View source for 1880s

{{Short description|Decade}}
{{Globalize|1=article|2=United States|date=December 2022}}
[[File:1880s Montage II.jpg|thumb|335x335px|From top left, clockwise: A famous [[Gunfight at the O.K. Corral|gunfight]] erupts at the [[O.K. Corral (building)|O.K. Corral]] in [[Tombstone, Arizona]] in 1881; a long-distance passenger train called the [[Orient Express]] begins running between [[Paris]] and [[Constantinople]] in 1883; [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]] bans [[Chinese Exclusion Act|Chinese immigrants]] from entering the U.S. for ten years, starting in 1882; [[South Fork Dam]] fails after heavy rainfall and floods the town of [[Johnstown, Pennsylvania]], killing over two thousand people; [[George Eastman]] introduces the [[Kodak|Kodak No 1]] and the camera becomes an enormous success; [[Chicago|Chicago's]] Haymarket Square is the scene of a [[Haymarket affair|bombing]] that kills at least seven police officers and four civilians during a massive protest from a labor rally and is generally considered the origin of modern [[May Day]] protests; settlers try to claim land during the [[Land Rush of 1889|Oklahoma Land Rush]] of 1889; combined groups of [[British Empire|British]] and [[Sudan]]ese forces on opposing sides fight during a nationalist [[Anglo-Egyptian War|uprising]] against the Khedive [[Tewfik Pasha]].|alt=]]

The '''1880s''' (pronounced "eighteen-eighties") was the [[decade]] that began on January 1, 1880, and ended on December 31, 1889.

The period was characterized in general by [[economic growth]] and [[prosperity]] in many parts of the world, especially Europe and the Americas, with the emergence of modern cities signified by the foundation of many long-lived corporations, franchises, and brands and the introduction of the [[skyscraper]]. The decade was a part of the [[Gilded Age]] (1874–1907) in the [[United States]], the [[Victorian Era]] in the [[British Empire]] and the [[Belle Époque]] in France. It also occurred at the height of the [[Second Industrial Revolution]] and saw numerous developments in science and a sudden proliferation of electrical technologies, particularly in [[mass transit]] and [[telecommunications]].

The last living person from this decade, [[María Capovilla]], died in 2006.
{{Decadebox|188}}

==Politics and wars==
{{See also|List of sovereign states in the 1880s}}

===Wars===
{{main list|List of wars: 1880–1889}}
* [[Aceh War]] (1873–1904)
* [[War of the Pacific]] (1879–1884)
* [[First Boer War]] (1880–1881)
* [[Mahdist War]] (1881–1899)
* [[1882 Anglo-Egyptian War]] (1882)
** 13 September 1882 — British troops occupy [[Cairo]], and [[Egypt]] becomes a British [[protectorate]].
* [[Sino-French War]] (1884–1885)
* [[Serbo-Bulgarian War]] (1885)

===Internal conflicts===
* [[American Indian Wars]] (Intermittently from 1622 to 1918)
** 20 July 1881 — [[Sioux]] chief [[Sitting Bull]] leads the last of his fugitive people in surrender to United States troops at [[Fort Buford]] in [[Montana]].
* Frequent [[lynchings]] of African Americans in [[Southern United States]] during the years [[1880]]–[[1890]]
* [[Urabi revolt|Urabi Revolt]] (1879-1882)

===Colonization===
* [[France]] colonizes [[Indochina]] (1883)
* [[German Colonial Empire|German colonization]] (1887)
* Increasing colonial interest and conquest in Africa leads representatives from Britain, France, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Italy and Spain to divide Africa into regions of colonial influence at the [[Berlin Conference]]. This would be followed over the next few decades by conquest of almost the entirety of the remaining uncolonised parts of the continent, broadly along the lines determined. (1889)

===Prominent political events===
* 3 August 1881: The [[Pretoria Convention]] peace treaty is signed, officially ending the war between the [[Boers]] and [[United Kingdom|Britain]].
* 3 May 1882: The [[Chinese Exclusion Act]] was signed into law by President [[Chester A. Arthur]].
*20 May 1882: [[Germany]], [[Austria-Hungary]], and [[Italy]] form The Triple Alliance as a defensive military alliance<ref>Grenville, John; Wasserstein, Bernard, eds. (2013). The Major International Treaties of the Twentieth Century: A History and Guide with Texts. Routledge. p. 38. ISBN 9780415141253. Retrieved 2 March 2014.</ref>
* 1884: [[International Meridian Conference]] in Washington D.C., held to determine the Prime Meridian of the world.
* 1884–1885: [[Berlin Conference]], when the western powers divided Africa.
* The United States had five Presidents during the decade, the most since the 1840s. They were [[Rutherford B. Hayes]], [[James A. Garfield]], [[Chester A. Arthur]], [[Grover Cleveland]] and [[Benjamin Harrison]].
* 20-22 June 1887: The [[Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria]] was celebrated marking [[Queen Victoria]]'s 50 year reign.
* 13 May 1888: [[Lei Áurea|Brazil abolishes slavery]], the last country in the [[Western Hemisphere|western hemisphere]] to do so.<ref>{{Cite web |title=abolition |url=https://faculty.chass.ncsu.edu/slatta/hi216/documents/slavery/abolition.htm |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=faculty.chass.ncsu.edu}}</ref>

==Disasters==
* May to August, 1883: [[Krakatoa]], a volcano in [[Indonesia]], erupted [[Volcanic eruption|cataclysmically]]; 36,000 people were killed, the majority being killed by the resulting [[tsunami]].
*September 1887: [[1887 Yellow River flood|The Yellow river flooded]] and killed about 900,000 people.
*11 March to 14 March, 1888: The [[Great Blizzard of 1888]] kills 400 in the [[eastern United States]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-11-13 |title=Great Blizzard of ’88 hits East Coast {{!}} March 11, 1888 |url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/march-11/great-blizzard-of-88-hits-east-coast |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=HISTORY |language=en}}</ref>
*May 1889: The [[Johnstown Flood]] occurred after the failure of the dam due to excessive rainfall in [[Pennsylvania]]. Nurse [[Clara Barton]] notably helped in the relief effort.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McCullough |first1=David G. |title=The Johnstown flood |date=2001 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=978-0-671-20714-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Clara Barton's headquarters, Johnstown, Pa. flood - 1889 |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/2002707084/ |language=english |date=1 January 1889}}</ref>

==Assassinations and attempts==
{{expand section|date=July 2018}}
Prominent assassinations, targeted killings, and assassination attempts include:
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible sortable"
!Year
!Date
!Name
!Position
!Culprits
!Country
!Description
!Image
|-
|1881
|13 March
|[[Alexander II of Russia]]
|[[Governor of Kentucky|Tsar of the]] [[Russian Empire]]
|[[Pervomartovtsy]] and [[Narodnaya Volya]] 
|[[Russian Empire]]
|Five [[Cossacks]] killed the Tsar by throwing a bomb at his carriage.
|[[File:Attentat mortal Alexander II (1881).jpg|frameless]]
|-
|1881
|19 September
|[[James A. Garfield]]
|[[President of the United States]] 
|[[Charles J. Guiteau]]
|[[United States]]
|Garfield was leaving Washington for his summer vaction and was about to board a train at the [[Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station]] when Guiteau [[Assassination of James A. Garfield|appeared and shot Garfield twice.]]
|[[File:Garfield assassination engraving.jpg|frameless]]
|-
|1882
|2 March 
|[[Queen Victoria]] 
|Queen of the [[British Empire]]
|[[Roderick Maclean]]
|[[England]]
|Maclean was offended when Victoria refused to accept one of his poems and so decided to shoot at the Queen as her carriage left [[Windsor & Eton Central railway station|Windsor railway station.]]
|
|-
|1882
|3 April 
|[[Jesse James]]
|outlaw 
|[[Robert Ford (outlaw)|Bob Ford]]
|[[United States]]
|While Jesse James was dusting a picture, Ford grabbed James' pistol and shooting him in the back.
|[[File:Robert Ford shooting Jesse James in the head.jpg|frameless]]
|-
|1882
|6 May
|[[Lord Frederick Cavendish]]
|[[Chief Secretary for Ireland]]
|members of [[Irish National Invincibles]].
|[[Ireland]]
|While walking in the [[Phoenix Park]] in company with [[Thomas Henry Burke (civil servant)|Thomas Henry Burke]], he was assassinated [[Irish National Invincibles]].
|[[File:The Assassinations in Dublin, Funeral of Lord Frederick Cavendish at Edensor, near Chatsworth - The Graphic 1882.jpg|frameless]]
|-
|1882
|4 December 
|[[W. H. H. Tison|William Henry Haywood Tison]]
|39th speaker of the [[Mississippi House of Representatives]]
|J. Edward Sanders
|[[United States]]
|On December 4, 1882, J. Edward Sanders shot him in [[Baldwyn, Mississippi]].
|
|-
|1882
|20 December 
|[[Franz Joseph I of Austria|Franz Joseph]]
|[[Emperor of Austria]]
|[[Guglielmo Oberdan]]
|[[Austria-Hungary]]
|Oberdan and Istrian pharmacist Donato Ragosa plotted an assassination attempt on the emperor. Oberdan's attempt failed, as he was arrested in [[Ronchi dei Legionari|Ronchi]] shortly after crossing the border into Austrian territory.
|[[File:6270 - Bologna - Lapide G. Oberdan. Cortile di Palazzo d'Accursio - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 9-Feb-2008.jpg|frameless]]
|}
* 1882 - [[Guglielmo Oberdan]] fails to assassinate [[Austria-Hungary|Austria-Hungarian]] Emperor [[Franz Joseph]] and is executed<ref>Salata 1932, p. 290</ref>

==Science and technology==
===Technology===
*1880: [[Oliver Heaviside]] of [[Camden Town]], [[London]], England receives a patent for the [[coaxial cable]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Nahin|first=Paul J.|title=Oliver Heaviside: The Life, Work, and Times of an Electrical Genius of the Victorian Age|year=2002|publisher=JHU Press |isbn=0-8018-6909-9}}</ref> In 1887, Heaviside introduced the concept of [[loading coil]]s. In the 1890s, [[Mihajlo Idvorski Pupin]] would both create the loading coils and receive a patent of them, failing to credit Heaviside's work.<ref name="mpoweruk.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.mpoweruk.com/history.htm|title=Woodbank Communications Ltd.'s Electropaedia: "History of Batteries (and other things)"|access-date=6 October 2014|archive-date=12 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512173049/http://www.mpoweruk.com/history.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 1880–1882: Development and commercial production of [[electric lighting]] was underway. [[Thomas Edison]] of [[Milan, Ohio]], established [[Edison Illuminating Company]] on December 17, 1880. Based at [[New York City]], it was the pioneer company of the [[electrical power industry]]. Edison's system was based on creating a central power plant equipped with [[electrical generator]]s. [[Copper]] [[Electrical wiring|electrical wires]] would then connect the station with other buildings, allowing for [[electric power distribution]].<ref name="coned.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.coned.com/history/electricity.asp|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030164753/http://www.coned.com/history/electricity.asp|url-status=dead|title=We'll be back shortly|archivedate=October 30, 2012|website=www.coned.com}}</ref> [[Pearl Street Station]] was the first central power plant in the United States. It was located at 255–257 [[Pearl Street (Manhattan)|Pearl Street]] in [[Manhattan]] on a site measuring 50 by 100 feet,<ref name=Josephson>"Edison" by Matthew Josephson. McGraw Hill, New York, 1959, pg. 255. {{OCLC|485621}}, {{ISBN|0-07-033046-8}}</ref> just south of [[Fulton Street (Manhattan)|Fulton Street]]. It began with one [[direct current]] [[electrical generator|generator]], and it started [[electricity generation|generating electricity]] on September 4, 1882, serving an initial load of 400 lamps at 85 customers. By 1884, Pearl Street Station was serving 508 customers with 10,164 lamps.<ref name=Josephson/>
*1880–1886: [[Charles F. Brush]] of [[Euclid, Ohio]], and [[Brush Electrical Machines|Brush Electric Light Company]] installed carbon [[Arc lamp|arc lights]] along [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]], New York City. A small generating station was established at Manhattan's [[List of streets in Manhattan|25th Street]]. The electric arc lights went into regular service on December 20, 1880. The new [[Brooklyn Bridge]] of 1883 had seventy arc lamps installed in it. By 1886, there was a reported number of 1,500 arc lights installed in Manhattan.<ref name="coned.com"/>
*1880–1883: [[James Wimshurst]] of [[Poplar, London|Poplar]], [[London]], England invents the [[Wimshurst Machine]].
*1881–1885: [[Stefan Drzewiecki]] of [[Podolia]], [[Russian Empire]] finishes his submarine-building project (which had begun in 1879). The crafts were constructed at Nevskiy Shipbuilding and Machinery works at [[Saint Petersburg]]. Altogether, 50 units were delivered to the [[Ministry of War (Russia)|Ministry of War]]. They were reportedly deployed as part of the defense of [[Kronstadt]] and [[Sevastopol]]. In 1885, the submarines were transferred to the [[Imperial Russian Navy]]. They were soon declared "ineffective" and discarded. By 1887, Drzewiecki was designing submarines for the [[French Third Republic]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yD3eSRfUIesC&q=Stefan+Drzewiecki+%22submarine%22&pg=PA3|title=Paul E. Fontenoy, "Submarines: an illustrated history of their impact" (2007), p. 3|isbn=9781851095636|access-date=6 October 2014|last1=Fontenoy|first1=Paul E.|year=2007|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic }}</ref>
*1881–1883: [[John Philip Holland]] of [[Liscannor]], [[County Clare]], [[Ireland]]<ref>''Source: Lecture by Pat Sweeney, [[Maritime Institute of Ireland]] 16 January 2009:'' His father was a member of the [[Her Majesty's Coastguard|Coastguard]] and occupied a coastguard cottage. There were no coastguard cottages or station in Liscannor.</ref> builds the [[Fenian Ram]] submarine for the [[Fenian Brotherhood]]. During extensive trials, Holland made numerous dives and test-fired the gun using dummy projectiles. However, due to funding disputes within the [[Irish Republican Brotherhood]] and disagreement over payments from the IRB to Holland, the IRB stole '' Fenian Ram'' and the ''[[Holland III]]'' prototype in November 1883.<ref name="usni_nautilus">Davies, R. ''Nautilus: The Story of Man Under the Sea''. [[United States Naval Institute|Naval Institute Press]]. 1995. {{ISBN|1-55750-615-9}}.</ref>
*1882: [[William Edward Ayrton]] of [[London]], England and [[John Perry (engineer)|John Perry]] of [[Garvagh]], [[County Londonderry]], [[Ireland]] build an electric [[tricycle]]. It reportedly had a range of 10 to 25 miles, powered by a lead acid battery. A significant innovation of the vehicle was its use of [[electric light]]s, here playing the role of [[headlamp]]s.<ref name="mpoweruk.com"/><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GGgwuRly-CQC&q=William+Edward+Ayrton+%22tricycle%22&pg=PA5|title=Nick Georgano, "Electric Vehicles" (1996), p. 5–6|isbn=9780747803164|access-date=6 October 2014|last1=Georgano|first1=Nick|year=1996|publisher=Bloomsbury USA }}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
*1882: [[James Atkinson (inventor)|James Atkinson]] of [[Hampstead]], [[London]], England invented the [[Atkinson cycle]] [[engine]]. By use of variable engine strokes from a complex [[crankshaft]], Atkinson was able to increase the efficiency of his engine, at the cost of some power, over traditional [[Otto-cycle engines]].<ref name="Cummins">{{cite book |author=C. Lyle Cummins |title=Internal Fire: The Internal-Combustion Engine 1673–1900 |publisher=Carnot Press |location=Wilsonville, Ore |year=2000 |pages=218 |isbn=0-917308-05-0 }}</ref>
*1882: [[Schuyler Wheeler]] of [[Massachusetts]] invented the two-blade [[electric fan]]. [[Henry W. Seely]] of [[New York City|New York]] invented the electric safety [[Iron (appliance)|iron]]. Both were arguably among the earliest [[Small appliance|small domestic electrical appliances]] to appear.<ref name="mpoweruk.com"/>
*1882–1883: [[John Hopkinson]] of [[Manchester]], England patents the [[three-phase electric power]] system in 1882. In 1883 Hopkinson showed mathematically that it was possible to connect two alternating current dynamos in parallel — a problem that had long bedeviled electrical engineers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/originalpaperson00hopkrich|title=Original papers on dynamo machinery and allied subjects (London, Whittaker, 1893)|work=Internet Archive|year=1893 |access-date=6 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://profiles.incredible-people.com/john-hopkinson/|title=Incredible People: "Biography of John Hopkinson"|access-date=6 October 2014|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120717085513/http://profiles.incredible-people.com/john-hopkinson/|archive-date=2012-07-17|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*1883: [[Charles Fritts]], an American inventor, creates the first working [[solar cell]]. The energy conversion efficiency of these early devices was less than 1%. Denounced as a fraud in the US for "generating power without consuming matter, thus violating the [[Physical law|laws of physics]]".<ref name="mpoweruk.com"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://encyclobeamia.solarbotics.net/articles/solar_cell.html|title=Eric Seale, "Solar Cells"|access-date=6 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140923012203/http://encyclobeamia.solarbotics.net/articles/solar_cell.html|archive-date=2014-09-23|url-status=usurped}}</ref>
*1883–1885: [[Josiah H. L. Tuck]], an American inventor, works in his own submarine designs. His 1883 model was created in Delameter Iron Works. It was 30-feet long, "all-electric and had vertical and horizontal propellers clutched to the same shaft, with a 20-feet breathing pipe and an airlock for a diver." His 1885 model, called the "Peacemaker", was larger. It used "a [[Sodium hydroxide|caustic soda]] patent [[boiler]] to power a 14-HP Westinghouse steam engine". She managed a number of short trips within the [[New York Harbor]] area.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7qztw0sO2NgC&q=Josiah+H.L.+Tuck&pg=PA21|title=Norman Friedman, "U.S. submarines through 1945: an illustrated design history" (1995), p. 21|isbn=9781557502636|access-date=6 October 2014|last1=Friedman|first1=Norman|year=1995|publisher=Naval Institute Press }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://centreforforeignpolicystudies.dal.ca/cdq/Hadley%20Winter%201988.PDF |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://centreforforeignpolicystudies.dal.ca/cdq/Hadley%20Winter%201988.PDF |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=Michael L. Hadley, "Steam-Driven Submarines" (1988), p. 59|work=Dalhousie University|access-date=6 October 2014}}</ref> The Peacemaker had a submerged endurance of 5 hours. Tuck did not benefit from his achievement. His family feared that the inventor was squandering his fortune on the Peacemaker. They had him committed to an [[History of psychiatric institutions|insane asylum]] by the end of the decade.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yD3eSRfUIesC&q=Josiah+H.L.+Tuck&pg=PT19|title=Paul E. Fontenoy, "Submarines: an illustrated history of their impact" (2007), p. 7|isbn=9781851095636|access-date=6 October 2014|last1=Fontenoy|first1=Paul E.|year=2007|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic }}</ref>
*1883–1886: [[John Joseph Montgomery]] of [[Yuba City, California]], starts his attempts at [[early flight]]. In 1884, using a glider designed and built in 1883, Montgomery made the "first heavier-than-air human-carrying aircraft to achieve controlled piloted flight" in the Western Hemisphere. This glider had a curved parabolic wing surface. He reportedly made a glide of "considerable length" from [[Otay Mesa, San Diego, California]], his first successful flight and arguably the first successful one in the United States. In 1884–1885, Montgomery tested a second monoplane glider with flat wings. The innovation in design was "[[Flap (aircraft)|hinged surfaces]] at the rear of the wings to maintain [[Center of gravity of an aircraft|lateral balance]]". These were early forms of [[Aileron]]. After experimentation with a water tank and smoke chamber to understand the nature of flow over surfaces, in 1886, Montgomery designed a third glider with fully rotating wings as pitcherons. He then turned to theoretic research towards the development of a manuscript "Soaring Flight" in 1896.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flyingmachines.org/mont.html|title=Carroll Gray, "John J. Montgomery 1858 – 1911"|access-date=6 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/montgomery.html|title=Hargrave the Pioneers, Aviation and Aeromodeling-Interdependent Evolutions and Histories: "John Joseph Montgomery (1858–1911)"|access-date=6 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lEguRmQVu1sC&q=quest+for+flight+montgomery|title=Craig S. Harwood and Gary B. Fogel Quest for Flight: John J. Montgomery and the Dawn of Aviation in the West, University of Oklahoma Press, 2012|isbn=9780806187839|access-date=6 October 2014|last1=Harwood|first1=Craig S.|last2=Fogel|first2=Gary B.|date=17 October 2012|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press }}</ref>
*1884–1885: On August 9, 1884, ''[[La France (airship)|La France]]'', a [[French Army]] [[airship]], makes its maiden flight. Launched by [[Charles Renard]] and [[Arthur Constantin Krebs]]. Krebs piloted [[Timeline of aviation – 19th century|the first fully controlled free-flight]] with the ''La France''. The {{convert|170|ft|adj=on}} long, {{convert|66000|cuft}} airship, electric-powered with a 435&nbsp;kg battery<ref>Winter, Lumen & Degner, Glenn, ''Minute Epics of Flight'', New York, Grosset & Dunlap, 1933, pgs. 49–50</ref> completed a flight that covered {{convert|8|km|mi|abbr=on}} in 23 minutes. It was the first full round trip flight<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rbmn.waika9.com/Dirigeable_LA_FRANCE_1884.HTML |title=Dirigeable LA FRANCE 1884 |publisher=rbmn.waika9.com |access-date=2010-01-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100111072036/http://rbmn.waika9.com/Dirigeable_LA_FRANCE_1884.HTML |archive-date=2010-01-11 |url-status=dead}}</ref> with a landing on the starting point. On its seven flights in 1884 and 1885<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rbmn02.waika9.com/Ballon_photos_19.html |title=Ballon photos |publisher=rbmn02.waika9.com |access-date=2010-01-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070416141821/http://rbmn02.waika9.com/Ballon_photos_19.html |archive-date=2007-04-16 |url-status=dead }}</ref> the ''La France'' dirigible returned five times to its starting point. "La France was the first airship that could return to its starting point in a light wind. It was {{convert|165|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} long, its maximum diameter was {{convert|27|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}}, and it had a capacity of 66,000 cubic feet (1,869 cubic meters)." Its battery-powered motor "produced 7.5 horsepower (5.6 kilowatts). This motor was later replaced with one that produced 8.5 horsepower (6.3 kilowatts)."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Lighter_than_air/Beginning_of_the_Dirigible/LTA6.htm|title=First Flights of the Airship |publisher=centennialofflight.gov |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528024835/http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Lighter_than_air/Beginning_of_the_Dirigible/LTA6.htm |archive-date=2010-05-28}}</ref>
*1884: [[Paul Gottlieb Nipkow]] of [[Lębork]], [[Kingdom of Prussia]], [[German Empire]] invents the [[Nipkow disk]], an [[image scanning]] device. It was the basis of his patent method of translating visual images to electronic impulses, transmit said impulses to another device and successfully reassemble the impulses to visual images. Nipkow used a [[selenium]] [[Solar cell|photoelectric cell]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.edgeare.com/randomnews/aspddl.asp?file=topix-02209.pdf&force=false|title=How Products Are Made, Inventor Biographies: "Paul Gottlieb Nipkow (1860–1940)"|access-date=6 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120727075524/http://www.edgeare.com/randomnews/aspddl.asp?file=topix-02209.pdf&force=false|archive-date=2012-07-27|url-status=dead}}</ref> Nipkow proposed and patented the first "near-practicable" [[electromechanical]] [[History of television|television system]] in 1884. Although he never built a working model of the system, Nipkow's spinning disk design became a common television image [[Rasterisation|rasterizer]] used up to 1939.<ref>George Shiers and May Shiers, ''Early Television: A Bibliographic Guide to 1940'', Taylor & Francis, 1997, p. 13, 22. {{ISBN|978-0-8240-7782-2}}.</ref>
*1884: [[Alexander Mozhaysky]] of [[Kotka]], [[Grand Duchy of Finland]], [[Russian Empire]] makes the second known "powered, assisted take off of a heavier-than-air craft carrying an operator". His [[Steam engine|steam-powered]] monoplane took off at [[Krasnoye Selo]], near [[Saint Petersburg]], making a hop and "covering between 65 and 100 feet". The monoplane had a failed [[landing]], with one of its wings destroyed and serious damages. It was never rebuilt. Later [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[propaganda]] would overstate Mozhaysky's accomplishment while downplaying the failed landing. The Grand Soviet Encyclopedia called this "the first true flight of a heavier-than-air machine in history".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flyingmachines.org/moz.html|title=Carroll Gray, "Aleksandr Fyodorovich Mozhaiski 1825 – 1890"|access-date=6 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180226225631/http://www.flyingmachines.org/moz.html|archive-date=26 February 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/mozhaisky.html|title=Hargrave the Pioneers, Aviation and Aeromodeling-Interdependent Evolutions and Histories:"Alexandr Fyodorovich Mozhaisky (1825–1890)"|access-date=6 October 2014}}</ref>
*1884–1885: [[Ganz]] Company engineers [[Károly Zipernowsky]], [[Ottó Bláthy]] and [[Miksa Déri]] had determined that open-core devices were impracticable, as they were incapable of reliably regulating voltage. In their joint patent application for the "Z.B.D." [[transformer]]s, they described the design of two with no poles: the "closed-core" and the "shell-core" transformers. In the closed-core type, the primary and secondary windings were wound around a closed iron ring; in the shell type, the windings were passed ''through'' the iron core. In both designs, the magnetic flux linking the primary and secondary windings traveled almost entirely within the iron core, with no intentional path through air. When employed in [[Electric power distribution|electric distribution systems]], this revolutionary design concept would finally make it technically and economically feasible to provide electric power for lighting in homes, businesses and public spaces.<ref name="Bláthy_HPO">[http://www.hpo.hu/English/feltalalok/blathy.html ''Bláthy, Ottó Titusz (1860 – 1939)''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101202031830/http://www.hpo.hu/English/feltalalok/blathy.html |date=2010-12-02 }}, Hungarian Patent Office, January 29, 2004.</ref><ref>[http://www.freepatentsonline.com/0352105.pdf Zipernowsky, K., M. Déri and O. T. Bláthy, ''Induction Coil'', Patent No. 352,105], U.S. Patent Office, November 2, 1886, retrieved July 8, 2009.</ref> Bláthy had suggested the use of closed-cores, Zipernowsky the use of [[Shunt (electrical)|shunt connections]], and Déri had performed the experiments.<ref name="Smil">[https://books.google.com/books?id=w3Mh7qQRM-IC&dq=ZBD+transformer&pg=PA71 Smil, Vaclav, ''Creating the Twentieth Century: Technical Innovations of 1867&mdash;1914 and Their Lasting Impact''], Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 71.</ref> Electrical and electronic systems the world over continue to rely on the principles of the original Z.B.D. transformers. The inventors also popularized the word "transformer" to describe a device for altering the EMF of an electric current,<ref name="Bláthy_HPO"/><ref>[http://www.kfki.hu/~aznagy/lecture/lecture.htm Nagy, Árpád Zoltán, "Lecture to Mark the 100th Anniversary of the Discovery of the Electron in 1897" (preliminary text)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121125115109/http://www.kfki.hu/~aznagy/lecture/lecture.htm |date=2012-11-25 }}, Budapest October 11, 1996, retrieved July 9, 2009.</ref> although the term had already been in use by 1882.<ref>{{cite book|title = Oxford English Dictionary|url = https://archive.org/details/oxfordenglishdic0006unse|url-access = registration|edition=2nd|year=1989|publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=qt8JAAAAIAAJ Hospitalier, Édouard, 1882, ''The Modern Applications of Electricity''], Translated and Enlarged by Julius Maier. New York, D. Appleton & Co., p. 103.</ref>
*1884–1885: [[John Philip Holland]] and [[Edmund Zalinski]], having formed the "[[Nautilus Submarine Boat Company]]", start working on a new submarine. The so-called "[[Zalinsky boat]]" was constructed in Hendrick's Reef (former [[Fort Lafayette]]), [[Bay Ridge, Brooklyn|Bay Ridge]] in (ray) or (rayacus the 3rd) [[New York City]] [[borough (New York City)|borough]] of [[Brooklyn]]. "The new, cigar-shaped submarine was 50 feet long with a maximum beam of eight feet. To save money, the hull was largely of wood, framed with iron hoops, and again, a [[Brayton cycle|Brayton-cycle]] engine provided motive power." The project was plagued by a "shoestring budget" and Zalinski mostly rejecting Holland's ideas on improvements. The submarine was ready for launching in September, 1885. "During the launching itself, a section of the ways collapsed under the weight of the boat, dashing the hull against some pilings and staving in the bottom. Although the submarine was repaired and eventually carried out several trial runs in lower New York Harbor, by the end of 1886 the Nautilus Submarine Boat Company was no more, and the salvageable remnants of the Zalinski Boat were sold to reimburse the disappointed investors." Holland would not create another submarine to 1893.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.navy.mil/navydata/cno/n87/usw/issue_19/holland3.htm |title=Edward C. Whitman, "John Holland, Father of the modern Submarine". Chapter: "A Disappointing Hiatus" |access-date=6 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150221224716/http://www.navy.mil/navydata/cno/n87/usw/issue_19/holland3.htm |archive-date=21 February 2015 }}</ref>
*1885: [[Galileo Ferraris]] of [[Livorno Ferraris|Livorno Piemonte]], [[Kingdom of Italy]] reaches the concept of a [[rotating magnetic field]]. He applied it to a new motor. "Ferraris devised a motor using electromagnets at right angles and powered by alternating currents that were 90° out of phase, thus producing a revolving magnetic field. The motor, the direction of which could be reversed by reversing its polarity, proved the solution to the last remaining problem in alternating-current motors. The principle made possible the development of the asynchronous, self-starting [[electric motor]] that is still used today. Believing that the scientific and intellectual values of new developments far outstripped material values, Ferraris deliberately did not patent his invention; on the contrary, he demonstrated it freely in his own laboratory to all comers." He published his findings in 1888. By then, [[Nikola Tesla]] had independently reached the same concept and was seeking a patent.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/history/ferraris.htm|title=The Institute of Chemistry. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem: "Galileo Ferraris"."|access-date=6 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090909162956/http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/history/ferraris.htm|archive-date=2009-09-09|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*1885: [[Nikolay Bernardos]] and [[Karol Olszewski]] of [[Broniszów, Subcarpathian Voivodeship|Broniszów]] were granted a patent for their Electrogefest, an "electric arc welder with a carbon electrode". Introducing a method of [[carbon arc welding]], they also became the "inventors of modern welding apparatus".<ref name="mpoweruk.com"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blwelding.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120711064304/http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blwelding.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 11, 2012|title=Mary Bellis, "The history of Welding Tools"|access-date=6 October 2014}}</ref>
[[File:1885Benz.jpg|thumb|[[Benz Patent Motorwagen]] which is widely regarded as the first [[automobile]] was first introduced in 1885.]]
*1885–1888: [[Karl Benz]] of [[Karlsruhe]], [[Baden]], [[German Empire]] introduces the [[Benz Patent Motorwagen]], widely regarded as the first [[automobile]].<ref>Ralph Stein (1967). The Automobile Book. Paul Hamlyn Ltd."</ref> It featured wire wheels (unlike carriages' wooden ones)<ref>[[G.N. Georgano]] ''Cars: Early and Vintage, 1886–1930''. (London: Grange-Universal, 1985)</ref> with a four-stroke engine of his own design between the rear wheels, with a very advanced coil ignition<ref name="Georgano">[[G.N. Georgano]]</ref> and evaporative cooling rather than a radiator.<ref name="Georgano"/> The ''Motorwagen'' was patented on January 29, 1886, as ''DRP-37435: "automobile fueled by gas"''.<ref>[http://home.arcor.de/carsten.popp/DE_00037435_A.pdf DRP's patent No. 37435] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204045616/http://home.arcor.de/carsten.popp/DE_00037435_A.pdf |date=2012-02-04 }} ([[Portable Document Format|PDF]], 561 kB, [[German language|German]]) was filed January 29, 1886, and granted November 2, 1886, thus taking effect January 29.</ref> The 1885 version was difficult to control, leading to a collision with a wall during a public demonstration. The first successful tests on public roads were carried out in the early summer of 1886. The next year Benz created the ''Motorwagen Model 2'' which had several modifications, and in 1887, the definitive ''Model 3'' with [[wooden]] wheels was introduced, showing at the Paris Expo the same year.<ref name="Georgano"/> Benz began to sell the vehicle (advertising it as the ''Benz Patent Motorwagen'') in the late summer of 1888, making it the first commercially available automobile in history.<ref name="Georgano"/>
*1885–1887: [[William Stanley, Jr.]] of [[Brooklyn, New York|Brooklyn]], [[New York City|New York]], an employee of [[George Westinghouse]], creates an improved [[transformer]]. Westinghouse had bought the patents of [[Lucien Gaulard]] and [[John Dixon Gibbs]] on the subject, and had purchased an option on the designs of [[Károly Zipernowsky]], [[Ottó Bláthy]] and [[Miksa Déri]]. He entrusted engineer Stanley with the building of a device for commercial use.<ref name="Skrabec">{{cite book|last=Skrabec|first=Quentin R.|title=George Westinghouse: Gentle Genius|publisher=Algora Publishing|year=2007|page=102|isbn=978-0-87586-508-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C3GYdiFM41oC&pg=PA102}}</ref> Stanley's first patented design was for [[induction coil]]s with single cores of soft iron and adjustable gaps to regulate the EMF present in the secondary winding. This design was first used commercially in 1886.<ref name="Coltman">{{cite book |last=International Electrotechnical Commission |author-link=International Electrotechnical Commission |title=Otto Blathy, Miksa Déri, Károly Zipernowsky |publisher=IEC History |url=http://www.iec.ch/cgi-bin/tl_to_htm.pl?section=technology&item=144 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930171011/http://www.iec.ch/cgi-bin/tl_to_htm.pl?section=technology&item=144 |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 30, 2007 |access-date=May 17, 2007}}</ref> But Westinghouse soon had his team working on a design whose core comprised a stack of thin "E-shaped" iron plates, separated individually or in pairs by thin sheets of paper or other insulating material. Prewound copper coils could then be slid into place, and straight iron plates laid in to create a closed magnetic circuit. Westinghouse applied for a patent for the new design in December 1886; it was granted in July 1887.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w3Mh7qQRM-IC&q=ZBD+transformer&pg=PA71|title=Vaclav Smil, "Creating the Twentieth Century:Technical Innovations of 1867–1914 and their lasting impact", p. 71 Oxford University Press, 2005."|isbn=9780198037743|access-date=6 October 2014|last1=Smil|first1=Vaclav|date=25 August 2005|publisher=Oxford University Press }}</ref><ref>[https://patents.google.com/patent/US366362 Westinghouse, G. Jr., ''Electrical Converter''], Patent No. 366362, United States Patent Office, 1887.</ref>
*1885–1889: [[:fr:Claude Goubet|Claude Goubet]], a French inventor, builds two small electric submarines.<ref name="submarine-history.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.submarine-history.com/NOVAtwo.htm|title=Captain Brayton Harris, USN, "World Submarine History Timeline 1580–2000"|access-date=6 October 2014|archive-date=23 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141123140700/http://www.submarine-history.com/NOVAtwo.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> The first Goubet model was 16-feet long and weighed 2 tons. "She used [[Accumulator (energy)|accumulators]] ([[Rechargeable battery|storage batteries]] which operated an Edison-type dynamo." While among the earliest submarines to successfully make use of electric power, she proved to have a severe flaw. She could not stay at a stable depth, set by the operator. The improved Goubet II was introduced in 1889. This version could transport a 2-man crew and had "an attractive interior". More stable than her predecessor, though still unable to stay at a set depth.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_rX-eHagIggC&q=Claude+Goubet+%22submarine%22&pg=PA57|title=Richard Knowles Morris, "John P. Holland, 1841–1914: inventor of the modern submarine" (1998), p. 57–58|isbn=9781570032363|access-date=6 October 2014|last1=Morris|first1=Richard Knowles|year=1998|publisher=University of South Carolina Press }}</ref>
*1885–1887: [[Thorsten Nordenfelt]] of [[Örby]], [[Uppsala Municipality]], [[Sweden]] produces a series of steam powered [[submarines]]. The first was the ''Nordenfelt I'', a 56 tonne, 19.5 metre long vessel similar to [[George Garrett (inventor)|George Garrett]]'s ill-fated ''[[Resurgam]]'' (1879), with a range of 240 kilometres and armed with a single torpedo and a 25.4&nbsp;mm [[machine gun]]. It was manufactured by [[Bolinders]] in [[Stockholm]] in 1884–1885. Like the Resurgam, it operated on the surface using a 100 HP steam engine with a maximum speed of 9 kn, then it shut down its engine to dive. She was purchased by the [[Hellenic Navy]] and was delivered to [[Salamis Naval Base]] in 1886. Following the acceptance tests, she was never used again by the Hellenic Navy and was scrapped in 1901.<ref>{{cite book |author=Vice Admiral C. Paizis-Paradellis, HN |title=Hellenic Warships 1829–2001 |location=Athens, Greece |publisher=The Society for the Study of Greek History |year=2002 |isbn=960-8172-14-4|page=133|edition=3rd }}</ref> Nordenfelt then built the ''Nordenfelt II'' (''Abdülhamid'') in 1886 and ''Nordenfelt III'' (''Abdülmecid'') in 1887, a pair of 30 metre long submarines with twin torpedo tubes, for the [[Ottoman Navy]]. ''Abdülhamid'' became the first submarine in history to fire a torpedo while submerged under water.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Submarine Heritage Centre: History, Barrow Shipyard and Submarines |url=http://www.submarineheritage.com/history.html |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070704042341/http://www.submarineheritage.com/history.html |archivedate=July 4, 2007 |website=www.submarineheritage.com |quote=''submarine history of Barrow-in-Furness''}}</ref> The Nordenfelts had several faults. "It took as long as twelve hours to generate enough steam for submerged operations and about thirty minutes to dive. Once underwater, sudden changes in speed or direction triggered—in the words of a U.S. Navy intelligence report—"dangerous and eccentric movements." ...However, good public relations overcame bad design: Nordenfeldt always demonstrated his boats before a stellar crowd of crowned heads, and Nordenfeldt's submarines were regarded as the world standard."<ref name="submarine-history.com" />
*1886–1887: [[Carl Gassner]] of [[Mainz]], [[German Empire]] receives a patent for a [[zinc–carbon battery]], among the earliest examples of [[Battery (electricity)|dry cell]] batteries. Originally patented in the German Empire, Gassner also received patents from [[Austria-Hungary]], [[Belgium]], the [[French Third Republic]], the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]] (all in 1886) and the United States (in 1887). Consumer dry cells would first appear in the 1890s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/history/gassner.html|title=The Institute of Chemistry, Hebrew University of Jerusalem: "Carl Gassner"|access-date=6 October 2014|archive-date=10 February 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080210024627/http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/history/gassner.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1887, [[Wilhelm Hellesen]] of [[Kalundborg]], [[Denmark]] patented his own zinc–carbon battery. Within the year, Hellesen and V. Ludvigsen founded a factory in [[Frederiksberg]], producing their batteries.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.teponia.dk/museumsposten/index.php?artikelid=482 |title=Birgitte Wistoft, "Bottled Energy" |access-date=2010-01-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719132610/http://www.teponia.dk/museumsposten/index.php?artikelid=482 |archive-date=2011-07-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*1886: [[Charles Martin Hall]] of [[Thompson Township, Geauga County, Ohio]], and [[Paul Héroult]] of [[Thury-Harcourt]], [[Normandy]] independently discover the same inexpensive method for producing [[aluminium]], which became the first metal to attain widespread use since the prehistoric discovery of [[iron]]. The basic invention involves passing an electric current through a bath of [[alumina]] dissolved in [[cryolite]], which results in a puddle of aluminum forming in the bottom of the retort. It has come to be known as the [[Hall-Héroult process]].<ref>Isaac Asimov, "Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology", p. 933. Second Revised Edition, Doubleday, 1982"</ref> Often overlooked is that Hall did not work alone. His research partner was [[Julia Brainerd Hall]], an older sister. She had studied chemistry at [[Oberlin College]], helped with the experiments, took laboratory notes and gave business advice to Charles.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eCg5MgI2S54C&q=Julia+Brainerd+Hall&pg=PA35|author=Mary Ellen Bowden |title=Chemical Achievers: The Human Face of the Chemical Sciences |date=1997 |pages=35–37|publisher=Chemical Heritage Foundation |isbn=9780941901123 |access-date=6 October 2014}}</ref>
*1886–1890: [[Herbert Akroyd Stuart]] of [[Halifax, West Yorkshire|Halifax]] [[West Riding of Yorkshire|Yorkshire]], [[England]] receives his first patent on a prototype of the [[hot bulb engine]]. His research culminated in an 1890 patent for a [[Homogeneous charge compression ignition|compression ignition engine]]. Production started in 1891 by [[Richard Hornsby & Sons]] of [[Grantham]], [[Lincolnshire]], England under the title [[Hornsby-Akroyd oil engine|Hornsby Akroyd Patent Oil Engine]] under licence.<ref name=ak>Herbert Akroyd Stuart, ''Improvements in Engines Operated by the Explosion of Mixtures of Combustible Vapour or Gas and Air'', British Patent No 7146, Mai 1890</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9HQDGHQzVqAC&q=British+Patent+No+7146,&pg=PA681|title=Lance Day, Ian McNeil, "Biographical dictionary of the history of technology" (1996), p. 681|isbn=9780203028292|access-date=6 October 2014|last1=Day|first1=Lance|last2=McNeil|first2=Ian|date=September 2003|publisher=Taylor & Francis }}</ref> Stuart's oil engine design was simple, reliable and economical. It had a comparatively low compression ratio, so that the temperature of the air compressed in the combustion chamber at the end of the compression stroke was not high enough to initiate combustion. Combustion instead took place in a separated combustion chamber, the "vaporizer" (also called the "hot bulb") mounted on the cylinder head, into which fuel was sprayed. It was connected to the cylinder by a narrow passage and was heated either by the cylinder's coolant or by exhaust gases while running; an external flame such as a blowtorch was used for starting. Self-ignition occurred from contact between the fuel-air mixture and the hot walls of the vaporizer.<ref name=mcneil>{{cite book |last=McNeil |first=Ian |title=An Encyclopaedia of the History of Technology |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=1990 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediaofh00mcne/page/310 310–311] |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediaofh00mcne/page/310 |isbn=0-415-01306-2 }}</ref>
*1887: [[William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin|William Thomson]] (later Baron Kelvin) of [[Belfast]], [[Ireland]] introduces the multicellular [[voltmeter]]. The electrical supply industry needed instruments capable of measuring high voltages. Thomson's voltmeter could measure up to 20,000 volts. It could measure both [[direct current]] (DC) and [[alternating current]] (AC) flows.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/sis25/objects.php?id=24|title=Museum of the History of Science, Oxford: Kelvin Multi-Cellular Electrostatic Voltmeter|access-date=6 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140803080737/http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/sis25/objects.php?id=24|archive-date=3 August 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> They went into production in 1888, being the first [[electrostatic voltmeter]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/instruments/test/voltmeters.htm|title=Robert A. Paselk, "Voltmeters"|access-date=6 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016121057/http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/instruments/test/voltmeters.htm|archive-date=2007-10-16|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*1887: [[C. V. Boys|Charles Vernon Boys]] of [[Wing, Rutland]], [[England]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Boys.html|title=J J O'Connor and E F Robertson, "Sir Charles Vernon Boys"|access-date=6 October 2014}}</ref> introduces a method of using [[fused quartz]] fibers to measure "delicate forces". Boys was a physics demonstrator at the [[Royal College of Science]] in [[South Kensington]], but was contacting private experiments on the effects of delicate forces on objects. It was already known that hanging an object from a thread could demonstrate the effects of such weak influences. Said thread had to be "thin, strong and elastic". Finding the best fibers available at the time insufficient for his experiments, Boys set out to create a better fiber. He tried making glass from a variety of minerals. The best results came from natural [[quartz]]. He created fibers both extremely thin and highly durable. He used them to create the "radiomicrometer", a device sensitive enough to detect the heat of a single candle from a distance of almost 2 miles. By March 26, 1887, Boys was reporting his results to the [[Physical Society of London]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.poetikhars.com/files/deneme/City_of_Light_The_Story_of_Fiber_Optics_0195108183.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.poetikhars.com/files/deneme/City_of_Light_The_Story_of_Fiber_Optics_0195108183.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |first=Jeff |last=Hecht |title=City of Light:The Story of Fiber Optics |pages=29–31 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>
*1887–1888: [[Augustus Desiré Waller]] of [[Paris]] recorded the human [[Electrocardiography|electrocardiogram]] with surface [[electrodes]]. He was employed at the time as a lecturer in physiology at [[St Mary's Hospital (London)|St Mary's Hospital]] in [[Paddington]], [[London]], England.<ref name=Waller_1887>{{cite journal | author=Waller AD | title=A demonstration on man of electromotive changes accompanying the heart's beat | journal=J Physiol | year=1887 | volume=8 | issue=5 | pages=229–34 | doi=10.1113/jphysiol.1887.sp000257 | pmid=16991463 | pmc=1485094}}</ref> In May, 1887, Waller demonstrated his method to many physiologists. In 1888, Waller demonstrated that the [[Muscle contraction|contraction]] of the [[heart]] started at the [[apex of the heart]] and ended at the [[base of the heart]]. [[Willem Einthoven]] was among those who took interest in the new method. He would end up improving it in the 1900s.<ref>[{{cite journal|author=Besterman E, Creese R|title=Waller--pioneer of electrocardiography|journal=Br Heart J|date=July 1979|volume=42|issue=1|pages=61–64|pmid=383122|doi=10.1136/hrt.42.1.61|pmc=482113}}</ref>
*1887–1889: The Serbian-American engineer [[Nikola Tesla]] files patents on a [[rotating magnetic field]] based [[alternating current]] [[induction motor]] and related polyphase AC transmission systems. The patents are licensed by [[Westinghouse Electric (1886)|Westinghouse Electric]] although technical problems and a shortage of cash at the company meant a complete system would not be rolled out until 1893.<ref>Quentin R. Skrabec, ''George Westinghouse: Gentle Genius'', Algora Publishing – 2007, page 127</ref>
*1887–1890: [[Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti]] of [[Liverpool]], England is hired by the London Electric Supply Corporation to design the [[Deptford Power Station]]. Ferranti designed the building, as well as the electrical systems for both generating and distributing [[alternating current]] (AC). Among the innovations included in the Station was "the use of 10,000-volt high-tension cable", successfully tested for safety. On its completion in October 1890 it was the first truly modern power station, supplying high-voltage AC power.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mosi.org.uk/collections/explore-the-collections/ferranti-online/timeline |title=Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester: "Ferranti timeline" |access-date=6 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140802144113/http://www.mosi.org.uk/collections/explore-the-collections/ferranti-online/timeline |archive-date=2 August 2014 }}</ref> "Ferranti pioneered the use of Alternating Current for the distribution of electrical power in Europe authoring 176 patents on the [[alternator]], high-tension cables, insulation, circuit breakers, transformers and turbines."<ref name="mpoweruk.com" />
*1888: [[Heinrich Hertz]] of [[Hamburg]], a [[city-state]] of the [[German Empire]], successfully transmits and receives [[radio waves]]. He was employed at the time by the [[Karlsruhe Institute of Technology]]. Attempting to experimentally prove [[James Clerk Maxwell]]' "[[A dynamical theory of the electromagnetic field]]" (1864), Hertz "generated electric waves using an electric circuit". Then he detected said waves "with another similar circuit some distance away". Hertz succeeded in proving the existence of [[Electromagnetic radiation|electromagnetic waves]]. But in doing so, he had built basic [[transmitter]] and [[Receiver (radio)|receiver]] devices. Hertz took this work no further, did not exploit it commercially, and famously did not consider it useful. But it was an important step in the [[invention of radio]].<ref name="mpoweruk.com" /><ref name="katz">Eugenii Katz, "''[http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/~eugeniik/history/hertz.htm Heinrich Rudolf Hertz] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061002065000/http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/~eugeniik/history/hertz.htm |date=2006-10-02 }}''". Biographies of Famous Electrochemists and Physicists Contributed to Understanding of Electricity, Biosensors & Bioelectronics.</ref>
*1888–1890: [[Isaac Peral]] of [[Cartagena, Spain]] launches his [[History of submarines|pioneering submarine]] on September 8, 1888. Created for the [[Spanish Navy]], el Peral was "roughly 71 feet long, with a 9-foot beam and a height of almost 9 feet amidships, with one horizontal and two small vertical propellers, Peral's "cigar," as the workers called it, ... had a periscope, a chemical system to oxygenate the air for a crew of six, a speedometer, spotlights, and a launcher at the bow capable of firing three torpedoes. Its two 30-horsepower electrical motors, powered by 613 batteries, gave it a theoretical range of 396 nautical miles and a maximum speed of 10.9 knots an hour at the surface." It underwent a series of trials in 1889 and 1890, all in the [[Bay of Cádiz]]. On June 7, 1890, it "successfully spent an hour submerged at a depth of 10 meters, following a set course of three and a half miles". He was celebrated by the public and honored by [[Maria Christina of Austria]], [[Regent|Queen Regent]] of [[Spain under the Restoration|Spain]]. But Navy officials ultimately declared the submarine a "useless curiosity", scrapping the project.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://harvardmagazine.com/1998/05/vita.html|title=Harvard Magazine, 1998. Francisco Márquez, "Isaac Peral. Brief Life of a scorned inventor 1851–1895".|access-date=6 October 2014|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402013150/http://harvardmagazine.com/1998/05/vita.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*1888–1890: [[Gustave Zédé]] and [[Arthur Constantin Krebs]] launch the [[French submarine Gymnote (Q1)|Gymnote]], a 60-foot submarine for the [[French Navy]]. "It was driven by a 55 horse power electric motor, originally powered by 564 [[Lalande-Chaperon alkaline cell]]s by Coumelin, Desmazures et Baillache with a total capacity of 400 Amphours weighing 11 tons and delivering a maximum current of 166 Amps."<ref name="mpoweruk.com"/> She was launched on 24 September 1888 and would stay in service to 1908.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/submarines2.htm|title=Battleships-Cruisers.co.uk: "List of French Submarines, 1863 – Now")"|access-date=6 October 2014}}</ref> The Gymnote underwent various trials to 1890, successful enough for the Navy to start building two "real fighting submarines", considerably larger. Several of the trials were intended to established tactical methods of using submarines in warfare. Several weapons were tested until it was decided that the [[Whitehead torpedo]]es were ideal for the job. The Gymnote proved effective in breaking [[blockade]]s and surface ships had trouble spotting it. She was able to withstand explosions of up to 220 pounds of [[Nitrocellulose|guncotton]] in a distance of 75 yards from its body. Shells of [[quick-firing gun]]s, fired at short range, would explode in the water before hitting it. At long-range everything fired at the submarine, ended up [[ricochet]]ing. The submarine proved "blind" when submerged, establishing the need of a [[periscope]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=25flcayCpI0C&q=1888+submarine+%22Gymnote%22&pg=PA350|title=Theodore Ropp, Stephen S. Roberts, "The development of a modern navy: French naval policy, 1871–1904" (1987), p. 350|isbn=9780870211416|access-date=6 October 2014|last1=Ropp|first1=Theodore|year=1987|publisher=Naval Institute Press }}</ref>
*1889–1891: [[Almon Brown Strowger]] of [[Penfield, New York]], files a patent for the [[stepping switch]] on March 12, 1889. Issued on March 10, 1891, it enabled automatic [[telephone exchange]]s.<ref name="strowger.com">{{Cite web|url=http://www.strowger.com/About-us/Strowger-Invention-of-Telephone-Switch.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100822185417/http://www.strowger.com/about-us/strowger-invention-of-telephone-switch.html|url-status=dead|title=Strowger: "Invention of the Telephone Switch"|archivedate=August 22, 2010}}</ref> Since 1878, telephone communications were handled by [[telephone switchboard]]s, staffed by [[Switchboard operator|telephone operator]]s. Operators were not only responsible for connecting, monitoring and disconnecting calls. They were expected to provide "emotional support, emergency information, local news and gossip, business tips", etc.<ref name="Google Books">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b2mMzS0hCkAC&q=%22emma+nutt%22+telephone+operator&pg=PA696|title=Julie K. Petersen, "The telecommunications illustrated dictionary" (2002), p. 696|isbn=9781420040678|access-date=6 October 2014|last1=Petersen|first1=J. K.|date=29 May 2002}}</ref> Strowger had reportedly felt the negative side of this development, while working as an [[Funeral director|undertaker]] in [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]]. The local operator happened to be the wife of a rival undertaker. Whenever someone asked to be put through to an undertaker, the operator would connect them to her husband. Strowger was frustrated at losing customers to this [[unfair competition]]. He created his device explicitly to bypass the need of an operator. His system "required users to tap out the number they wanted on three keys to call other users directly. The system worked with reasonable accuracy when the subscribers operated their push buttons correctly and remembered to press the release button after a conversation was finished, but there was no provision against a subscriber being connected to a busy line."<ref name="mpoweruk.com" /><ref name="strowger.com" /> Strowger would found the [[Automatic Electric Company|Strowger Automatic Telephone Exchange]] in 1891.<ref name="strowger.com" />
*1889: [[Elihu Thomson]] of [[Manchester]], [[England]], [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]] creates a motor-driven [[Wattmeter]].<ref name="ReferenceA">. [http://www.mpoweruk.com/history.htm Woodbank Communications Ltd.'s Electropaedia: "History of Batteries (and other things)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512173049/http://www.mpoweruk.com/history.htm |date=2011-05-12 }}</ref>
*1889: [[Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky]] of [[Gatchina]], [[Russian Empire]] created the first [[squirrel-cage rotor|squirrel-cage]] [[induction motor]]. He was at the time working for [[AEG (German company)|AEG]].<ref name="mpoweruk.com"/>
* Development and commercial production of gasoline-powered [[automobile]]s were undertaken by [[Karl Benz]], [[Gottlieb Daimler]] and [[Maybach]]
* The first commercial production and sales of [[phonograph]]s and phonograph recordings occurred.
* Steel frame construction of [[skyscraper|"sky-scrapers"]] happened for the first time.
* February 16, 1880: The [[American Society of Mechanical Engineers]] was founded in [[New York City]].
* Construction began on the [[Panama Canal]] by the French. This was the first attempt to build the Canal; it would end in failure.
* Lewis Ticehurst invented the [[drinking straw]].
* 1884: [[Smokeless powder]] was brought{{Where|date=July 2011}} from France.
* 1885: [[Thomas Edison]] invents the first ever [[movie]] in [[Menlo Park, New Jersey|Menlo Park]], [[New Jersey]].
* 1886: Earliest commercial [[automobile]] is invented.
* 1887: As the [[Prohibition]] movement gained nationwide prevalence, a "liquor-free" drink was brewed, known now as [[Coca-Cola]].
* 1888: [[Infrastructure]] reform movements begin when many cities are devastated by the [[Great Blizzard of 1888|Great Blizzard of '88]].

===Science===
* [[Heinrich Hertz]] discovered the [[photoelectric effect]].
* The [[Michelson–Morley experiment]] was undertaken, which suggested that the [[speed of light]] is invariant.
* The [[James–Lange theory]] of [[emotion]] was produced.
* [[William James]] publishes numerous articles on human thought, leading to the 1890 publication of his ''[[The Principles of Psychology]]''.

==Society==
* The beginning of the [[Italian diaspora]]<ref>Pozzetta, George E., Bruno Ramirez, and Robert F. Harney. The Italian Diaspora: Migration across the Globe. Toronto: Multicultural History Society of Ontario, 1992.</ref>
* About 600,000 [[Sweden|Swedes]] [[emigrated]] to [[America]].
* [[Chinese people|Chinese]], [[Scandinavians]] and [[Irish people|Irish]] [[immigrants]] laid {{convert|73000|mi|km}} of [[Railroad tracks]] in [[America]].
* [[Syrian Canadians]] started [[immigrating]] to the [[Americas]].

==Popular culture==

===Literature and arts===
* [[Friedrich Nietzsche]] published ''[[Thus Spoke Zarathustra]]''.
* [[Mark Twain]] published ''[[Adventures of Huckleberry Finn]]''.
* [[Carlo Collodi]] published ''[[The Adventures of Pinocchio]]''.
* [[Fyodor Dostoevsky]] wrote ''[[The Brothers Karamazov]]''.
* [[Edward Bellamy]] published ''[[Looking Backward]]''.
* [[Robert Louis Stevenson]] published ''[[Treasure Island]]'' and ''[[The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde]]''.
* [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] published his first [[Sherlock Holmes]] tale.
* [[African-American]] music and [[ragtime]] rise to popularity in the later part of the decade.
* [[Guy de Maupassant]] wrote ''[[The Necklace]]''.
* [[Henrik Ibsen]] published ''[[Ghosts (play)|Ghosts]]''
* [[Vincent van Gogh]] painted [[Irises (painting)|Irises]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Paintings |first1=Authors: Department of European |title=Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) {{!}} Essay {{!}} The Metropolitan Museum of Art {{!}} Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/gogh/hd_gogh.htm |website=The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History |language=en}}</ref> and [[The Starry Night]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Vincent van Gogh. The Starry Night. Saint Rémy, June 1889 {{!}} MoMA |url=https://www.moma.org/collection/works/79802 |website=The Museum of Modern Art |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Moulin Rouge]] opened as Jardin de Paris<ref>{{cite web |title=L'entrée du Jardin de Paris |url=https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e0-ea3f-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 |website=NYPL Digital Collections |language=en}}</ref>

===Architecture===
[[File:Home Insurance Building.JPG|thumb|180px|[[Home Insurance Building]]]]
[[File:Tour eiffel at sunrise from the trocadero.jpg|thumb|160px| The [[Eiffel Tower]] is inaugurated on March 31, 1889, thus becoming the tallest structure in the world]]
* [[Home Insurance Building]], the first [[skyscraper]] in history, becomes the [[List of tallest buildings and structures in the world|tallest man-made structure]] ever built after it officially opened in 1885.
* March 31, 1889 &ndash; The [[Eiffel Tower]] is inaugurated (opens [[May 6]]). At 300 m, its height exceeds the previous [[List of tallest buildings and structures in the world|tallest structure in the world]] by 130 m.

===Sports===
{{expand section|date=July 2018}}

In 1882 [[Kanō Jigorō]] creates [[Judo]]<ref>Kano, Jigoro | Portraits of Modern Japanese Historical Figures, su ndl.go.jp. URL consultato il 2 ottobre 2020.</ref>

===Music===
{{See also|Romantic music}}

The Romantic style, most prominent in Europe, emphasised strong melodies, beautiful harmony, and the unique vision of the artist. Loud, extreme contrasts in dynamics and accentuated rhythmic patterns were featured in the music of the time. The influence of [[Ludwig van Beethoven]] was strong, especially in the German-language area. Many of the artists involved in the Romantic music movement were disappointed with the effects of the [[Industrial Revolution]] and [[urbanisation]], and drew influence from [[nature]], the [[countryside]], [[commoners]], and old [[myth]]s and [[legend]]s. Nevertheless, music was seen as separate from politics, an ethereal sphere dominated by sublime expressions of the artists' deepest, primal sentiments. It was seen as something almost [[divine]], with a unique ability to portray passionate emotions like love directly to the listener. Romantic orchestral pieces tended to be quite long and required more players than before, with symphonies regularly taking a whole hour to perform completely.

Within the [[Russian Empire]], the influence of the [[The Five (composers)|Five]], or "the Mighty Handful" and [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky]] had been crucial in developing a new national understanding of music.

===Fashion===
{{See also|1880s in fashion}}
{{Expand section|date=January 2010}}

===Other===
[[File:19th century Coca-Cola coupon.jpg|180px|thumb|[[Coca-Cola]] was invented in May 1886 ]]
* 8 May 1886 — [[Coca-Cola]] was invented.
* 1888 — Whitechapel murders by the infamous [[Jack the Ripper]]. 
* 23 September - [[Nintendo]] was established in [[Japan]]. 

==People==

===Politics===
* [[Eugène Borel]], Director Universal Postal Union
* [[Louis Curchod]], Director International Telecommunication Union
* Henri Morel, Secretary-general World Intellectual Property Organization
* [[Gustave Moynier]], President International Committee of the Red Cross
* [[Heinrich von Wild|Heinrich Wild]], President World Meteorological Organization
* [[Mustafa Kemal Atatürk]], President of Turkey 

===Sports figures===
* [[Cap Anson]]
* [[Moses Fleetwood Walker]]
* [[John L. Sullivan]]
* [[Jim Adams (baseball)|Jim Adams]]
* [[John Ake]]
* [[Pete Browning]]
* [[William Ahearn]]

===Famous and infamous personalities===
* [[Wyatt Earp]], lawman 
* [[Morgan Earp]], lawman
* [[Virgil Earp]], lawman
* [[Doc Holliday]], outlaw and gunfighter, friend of [[Wyatt Earp]]
* [[Tom McLaury]], [[Wild West]], outlaw, cowboy, cattle rustler
* [[Frank McLaury]], ranch hand, outlaw
* [[Billy Claiborne]], outlaw Cowboy, gunfighter
* [[Curly Bill Brocius]], outlaw Cowboy, rustler
* [[Buffalo Bill]], scout, bison and buffalo hunter, founder of ''Buffalo Bill's Wild West''
* [[Billy the Kid]], a.k.a. [[Henry McCarty]], [[Wild West]], outlaw, murderer
* [[Ignacy Hryniewiecki]], assassin of [[Tsar Alexander II of Russia]]
* [[Robert Ford (outlaw)|Bob Ford]], [[Wild West]], outlaw, murderer of [[Jesse James]]
{{Births and deaths by year for decade|188}}

==See also==
* [[List of decades, centuries, and millennia]]
* [[Victorian era]]
* [[Gilded Age]]
* [[American frontier]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book|last=Ranade|first=Sadashiv Bhaskar|author-link=Sadashiv Ranade|year=1974|title=Cittapāvana Kauśika Gotrī Āgāśe-Kula-vr̥ttānta|trans-title=The [[Agashe]] Family Genealogy belonging to the [[Chitpavan]] [[Kaushik]] [[Gotra]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RstWAAAAMAAJ|language=mr|edition=1st|location=[[Pune]]|publisher=[[University of Michigan]]|lccn=74903020|oclc=600048059|type=[[Kulavruttanta]]}}

==Further reading==
{{Commons category}}
* [https://archive.org/stream/newappletonsannu06newyuoft#page/n5/mode/2up ''The American Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events of the Year'' '''1881''']
* [https://archive.org/stream/newappletonsannu07newyuoft#page/n7/mode/2up ''The American Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events of the Year'' '''1882''']
* [https://archive.org/stream/newappletonsannu09newyuoft#page/n5/mode/2up ''The American Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events of the Year'' '''1884'''] 
* [https://archive.org/stream/newappletonsannu12newyuoft#page/n7/mode/2up ''The American Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events of the Year'' '''1887''']
* [https://archive.org/stream/newappletonsannu13newyuoft#page/n7/mode/2up ''The American Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events of the Year'' '''1888''']
* [https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/pricesandwages/1880-1889 Prices and Wages by Decade, 1880–1889] – Guide published by the University of Missouri Library points to pages in digital libraries (freely available online) that show average prices and wages by occupation, race, sex, and more.

{{19th century}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1880s| ]]