محمد أحمد ابن عبد الله; 12 August 1844 – 22 June 1885) was a Nubian Sufi religious leader of the Samaniyya order in Sudan who, as a youth, studied Sunni Islam. In 1881, he claimed to be the Mahdi, an ...
conquer
Khartoum
Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...
; British commander
Charles George Gordon
Major-general (United Kingdom), Major-General Charles George Gordon Companion of the Order of the Bath, CB (28 January 1833 – 26 January 1885), also known as Chinese Gordon, Gordon Pasha, and Gordon of Khartoum, was a British Army officer and ...
is killed.
*
February 5
Events Pre-1600
* 62 – Earthquake in Pompeii, Italy.
* 1576 – Henry of Navarre abjures Catholicism at Tours and rejoins the Protestant forces in the French Wars of Religion.
* 1597 – A group of early Japanese Christians ar ...
– King
Leopold II of Belgium
* german: link=no, Leopold Ludwig Philipp Maria Viktor
, house = Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
, father = Leopold I of Belgium
, mother = Louise of Orléans
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Brussels, Belgium
, death_date = ...
establishes the
Congo Free State
''(Work and Progress)
, national_anthem = Vers l'avenir
, capital = Vivi Boma
, currency = Congo Free State franc
, religion = Catholicism (''de facto'')
, leader1 = Leopo ...
, as a personal possession.
*
February 9
Events Pre-1600
* 474 – Zeno is crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
* 1003 – Boleslaus III is restored to authority with armed support from Bolesław I the Brave of Poland.
* 1539 – The first recorded race is hel ...
– The first Japanese arrive in Hawaii.
*
February 16
Events Pre-1600
* 1249 – Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khagan of the Mongol Empire.
* 1270 – Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Livonian Order in the Battle of Kar ...
–
Charles Dow
Charles Henry Dow (; November 6, 1851 – December 4, 1902) was an American journalist who co-founded Dow Jones & Company with Edward Jones and Charles Bergstresser.
Dow also co-founded ''The Wall Street Journal'', which has become one of the ...
publishes the first edition of the
Dow Jones Industrial Average
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), Dow Jones, or simply the Dow (), is a stock market index of 30 prominent companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States.
The DJIA is one of the oldest and most commonly followed equity inde ...
. The index stood at a level of 62.76, and represented the dollar average of 14 stocks: 12 railroads and two leading American industries.
*
February 20
Events Pre-1600
*1339 – The Milanese army and the St. George's (San Giorgio) Mercenaries of Lodrisio Visconti clash in the Battle of Parabiago; Visconti is defeated.
*1472 – Orkney and Shetland are pawned by Norway to Scotland ...
– The
Richmond Football Club
The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football team playing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Between its inception in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond in 1885 and 1907, the club competed in the Victo ...
was officially formed at the Royal Hotel in the
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
suburb of
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
,
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
.
*
February 21
Events Pre-1600
* 452 or 453 – Severianus, Bishop of Scythopolis, is martyred in Palestine.
* 1245 – Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland, is granted resignation after confessing to torture and forgery.
* 1440 – The Prus ...
– United States President
Chester A. Arthur
Chester Alan Arthur (October 5, 1829 – November 18, 1886) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 21st president of the United States from 1881 to 1885. He previously served as the 20th vice president under President James ...
dedicates the
Washington Monument
The Washington Monument is an obelisk shaped building within the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, once commander-in-chief of the Continental Army (1775–1784) in the American Revolutionary War and the ...
.
*
February 23
Events Pre-1600
* 303 – Roman emperor Diocletian orders the destruction of the Christian church in Nicomedia, beginning eight years of Diocletianic Persecution.
* 532 – Byzantine emperor Justinian I lays the foundation stone of a ...
**
Sino-French War
The Sino-French War (, french: Guerre franco-chinoise, vi, Chiến tranh Pháp-Thanh), also known as the Tonkin War and Tonquin War, was a limited conflict fought from August 1884 to April 1885. There was no declaration of war. The Chinese arm ...
–
Battle of Đồng Đăng: France gains an important victory over China, in the
Tonkin
Tonkin, also spelled ''Tongkin'', ''Tonquin'' or ''Tongking'', is an exonym referring to the northern region of Vietnam. During the 17th and 18th centuries, this term referred to the domain ''Đàng Ngoài'' under Trịnh lords' control, includi ...
region of modern-day Vietnam.
** An English executioner fails after several attempts to
hang
Hang or Hanging may refer to:
People
* Choe Hang (disambiguation), various people
* Luciano Hang (born 1962/1963), Brazilian billionaire businessman
* Ren Hang (disambiguation), various people
Law
* Hanging, a form of capital punishment
Arts, e ...
John Babbacombe Lee
John "Babbacombe" Lee (15 August 1864 – 19 March 1945) was an Englishman famous for surviving three attempts to hang him for murder. Born in Abbotskerswell, Devon, Lee served in the Royal Navy, and was a known thief.
In 1885, he was ...
, sentenced for the murder of his employer Emma Keyse; Lee's sentence is commuted to life imprisonment.
*
February 26
Events Pre-1600
*747 BC – According to Ptolemy, the epoch (origin) of the Nabonassar Era began at noon on this date. Historians use this to establish the modern BC chronology for dating historic events.
* 364 – Valentinian I is p ...
– The final act of the
Berlin Conference
The Berlin Conference of 1884–1885, also known as the Congo Conference (, ) or West Africa Conference (, ), regulated European colonisation and trade in Africa during the New Imperialism period and coincided with Germany's sudden emergence ...
regulates European colonization and trade, in the ''
scramble for Africa
The Scramble for Africa, also called the Partition of Africa, or Conquest of Africa, was the invasion, annexation, division, and colonisation of Africa, colonization of most of Africa by seven Western Europe, Western European powers during a ...
''.
*
February 28
Events Pre-1600
*202 BC – Liu Bang is enthroned as the Emperor of China, beginning four centuries of rule by the Han dynasty.
* 870 – The Fourth Council of Constantinople closes.
*1525 – Aztec king Cuauhtémoc is executed on ...
– February concludes without having a full moon.
*
March 3
Events Pre-1600
* 473 – Gundobad (nephew of Ricimer) nominates Glycerius as emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
* 724 – Empress Genshō abdicates the throne in favor of her nephew Shōmu who becomes emperor of Japan.
* 1575 &nd ...
– A subsidiary of the American Bell Telephone Company,
American Telephone and Telegraph
AT&T Corporation, originally the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is the subsidiary of AT&T Inc. that provides voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to businesses, consumers, and government agen ...
(AT&T), is incorporated in New York.
*
March 4
Events Pre-1600
*AD 51 – Nero, later to become Roman emperor, is given the title '' princeps iuventutis'' (head of the youth).
* 306 – Martyrdom of Saint Adrian of Nicomedia.
* 852 – Croatian Knez Trpimir I issues a st ...
–
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...
is
sworn in, as the 22nd president of the United States.
*
March 7
Events Pre-1600
* 161 – Marcus Aurelius and L. Commodus (who changes his name to Lucius Verus) become joint emperors of Rome on the death of Antoninus Pius.
* 1138 – Konrad III von Hohenstaufen was elected king of Germany at Cob ...
– The
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madrid
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madrid is one of Spain's fourteen metropolitan archbishoprics. Since 28 August 2014 the archbishop of Madrid has been Carlos Osoro Sierra.
Although Madrid has been the seat of the Spanish Crown since 1561, the d ...
is founded.
*
March 14
Events Pre-1600
* 1074 – Battle of Mogyoród: Dukes Géza and Ladislaus defeat their cousin Solomon, King of Hungary, forcing him to flee to Hungary's western borderland.
* 1590 – Battle of Ivry: Henry of Navarre and the Huguen ...
–
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian era, Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which ...
's comic opera ''
The Mikado
''The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan, operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, whe ...
'' opens, at the
Savoy Theatre
The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy Pala ...
in London.
*
March 26
Events Pre-1600
* 590 – Emperor Maurice proclaims his son Theodosius as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
* 1021 – On the feast of Eid al-Adha, the death of the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, kept secret for six weeks, is ...
**
Prussian deportations
The Prussian deportations, also known as the Prussian expulsions of Poles ( pl, rugi pruskie, german: Polenausweisungen), were the mass expulsions of Poles from the German-controlled Prussia between 1885 and 1890. More than 30,000 Poles from Aus ...
: The
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
n government, motivated by
Otto von Bismarck
Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of J ...
, expels all ethnic Poles and Jews without German citizenship from Prussia.
** The
North-West Rebellion
The North-West Rebellion (french: Rébellion du Nord-Ouest), also known as the North-West Resistance, was a resistance by the Métis people under Louis Riel and an associated uprising by First Nations Cree and Assiniboine of the District of S ...
in Canada by the
Métis people
The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...
, led by
Louis Riel
Louis Riel (; ; 22 October 1844 – 16 November 1885) was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of Canada and its first ...
, begins with the
Battle of Duck Lake
The Battle of Duck Lake (26 March 1885) was an infantry skirmish outside Duck Lake, Saskatchewan, between North-West Mounted Police forces of the Government of Canada, and the Métis militia of Louis Riel's newly established Provisional Govern ...
.
** First legal
cremation
Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a Cadaver, dead body through Combustion, burning.
Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India ...
in England: Mrs Jeannette C. Pickersgill of London, "well known in literary and scientific circles", is cremated by the Cremation Society at
Woking
Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...
,
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
.
*
March 30
Events Pre-1600
* 598 – Balkan Campaign: The Avars lift the siege at the Byzantine stronghold of Tomis. Their leader Bayan I retreats north of the Danube River after the Avaro- Slavic hordes are decimated by the plague.
* 1282 &ndas ...
– The
Battle for Kushka
The Panjdeh Incident (known in Russian historiography as the Battle of Kushka) was an armed engagement between the Emirate of Afghanistan and the Russian Empire in 1885 that led to a diplomatic crisis between the British Empire and the Russian ...
triggers the
Panjdeh Incident
The Panjdeh Incident (known in Russian historiography as the Battle of Kushka) was an armed engagement between the Emirate of Afghanistan and the Russian Empire in 1885 that led to a diplomatic crisis between the British Empire and the Russian ...
, which nearly gives rise to war between the
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
and
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
.
*
March 31
Events Pre-1600
* 307 – After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine the Great, Constantine marries Fausta, daughter of the retired Roman emperor Maximian.
*1146 – Bernard of Clairvaux preaches his famous sermon in a field at V ...
– The United Kingdom establishes the
Bechuanaland Protectorate
The Bechuanaland Protectorate () was a British protectorate, protectorate established on 31 March 1885, by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (later the United Kingdom, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) in So ...
.
April–June
*
April 2
Events Pre-1600
*1513 – Having spotted land on March 27, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León comes ashore on what is now the U.S. state of Florida, landing somewhere between the modern city of St. Augustine and the mouth of the St. Jo ...
–
Frog Lake Massacre
The Frog Lake Massacre was part of the Cree uprising during the North-West Rebellion in western Canada. Led by Wandering Spirit, young Cree men attacked officials, clergy and settlers in the small settlement of Frog Lake in the District of S ...
:
Cree
The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...
warriors led by
Wandering Spirit kill 9 settlers at
Frog Lake Frog Lake may refer to:
* Frog Lake, Alberta, a Cree community in Canada, site of the
** Frog Lake Massacre
* Frog Lake (Colchester), a lake of Colchester County, in Nova Scotia, Canada
* Frog Lake (Guysborough), a lake of Guysborough District, i ...
in the
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...
.
*
April 3
Events Pre-1600
* 686 – Maya king Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ahk' assumes the crown of Calakmul.
* 1043 – Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
* 1077 – The Patriarchate of Friûl, the first Friulian state, is created ...
–
Gottlieb Daimler
Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler (; 17 March 1834 – 6 March 1900) was a German engineer, industrial designer and industrialist born in Schorndorf (Kingdom of Württemberg, a federal state of the German Confederation), in what is now Germany. He was a ...
is granted a German patent, for his single-cylinder
water-cooled
Cooling tower and water discharge of a nuclear power plant
Water cooling is a method of heat removal from components and industrial equipment. Evaporative cooling using water is often more efficient than air cooling. Water is inexpensive and non ...
engine
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy.
Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...
design.
*
April 11
Events Pre-1600
* 491 – Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine emperor, with the name of Anastasius I.
* 1241 – Batu Khan defeats Béla IV of Hungary at the Battle of Mohi.
* 1512 – War of the League of Cambrai: Franco-Ferra ...
–
Luton Town Football Club
Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1 ...
is created by the merger of (Luton) Wanderers F.C. and Luton Excelsior F.C. in England.
*
April 14
Events Pre-1600
* 43 BC – Legions loyal to the Roman Senate, commanded by Gaius Pansa, defeat the forces of Mark Antony in the Battle of Forum Gallorum.
* 69 – Vitellius, commanding Rhine-based armies, defeats Roman emperor Otho ...
–
Sino-French War
The Sino-French War (, french: Guerre franco-chinoise, vi, Chiến tranh Pháp-Thanh), also known as the Tonkin War and Tonquin War, was a limited conflict fought from August 1884 to April 1885. There was no declaration of war. The Chinese arm ...
: A French victory at
Kép
Kép is a township (''Thị trấn'') of Lạng Giang District, Bắc Giang Province, in north-eastern Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast A ...
causes China to withdraw its forces from
Tonkin
Tonkin, also spelled ''Tongkin'', ''Tonquin'' or ''Tongking'', is an exonym referring to the northern region of Vietnam. During the 17th and 18th centuries, this term referred to the domain ''Đàng Ngoài'' under Trịnh lords' control, includi ...
, in the final engagement of the conflict.
*
April 30
Events Pre-1600
* 311 – The Diocletianic Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire ends.
* 1315 – Enguerrand de Marigny is hanged at the instigation of Charles, Count of Valois.
*1492 – Spain gives Christopher Columbus hi ...
– A bill is signed in the New York State legislature, forming the
Niagara Falls State Park
Niagara Falls State Park is located in the City of Niagara Falls in Niagara County, New York, United States. The park, recognized as the oldest state park in the United States, contains the American Falls, the Bridal Veil Falls, and a portion of ...
.
*
May 2
Events Pre-1600
* 1194 – King Richard I of England gives Portsmouth its first Royal Charter.
* 1230 – William de Braose is hanged by Prince Llywelyn the Great.
* 1536 – Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, is arrested and impris ...
** ''
Good Housekeeping
''Good Housekeeping'' is an American women's magazine featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, and health, as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good House ...
'' magazine goes on sale for the first time in the United States.
**
North-West Rebellion
The North-West Rebellion (french: Rébellion du Nord-Ouest), also known as the North-West Resistance, was a resistance by the Métis people under Louis Riel and an associated uprising by First Nations Cree and Assiniboine of the District of S ...
–
Battle of Cut Knife
The Battle of Cut Knife, fought on May 2, 1885, occurred when a flying column of mounted police, militia, and Canadian army regular army units attacked a Cree and Assiniboine teepee settlement near Battleford, Saskatchewan. First Nations figh ...
:
Cree
The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...
and
Assiniboine
The Assiniboine or Assiniboin people ( when singular, Assiniboines / Assiniboins when plural; Ojibwe: ''Asiniibwaan'', "stone Sioux"; also in plural Assiniboine or Assiniboin), also known as the Hohe and known by the endonym Nakota (or Nakoda ...
warriors win their largest victory over Canadian forces.
** The
Congo Free State
''(Work and Progress)
, national_anthem = Vers l'avenir
, capital = Vivi Boma
, currency = Congo Free State franc
, religion = Catholicism (''de facto'')
, leader1 = Leopo ...
is established, by King
Leopold II of Belgium
* german: link=no, Leopold Ludwig Philipp Maria Viktor
, house = Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
, father = Leopold I of Belgium
, mother = Louise of Orléans
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Brussels, Belgium
, death_date = ...
.
*
May 9
Events Pre-1600
* 328 – Athanasius is elected Patriarch of Alexandria.
*1009 – Lombard Revolt: Lombard forces led by Melus revolt in Bari against the Byzantine Catepanate of Italy.
*1386 – England and Portugal formally rati ...
–
12 –
North-West Rebellion
The North-West Rebellion (french: Rébellion du Nord-Ouest), also known as the North-West Resistance, was a resistance by the Métis people under Louis Riel and an associated uprising by First Nations Cree and Assiniboine of the District of S ...
–
Battle of Batoche
The Battle of Batoche was the decisive battle of the North-West Rebellion, which pitted the Canadian authorities against a force of First Nations and Métis people. Fought from May 9 to 12, 1885, at the ad hoc Provisional Government of Saskatche ...
: Canadian government forces inflict a decisive defeat on
Métis
The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...
rebels, bringing an end to their part in the rebellion.
*
May 19
Events
Pre-1600
* 639 – Ashina Jiesheshuai and his tribesmen assaulted Emperor Taizong at Jiucheng Palace.
* 715 – Pope Gregory II is elected.
* 1051 – Henry I of France marries the Rus' princess, Anne of Kiev.
*1445 &n ...
– After a
three-month legislative battle in the
Illinois General Assembly
The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 181 ...
,
John A. Logan
John Alexander Logan (February 9, 1826 – December 26, 1886) was an American soldier and politician. He served in the Mexican–American War and was a general in the Union Army in the American Civil War. He served the state of Illinois as a st ...
is re-elected to the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
.
*
May 20
Events Pre-1600
* 325 – The First Council of Nicaea is formally opened, starting the first ecumenical council of the Christian Church.
* 491 – Empress Ariadne marries Anastasius I. The widowed '' Augusta'' is able to choose her ...
– The first public train departs
Swanage railway station
Swanage railway station is a railway station located in Swanage, on the Isle of Purbeck in the English county of Dorset. Originally the terminus of a London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) branch line from Wareham, the line and station were ...
, on the newly built
Swanage Railway
The Swanage Railway is a railway branch line from near Wareham, Dorset to Swanage, Dorset, England, opened in 1885 and now operated as a heritage railway.
The independent company which built it was amalgamated with the larger London and South ...
in England.
*
June 3
Events Pre-1600
* 350 – The Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, proclaims himself Roman emperor, entering Rome at the head of a group of gladiators.
* 713 – The Byzantine Empire, Byzantine emperor Philippikos Ba ...
–
Battle of Loon Lake
The Battle of Loon Lake, also known as the Battle of Steele Narrows, concluded the North-West Rebellion on June 3, 1885, and was the last battle fought on Canadian soil. It was fought in what was then the District of Saskatchewan of the No ...
: The Canadian
North-West Mounted Police
The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian para-military police force, established in 1873, to maintain order in the new Canadian North-West Territories (NWT) following the 1870 transfer of Rupert’s Land and North-Western Territory ...
and allies force a party of Plains
Cree
The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...
warriors to surrender in the last skirmish of the
North-West Rebellion
The North-West Rebellion (french: Rébellion du Nord-Ouest), also known as the North-West Resistance, was a resistance by the Métis people under Louis Riel and an associated uprising by First Nations Cree and Assiniboine of the District of S ...
, and the last battle fought on Canadian soil.
*
June 17
Events Pre-1600
* 653 – Pope Martin I is arrested and taken to Constantinople, due to his opposition to monothelitism.
* 1242 – Following the Disputation of Paris, twenty-four carriage loads of Jewish religious manuscripts were bur ...
– The
Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; French: ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'') is a List of colossal sculpture in situ, colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the U ...
arrives in
New York Harbor
New York Harbor is at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into New York Bay near the East River tidal estuary, and then into the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the United States. It is one of the largest natural harbors in t ...
.
*
June 23
Events Pre-1600
* 229 – Sun Quan proclaims himself emperor of Eastern Wu.
* 1266 – War of Saint Sabas: In the Battle of Trapani, the Venetians defeat a larger Genoese fleet, capturing all its ships.
* 1280 – The Spanish Re ...
–
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (; 3 February 183022 August 1903) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom three times for a total of over thirteen y ...
, becomes
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pr ...
.
*
June 24
Events Pre-1600
* 1312 BC – Mursili II launches a campaign against the Kingdom of Azzi-Hayasa.
* 109 – Roman emperor Trajan inaugurates the Aqua Traiana, an aqueduct that channels water from Lake Bracciano, northwest of Rome.
* ...
–
Randolph Churchill
Randolph Frederick Edward Spencer-Churchill (28 May 1911 – 6 June 1968) was an English journalist, writer, soldier, and politician. He served as Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Preston from 1940 to 1945.
The only son of British ...
becomes
Secretary of State for India
His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India Secretary or the Indian Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of th ...
.
July–September
*
July
July is the seventh month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the fourth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. It was named by the Roman Senate in honour of Roman general Julius Caesar in 44 B.C., it being the mont ...
– Japan Berery, predecessor of
Kirin Holdings was founded in
Yokohama
is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...
, Japan.
*
July 6
Events Pre-1600
* 371 BC – The Battle of Leuctra shatters Sparta's reputation of military invincibility.
* 640 – Battle of Heliopolis: The Muslim Arab army under 'Amr ibn al-'As defeat the Byzantine forces near Heliopolis (Egypt ...
–
Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization, the latter of which was named afte ...
and
Émile Roux
Pierre Paul Émile Roux FRS (17 December 18533 November 1933) was a French physician, bacteriologist and immunologist. Roux was one of the closest collaborators of Louis Pasteur (1822–1895), a co-founder of the Pasteur Institute, and respon ...
successfully test their
rabies vaccine
The rabies vaccine is a vaccine used to prevent rabies. There are a number of rabies vaccines available that are both safe and effective. They can be used to prevent rabies before, and, for a period of time, after exposure to the rabies virus, ...
. The patient is
Joseph Meister
Joseph Meister (21 February 1876 – 24 June 1940) was the first person to be inoculated against rabies by Louis Pasteur, and likely the first person to be successfully treated for the infection.
History
In 1885, nine-year-old Meister was b ...
, a boy who was bitten by a rabid dog.
*
July 14
Events Pre-1600
* 982 – King Otto II and his Frankish army are defeated by the Muslim army of al-Qasim at Cape Colonna, Southern Italy.
* 1223 – Louis VIII becomes King of France upon the death of his father, Philip II.
* 1420 ...
–
Sarah E. Goode
Sarah Elisabeth Goode (1855 – April 8, 1905) was an American entrepreneur and inventor. She was the second known African-American woman to receive a United States patent, which she received in 1885.
Biography
Born in 1855 in Toledo, Ohio t ...
is the first African-American woman to apply for and receive a
patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...
, for the invention of the hideaway bed.
*
July 15
Events Pre-1600
*484 BC – Dedication of the Temple of Castor and Pollux in ancient Rome
* 70 – First Jewish–Roman War: Titus and his armies breach the walls of Jerusalem. ( 17th of Tammuz in the Hebrew calendar).
* 756 – ...
– The Reservation at
Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, ...
opens, enabling access to all for free.
Thomas V. Welch is the first Superintendent of the Park.
*
July 16
Events Pre-1600
* 622 – The beginning of the Islamic calendar.
* 997 – Battle of Spercheios: Bulgarian forces of Tsar Samuel are defeated by a Byzantine army under general Nikephoros Ouranos at the Spercheios River in Greece.
* 1 ...
–
BHP (Broken Hill Proprietary), a worldwide
mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...
and
natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
producer is founded in
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.
*
July 20
Events Pre-1600
* 70 – Siege of Jerusalem: Titus, son of emperor Vespasian, storms the Fortress of Antonia north of the Temple Mount. The Roman army is drawn into street fights with the Zealots.
* 792 – Kardam of Bulgaria defea ...
– Professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
is legalized in Britain.
*
July 28
Events Pre-1600
* 1364 – Troops of the Republic of Pisa and the Republic of Florence clash in the Battle of Cascina.
* 1540 – Henry VIII of England marries his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, on the same day his former Chancellor, T ...
–
Louis Riel
Louis Riel (; ; 22 October 1844 – 16 November 1885) was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of Canada and its first ...
's trial for
treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
begins in
Regina.
*
August 19
Events Pre-1600
*295 BC – The first temple to Venus, the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility, is dedicated by Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges during the Third Samnite War.
*43 BC – Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, later know ...
– ''S Andromedae'', the only supernova seen in the Andromeda Galaxy so far by astronomers, and the first ever noted outside the Milky Way, is discovered.
![ZweiRadMuseumNSU Reitwagen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/ZweiRadMuseumNSU_Reitwagen.JPG)
* August 29 –
Gottlieb Daimler
Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler (; 17 March 1834 – 6 March 1900) was a German engineer, industrial designer and industrialist born in Schorndorf (Kingdom of Württemberg, a federal state of the German Confederation), in what is now Germany. He was a ...
is granted a German patent for the Daimler Reitwagen, regarded as the first motorcycle, which he has produced with Wilhelm Maybach.
* September 2 – The Rock Springs massacre occurs in Rock Springs, Wyoming; 150 white miners attack their Chinese coworkers, killing 28, wounding 15, and forcing several hundred more out of town.
* September 6 – Eastern Rumelia declares its union with Bulgaria, completing the Unification of Bulgaria.
* September 8 – Saint Thomas Academy is founded in Minnesota.
* September 12 – Arbroath FC defeats Bon Accord FC, Arbroath 36–0 Bon Accord, 36-0, in the highest score ever in professional football.
* September 15 – A train wreck of the P. T. Barnum Circus kills giant elephant Jumbo, at St. Thomas, Ontario.
* September 18 – The union of Eastern Rumelia with Bulgaria is proclaimed at Plovdiv.
* September 30 – A British force abolishes the Boer republic of Stellaland, and adds it to British Bechuanaland.
October–December
* October 3 – Millwall F.C. is founded by workers on the Isle of Dogs in London, as Millwall Rovers.
* October 12 – The city of Fresno, California is incorporated.
* October 13 – The Georgia Institute of Technology is established in Atlanta, as the Georgia School of Technology.
* October 25 – Symphony No. 4 (Brahms) is premiered in Meiningen, Germany, with Johannes Brahms himself conducting it.
* November – The Third Anglo-Burmese War begins.
* November 7 – Canadian Pacific Railway: In Craigellachie, British Columbia, construction ends on a railway extending across Canada. Prime Minister John A. Macdonald considers the project to be vital to Canada, due to the exponentially greater potential for military mobility.
* November 14–November 28, 28 – Serbo-Bulgarian War: Serbia declares war against Bulgaria, but is defeated in the Battle of Slivnitsa on November 17–November 19, 19.
* November 16 –
Louis Riel
Louis Riel (; ; 22 October 1844 – 16 November 1885) was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of Canada and its first ...
, Canadian rebel leader of the
Métis
The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...
, is executed for high
treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
.
* December 1 – The U.S. Patent Office acknowledges this date as the day Dr Pepper is served for the very first time; the exact date of Dr. Pepper's invention is unknown.
* December 28 – 72 Indian lawyers, academics and journalists gather in Bombay, to form the Indian National Congress, Congress Party.
Date unknown
![1885Benz](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/1885Benz.jpg)
* Karl Benz produces the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, regarded as the first automobile (patented and publicly launched the following year).
* John Kemp Starley demonstrates the Rover Company, Rover safety bicycle, regarded as the first practical modern bicycle.
* Chile's Matrimony and Civil Registry laws come into effect.
* The Home Insurance Building in Chicago, designed by William Le Baron Jenney, is completed. With ten floors and a fireproof weight-bearing metal frame, it is regarded as the first skyscraper.
* Bicycle Playing Cards are first produced.
* The Soldiers' and Sailors' Families Association is established in the United Kingdom, to provide charitable assistance.
* Camp Dudley, YMCA, Camp Dudley, the oldest continually running boys' camp in the United States, is founded.
* John Ormsby (translator), John Ormsby publishes his new English translation of ''Don Quixote'', acclaimed as the most scholarly made up to that time. It will remain in print through the 20th Century.
* Michigan Technological University (originally Michigan Mining School) opens its doors for the first time, in the future Houghton County Fire Hall.
* Chuo Law College, as predecessor of Chuo University, founded in Kanda, Tokyo, Kanda, Tokyo, Japan.
* Before November 1 – More than 24,000 Christians killed, 225 churches burnt, seventeen orphanages and ten convents destroyed in Cochinchina, now known as
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
.
Births
January
![ClaudeFuess3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/ClaudeFuess3.jpg)
* January 6 – Florence Turner, American actress (d. 1946)
* January 8 – John Curtin, 14th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1945)
* January 11
** Jack Hoxie, American actor, rodeo performer (d. 1965)
** Alice Paul, American women's rights activist (d. 1977)
* January 12
** Harry Benjamin, American endocrinologist, sexologist (d. 1986)
** Claude Fuess, American author, historian and headmaster (d. 1963)
* January 14 – Constantin Sănătescu, 44th prime minister of Romania (d. 1947)
* January 16 – Zhou Zuoren, Chinese writer (d. 1967)
*
January 17
Events Pre-1600
* 38 BC – Octavian divorces his wife Scribonia and marries Livia Drusilla, ending the fragile peace between the Second Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey.
* 1362 – Saint Marcellus' flood kills at least 25,000 people on ...
– Nikolaus von Falkenhorst, German general and war criminal (d. 1968)
* January 21 – Umberto Nobile, Italian aviator and explorer (d. 1978)
* January 25 – Roy Geiger, American general (d. 1947)
*
January 26
Events Pre-1600
* 661 – The Rashidun Caliphate is effectively ended with the assassination of Ali, the last caliph.
*1531 – The 6.4–7.1 1531 Lisbon earthquake, Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people.
*1564 – ...
– Harry Ricardo, English mechanical engineer, engine pioneer (d. 1974)
* January 27
** Jerome Kern, American composer (d. 1945)
** Harry Ruby, American musician, composer, and writer (d. 1974)
* January 28 – Władysław Raczkiewicz, President of Poland (d. 1947)
* January 30 – John Henry Towers, U. S.admiral and naval aviation pioneer (d. 1955)
February
![Bess Truman cropped](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Bess_Truman_cropped.jpg)
* February 1 – Friedrich Kellner, German diarist (d. 1970)
* February 7
** Sinclair Lewis, American writer, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1951)
** Hugo Sperrle, German field marshal (d. 1953)
*
February 9
Events Pre-1600
* 474 – Zeno is crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
* 1003 – Boleslaus III is restored to authority with armed support from Bolesław I the Brave of Poland.
* 1539 – The first recorded race is hel ...
– Alban Berg, Austrian composer (d. 1935)
* February 10 – Rupert Downes, Australian general (d. 1945)
* February 13
** George Fitzmaurice, French-American motion picture director (d. 1940)
** Bess Truman, First Lady of the United States (d. 1982)
* February 14 – Zengo Yoshida, Japanese admiral (d. 1966)
*
February 21
Events Pre-1600
* 452 or 453 – Severianus, Bishop of Scythopolis, is martyred in Palestine.
* 1245 – Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland, is granted resignation after confessing to torture and forgery.
* 1440 – The Prus ...
– Sacha Guitry, Russian-born French dramatist, writer, director, and actor (d. 1957)
* February 22 – Pat Sullivan (film producer), Pat Sullivan, Australian-born American director, animated film producer (d. 1933)
* February 24
** Chester W. Nimitz, American admiral (d. 1966)
** Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Polish writer, painter (d. 1939)
* February 25 – Princess Alice of Battenberg (d. 1969)
*
February 26
Events Pre-1600
*747 BC – According to Ptolemy, the epoch (origin) of the Nabonassar Era began at noon on this date. Historians use this to establish the modern BC chronology for dating historic events.
* 364 – Valentinian I is p ...
– Aleksandras Stulginskis, President of Lithuania (d. 1969)
March
* March 6 – Ring Lardner, American writer (d. 1933)
*
March 7
Events Pre-1600
* 161 – Marcus Aurelius and L. Commodus (who changes his name to Lucius Verus) become joint emperors of Rome on the death of Antoninus Pius.
* 1138 – Konrad III von Hohenstaufen was elected king of Germany at Cob ...
– John Tovey, British admiral of the fleet (d. 1971)
* March 11 – Sir Malcolm Campbell, English land, water racer (d. 1948)
*
March 14
Events Pre-1600
* 1074 – Battle of Mogyoród: Dukes Géza and Ladislaus defeat their cousin Solomon, King of Hungary, forcing him to flee to Hungary's western borderland.
* 1590 – Battle of Ivry: Henry of Navarre and the Huguen ...
– Raoul Lufbery, French-born American World War I pilot (d. 1918)
* March 23 – Mollie McNutt, Australian poet (d. 1919)
* March 27 – Julio Lozano Díaz, President of Honduras (d. 1957)
*
March 31
Events Pre-1600
* 307 – After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine the Great, Constantine marries Fausta, daughter of the retired Roman emperor Maximian.
*1146 – Bernard of Clairvaux preaches his famous sermon in a field at V ...
– Jules Pascin, Bulgarian painter (d. 1930)
April
![Clementine Churchill 1915](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Clementine_Churchill_1915.jpg)
* April 1
** Wallace Beery, American actor (d. 1949)
** Clementine Churchill, wife of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (d. 1977)
*
April 3
Events Pre-1600
* 686 – Maya king Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ahk' assumes the crown of Calakmul.
* 1043 – Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
* 1077 – The Patriarchate of Friûl, the first Friulian state, is created ...
** Allan Dwan, Canadian-born American film director (d. 1981)
** St John Philby, Ceylonese-born British Arabist (d. 1960)
* April 12 – Hermann Hoth, German general (d. 1971)
* April 13
** John Cunningham (Royal Navy officer), John Cunningham, British admiral (d. 1962)
** Otto Plath, American father of poet Sylvia Plath, entomologist (d. 1940)
* April 15 – Tadeusz Kutrzeba, Polish general (d. 1947)
* April 16 – Charles Debbas, 1st president, 5th prime minister of Lebanon (d. 1935)
* April 17 – Karen Blixen, Danish author (d. 1962)
* April 29 – Frank Jack Fletcher, American admiral (d. 1973)
May
*
May 2
Events Pre-1600
* 1194 – King Richard I of England gives Portsmouth its first Royal Charter.
* 1230 – William de Braose is hanged by Prince Llywelyn the Great.
* 1536 – Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, is arrested and impris ...
– Hedda Hopper, American columnist (d. 1966)
* May 5 – Agustín Barrios, Paraguayan guitarist, composer (d. 1944)
* May 7 – George "Gabby" Hayes, American actor (d. 1969)
* May 8 – Thomas B. Costain, Canadian author and journalist (d. 1965)
*
May 9
Events Pre-1600
* 328 – Athanasius is elected Patriarch of Alexandria.
*1009 – Lombard Revolt: Lombard forces led by Melus revolt in Bari against the Byzantine Catepanate of Italy.
*1386 – England and Portugal formally rati ...
** Eduard C. Lindeman, American social worker, author (d. 1953)
** Gianni Vella, Maltese artist (d. 1977)
* May 12 – Paltiel Daykan, Russian-born Israeli jurist (d. 1969)
* May 14 – Otto Klemperer, German conductor (d. 1973)
* May 15
**Robert James Hudson, Governor of Southern Rhodesia (d. 1963)
**Naokuni Nomura, Japanese admiral and Minister of the Navy (d. 1973)
*
May 20
Events Pre-1600
* 325 – The First Council of Nicaea is formally opened, starting the first ecumenical council of the Christian Church.
* 491 – Empress Ariadne marries Anastasius I. The widowed '' Augusta'' is able to choose her ...
– Faisal I of Iraq (d. 1933)
* May 21
** Oscar A. C. Lund, Swedish film actor, director, and writer (d. 1963)
** Princess Sophie of Schönburg-Waldenburg, consort of William, Prince of Albania, William of Wied, Prince of Albania (d. 1936)
* May 22 – Toyoda Soemu, Japanese admiral (d. 1957)
* May 24 – Susan Sutherland Isaacs, English educational psychologist, psychoanalyst (d. 1948)
* May 27 – Richmond K. Turner, American admiral (d. 1961)
* May 30 – Arthur E. Andersen, American accountant (d. 1947)
June
* June 2 – Hans Gerhard Creutzfeldt, German neuropathologist (d. 1964)
* June 4 – Arturo Rawson, President of Argentina (d. 1952)
* June 5 – Georges Mandel, French politician, World War II hero (d. 1944)
* June 9
** John Edensor Littlewood, British mathematician (d. 1977)
** Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski, Prime Minister of Poland (d. 1962)
** Harry Gribbon, American comedy actor (d. 1961)
* June 14 – E. L. Grant Watson, English writer, anthropologist, and biologist (d. 1970)
* June 13 – John Palm, Curaçao-born composer (d. 1925)
* June 21 – Harry A. Marmer, Ukrainian-born American mathematician, oceanographer (d. 1953)
* June 22 – Milan Vidmar, Slovenian electrical engineer, chess player (d. 1962)
*
June 23
Events Pre-1600
* 229 – Sun Quan proclaims himself emperor of Eastern Wu.
* 1266 – War of Saint Sabas: In the Battle of Trapani, the Venetians defeat a larger Genoese fleet, capturing all its ships.
* 1280 – The Spanish Re ...
– Elaine Bellew-Bryan, Baroness Bellew, South African-Irish nurse (d. 1973)
*
June 24
Events Pre-1600
* 1312 BC – Mursili II launches a campaign against the Kingdom of Azzi-Hayasa.
* 109 – Roman emperor Trajan inaugurates the Aqua Traiana, an aqueduct that channels water from Lake Bracciano, northwest of Rome.
* ...
** Olaf Holtedahl, Norwegian geologist (d. 1975)
** , French set designer (d. 1990)
* June 27 – Guilhermina Suggia, Portuguese cellist (d. 1950)
* June 28
** Marino Capicchioni, Italian musical instrument maker (d. 1977)
** Camille Clifford, Belgian actress (d. 1971)
* June 29
** Izidor Kürschner, Hungarian football player and coach (d. 1941)
** Andrew Tombes, American comedian and character actor (d. 1976)
July
![Benchifley](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Benchifley.jpg)
* July 2 – Nikolai Krylenko, Russian Bolshevik and Soviet politician (d. 1938)
* July 4 – Louis B. Mayer, American film producer (d. 1957)
*
July 6
Events Pre-1600
* 371 BC – The Battle of Leuctra shatters Sparta's reputation of military invincibility.
* 640 – Battle of Heliopolis: The Muslim Arab army under 'Amr ibn al-'As defeat the Byzantine forces near Heliopolis (Egypt ...
** Charles Wisner Barrell, American writer (d. 1974)
** Ernst Busch (field marshal), Ernst Busch, German field marshal (d. 1945)
* July 8
** List of Dutch supercentenarians#Ann Jemimia Flower, Ann Jemimia Flower, Dutch supercentenarian (d. 1995)
** Paul Leni, German film director (''The Cat and the Canary (1927 film), The Cat and the Canary'') (d. 1929)
* July 9 – Luo Meizhen, Chinese supercentenarian (d. 2013)
* July 10 – Mary O'Hara (author), Mary O'Hara, American author and screenwriter (d. 1980)
*
July 14
Events Pre-1600
* 982 – King Otto II and his Frankish army are defeated by the Muslim army of al-Qasim at Cape Colonna, Southern Italy.
* 1223 – Louis VIII becomes King of France upon the death of his father, Philip II.
* 1420 ...
– King Sisavang Vong of Laos (d. 1959)
*
July 15
Events Pre-1600
*484 BC – Dedication of the Temple of Castor and Pollux in ancient Rome
* 70 – First Jewish–Roman War: Titus and his armies breach the walls of Jerusalem. ( 17th of Tammuz in the Hebrew calendar).
* 756 – ...
** Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi, 1st prime minister of Sudan (d. 1959)
*
July 16
Events Pre-1600
* 622 – The beginning of the Islamic calendar.
* 997 – Battle of Spercheios: Bulgarian forces of Tsar Samuel are defeated by a Byzantine army under general Nikephoros Ouranos at the Spercheios River in Greece.
* 1 ...
– Hakuun Yasutani, Sōtō rōshi (d. 1973)
* July 19
**Dumitru Coroamă, Romanian soldier and fascist activist (d. 1956)
**Aristides de Sousa Mendes, Portuguese diplomat, humanitarian (d. 1954)
*
July 20
Events Pre-1600
* 70 – Siege of Jerusalem: Titus, son of emperor Vespasian, storms the Fortress of Antonia north of the Temple Mount. The Roman army is drawn into street fights with the Zealots.
* 792 – Kardam of Bulgaria defea ...
– Michitarō Komatsubara, Japanese general (d. 1940)
* July 22 – John Thomas Kennedy, American general (d. 1969)
*
July 28
Events Pre-1600
* 1364 – Troops of the Republic of Pisa and the Republic of Florence clash in the Battle of Cascina.
* 1540 – Henry VIII of England marries his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, on the same day his former Chancellor, T ...
– Monte Attell, American boxer (d. 1960)
* July 29 – Theda Bara, American silent film actress (d. 1955)
August
* August 1 – George de Hevesy, Hungarian chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1966)
* August 11 – Constantin Atanasescu, Romanian general (d. 1949)
* August 18 – Bede Fanning, Australian public servant (d. 1970)
September
* September 6 – Otto Kruger, American actor (d. 1974)
* September 7
** Eleonore Baur, German Nazi, only woman to participate in Munich Beer Hall Putsch (d. 1981)
** Jovita Idar, Mexican-American journalist and political activist (d. 1946)
* September 11
** D. H. Lawrence, English novelist (d. 1930)
** Julian C. Smith, American general (d. 1975)
* September 15 – James P. Boyle, American politician (d. 1939)
* September 20 – Enrico Mizzi, 6th prime minister of Malta (d. 1950)
* September 21 – Thomas de Hartmann, Russian composer (d. 1956)
* September 22
** Ben Chifley, 16th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1951)
** George Gaul, American actor (d. 1939)
** Erich von Stroheim, Austrian-born motion picture actor, director (d. 1957)
* September 25 – Mineichi Koga, Japanese admiral (d. 1944)
* September 27 – Harry Blackstone Sr., American magician and illusionist (d. 1965)
October
![Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-0630-504, Heinrich Brüning](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1989-0630-504%2C_Heinrich_Br%C3%BCning.jpg)
* October 3 – Sophie Treadwell, American playwright, journalist (d. 1970)
* October 7 – Niels Bohr, Danish physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1962)
* October 9 – Raymond DeWalt, American inventor, businessman (d. 1961)
* October 10 – Ion Boițeanu, Romanian general (d. 1946)
* October 11 – François Mauriac, French writer, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1970)
* October 19
** Ioan Carlaonț, Romanian general (d. 1952)
** Charles E. Merrill, American banker, co-founder of Merrill Lynch (d. 1956)
* October 24 – Rachel Katznelson-Shazar, Zionist political figure, wife of third President of Israel (d. 1975)
* October 28 – Per Albin Hansson, 2-time prime minister of Sweden (d. 1946)
* October 30 – Ezra Pound, American poet (d. 1972)
November
* November 1 – Anton Flettner, German aviation engineer, inventor (d. 1961)
* November 2
** Cosme Damião, Portuguese football player and manager (d. 1947)
** Harlow Shapley, American astronomer (d. 1972)
* November 5 – Will Durant, American philosopher, writer (d. 1981)
* November 6 – Martin O'Meara, Australian soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1935)
* November 8
** Eva Morris, British supercentenarian, last surviving person born in 1885 (d. 2000)
** Tomoyuki Yamashita, Japanese general (d. 1946)
* November 9 (October 28 (O.S.)) – Velimir Khlebnikov, Russian poet (d. 1922)
* November 11
** George Patton, American general (d. 1945)
** Edgar J. Kaufmann, American merchant and patron of Fallingwater (d. 1955)
* November 15 – Frederick Handley Page, Frederick Handley-Page, British aviation pioneer, aircraft company founder (d. 1962)
* November 26 – Heinrich Brüning, Chancellor of Germany 1930-1932 (d. 1970)
* November 28 – John Willard (playwright), John Willard, American playwright, actor (d. 1942)
* November 30
** Albert Kesselring, German field marshal (d. 1960)
** Ma Zhanshan, Chinese general (d. 1950)
December
* December 2 – George Minot, American physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1950)
* December 6 – Ernest Palmer (American cinematographer), Ernest Palmer, American cinematographer (d. 1978)
* December 10 – Elizabeth Baker (economist), Elizabeth Baker, American economist and academic (d. 1973)
* December 13 – Mario Talavera, Mexican songwriter (d. 1960)
* December 19
** John Lavarack, Australian general, Governor of Queensland (1946-1957) (d. 1957)
** Joe "King" Oliver, American jazz musician (d. 1938)
Date unknown
* Geza von Hoffmann, Austrian-Hungarian eugenicist and writer (d. 1921)
[Turda, Marius, and Paul Weindling. "Blood and Homeland": Eugenics and Racial Nationalism in Central and Southeast Europe, 1900-1940. Budapest: Central European UP, 2007. pp. 1 Print.]
* Alessandro Tonini, Italian aeronautical engineer and aircraft designer and manufacturer (d. 1932)
Deaths
January–June
![Victor Hugo by Étienne Carjat 1876 - full](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Victor_Hugo_by_%C3%89tienne_Carjat_1876_-_full.jpg)
* January 11 – Mariano Ospina Rodríguez, President of Colombia (b. 1805)
* January 13 – Schuyler Colfax, List of Vice Presidents of the United States, 17th Vice President of the United States (b. 1823)
*
January 26
Events Pre-1600
* 661 – The Rashidun Caliphate is effectively ended with the assassination of Ali, the last caliph.
*1531 – The 6.4–7.1 1531 Lisbon earthquake, Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people.
*1564 – ...
– Charles George Gordon, Charles "Chinese" Gordon, British general (killed in battle) (b. 1833)
* February 1 – Sidney Gilchrist Thomas, British inventor (b. 1850)
* February 7 – Iwasaki Yataro, Japanese industrialist, Founder of Mitsubishi (b. 1835)
* February 8 – Nikolai Severtzov, Russian explorer, naturalist (b. 1827)
* February 19 – José María Pinedo, Argentinian naval commander (b. 1795)
* March 12 – Próspero Fernández Oreamuno, President of Costa Rica (b. 1834)
* March 13 – Giorgio Mitrovich, Maltese politician (b. 1795)
* March 22 – Harry Smith Parkes, Sir Harry Smith Parkes, British diplomat (b. 1828)
*
April 2
Events Pre-1600
*1513 – Having spotted land on March 27, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León comes ashore on what is now the U.S. state of Florida, landing somewhere between the modern city of St. Augustine and the mouth of the St. Jo ...
– Justo Rufino Barrios, Central American leader (b. 1835)
* April 6 – Eduard Vogel von Falckenstein, Prussian general (b. 1797)
* April 25 – Queen Emma of Hawaii (b. 1836)
*
May 2
Events Pre-1600
* 1194 – King Richard I of England gives Portsmouth its first Royal Charter.
* 1230 – William de Braose is hanged by Prince Llywelyn the Great.
* 1536 – Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, is arrested and impris ...
– Terézia Zakoucs, Hungarian Slovenes, Hungarian Slovene author (b. 1817)
* May 4 – Irvin McDowell, American general (b. 1818)
* May 17 – Jonathan Young (commodore), Jonathan Young, United States Navy commodore (b. 1826)
*
May 19
Events
Pre-1600
* 639 – Ashina Jiesheshuai and his tribesmen assaulted Emperor Taizong at Jiucheng Palace.
* 715 – Pope Gregory II is elected.
* 1051 – Henry I of France marries the Rus' princess, Anne of Kiev.
*1445 &n ...
– Robert Emmet Odlum, American swimming instructor (died as result of becoming the first person to jump from the Brooklyn Bridge) (b. 1851)
*
May 20
Events Pre-1600
* 325 – The First Council of Nicaea is formally opened, starting the first ecumenical council of the Christian Church.
* 491 – Empress Ariadne marries Anastasius I. The widowed '' Augusta'' is able to choose her ...
– Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen, List of secretaries of state of the United States, 29th United States Secretary of State (b. 1817)
* May 22 – Victor Hugo, French author (b. 1802)
* June 11 – Amédée Courbet, French admiral (b. 1827)
*
June 17
Events Pre-1600
* 653 – Pope Martin I is arrested and taken to Constantinople, due to his opposition to monothelitism.
* 1242 – Following the Disputation of Paris, twenty-four carriage loads of Jewish religious manuscripts were bur ...
– Edwin Freiherr von Manteuffel, German field marshal (b. 1809)
* June 22 –
Muhammad Ahmad
Muhammad Ahmad ( ar, محمد أحمد ابن عبد الله; 12 August 1844 – 22 June 1885) was a Nubian Sufi religious leader of the Samaniyya order in Sudan who, as a youth, studied Sunni Islam. In 1881, he claimed to be the Mahdi, an ...
, Sudanese Mahdi (b. 1844)
July–December
![Ulysses S](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Ulysses_S._Grant_1870-1880.jpg)
* July 21 – Karolina Sobańska, Polish noble, agent (b. 1795)
* July 23 – Ulysses S. Grant, 63, American Civil War general, 18th President of the United States (b. 1822)
* August – Aga Khan II, Iranian religious leader (b. 1830)
* August 6 – Emil Zsigmondy, Austrian mountaineer (b. 1861)
* August 10 – James W. Marshall, American contractor, builder of Sutter's Mill (b. 1810)
* August 29 – Moriz Ludassy, Hungarian journalist (b. 1825)
* September 2 – Giuseppe Bonavia, Maltese architect (b. 1821)
* September 5 – Zuo Zongtang, Chinese general and politician (b. 1812)
* September 6 – Narcís Monturiol, Catalonia, Catalan intellectual, artist and engineer, inventor of the first combustion engine-driven submarine, which was propelled by an early form of air-independent propulsion (b. 1819)
* September 15
![Carl Spitzweg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Carl_Spitzweg.jpg)
** Jumbo, African elephant, star attraction in P. T. Barnum's circus (train accident) (b. 1861)
** Carl Spitzweg, German romanticist painter (b. 1808)
* October 1 – Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, British politician and philanthropist (b.1801)
* October 3 – Mazhar Nanautawi, Indian freedom struggle activist and founding figure of Mazahir Uloom (b. 1821)
* October 5 – Thomas C. Durant, American railroad financier (b. 1820)
* October 29
**George B. McClellan, American Civil War general, politician (b. 1826)
** Juan Bautista Topete, Spanish admiral and politician (b. 1821)
*
![Thomas Andrews Hendricks](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Thomas_Andrews_Hendricks.jpg)
November 16 –
Louis Riel
Louis Riel (; ; 22 October 1844 – 16 November 1885) was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of Canada and its first ...
, Canadian-American leader (executed) (b. 1844)
* November 24 – Nicolás Avellaneda, Argentine president (b. 1837)
* November 25
** King Alfonso XII of Spain (b. 1857)
** Thomas A. Hendricks, Thomas Hendricks, List of Vice Presidents of the United States, 21st Vice President of the United States (b. 1819)
* November 26 – Thomas Andrews (scientist), Thomas Andrews, Irish chemist (b. 1813)
* December 8 – William Henry Vanderbilt, American entrepreneur (b. 1821)
* December 13 – Benjamin Gratz Brown, American politician (b. 1826)
* December 15 – Ferdinand II of Portugal, consort of Queen Maria II (b. 1816)
Date unknown
* Eugenia Kisimova, Bulgarian feminist, philanthropist and women's rights activist (b. 1831)
In fiction
* September 2–September 7 – The film ''Back to the Future Part III'' takes place during this time. Emmett Brown, Dr. Emmett Brown is initially murdered by List of Back to the Future characters, Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen in Hill Valley (Back to the Future), Hill Valley, California (1885); however, Marty McFly later prevents this murder.
* The stage "Bury My Shell at Wounded Knee", in the 1992 video game ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time'', is set in this year.
* The Nickelodeon TV movie, ''Lost in the West'', takes place in this year.
References
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:1885
1885,