1884

Sir Madhavrao of Baroda requests Sri Ravi Verma to make oleographs.

Urvashi leaves Pururavas. She had once sought him out, propelled by her attraction to the man. The celestial nymph had become obsessed with a mortal, (so what if he was a king). She became his charioteer for days, dressed as a male, and finally revealed herself as the startlingly beautiful woman that she was. How could he resist her?

They were to live together, the creature of earth with the creature of the sky, on one condition, that she was to never see him completely nude. They lived within the night therefore, hidden from her eyes. Purvuras had gone vainly into the bedroom, looking to conquer, and feel even more vainglorious about his experience, but he was singed, like she was.

They lived immersed in each other, till one day, the Gandharvas, the lovers that Urvashi had deserted, plotted and stole her beloved goat kid. Urvashi woke with a start and immediately woke Purvuras and asked him to leave and bring it back for her. Like Draupadi would ask Bhim for the Himalayan flower or Sita asked Rama for the golden deer. With even more urgency, almost like she was attributing blame. Purvuras, startled from sleep, unable to think as he heard her accusation, just strode to the door and the light that streamed in.. and so he lost his Urvashi

A popular song of J.J. School of Arts:

Jamsetjeemn Jabajeboy/ Jabberi dobi Porie/ Ikey Pickey Sikey Criky/ Chillungow llabdori

Ramkrishna Paramhansa visits and is entranced by Chaitanya Leela performed in Star Theatre, Calcutta. He goes into a reverie. The play itself is probably a result of the growing popularity of the Chaitanya Bhakti kirtans, resurrected by the Brahmo Samaj.

Fountain pen- Waterman Roll Film- Eastman Skyscrapers. Cocaine. Edison's peep shows.

Template:Yearbox Template:C19YearInTopic 1884 (MDCCCLXXXIV) is a leap year starting on Tuesday (click on link to calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar).

Events

• January 4 - The Fabian Society is founded in London.
• January 18 - Dr William Price attempts to cremate the body of his infant son, Jesus Christ Price, setting a legal precedent for cremation in the UK.
• February 1 - Edition one of the Oxford English Dictionary is published.
• March 13 - The siege of Khartoum, Sudan begins (ends on January 26, 1885).
• April 22 - Colchester earthquake, England; the UK's most destructive.
• May 1 - the first proclamation of eight-hour workday by the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions in the United States. May 1st, called May Day or Labour Day, is now a holiday recognized in almost every industrialized country.
• July 5 - Germany takes possession of Cameroon.
• August 5 - The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty is laid on Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor.
• August 10 - A severe earthquake, magnitude 5.5, (intensity VII) occurs off the northeast Atlantic coast. The area affected extends from central Virginia to southern Maine, and west as far as Cleveland.
• October - International Meridian Conference in Washington, D.C. fixes the Greenwich meridian as the world's prime meridian.
• October 6 - United States Naval War College established in Newport, Rhode Island.
• October 18 - University of Wales, Bangor (UK) founded.
• October 22 - The first woman receives a degree from an Irish university. The degree is granted by the Royal University of Ireland.
• November 1 - The Irish Gaelic Athletic Association is founded in Thurles, Ireland.
• November 2 - Timisoara is the first town of Europe with streets illuminated by electric light.
• November 4 - U.S. presidential election: Democrat Grover Cleveland defeats Republican James G. Blaine in a very close contest to win the first of his non-consecutive terms.
• November 15 - The Berlin Conference which regulated European colonisation and trade in Africa begins (ends February 26, 1885).
• November 25 - British surgeon John Dooglee makes the first successful removal of a brain tumor.
• December 1 - American Old West - Near Frisco, New Mexico (now Reserve, New Mexico), deputy sheriff Elfego Baca holds off a gang of 80 Texan cowboys who want to kill him for arresting cowboy Charles McCarthy (the cowboys were terrorizing the area's Hispanos and Baca was working against them).
• December 6 - Washington Monument was completed.
• December 16 - World Cotton Centennial World's Fair opens in New Orleans, Louisiana.
• Bechuanaland becomes British protectorate.
• Stefan-Boltzmann law reformulated by Ludwig Boltzmann.
• British Police officers go on armed patrol in London.
• Mark Twain writes The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
• Vanity Fair by William Thackeray is published.

Environmental change

• The Water Hyacinth is introduced in the US and quickly becomes an invasive species

Births

January-March

• January 2 - Oscar Micheaux, American filmmaker and author (d. 1951)
• January 12 - Texas Guinan, American vaudeville performer (d. 1933)
• January 13 - Sophie Tucker, Russian-born singer and comedienne (d. 1966)
• January 21 - Roger Baldwin, American social activist (d. 1981)
• January 23 - Ralph DePalma, Italian-born race car driver (d. 1956)
• January 28 - Auguste Piccard, Swiss physicist, balloonist, and inventor (d. 1962)
• January 31 - Theodor Heuss, German politician and publicist (d. 1963)
• February 12 - Max Beckmann, German painter and graphic artist (d. 1950)
• February 12 - Marie Vassilieff, Russian artist (d. 1957)
• February 13 - Alfred Carlton Gilbert, American athlete and inventor (d. 1961)
• February 14 - Hezekiah M. Washburn, missionary (d. 1972)
• February 16 - Robert J. Flaherty, American filmmaker (d. 1951)
• February 18 - Andrew Watson Myles, Canadian politician (d. 1970)
• February 22 - Abe Attell, American boxer (d. 1970)
• March 13 - Sir Hugh Walpole, English novelist (d. 1941)
• March 17 - Alcide Nunez, American jazz musician (d. 1934)
• March 24 - Peter Debye, Dutch chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1966)
• March 25 - Georges Imbert, Alsatian chemist (d. 1950)
• March 26 - Wilhelm Backhaus, German pianist (d. 1969)

April-December

• April 4 - Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese naval commander (d. 1943)
• April 6 - Walter Huston, actor (d. 1950)
• April 12 - Otto Fritz Meyerhof, German-born physician and biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1951)
• May 1 - Henry Norwest, Canadian World War I sniper (d. 1918)
• May 8 - Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States (d. 1972)
• May 10 - Olga Petrova, English-born actress (d. 1977)
• May 14 - Claudius Dornier, German aircraft designer (d. 1969)
• May 27 - Max Brod, Austrian author (d. 1968)
• May 28 - Edvard Beneš, Austrian politician (d. 1948)
• July 12 - Amedeo Modigliani, Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1920)
• July 23 - Emil Jannings, Swiss actor (d. 1950)
• August 10 - Panait Istrati, Romanian writer (d. 1935)
• August 23 - Will Cuppy, American humorist (d. 1949)
• August 30 - Theodor Svedberg, Swedish chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
• September 17 - Charles Tomlinson Griffes, American composer (d. 1920)
• September 24 - Hugo Schmeisser, German weapons designer (d. 1953)
• October 11 - Friedrich Bergius, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1949)
• October 11 - Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States (d. 1962)
• November 20 - Norman Thomas, American social reformer (d. 1968)
• December 30 - Tojo Hideki, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1948)

Exact month/day unknown

• M. Louise Gross, American politician and lobbyist (d. 1951)

Deaths

• January 6 - Gregor Mendel, Austrian geneticist (b. 1822)
• January 25 - Johann Gottfried Piefke, German conductor and composer (b. 1815)
• March 1 - Isaac Todhunter, English mathematician (b. 1820)
• March 21 - Ezra Abbot, American Bible scholar (b. 1819)
• April 4 - Marie Bashkirtseff, Russian artist (b. 1858)
• May 12 - Bedrich Smetana, Czech composer (b. 1824)
• May 13 - Cyrus McCormick, American inventor (b. 1809)
• June 25 - Hans Rott, Austrian composer (b. 1858)
• July 1 - Allan Pinkerton, American detective (b. 1819)
• July 10 - Paul Morphy, American chess player (b. 1837)
• November 25 - Adolph Wilhelm Hermann Kolbe, German chemist (b. 1818)