Important Historical Events of the year 1885, Year 1885 in History
List of 1885 Major News Events in History, Most Important Historical Events in 1885
What happened in the year 1885?
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| January 1, 1885 | Twenty-five nations adopt Sandford Fleming's proposal for standard time (and also, time zones). |
| January 3, 1885 | Sino-French War: Beginning of the Battle of Núi Bop. |
| January 4, 1885 | Sino-French War: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing force at Núi Bop in northern Vietnam. |
| January 17, 1885 | A British force defeats a large Dervish army at the Battle of Abu Klea in the Sudan. |
| January 26, 1885 | Troops loyal to The Mahdi conquer Khartoum, killing the Governor-General Charles George Gordon. |
| February 5, 1885 | King Leopold II of Belgium establishes the Congo as a personal possession. |
| February 8, 1885 | The first government-approved Japanese immigrants arrive in Hawaii. |
| February 18, 1885 | Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is published in the United States. |
| February 21, 1885 | The newly completed Washington Monument is dedicated. |
| February 23, 1885 | Sino-French War: French Army gains an important victory in the Battle of Đồng Đăng in the Tonkin region of Vietnam. |
| March 14, 1885 | The Mikado, a light opera by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, receives its first public performance at the Savoy Theatre in London. |
| March 19, 1885 | Louis Riel declares a provisional government in Saskatchewan, beginning the North-West Rebellion. |
| March 23, 1885 | Sino-French War: Chinese victory in the Battle of Phu Lam Tao near Hưng Hóa, northern Vietnam. |
| March 26, 1885 | The Métis people of the District of Saskatchewan under Louis Riel begin the North-West Rebellion against Canada. |
| March 30, 1885 | The Battle for Kushka triggers the Panjdeh Incident which nearly gives rise to war between the Russian and British Empires. |
| March 31, 1885 | The United Kingdom establishes the Bechuanaland Protectorate. |
| April 2, 1885 | Canadian Cree warriors attack the village of Frog Lake, killing nine. |
| April 3, 1885 | Gottlieb Daimler is granted a German patent for a light, high-speed, four-stroke engine, which he uses seven months later to create the world's first motorcycle, the Daimler Reitwagen. |
| April 24, 1885 | American sharpshooter Annie Oakley is hired by Nate Salsbury to be a part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West. |
| April 30, 1885 | Governor of New York David B. Hill signs legislation creating the Niagara Reservation, New York's first state park, ensuring that Niagara Falls will not be devoted solely to industrial and commercial use. |
| May 1, 1885 | The original Chicago Board of Trade Building opens for business. |
| May 2, 1885 | Cree and Assiniboine warriors win the Battle of Cut Knife, their largest victory over Canadian forces during the North-West Rebellion. |
| May 12, 1885 | North-West Rebellion: The four-day Battle of Batoche, pitting rebel Métis against the Canadian government, comes to an end with a decisive rebel defeat. |
| June 3, 1885 | In the last military engagement fought on Canadian soil, the Cree leader, Big Bear, escapes the North-West Mounted Police. |
| June 9, 1885 | Treaty of Tientsin is signed to end the Sino-French War, with China eventually giving up Tonkin and Annam – most of present-day Vietnam – to France. |
| June 17, 1885 | The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor. |
| July 1, 1885 | The United States terminates reciprocity and fishery agreement with Canada. |
| July 1, 1885 | The Congo Free State is established by King Leopold II of Belgium. |
| July 6, 1885 | Louis Pasteur successfully tests his vaccine against rabies on Joseph Meister, a boy who was bitten by a rabid dog. |
| July 20, 1885 | The Football Association legalizes professionalism in association football under pressure from the British Football Association. |
| August 14, 1885 | Japan's first patent is issued to the inventor of a rust-proof paint. |
| August 29, 1885 | Gottlieb Daimler patents the world's first internal combustion motorcycle, the Reitwagen. |
| September 2, 1885 | Rock Springs massacre: In Rock Springs, Wyoming, 150 white miners, who are struggling to unionize so they could strike for better wages and work conditions, attack their Chinese fellow workers killing 28, wounding 15 and forcing several hundred more out of town. |
| September 6, 1885 | Eastern Rumelia declares its union with Bulgaria, thus accomplishing Bulgarian unification. |
| September 12, 1885 | Arbroath 36–0 Bon Accord, a world record scoreline in professional Association football. |
| September 22, 1885 | Lord Randolph Churchill makes a speech in Ulster in opposition to the Irish Home Rule movement. |
| September 29, 1885 | The first practical public electric tramway in the world is opened in Blackpool, England. |
| October 13, 1885 | The Georgia Institute of Technology is founded in Atlanta, Georgia. |
| November 7, 1885 | The completion of Canada's first transcontinental railway is symbolized by the Last Spike ceremony at Craigellachie, British Columbia. |
| November 16, 1885 | Canadian rebel leader of the Métis and "Father of Manitoba" Louis Riel is executed for treason. |
| November 17, 1885 | Serbo-Bulgarian War: The decisive Battle of Slivnitsa begins. |
| November 19, 1885 | Serbo-Bulgarian War: Bulgarian victory in the Battle of Slivnitsa solidifies the unification between the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia. |
| November 28, 1885 | Bulgarian victory in the Serbo-Bulgarian War preserves the Unification of Bulgaria. |
| December 22, 1885 | Itō Hirobumi, a samurai, becomes the first Prime Minister of Japan. |
| December 28, 1885 | Indian National Congress, a political party of India, is founded in Bombay Presidency, British India. |