What happened in 1884

23 events　World 2, Japan 1, North America 5, Europe 10, Asia 2, Latin America 1, Africa 2

Highlights of 1884

Aug 22WorldThe Sino-French War (for control of Tonkin) breaks out (continues to April 1885).
Sep 23Latin America24 (night) – Steamship Arctique runs aground near Cape Virgenes, leading to the discovery of nearby placer gold and beginning the Tierra del Fuego gold rush.
Nov 4North America1884 United States presidential election: Democratic governor of New York Grover Cleveland defeats Republican James G. Blaine in a very close contest, to win the first of his non-consecutive terms.
Nov 4AsiaHKJC Open.
Nov 15EuropeThe Berlin Conference, which regulates European colonisation and trade in Africa, begins (ends February 26, 1885).
Dec 4JapanReformers in Korea who admire the Meiji Restoration in Japan stage the Gapsin Coup, with Japan's help. China intervenes to rescue the king and help suppress the rebels.

Aug 22The Sino-French War (for control of Tonkin) breaks out (continues to April 1885).
Nov 1The Irish Gaelic Athletic Association is founded in Thurles, Ireland.

Dec 4Reformers in Korea who admire the Meiji Restoration in Japan stage the Gapsin Coup, with Japan's help. China intervenes to rescue the king and help suppress the rebels.

Jul 3The Dow Jones Transportation Average, consisting of eleven transportation-related companies (nine railroads and two non-rail companies, Western Union and Pacific Mail), is created in the United States. The index is the oldest stock index to remain in use.
Oct 6The United States Naval War College is established in Newport, Rhode Island.
Oct 22The International Meridian Conference meeting in Washington, D.C., fixes the Greenwich meridian as the world's prime meridian (voted on October 13).
Nov 41884 United States presidential election: Democratic governor of New York Grover Cleveland defeats Republican James G. Blaine in a very close contest, to win the first of his non-consecutive terms.
Dec 10Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is first published, in London.

Jan 4The Fabian Society is founded in London to promote gradualist social progress.
Mar 28Prince Leopold, the youngest son and eighth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, dies, aged 30 in Cannes (France) following a fall complicated by his haemophilia. His son, Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, is born nearly 4 months later.
Apr 20Pope Leo XIII publishes the encyclical Humanum genus, denouncing Freemasonry and certain liberal beliefs which he considers to be associated with it.
Jun 28The Norwegian Association for Women's Rights (Norsk Kvinnesaksforening) is founded. Also this year, the Fredrika Bremer Association (Fredrika Bremer Förbundet) is founded in Sweden for the same purpose.
Jul 5Germany takes possession of Togoland.
Oct 18The University College of North Wales, Bangor, is founded in the UK.
Nov 15The Berlin Conference, which regulates European colonisation and trade in Africa, begins (ends February 26, 1885).
Dec 6The Third Reform Act widens the adult male electorate in the United Kingdom to around 60%.
Dec 9Tom Dudley and Edwin Stephens are convicted of murder in the survival cannibalism case of R v. Dudley and Stephens in the English courts.
Dec 30Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 7 is premiered in Leipzig, bringing the composer his first great success.

Aug 23Sino-French War: Battle of Fuzhou – French Admiral Amédée Courbet's Far East Squadron virtually destroys China's Fujian Fleet.
Nov 4HKJC Open.

Sep 2324 (night) – Steamship Arctique runs aground near Cape Virgenes, leading to the discovery of nearby placer gold and beginning the Tierra del Fuego gold rush.

Mar 13The Siege of Khartoum begins in the Sudan as part of the Mahdist War: an Egyptian garrison led by British General Charles Gordon and Sudanese civilians are besieged by Mahdist forces; the city falls on January 26, 1885.
Apr 24A German protectorate is established over South-West Africa.