This Year in History:
1883
Discover what happened in this year with HISTORY’s summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.
The Southern Pacific Railroad completes its transcontinental “Sunset Route” from New Orleans to California, consolidating its dominance over rail traffic to the Pacific. One of the most powerful railroad companies of the 19th century, the “Espee” (as the railroad was often called) originated in an ambitious plan conceived in 1870 by the “Big Four” western […]
In this This Day in History video, take a look at May 24, the day in 1883 when the first American railroad service was put in place, in 1846 the telegraph was first tested by William Morse, and in 1883 the Brooklyn Bridge was built. In 1994, the Democrats gained control of the congress after […]
After 14 years, the Brooklyn Bridge over the East River opens in 1883, connecting the great cities of New York and Brooklyn for the first time in history. Thousands of residents of Brooklyn and Manhattan Island turned out to witness the dedication ceremony, which was presided over by President Chester A. Arthur and New York […]
One of the most powerful volcanic eruptions in recorded history occurs on Krakatoa (also called Krakatau), a small, uninhabited volcanic island east of Sumatra and west of Java, on August 27, 1883. Heard 3,000 miles away, the explosions threw five cubic miles of earth 50 miles into the air, created 120-foot tsunamis and killed 36,000 people. Krakatoa exhibited its […]
Authorities almost catch the California bandit and infamous stagecoach robber called Black Bart; he manages to make a quick getaway, but drops an incriminating clue that eventually sends him to prison—a handkerchief with a laundry mark. Black Bart was born Charles E. Boles, probably in the state of New York around 1830. As a young man, […]
At exactly noon on this day, American and Canadian railroads begin using four continental time zones to end the confusion of dealing with thousands of local times. The bold move was emblematic of the power shared by the railroad companies. The need for continental time zones stemmed directly from the problems of moving passengers and […]
