What Happened in 1885

Home Insurance Building Built

The Home Insurance Building was built in 1885 in Chicago, Illinois, USA and destroyed in 1931 to make way for the Field Building (now the LaSalle... Read more

Nikola Tesla quits working for Edison

Tesla claims he was offered US$50,000 (~ US$1.1 million in 2007, adjusted for inflation) if he redesigned Edison's inefficient motor and... Read more

Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" Is Published

PERSONS attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons... Read more

Alice Paul Is Born

Alice Paul, chief strategist for the militant wing of the suffrage movement and author of the Equal Rights Amendment, was born on January... Read more

Grover Cleveland is inaugurated as the 22nd president of the United States

On the East Portico of the Capitol, the former Governor of New York was administered the oath of office by Chief Justice Morrison Waite. A... Read more

First Issue Of Good Housekeeping

Good Housekeeping made its debut on May 2, 1885. One of several popular women's magazines founded in the 1880s and 1890s, Good Housekeeping... Read more

Statue Of Liberty Arrives In New York

Construction of the statue began in 1875 in France, and was completed in June 1884. A design patent, for the statue was issued, by the United... Read more

Louis Pasteur Uses First Successful Rabies Vaccine

Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal: My strength lies solely in my tenacity. Read more

Sarah Goode Becomes First African-American Woman to Receive a Patent

Sarah E. Goode (b.1850s-d. c. 1905) was the first African-American woman to receive a patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office.... Read more

Ulysses S. Grant Dies

Ulysses S. Grant died on Thursday, July 23, 1885, at the age of 63 in Mount McGregor, Saratoga County, New York. His body lies in New York City's... Read more

The Rock Springs Massacre

On September 2, 1885, a mob of white coal miners attacked their Chinese co-workers (both groups were employed by the Union Pacific Coal Company) in... Read more

Jumbo the Elephant is Killed by a Locomotive

Jumbo's private car was some distance down the main line, and it was while walking to this that a shrill whistle signaled the approach of an... Read more

Daimler-Maybach Builds Reitwagen, First Motorcycle

In November 1885, Daimler installed a smaller version of this engine in a wooden bicycle, creating the first motorcycle (Patent 36-423impff & Sohn... Read more