View source for 1885

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2011}}
{{Year dab|1885|M-1885|Model 1885 (disambiguation){{!}}Model 1885}}
{{Year nav|1885}}
{{C19 year in topic}}{{Year article header|1885}}
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== Events ==

===January===
* [[January 3]]&ndash;[[January 4|4]] &ndash; [[Sino-French War]] &ndash; [[Battle of Núi Bop]]: French troops under General [[Oscar de Négrier]] defeat a numerically superior [[Qing dynasty|Qing Chinese]] force, in northern [[Vietnam]].
* [[January 17]] &ndash; [[Mahdist War]] in [[Sudan]] &ndash; [[Battle of Abu Klea]]: British troops defeat Mahdist forces. 
* [[January 20]] &ndash; American inventor [[LaMarcus Adna Thompson]] patents a [[roller coaster]].
* [[January 24]] &ndash; Irish rebels damage [[Westminster Hall]] and the [[Tower of London]] with dynamite.<ref name=CBH>{{cite book|last1=Palmer|first1=Alan|last2=Palmer |first2=Veronica|year=1992|title=The Chronology of British History|publisher=Century Ltd|location=London|pages=310–311|isbn=0-7126-5616-2}}</ref>
* [[January 26]] &ndash; [[Mahdist War]] in Sudan: Troops loyal to [[Mahdi]] [[Muhammad Ahmad]] conquer [[Khartoum]]; British commander [[Charles George Gordon]] is killed.<ref name="Cassell's Chronology">{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Hywel|title=Cassell's Chronology of World History|location=London|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|year=2005|isbn=0-304-35730-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/cassellschronolo0000will/page/438 438–440]|url=https://archive.org/details/cassellschronolo0000will/page/438}}</ref>

===February===
[[File:Washington Monument Dusk Jan 2006.jpg|thumb|135px|right| [[February 21]]: [[Washington Monument]] dedicated.]]
* [[February 5]] &ndash; King [[Leopold II of Belgium]] establishes the [[Congo Free State]], as a personal possession.
* [[February 9]] &ndash; The first Japanese arrive in [[Hawaii]].
* [[February 16]] &ndash; [[Charles Dow]] publishes the first edition of the [[Dow Jones Industrial Average]]. The index stands at a level of 62.76, and represents the dollar average of 14 stocks: 12 railroads and two leading American industries.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20131004232102/http://articles.philly.com/1995-02-24/news/25702996_1_blue-chip-stocks-industrial-shares-index Dow Record Book Adds Another First]. Philly.com. Retrieved 2013-07-08.</ref>
* [[February 20]] &ndash; The [[Richmond Football Club]] is officially formed at the Royal Hotel in the [[Melbourne]] suburb of [[Richmond, Victoria|Richmond]], [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]].<ref>Hansen (1992), p. 28.</ref>
* [[February 21]] &ndash; United States President [[Chester A. Arthur]] dedicates the [[Washington Monument]].
* [[February 23]]
** [[Sino-French War]] &ndash; [[Battle of Đồng Đăng (1885)|Battle of Đồng Đăng]]: France gains an important victory over China, in the [[Tonkin]] region of modern-day Vietnam.
** An English executioner fails after several attempts to [[Hanging|hang]] [[John Babbacombe Lee]], sentenced for the murder of his employer Emma Keyse; Lee's sentence is commuted to life imprisonment.
* [[February 26]] &ndash; The final act of the [[Berlin Conference]] regulates European colonization and trade, in the ''[[scramble for Africa]]''.<ref name="Cassell's Chronology"/>
* [[February 28]] &ndash; February concludes without having a full moon.

===March===
* [[March 3]] &ndash; A subsidiary of the American Bell Telephone Company, [[American Telephone and Telegraph]] (AT&T), is incorporated in New York.
* [[March 7]] &ndash; The [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madrid]] is founded.
* [[March 14]] &ndash; [[Gilbert and Sullivan]]'s comic opera ''[[The Mikado]]'' opens, at the [[Savoy Theatre]] in London.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Hutchinson Factfinder|publisher=Helicon|year=1999|isbn=1-85986-000-1}}</ref>
* [[March 26]]
** [[Prussian deportations]]: The [[Prussia]]n government, motivated by [[Otto von Bismarck]], expels all ethnic Poles and Jews without German citizenship from Prussia.
** The [[North-West Rebellion]] in Canada by the [[Métis people (Canada)|Métis people]], led by [[Louis Riel]], begins with the [[Battle of Duck Lake]].
** First legal [[cremation]] in England: widowed painter [[Jeanette Pickersgill]] of London, "well known in literary and scientific circles",<ref>{{cite news|title=Cremation|newspaper=[[The Times]]|location=London|date=1885-03-27|page=10|issue= 31405}}</ref> is cremated by the Cremation Society at [[Woking]], [[Surrey]].
* [[March 30]] &ndash; The [[Battle for Kushka]] triggers the [[Panjdeh Incident]], which nearly gives rise to war between the [[British Empire]] and [[Russian Empire]].
* [[March 31]] &ndash; The United Kingdom establishes the [[Bechuanaland Protectorate]].<ref>{{cite book |publisher=[[Sampson Low|Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington]] via [[World Digital Library]] |last=Mackenzie |first=John |title=Austral Africa: Losing It or Ruling It; Being Incidents and Experiences in Bechuanaland, Cape Colony, and England |location=London |access-date=April 10, 2018 |date=1887 |url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/2525 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412145903/https://www.wdl.org/en/item/2525/ |archive-date=April 12, 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===April===
* [[April 2]] &ndash; [[Frog Lake Massacre]]: [[Cree]] warriors led by [[Wandering Spirit (Cree leader)|Wandering Spirit]] kill 9 settlers at [[Frog Lake, Alberta|Frog Lake]] in the [[Northwest Territories]].
* [[April 3]] &ndash; [[Gottlieb Daimler]] is granted a German patent, for his single-cylinder, [[water-cooled]] [[engine]] design.
* [[April 11]] &ndash; [[Luton Town F.C.|Luton Town Football Club]] is created by the merger of (Luton) Wanderers F.C. and Luton Excelsior F.C. in England.
* [[April 14]] &ndash; [[Sino-French War]]: A French victory at [[Kép]] causes China to withdraw its forces from [[Tonkin]], in the final engagement of the conflict.
* [[April 22]] &ndash; [[Symphony No. 7 (Dvořák)]] was premiered at [[St James's Hall]] in London.
* [[April 30]] &ndash; A bill is signed in the New York State legislature, forming the [[Niagara Falls|Niagara Falls State Park]].

===May===
* [[May 2]]
** ''[[Good Housekeeping]]'' magazine goes on sale for the first time in the United States.
** [[North-West Rebellion]] &ndash; [[Battle of Cut Knife]]: [[Cree]] and [[Assiniboine]] warriors win their largest victory over Canadian forces.
* [[May 9]]&ndash;[[May 12|12]] &ndash; [[North-West Rebellion]] &ndash; [[Battle of Batoche]]: Canadian government forces inflict a decisive defeat on [[Métis people (Canada)|Métis]] rebels, bringing an end to their part in the rebellion.
* [[May 19]] &ndash; After a [[United States Senate election in Illinois, 1885|three-month legislative battle]] in the [[Illinois General Assembly]], [[John A. Logan]] is re-elected to the [[United States Senate]].
* [[May 20]] &ndash; The first public train departs [[Swanage railway station]], on the newly built [[Swanage Railway]] in England.

===June===
* [[June 2]] &ndash; [[Dunfermline_Athletic_F.C.]] is officially formed at the Old Inn, Dunfermline.
* [[June 3]] &ndash; [[Battle of Loon Lake]]: The Canadian [[North-West Mounted Police]] and allies force a party of Plains [[Cree]] warriors to surrender in the last skirmish of the [[North-West Rebellion]], and the last battle fought on Canadian soil.
* [[June 17]] &ndash; The [[Statue of Liberty]] arrives in [[New York Harbor]].
* [[June 23]] &ndash; [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury]], becomes [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]].

===July===
* [[July 6]] &ndash; [[Louis Pasteur]] and [[Émile Roux]] successfully test their [[rabies vaccine]]. The patient is [[Joseph Meister]], a boy who was bitten by a rabid dog.
* [[July 14]] &ndash; [[Sarah E. Goode]] is the first African-American woman to apply for and receive a [[patent]], for the invention of the hideaway bed.
* [[July 15]] &ndash; The Reservation at [[Niagara Falls]] opens, enabling access to all for free. [[Thomas Vincent Welch|Thomas V. Welch]] is the first Superintendent of the Park.
* [[July 16]] &ndash; [[BHP|BHP (Broken Hill Proprietary)]], a worldwide [[mining]] and [[natural gas]] producer is founded in [[New South Wales]], [[Australia]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Silverton |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/6088837 |access-date=8 February 2022 |work=[[The Argus (Melbourne)|The Argus]] |date=30 July 1885 |location=Melbourne, Vic. |page=10}}</ref>
* [[July 20]] &ndash; [[The Football Association]] recognises professional players in England.
* [[July 28]] &ndash; [[Louis Riel]]'s trial for [[treason]] begins in [[Regina, Saskatchewan|Regina]].
* [[July]] &ndash; Japan Brewery, predecessor of [[Kirin Company|Kirin Holdings]] is founded in [[Yokohama]], Japan.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

===August===
* [[August 19]] &ndash; ''[[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.
[[File:ZweiRadMuseumNSU Reitwagen.JPG|250px|right|thumb|The ''[[Daimler Reitwagen|Reitwagen]]'' (riding car), the first internal combustion motorcycle (1885)]]
* [[August 29]] &ndash; [[Gottlieb Daimler]] is granted a German patent for the [[Daimler Reitwagen]], regarded as the first [[motorcycle]], which he has produced with [[Wilhelm Maybach]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Classic motorcycles|first=Mark|last=Gardiner|publisher=MetroBooks|year=1997|isbn=1-56799-460-1|page=16}}</ref>

===September===
* [[September 2]] &ndash; 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]] &ndash; [[Eastern Rumelia]] declares its union with Bulgaria, completing the unification of Bulgaria.
* [[September 8]] &ndash; [[Saint Thomas Academy]] is founded in [[Minnesota]].
* [[September 12]] &ndash; [[Arbroath FC]] defeats [[Bon Accord FC]], [[Arbroath 36–0 Bon Accord|36-0, in the highest score ever in professional football]].
* [[September 15]] &ndash; 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]].
** Five Chinese people [[1885 Pierce City lynching|were lynched]] outside of [[Pierce, Idaho|Pierce City]] in the [[Idaho Territory]] of the United States.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Burrows |first=William E. |author-link=William E. Burrows |url=http://archive.org/details/vigilante00burr |title=Vigilante! |publisher=[[Harcourt (publisher)#Harcourt Brace Jovanovich|Harcourt Brace Jovanovich]] |year=1976 |isbn=978-0-15-193655-7 |location=New York City |oclc=2035082 |page=236}}</ref>
* [[September 30]] &ndash; A British force abolishes the [[Boer]] republic of [[Stellaland]], and adds it to [[British Bechuanaland]].

===October===
* [[October 3]] &ndash; [[Millwall F.C.]] is founded by workers on the [[Isle of Dogs]] in London, as Millwall Rovers.
* [[October 12]] &ndash; The city of [[Fresno, California]], is incorporated.
* [[October 13]] &ndash; The [[Georgia Institute of Technology]] is established in [[Atlanta]] as the Georgia School of Technology.
* [[October 25]] &ndash; [[Symphony No. 4 (Brahms)]] is premiered in [[Meiningen]], Germany, with [[Johannes Brahms]] himself conducting it. 

===November===
* [[November 7]] &ndash; [[Canadian Pacific Railway]]: In [[Craigellachie, British Columbia]], [[Last spike (Canadian Pacific Railway)|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]]&ndash;[[November 28|28]] &ndash; [[Serbo-Bulgarian War]]: [[Serbia]] declares war against [[Bulgaria]], but is defeated in the [[Battle of Slivnitsa]] on [[November 17]]&ndash;[[November 19|19]].
* [[November 16]] &ndash; [[Louis Riel]], Canadian rebel leader of the [[Métis people (Canada)|Métis]], is executed for high [[treason]].
* [[November 27]] &ndash; St. Helena Anti-Chinese League is formed.<ref>{{cite book |last1=MacCormick |first1=John |title=Chinese in Napa Valley |date=2023 |publisher=The History Press |isbn=9781467152785 |page=123}}</ref>
* [[November]] &ndash; The [[Third Anglo-Burmese War]] begins.

===December===
* [[December 1]] &ndash; The [[U.S. Patent Office]] acknowledges this date as the day [[Dr Pepper]] is served for the first time; the exact date of Dr. Pepper's invention is unknown.
* [[December 28]] &ndash; 72 Indian lawyers, academics and journalists gather in [[Bombay]] to form the [[Indian National Congress|Congress Party]].

=== Date unknown ===
[[File:1885Benz.jpg|thumb|200px|right| The [[Benz Patent-Motorwagen]], built in 1885]]
* [[Karl Benz]] produces the [[Benz Patent-Motorwagen]], regarded as the first [[automobile]] (patented and publicly launched the following year).<ref>{{cite book|last=Benz|first=Carl Friedrich|year=1925|title=Lebensfahrt eines deutschen erfinders; erinnerungen eines achtzigjahrigen|location=Leipzig|publisher=Koehler & Amelang}}</ref>
* [[John Kemp Starley]] demonstrates the [[Rover Company|Rover]] [[safety bicycle]], regarded as the first practical modern bicycle.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk/icons_of_invention/technology/1880-1939/IC.025/|work=Making the Modern World|title=Icons of Invention: Rover safety bicycle, 1885|publisher=[[Science Museum (London)]]|access-date=2011-06-27| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522112647/http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk/icons_of_invention/technology/1880-1939/IC.025/ |archive-date=May 22, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 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]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Home Insurance Building|url=http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=10370|work=SkyscraperPage|access-date=2011-06-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629092831/http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=10370 |archive-date=June 29, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Bicycle Playing Cards]] are first produced.
* The [[Soldiers' and Sailors' Families Association]] is established in the United Kingdom, to provide charitable assistance.
* [[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.{{page needed|date=May 2020}}
* Before [[November 1]] – More than 24,000 Christians killed, 225 churches burnt, seventeen [[orphanage]]s and ten convents destroyed in [[Cochinchina]], now known as [[Vietnam]].<ref>{{cite news |title=24,346 Christians Massacred, Altogether, In Cochin-China |work=The Cornishman |issue=387 |date=17 December 1885 |page=8}}</ref>

== Births ==
{{BDToC|births|unknown=yes}}

=== January ===
[[File:JohnCurtin.jpg|thumb|110px|[[John Curtin]]]]
[[File:ClaudeFuess3.jpg|thumb|110px|[[Claude Fuess]]]]
* [[January 1]] &ndash; [[Winifred Greenwood]], American silent film actress (d. [[1961]])
* [[January 6]] &ndash; [[Florence Turner]], American actress (d. [[1946]])
* [[January 8]] &ndash; [[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]] &ndash; [[Constantin Sănătescu]], 44th prime minister of Romania (d. [[1947]])
* [[January 16]] &ndash; [[Zhou Zuoren]], Chinese writer (d. [[1967]])
* [[January 17]] &ndash; [[Nikolaus von Falkenhorst]], German general and war criminal (d. [[1968]])
* [[January 21]] &ndash; [[Umberto Nobile]], Italian aviator and explorer (d. [[1978]])
* [[January 25]] &ndash; [[Roy Geiger]], American general (d. [[1947]])
* [[January 26]] &ndash; [[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]] &ndash; [[Władysław Raczkiewicz]], [[President of Poland]] (d. [[1947]])
* [[January 30]] &ndash; [[John Henry Towers]], U. S.admiral and naval aviation pioneer (d. [[1955]])

=== February ===
[[File:Bess Truman cropped.jpg|thumb|110px|[[Bess Truman]]]]
* [[February 1]] &ndash; [[Friedrich Kellner]], German diarist (d. [[1970]])
* [[February 7]]
** [[Sinclair Lewis]], American writer, [[Nobel Prize in Literature|Nobel Prize]] laureate (d. [[1951]])<ref>{{cite book|author1=Martin Bucco|author2=G. K. Hall & Company|title=Critical Essays on Sinclair Lewis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o06vAAAAIAAJ|year=1986|publisher=G.K. Hall|isbn=978-0-8161-8698-3|page=1}}</ref>
** [[Hugo Sperrle]], German field marshal (d. [[1953]])
* [[February 9]] &ndash; [[Alban Berg]], Austrian composer (d. [[1935]])
* [[February 10]] &ndash; [[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]] &ndash; [[Zengo Yoshida]], Japanese admiral (d. [[1966]])
* [[February 15]] &ndash; [[Abraham Grünbaum (activist)]], German Jewish activist. (d. [[1921]])
* [[February 21]] &ndash; [[Sacha Guitry]], Russian-born French dramatist, writer, director, and actor (d. [[1957]])<ref>{{cite book|title=Radio Liberty Research Bulletin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i4zwAAAAMAAJ|year=1985|publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|page=8}}</ref>
* [[February 22]] &ndash; [[Pat Sullivan (film producer)|Pat Sullivan]], Australian-born American director, animated film producer (d. [[1933]])
* [[February 24]]
** [[Chester W. Nimitz]], American admiral (d. [[1966]])<ref>{{cite book|author=Richard R. Hobbs|title=Naval Science|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fYUfdr0WDBgC|year=1997|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=978-1-55750-373-2|page=160}}</ref>
** [[Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz]], Polish writer, painter (d. [[1939]])
* [[February 25]]
** [[Princess Alice of Battenberg]] (d. [[1969]])<ref>{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Lyn |title=Heroes of the Holocaust: Ordinary Britons Who Risked Their Lives to Make a Difference |date=2012 |publisher=Ebury Publishing |isbn=978-0-09-194067-6 |page=171 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DiO0_i4FVoQC&pg=PA171 |language=en}}</ref>
** [[Fritz Skullerud]], Norwegian long-distance runner and station master (d. [[1969]])<ref>{{cite web |title=Olympedia – Fritz Skullerud |url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/79711 |website=www.olympedia.org |access-date=30 October 2025 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Ny stasjonsmester ved Stabekk |url=https://www.nb.no/items/2d6f04663b39a36bb26a6eb929fedb9a |access-date=29 October 2025 |work=[[Asker og Bærum Budstikke]] |issue=125 |date=12 December 1945 |language=no}}</ref>
* [[February 26]] &ndash; [[Aleksandras Stulginskis]], President of Lithuania (d. [[1969]])

=== March ===
* [[March 6]] &ndash; [[Ring Lardner]], American writer (d. [[1933]])
* [[March 7]] &ndash; [[John Tovey]], British admiral of the fleet (d. [[1971]])
* [[March 11]] &ndash; Sir [[Malcolm Campbell]], English land, water racer (d. [[1948]])
* [[March 14]] &ndash; [[Raoul Lufbery]], French-born American World War I pilot (d. [[1918]])
* [[March 23]] &ndash; [[Mollie McNutt]], Australian poet (d. [[1919]])
* [[March 27]] &ndash; [[Julio Lozano Díaz]], President of Honduras (d. [[1957]])
* [[March 31]] &ndash; [[Jules Pascin]], Bulgarian painter (d. [[1930]])

=== April ===
[[File:Clementine Churchill 1915.jpg|thumb|110px|[[Clementine Churchill]]]]
* [[April 1]] 
** [[Wallace Beery]], American actor (d. [[1949]])
** [[Clementine Churchill]], wife of British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] (d. [[1977]])
* [[April 3]]
** [[Allan Dwan]], Canadian-born American film director (d. [[1981]])
**[[Bud Fisher]], American cartoonist (''[[Mutt and Jeff]]'') (d. [[1954]])
** [[St John Philby]], Ceylonese-born British orientalist (d. [[1960]])
* [[April 12]] &ndash; [[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]] &ndash; [[Charles Debbas]], 1st president, 5th prime minister of Lebanon (d. [[1935]])
* [[April 17]] &ndash; [[Karen Blixen]], Danish author (d. [[1962]])<ref>{{cite book|author1=O. Classe|author2=[Anonymus AC02468681]|title=Encyclopedia of Literary Translation Into English: A-L|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=myLDA0_brhcC&pg=PA158|year=2000|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-884964-36-7|pages=158}}</ref>
* [[April 29]] &ndash; [[Frank Jack Fletcher]], American admiral (d. [[1973]])

=== May ===
[[File:Otto Klemperer.jpg|thumb|110px|[[Otto Klemperer]]]]
* [[May 2]] &ndash; [[Hedda Hopper]], American columnist (d. [[1966]])
* [[May 5]] &ndash; [[Agustín Barrios]], Paraguayan guitarist, composer (d. [[1944]])
* [[May 7]] &ndash; [[George "Gabby" Hayes]], American actor (d. [[1969]])
* [[May 8]] &ndash; [[Thomas B. Costain]], Canadian author and journalist (d. [[1965]])<ref>{{cite book|title=Current Biography: Who's News and Why, 1953| date=June 1953 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BeeiQW67jAsC|orig-date=June 1953|publisher=Hw Wilson Company|isbn=978-0-8242-0119-7|page=124}}</ref>
* [[May 9]] &ndash; [[Eduard C. Lindeman]], American social worker, author (d. [[1953]])
* [[May 14]] &ndash; [[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]] &ndash; [[Faisal I of Iraq]] (d. [[1933]])
* [[May 21]] &ndash; [[Sophie, Princess of Albania]], consort of [[William, Prince of Albania|William of Wied, Prince of Albania]] (d. [[1936]])
* [[May 22]] &ndash; [[Toyoda Soemu]], Japanese admiral (d. [[1957]])
* [[May 24]] &ndash; [[Susan Sutherland Isaacs]], English educational psychologist, psychoanalyst (d. [[1948]])
* [[May 27]] &ndash; [[Richmond K. Turner]], American admiral (d. [[1961]])
* [[May 30]] &ndash; [[Arthur E. Andersen]], American accountant (d. [[1947]])

=== June ===
* [[June 2]] &ndash; [[Hans Gerhard Creutzfeldt]], German neuropathologist (d. [[1964]])
* [[June 4]] &ndash; [[Arturo Rawson]], President of Argentina (d. [[1952]])
* [[June 5]] &ndash; [[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 21]] &ndash; [[Harry A. Marmer]], Ukrainian-born American mathematician, oceanographer (d. [[1953]])
* [[June 22]] &ndash; [[Milan Vidmar]], Slovenian electrical engineer, chess player (d. [[1962]])
* [[June 27]] &ndash; [[Guilhermina Suggia]], Portuguese cellist (d. [[1950]])<ref>Obituary, ''[[The Musical Times]]'', September 1950, p. 362</ref>
* [[June 29]] &ndash; [[Izidor Kürschner]], Hungarian football player and coach (d. [[1941]])<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mtkbudapest.hu/en/hirek/multidezes/ezen-a-napon-szuletett-kurschner-izidor-a-kivalo-jatekos-es-vilagjaro-edzo-akinek-braziliaban-szobrot-allitottak|title=Ezen a napon született Kürschner Izidor, a kiváló játékos és világjáró edző, akinek Brazíliában szobrot állítottak|website=www.mtkbudapest.hu|access-date=January 23, 2021|archive-date=December 26, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221226113011/https://www.mtkbudapest.hu/en/hirek/multidezes/ezen-a-napon-szuletett-kurschner-izidor-a-kivalo-jatekos-es-vilagjaro-edzo-akinek-braziliaban-szobrot-allitottak|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== July ===
* [[July 2]] &ndash; [[Nikolai Krylenko]], Russian [[Bolshevik]] and Soviet politician (d. [[1938]])
* [[July 6]] &ndash; [[Ernst Busch (field marshal)|Ernst Busch]], German field marshal (d. [[1945]])
* [[July 8]] &ndash; [[Paul Leni]], German film director (''[[The Cat and the Canary (1927 film)|The Cat and the Canary]]'') (d. [[1929]])
* [[July 9]] &ndash; [[Luo Meizhen]], Chinese supercentenarian (d. [[2013]])
* [[July 14]] &ndash; King [[Sisavang Vong]] of [[Laos]] (d. [[1959]])
* [[July 15]]
** [[Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi]], 1st prime minister of Sudan (d. [[1959]])
* [[July 16]] &ndash; [[Hakuun Yasutani]], Japanese [[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]] &ndash; [[Michitarō Komatsubara]], Japanese general (d. [[1940]])
* [[July 28]] &ndash; [[Monte Attell]], American boxer (d. [[1960]])
* [[July 29]] &ndash; [[Theda Bara]], American [[silent film]] actress (d. [[1955]])

=== August ===
[[File:D H Lawrence passport photograph.jpg|thumb|110px|[[D H Lawrence]]]]
* [[August 1]] &ndash; [[George de Hevesy]], Hungarian chemist, [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry|Nobel Prize]] laureate (d. [[1966]])

=== September ===
[[File:Benchifley.jpg|thumb|right|110px|[[Ben Chifley]]]]
* [[September 6]] &ndash; [[Otto Kruger]], American actor (d. [[1974]])
* [[September 7]] &ndash; [[Jovita Idar]], Mexican-American journalist and political activist (d. [[1946]]) 
* [[September 11]] &ndash; [[D. H. Lawrence]], English novelist (d. [[1930]])<ref>{{cite book|author=John Worthen|title=D. H. Lawrence: The Early Years 1885-1912: The Cambridge Biography of D. H. Lawrence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l_tSP0DZzK0C&pg=PR23|date=31 July 1992|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-43772-1|pages=23}}</ref>
* [[September 20]] &ndash; [[Enrico Mizzi]], 6th [[Prime Minister of Malta]] (d. [[1950]])
* [[September 21]] &ndash; [[Thomas de Hartmann]], Russian composer (d. [[1956]])
* [[September 22]]
** [[Ben Chifley]], 16th [[Prime Minister of Australia]] (d. [[1951]])
** [[Erich von Stroheim]], Austrian-born motion picture actor, director (d. [[1957]])
* [[September 25]] &ndash; [[Mineichi Koga]], Japanese admiral (d. [[1944]])
* [[September 27]] &ndash; [[Harry Blackstone Sr.]], American magician and illusionist (d. [[1965]])

=== October ===
[[File:Niels Bohr.jpg|thumb|right|110px|[[Niels Bohr]]]]
* [[October 3]] &ndash; [[Sophie Treadwell]], American playwright, journalist (d. [[1970]])
* [[October 7]] &ndash; [[Niels Bohr]], Danish physicist, [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Nobel Prize]] laureate (d. [[1962]])
* [[October 11]] &ndash; [[François Mauriac]], French writer, [[Nobel Prize in Literature|Nobel Prize]] laureate (d. [[1970]])<ref>{{cite book|author=K. R. Srinivasa Iyengar|title=Francois Mauriac: Novelist & Moralist|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ay4nAAAAMAAJ|year=1963|publisher=Asia Publishing House|page=2}}</ref>
* [[October 19]] &ndash; [[Charles E. Merrill]], American banker, co-founder of [[Merrill Lynch]] (d. [[1956]])
* [[October 24]] &ndash; [[Rachel Katznelson-Shazar]], Zionist political figure, wife of third President of Israel (d. [[1975]])
* [[October 28]] &ndash; [[Per Albin Hansson]], 2-time prime minister of Sweden (d. [[1946]])
* [[October 30]] &ndash; [[Ezra Pound]], American poet (d. [[1972]])<ref>{{cite book|author=Lawrence S. Rainey|title=Ezra Pound and the Monument of Culture: Text, History, and the Malatesta Cantos|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ajVbyQLNRLwC&pg=PA43|date=15 December 1991|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-70316-9|pages=43}}</ref>

=== November ===
[[File: General George S Patton.jpg|thumb|right|110px|[[George S. Patton]]]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-0630-504, Heinrich Brüning.jpg|thumb|right|110px|[[Heinrich Brüning]]]]
* [[November 1]] &ndash; [[Anton Flettner]], German aviation engineer, inventor (d. [[1961]])
* [[November 2]] &ndash; [[Harlow Shapley]], American astronomer (d. [[1972]])
* [[November 5]] &ndash; [[Will Durant]], American philosopher, writer (d. [[1981]])
* [[November 8]] &ndash; [[Tomoyuki Yamashita]], Japanese general (d. [[1946]])
* [[November 9]] ([[October 28]] (O.S.)) &ndash; [[Velimir Khlebnikov]], Russian poet (d. [[1922]])
* [[November 11]] &ndash; [[George S. Patton]], American general (d. [[1945]])
* [[November 15]] &ndash; [[Frederick Handley Page|Frederick Handley-Page]], British aviation pioneer, aircraft company founder (d. [[1962]])
* [[November 26]] &ndash; [[Heinrich Brüning]], [[Chancellor of Germany]] 1930-1932 (d. [[1970]])
* [[November 30]]
** [[Albert Kesselring]], German field marshal (d. [[1960]])
** [[Ma Zhanshan]], Chinese general (d. [[1950]])

=== December ===
* [[December 2]] &ndash; [[George Minot]], American physician, recipient of the [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] (d. [[1950]])
* [[December 13]] &ndash; [[Mario Talavera]], Mexican songwriter (d. [[1960]])
* [[December 18]] &ndash; [[Walter Crail]], American photographer, staff photographer for the [[Public Ledger (Philadelphia)|Public Ledger]] (d. [[1924]])
* [[December 19]]
** [[John Lavarack]], Australian general, [[Governor of Queensland]] (1946-1957) (d. [[1957]])
** [[King Oliver]], American jazz musician (d. [[1938]])
* [[December 29]], &ndash; [[Eliza Marian Butler]], British scholar and writer (d. [[1959]])

===Date unknown===
* [[Geza von Hoffmann]], Austrian-Hungarian eugenicist and writer (d. [[1921]])<ref name=Turda1>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.</ref>
* [[Alessandro Tonini]], Italian aeronautical engineer and aircraft designer and manufacturer (d. [[1932]])

== Deaths ==
=== January&ndash;June ===
[[File:Victor Hugo by Étienne Carjat 1876 - full.jpg|thumb|right|110px|[[Victor Hugo]]]]
* [[January 11]] &ndash; [[Mariano Ospina Rodríguez]], President of Colombia (b. [[1805]])
* [[January 13]] &ndash; [[Schuyler Colfax]], [[List of Vice Presidents of the United States|17th]] [[Vice President of the United States]] (b. [[1823]])
* [[January 26]] &ndash; [[Charles George Gordon|Charles "Chinese" Gordon]], British general (killed in battle) (b. [[1833]])
* [[February 1]] &ndash; [[Sidney Gilchrist Thomas]], British inventor (b. [[1850]])
* [[February 7]] &ndash; [[Iwasaki Yataro]], Japanese industrialist, Founder of [[Mitsubishi]] (b. [[1835]])
* [[February 8]] &ndash; [[Nikolai Severtzov]], Russian explorer, naturalist (b. [[1827]])
* [[February 19]] &ndash; [[José María Pinedo]], Argentinian naval commander (b. [[1795]])
* [[March 12]] &ndash; [[Próspero Fernández Oreamuno]], President of Costa Rica (b. [[1834]])
* [[March 13]] &ndash; [[Giorgio Mitrovich]], Maltese politician (b. [[1795]])<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mangion |first1=Fabian |title=Recalling a brave, sincere patriot forgotten by Malta |url=https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20150308/life-features/Recalling-a-brave-sincere-patriot-forgotten-by-Malta.559170 |work=[[Times of Malta]] |date=8 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225125956/https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20150308/life-features/Recalling-a-brave-sincere-patriot-forgotten-by-Malta.559170 |archive-date=December 25, 2018 |access-date=December 24, 2018 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all}}</ref>
* [[March 22]] &ndash; [[Harry Smith Parkes|Sir Harry Smith Parkes]], British diplomat (b. [[1828]])
* [[April 2]] &ndash; [[Justo Rufino Barrios]], Central American leader (b. [[1835]])
* [[April 6]] &ndash; [[Eduard Vogel von Falckenstein]], Prussian general (b. [[1797]])
* [[April 25]] &ndash; [[Queen Emma of Hawaii]] (b. [[1836]])
* [[May 2]] &ndash; [[Terézia Zakoucs]], [[Hungarian Slovenes|Hungarian Slovene]] author (b. [[1817]])
* [[May 4]] &ndash; [[Irvin McDowell]], American general (b. [[1818]])
* [[May 17]] &ndash; [[Jonathan Young (commodore)|Jonathan Young]], United States Navy commodore (b. [[1826]])
* [[May 19]] &ndash; [[Robert Emmet Odlum]], American swimming instructor (died as result of becoming the first person to jump from the [[Brooklyn Bridge]]) (b. [[1851]])
* [[May 20]] &ndash; [[Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen]], [[List of secretaries of state of the United States|29th]] [[United States Secretary of State]] (b. [[1817]])
* [[May 22]] &ndash; [[Victor Hugo]], French author (b. [[1802]])<ref>{{cite book|author=Albert W. Halsall|title=Victor Hugo and the Romantic Drama|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CTyPQqvgHnUC&pg=PA206|date=1 January 1998|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-0-8020-4322-1|pages=206}}</ref>
* [[June 11]] &ndash; [[Amédée Courbet]], French admiral (b. [[1827]])
* [[June 17]] &ndash; [[Edwin Freiherr von Manteuffel]], German field marshal (b. [[1809]])
* [[June 22]] &ndash; [[Muhammad Ahmad]], Sudanese Mahdi (b. [[1844]])

=== July&ndash;December ===
[[File:Ulysses S. Grant 1870-1880.jpg|thumb|148x148px|[[Ulysses S. Grant]]]]
* [[July 21]] &ndash; [[Karolina Sobańska]], Polish noble, agent (b. [[1795]])
* [[July 23]] &ndash; [[Ulysses S. Grant]], 63, [[American Civil War]] general, 18th [[President of the United States]] (b. [[1822]])
* [[August]] &ndash; [[Aga Khan II]], Iranian religious leader (b. [[1830]])
* [[August 6]] &ndash; [[Emil Zsigmondy]], Austrian mountaineer (b. [[1861]])
* [[August 10]] &ndash; [[James W. Marshall]], American contractor, builder of [[Sutter's Mill]] (b. [[1810]])
* [[August 29]] &ndash; [[Moriz Ludassy]], Hungarian journalist (b. [[1825]])
* [[September 2]] &ndash; [[Giuseppe Bonavia]], Maltese architect (b. [[1821]])
* [[September 5]] &ndash; [[Zuo Zongtang]], Chinese general and politician (b. [[1812]])
* [[September 6]] &ndash; [[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]] [[File:Carl Spitzweg.jpg|thumb|110px|right|[[Carl Spitzweg]]]]
** [[Jumbo]], African elephant, star attraction in [[P. T. Barnum]]'s circus (train accident) (b. [[1861]])
** [[Carl Spitzweg]], German romanticist painter (b. [[1808]])
* [[October 1]] &ndash; [[Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury]], British politician and philanthropist (b.[[1801]])
* [[October 3]] &ndash; [[Mazhar Nanautawi]], Indian freedom struggle activist and founding figure of [[Mazahir Uloom]] (b. [[1821]])
* [[October 5]] &ndash; [[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]])
* [[File:Thomas Andrews Hendricks.jpg|thumb|157x157px|[[Thomas A. Hendricks]]]][[November 16]] &ndash; [[Louis Riel]], Canadian-American leader (executed) (b. [[1844]])
* [[November 8]] &ndash; [[John McCullough (actor)|John McCullough]], Irish-American actor (b. [[1832]])
* [[November 24]] &ndash; [[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]] &ndash; [[Thomas Andrews (scientist)|Thomas Andrews]], Irish chemist (b. [[1813]])
* [[December 8]] &ndash; [[William Henry Vanderbilt]], American entrepreneur (b. [[1821]])
* [[December 13]] &ndash; [[Benjamin Gratz Brown]], American politician (b. [[1826]])
* [[December 15]] &ndash; [[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]]&ndash;[[September 7]] &ndash; 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.
* The plot of [[An American Tail]] is set in this period.
* Stephen Gordon, protagonist of [[The Well of Loneliness]], is born on 24th December 1885.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal|title=Appletons' Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events of the Year 1885 |journal=Appletons' Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events of the Year |volume=25 |year=1887 |pages=42 v |publisher=[[D. Appleton and Co.]] |location=New York |hdl=2027/hvd.hb0r95}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1885}}
[[Category:1885| ]]