Editing 1888 (section)

== Events ==

=== January–March ===
[[File:Brooklyn blizzard 1888.jpg|thumb|right|[[March 11]]: [[Great Blizzard of 1888]].]]
* [[January 3]] &ndash; The great telescope (with an objective lens of {{convert|91|cm|abbr=on}} diameter) at [[Lick Observatory]] in California is first used.
* [[January 12]] &ndash; The [[Schoolhouse Blizzard]] hits [[Dakota Territory]], the states of [[Montana]], [[Minnesota]], [[Nebraska]], [[Kansas]], and [[Texas]], leaving 235 dead, many of them children on their way home from school.
* [[January 13]] &ndash; The [[National Geographic Society]] is founded in [[Washington, D.C.]]
*[[January 19]] &ndash; The [[Battle of the Grapevine Creek]], the last major conflict of the [[Hatfield-McCoy Feud]].
* [[January 21]] &ndash; The [[Amateur Athletic Union]] is founded by [[William Buckingham Curtis]] in the United States.
* [[January 26]] &ndash;  The [[Lawn Tennis Association]] is founded in England.
* [[February 27]] &ndash; In [[West Orange, New Jersey]], [[Thomas Edison]] meets with [[Eadweard Muybridge]], who proposes a scheme for [[sound film]].
* [[March 8]] &ndash; The Agriculture College of Utah (later [[Utah State University]]) is founded in [[Logan, Utah]].
* [[March 9]] &ndash; [[William I, German Emperor|Wilhelm I]] dies, [[Frederick III, German Emperor|Frederick III]] becomes German Emperor and King of Prussia.
* [[March 11]] &ndash; The [[Great Blizzard of 1888]] begins along the [[East Coast of the United States|eastern seaboard]] of the United States, shutting down commerce and killing more than 400.
* [[March 13]] &ndash; The summit of [[1888 Ritter Island eruption and tsunami|Ritter Island]] collapsed resulting in a [[tsunami]] and the deaths of an estimated 500 to 3,500 people.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Paris|first1=R.|last2=Switzer|first2=A.D.|last3=Belousova|first3=M.|date=2014|title=Volcanic tsunami: a review of source mechanisms, past events and hazards in Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea)|url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11069-013-0822-8/tables/1|journal=Natural Hazards|volume=70|issue=1 |pages=447–440|doi=10.1007/s11069-013-0822-8|bibcode=2014NatHa..70..447P |s2cid=73610567|via=}}</ref>
* [[March 13]] &ndash; [[De Beers|De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd.]] is founded in [[Kimberley, South Africa|Kimberley]].
* [[March 15]] &ndash; The [[Sikkim Expedition]], a British military expedition to expel the Tibetans from northern [[Sikkim]], begins.
* [[March 16]] &ndash; The foundation stone for a new [[National Library of Greece]] is laid in [[Athens]].
* [[March 20]] &ndash; The first [[Romen Theatre#Forerunners of Romen Theatre|Romani language operetta]] premieres in Moscow, Russia.
* [[March 23]] &ndash; A meeting called by [[William McGregor (football)|William McGregor]], to discuss establishment of [[The Football League]], is held in London.
* [[March 25]] &ndash; Opening of an international ''Congress for Women's Rights'' organized by [[Susan B. Anthony]] in Washington, D.C., leading to formation of the [[International Council of Women]], a key event in the international women's movement.

=== April–June ===
* [[April 3]]
** London prostitute [[Emma Elizabeth Smith]] is brutally attacked by two or three men, dying of her injuries the following day, first of the [[Whitechapel murders]], but probably not a victim of [[Jack the Ripper]].
** The [[Brighton Beach]] Hotel in [[Coney Island]] (New York) is moved {{convert|520|ft|m|abbr=on}}, using six steam [[locomotive]]s, by [[civil engineer]] B. C. Miller, to save it from ocean storms.
* [[April 6]] &ndash; The first [[New Year's Day]] is observed, of the [[Thai solar calendar|solar calendar]] adopted by Siamese King [[Chulalongkorn]], with the 106th anniversary of [[Bangkok]]'s founding in 1782 as its [[epoch (reference date)]].
* [[April 11]] &ndash; The [[Concertgebouw, Amsterdam|Concertgebouw]] orchestra in [[Amsterdam]] is inaugurated.
* [[April 13]] &ndash; ''Kahisakan'' (可否茶館), the first [[Coffeehouse|coffee shop]] in [[Japan]], opens in [[Tokyo]]<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.y-21gp.com/coffee/STORY/storyAB.htm | title=コーヒーの歴史と文化伝播の旅「倉敷珈琲物語」-可否茶館-日本最初の本格的珈琲店 }}</ref>
* [[April 16]] &ndash; The [[German Empire]] annexes the island of [[Nauru]].
* [[April 18]] – [[Westminster School (Connecticut)|Westminster School]] is founded in Simsbury, Connecticut.
* [[April 21]] &ndash; The [[Texas State Capitol]] building, completed at a cost of $3&nbsp;million, opens to the public in [[Austin, Texas|Austin]].
* [[May 1]] &ndash; [[Fort Belknap Indian Reservation]] is established by the [[United States Congress]].
* [[May 8]] &ndash; The [[International Exhibition of Science, Art and Industry]] in [[Kelvingrove Park]], [[Glasgow]] opens (continues to November).
* [[May 10]] &ndash; Nippon Oil Corporation, predecessor of [[Eneos]], a [[Energy|petroleum and gas energy brand]] in [[Japan]], is founded in [[Niigata Prefecture]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Coumbe|first=Albert Thompson|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LTKWCdWKPw8C&dq=nippon+oil+corporation+10+may+1888&pg=PA10|title=Petroleum in Japan|date=1924|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|pages=10|language=en}}</ref>
* [[May 12]] &ndash; The [[North Borneo Chartered Company]]'s territories (including [[Sabah]]) become the [[British protectorate]] of [[North Borneo]].
* [[May 13]] &ndash; In [[Empire of Brazil|Brazil]], the ''[[Lei Áurea]]'' abolishes the last remnants of slavery.
* [[May 26]] &ndash; The comic novel ''[[The Diary of a Nobody]]'' by brothers [[George Grossmith|George]] and [[Weedon Grossmith]] begins serialization in ''[[Punch (magazine)|Punch]]'' (London).<ref>{{cite journal|title= The Diary of a Nobody|url= https://archive.org/stream/punchvol94a95lemouoft#page/n271/mode/2up|journal= Punch, or the London Charivari|volume= 94|date= 26 May 1888|page= 241}}</ref>
* [[May 28]] &ndash; In Glasgow (Scotland), [[Celtic F.C.]] plays its first official match, winning 5–2 against [[Rangers F.C.]]
* [[May 30]] &ndash; Hong Kong's [[Peak Tram]] begins operation.
* [[June 2]] &ndash; [[Edward King (bishop of Lincoln)]] in England is called to account for using [[Ritualism|ritualistic practices]] in [[Anglican]] worship.<ref>{{cite ODNB|first=John A.|last=Newton|title=King, Edward (1829–1910)|year=2004|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/34319|access-date=2012-10-12|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/34319}}</ref>
* [[June 3]]
** The [[Kingdom of Sedang]] is formed, in modern-day [[Vietnam]].
** American writer [[Ernest Thayer]]'s [[baseball]] poem "[[Casey at the Bat]]" is first published (under the pen name "Phin") as the last of his humorous contributions to ''[[The San Francisco Examiner]]''.
* [[June 14]] &ndash; The [[White Rajah]]s territories become the British protectorate of [[Kingdom of Sarawak|Sarawak]].
* [[June 15]] &ndash; [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Wilhelm II]] becomes [[German Emperor]] and King of Prussia; 1888 is the [[Year of the Three Emperors]]. 
* [[June 19]] &ndash; In Chicago, the [[1888 Republican National Convention|Republican Convention]] opens at the [[Auditorium Building]]. [[Benjamin Harrison]] and [[Levi P. Morton]] win the nominations for [[President of the United States|President]] and [[Vice President of the United States]], respectively.
* [[June 29]] &ndash; Handel's ''[[Israel in Egypt]]'' is recorded onto wax cylinder at [[The Crystal Palace]] in London, the earliest known recording of classical music.
* [[June 30]] &ndash; The [[Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom]] opens its laboratory, on [[Plymouth Hoe]].

=== July–September ===
[[File:John Tenniel - Punch - The Nemesis of Neglect.jpg|thumb|145px|right| [[August 31]]: Victim found from [[Jack the Ripper]]?]]
* [[July 2]]&ndash;[[July 27|27]] &ndash; [[London matchgirls strike of 1888]]: About 200 workers, mainly teenaged girls, strike following the dismissal of three colleagues from the [[Bryant and May]] [[match]] factory, precipitated by an article on their working conditions published on [[June 23]] by campaigning journalist [[Annie Besant]], and the workers unionise on July 27.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Match Workers Strike Fund Register|url=http://www.unionhistory.info/matchworkers/matchworkers.php|website=Trades Union Congress Library at the London Metropolitan University|access-date=2016-12-10}}</ref>
* [[July 11]] &ndash; Over 200 miners were killed at a diamond mine in [[Kimberley, Northern Cape|Kimberley]], South Africa.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Kimberley Diamond-mine Disaster |work=The Cornishman |issue=524 |date=19 July 1888 |page=7}}</ref>
* [[July 15]] &ndash; According to [[Japanese government]] official confirmed report, [[1888 eruption of Mount Bandai|A large scale eruption and ash smoke hit around Mount Bandai area]], [[Fukushima Prefecture]], Japan, more than 477 people were killed.<ref>''佐藤''（2005b）; ''北原''（1995a）pp.162-165、''米地''（2006）pp.122-123.</ref>
* [[July 25]] &ndash; [[Frank Edward McGurrin]], a court stenographer from Salt Lake City, Utah, purportedly the only person using [[touch typing]] at this time, wins a decisive victory over Louis Traub in a typing contest held in Cincinnati, Ohio. This date can be called the birthday of the touch typing method that is widely used in modern times.
* [[August 1]] &ndash; [[Carl Benz]] is issued with the world's first [[driving licence]] by the [[Grand Duchy of Baden]].
* [[August 5]] &ndash; [[Bertha Benz]] arrives in [[Pforzheim]] having driven {{convert|40|mi|km}} from [[Mannheim]] in a car manufactured by her husband [[Carl Benz]], thus completing the first "long-distance" drive in the history of the [[automobile]].
* [[August 7]] &ndash; [[Whitechapel murders]]: The body of London [[prostitute]] [[Martha Tabram]] is found, a possible victim of [[Jack the Ripper]].<ref name="Pocket On This Day">{{cite book|title=Penguin Pocket On This Day|publisher=Penguin Reference Library|isbn=0-14-102715-0|year=2006}}</ref>
* [[August 9]]
** A fire destroys the Main Building, the heart of [[Wells College]] in [[Aurora, Cayuga County, New York|Aurora, New York]], causing a loss of $130,000.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1888/08/10/100944385.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1888/08/10/100944385.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=Wells College Destroyed|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=1888-08-10}}</ref>
** The [[Oaths Act 1888|Oaths Act]] permits the [[oath of allegiance]] taken to the Sovereign by [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Members of Parliament]] (MPs) to be [[Affirmation in law|affirmed]], rather than sworn to [[God]], thus confirming the ability of [[atheist]]s to sit in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom]].
* [[August 10]] &ndash; Dr [[Friedrich Hermann Wölfert]]’s motorised airship successfully completes the world’s first engine-driven flight, from [[Cannstatt]] to [[Kornwestheim]] in Germany.<ref>{{cite web|title=The first engine-driven flight|url=http://media.daimler.com/dcmedia/0-921-614820-1-1620107-1-0-1-0-0-0-0-614318-0-1-0-0-0-0-0.html|website=Daimler|access-date=2016-04-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509132831/http://media.daimler.com/dcmedia/0-921-614820-1-1620107-1-0-1-0-0-0-0-614318-0-1-0-0-0-0-0.html|archive-date=May 9, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[August 13]] &ndash; The [[Local Government Act 1888|Local Government Act]], effective from [[1889]], establishes [[county council]]s and [[county borough]] councils in [[England and Wales]], redraws some county boundaries, and gives women the vote in local elections. It also declares that "bicycles, tricycles, velocipedes, and other similar machines" be carriages within the meaning of the Highway Acts (which remains the case), and requires that they give audible warning when overtaking "any cart or carriage, or any horse, mule, or other beast of burden, or any foot passenger", a rule abolished in [[1930]].
* [[August 20]] &ndash; A mutiny at [[Dufile]], [[Equatoria]], results in the imprisonment of the [[Emin Pasha]].
* [[August 22]] &ndash; Earliest [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/maps.13469 evidence] of a death and injury by a meteorite in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq.
* [[August 24]] &ndash;The first [[trams in Tallinn]] ([[Reval]]), [[horsecar]]s, begin operation.
* [[August 31]] &ndash; [[Whitechapel murders]]: The mutilated body of London prostitute [[Mary Ann Nichols]] is found; she is considered the first victim of [[Jack the Ripper]].
*  [[September 4]]
** In the United States, [[George Eastman]] registers the trademark ''[[Kodak]]'', and receives a patent for his [[camera]], which uses roll film.
** [[Mohandas Gandhi]] embarks on the S.S. ''Clyde'' from [[Bombay]] for [[London]].
* [[September 6]] &ndash; [[Charles Turner (Australian cricketer)|Charles Turner]] becomes the first [[bowler (cricket)|bowler]] in cricket to take 250 wickets in an English season &ndash; a feat since accomplished only by [[Tom Richardson (cricketer)|Tom Richardson]] (twice), [[J. T. Hearne]], [[Wilfred Rhodes]] (twice) and [[Tich Freeman]] (six times).
* [[September 8]]
** [[Patagonian sheep farming boom|The Great Herding]] ({{langx|es|El Gran Arreo}}) begins with thousands of sheep being herded from the Argentine outpost of [[General Conesa, Río Negro|Fortín Conesa]] to [[Santa Cruz Province (Argentina)|Santa Cruz]] near the [[Strait of Magellan]].<ref name=Guzman2007>{{Cite news|title=Rincón gaucho. Un arreo que extendió la frontera ganadera|url=https://www.lanacion.com.ar/economia/campo/un-arreo-que-extendio-la-frontera-ganadera-nid888030/|last=Guzmán|first=Yuyú|date=March 3, 2007|access-date=January 20, 2021|work=[[La Nación]]}}</ref>
** [[Whitechapel murders]]: The mutilated body of London prostitute [[Annie Chapman]] is found (considered to be the second victim of [[Jack the Ripper]]).
** In England, the first six [[Football League]] matches are played.<ref name="Pocket On This Day"/>
** In a letter accepting renomination as [[President of the United States]], [[Grover Cleveland]] declares the Chinese "impossible of assimilation with our people and dangerous to our peace and welfare".
* [[September 17]] &ndash; Las Cruces College (later [[New Mexico State University]]) is founded in [[Las Cruces, New Mexico]].
* [[September 27]]
** [[Whitechapel murders]]: The '[[Dear Boss letter]]' signed "[[Jack the Ripper]]", the first time the name is used, is received by London's Central News Agency.<ref name="Pocket On This Day"/>
** [[Stanley Park]] is officially opened by [[Vancouver]] (B.C.) mayor [[David Oppenheimer]]. 
* [[September 30]] &ndash; [[Whitechapel murders]]: The bodies of London prostitutes [[Elizabeth Stride]] and [[Catherine Eddowes]], the latter mutilated, are found. They are generally considered [[Jack the Ripper]]'s third and fourth victims, respectively.

=== October–December ===
* [[October 1]] &ndash; [[Sofia University]] officially opens, becoming the first university in liberated Bulgaria.
* [[October 2]] &ndash; The [[Whitehall Mystery]]: Dismembered remains of a woman's body are discovered at three central London locations, one being the construction site of the police headquarters at [[Scotland Yard|New Scotland Yard]].
* [[October 9]] &ndash; The [[Washington Monument]] officially opens to the general public in Washington, D.C.[[File:Washmem.jpg|thumb|145px|right|[[October 9]]: [[Washington Monument]] opens.]]
* [[October 14]]
** [[Louis Le Prince]] films the first motion picture: ''[[Roundhay Garden Scene]]'' in [[Roundhay]], [[Leeds]], [[West Yorkshire]], England, two seconds and 18 frames in length (followed by his movie ''[[Leeds Bridge]] and [[Accordion Player]]'').
** [[Battle of Guté Dili]]: Seeking to extend [[Mahdi]]st control over what is now southwestern [[Ethiopia]], governor Khalil al-Khuzani is routed by an alliance of [[Shewa]]n forces, under ''[[Ras (title)|Ras]]'' [[Gobana Dacche]] and Moroda Bekere, ruler of Leqa Naqamte. Only a handful, including Khalil, barely manage to flee the battlefield.
* [[October 25]] &ndash; [[St Cuthbert's Society]] at the [[University of Durham]] in England is founded, after a general meeting chaired by the Reverend [[Hastings Rashdall]].
* [[October 30]] &ndash; The [[Rudd Concession]], a written [[concession (contract)|concession]] for exclusive mining rights in [[Matabeleland]], [[Mashonaland]] and adjoining territories, is granted by King [[Lobengula]] of Matabeleland to [[Charles Rudd]], [[James Rochfort Maguire]] and Francis Thompson, who are acting on behalf of South African-based politician and businessman [[Cecil Rhodes]], providing a basis for white settlement of [[Rhodesia (name)|Rhodesia]].
* [[November 6]] &ndash; [[1888 United States presidential election]]: [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] incumbent [[Grover Cleveland]] wins the popular vote, but loses the [[Electoral College (United States)|Electoral College]] vote to [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] challenger [[Benjamin Harrison]], therefore losing the election.
* [[November 8]] &ndash; Joseph Assheton Fincher files a [[patent]] in the United Kingdom for the parlour game which he calls "[[Tiddlywinks|Tiddledy-Winks]]".
* [[November 9]] &ndash; [[Whitechapel murders]]: The mutilated body of London prostitute [[Mary Jane Kelly]] is found. She is considered to be the fifth, and last, of [[Jack the Ripper]]'s victims. A number of similar murders in England follow, but the police attribute them to copy-cat killers.
* [[November 16]] &ndash; First signs of [[Famines in Ethiopia|famine in Ethiopia]], caused by drought combined with early spread of the [[1890s African rinderpest epizootic]].
* [[November 24]] &ndash; The first [[St V|Saint Verhaegen]] takes place in [[Brussels]].
* [[November 27]] &ndash; International sorority [[Delta Delta Delta]] is founded at [[Boston University]] in the United States.
* [[November 29]] &ndash; The celebration of [[Thanksgiving (United States)]] and the first day of [[Hanukkah]] coincide.
* [[December 7]] &ndash; [[John Boyd Dunlop]] patents the pneumatic bicycle tyre in the United Kingdom.
* [[December 17]] &ndash; The [[Lyric Theatre, London]] opens.
* [[December 18]] &ndash; [[Richard Wetherill]] and his brother-in-law, Charlie Mason, discover the Indian ruins of [[Mesa Verde National Park|Mesa Verde]] in southwestern [[Colorado]].
* [[December 23]] &ndash; During a bout of [[mental illness]] (and having quarreled with his friend [[Paul Gauguin]]), [[Dutch people|Dutch]] [[Painting|painter]] [[Vincent van Gogh]] infamously cuts off the lower part of his own left ear, taking it to a brothel, and is removed to the local [[Hospital in Arles (Van Gogh series)|hospital in Arles]].

=== Date unknown ===
*In Germany, 1888 is known as the [[Year of the Three Emperors]]. 
*In Poland, [[Schiffers & Co.]] is founded in [[Warsaw]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Nikogosyan |first1=David N. |title=Hollow Ware Marks of Warsaw Silver Plate Factories Operated in the Russian Empire |url=https://www.ascasonline.org/articoloDICEM165.html |website=www.ascasonline.org |publisher=ASSOCIATION OF SMALL COLLECTORS OF ANTIQUE SILVER |access-date=30 April 2024}}</ref>
* The dolphin [[Pelorus Jack]] is first sighted in [[Cook Strait]], New Zealand.
* The [[Camborne School of Mines]] is founded in [[Cornwall]], England.
* [[John Robert Gregg]] first publishes [[Gregg shorthand]] in the United States.
* The Finnish epic ''[[Kalevala]]'' is published for the first time in the [[English language]], by American linguist [[John Martin Crawford (scholar)|John Martin Crawford]].
* [[The Baldwin School]] is founded in [[Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania]], as "Miss [Florence] Baldwin's School for Girls, Preparatory for [[Bryn Mawr College]]".
* [[Letitia Alice Walkington]] became the first woman in the United Kingdom to receive a degree of [[Bachelor of Laws]], from the [[Royal University of Ireland]] at [[Queen's College, Belfast]].
* Global [[pharmaceutical]] and [[health care]] brands are founded in the United States:
** [[G.D. Searle]] by [[Gideon Daniel Searle]] in [[Omaha, Nebraska]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Searle family|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/searle/|access-date=2022-11-12|website=Forbes|year=2015}}</ref>
** [[Abbott Laboratories]] as Abbott Alkaloidal by Dr. Wallace C. Abbott in [[Illinois]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Burrell|first=Brandon|url=https://fsu.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/fsu:253319/datastream/PDF/view|title=Abbott Laboratories: Provisioning a Vision|publisher=Florida State University|year=2013|location=Tallahassee}}</ref>
* [[Katz's Delicatessen]] is founded in the [[Lower East Side]] of [[Manhattan]].
* First British [[rugby union]] tour of Australia and New Zealand.