What Happened in 1883 — Events, Births & Deaths

The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, establishing the United States Civil Service, is enacted by Congress.

The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires, built by Thomas Edison, begins service at Roselle, New Jersey.

Demonstration of 9 March 1883: Parisian anarchists, unemployed and carpenters narrowly miss the Presidential palace during a violent protest; first use of the black flag as a symbol of anarchism by Louise Michel.

The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property is signed.

Buffalo Bill's first Buffalo Bill's Wild West opens in Omaha, Nebraska.

Krakatoa begins to erupt; the volcano explodes three months later, killing more than 36,000 people.

The Brooklyn Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction.

Alexander III is crowned Tsar of Russia.

In New York City, 12 people are killed in a stampede on the recently opened Brooklyn Bridge.

The Victoria Hall theatre panic in Sunderland, England, kills 183 children.

A moderate earthquake measuring magnitude 4.3–5.2 strikes the Italian island of Ischia, killing over 2,300 people.

The last quagga dies at the Natura Artis Magistra, a zoo in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

An F5 tornado strikes Rochester, Minnesota, leading to the creation of the Mayo Clinic.

The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa begins its final, paroxysmal, stage.

Eruption of Krakatoa: Four enormous explosions almost completely destroy the island of Krakatoa, with a combination of tsunamis and pyroclastic flows killing more than 36,000. Climate effects are observed worldwide.

First meeting of the Boys' Brigade in Glasgow, Scotland.

Peru and Chile sign the Treaty of Ancón, by which the Tarapacá province is ceded to the latter, bringing an end to Peru's involvement in the War of the Pacific.

The Metropolitan Opera House in New York City opens with a performance of Charles Gounod's Faust.

In the "day of two noons", American and Canadian railroad companies institute four standard continental time zones, ending the confusion of thousands of local times.

Tonkin Campaign: French forces capture the Sơn Tây citadel.

The Royal Canadian Dragoons and The Royal Canadian Regiment, the first Permanent Force cavalry and infantry regiments of the Canadian Army, are formed.