1880s

Events and Trends

Technology

Development and commercial production of electric lighting

Development and commercial production of gasoline-powered automobile by Karl Benz, Gottlieb Daimler and Maybach

First commercial production and sales of phonographs and phonograph recordings.

First steel frame construction skyscraper|"sky-scrapers"

American Society of Mechanical Engineers founded 16 February 1880, New York, N.Y.

Science

Heinrich Hertz discovers the photoelectric effect

Michelson-Morley experiment, showing that the speed of light is invariant

James-Lange theory of emotion

War, peace and politics

First Boer War

The New Imperialism

Other

Krakatoa, a volcano in Indonesia, erupts cataclysmically; 36,000 people are killed, the majority by the resulting tsunami

About 300,000 Sweden|Swedes emigrate to the United States

People

World Leaders

Emperor Franz Josef of Austria|Franz Josef (Austria-Hungary)

Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald (Canada)

Guangxu Emperor (China)

Emperor Wilhelm I of Germany|Wilhelm I (Germany)

Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany|Wilhelm II (Germany)

Chancellor Otto von Bismarck (Germany)

King Umberto I of Italy|Umberto I (Italy)

Pope Leo XIII

Emperor Emperor Meiji of Japan|Meiji (Japan)

Emperor Alexander II of Russia|Alexander II (Russia)

Queen - Empress Victoria of the United Kingdom|Victoria (United Kingdom)

Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone (United Kingdom)

Prime Minister Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|Lord Salisbury (United Kingdom)

President Rutherford B. Hayes (United States)

President Chester A. Arthur (United States)

President Grover Cleveland (United States)