Modern Era
Scramble for Africa (1881-1914): Europe Partitions a Continent
By 1914 European states controlled about 90 per cent of Africa; only Ethiopia and Liberia remained independent.
Region
Europe
Modern Era
French Panama Canal (1881-1889): De Lesseps's Failure and Scandal
The French canal company went bankrupt in 1889 after the deaths of an estimated 20,000 or more workers, and the resulting Panama scandal discredited many French politicians.
Modern Era
Koch Discovers the Tuberculosis Bacillus (1882)
Koch showed that Mycobacterium tuberculosis causes tuberculosis, giving decisive support to the germ theory of disease and founding modern bacteriology.
Modern Era
Orient Express (1883): First Journey from Paris to Constantinople
The inaugural run launched a luxury international train service linking Western Europe with the Ottoman capital, which became a symbol of glamorous travel.
Modern Era
Sino-French War (1884-1885): The Struggle for Tonkin
France won control of Tonkin and Annam under the Treaty of Tianjin (1885), but the Lang Son retreat brought down Jules Ferry's government.
Modern Era
Berlin Conference (1884-1885): Rules for the Partition of Africa
The General Act of Berlin set rules for new claims on African coasts, declared free trade in the Congo basin and smoothed recognition of Leopold II's Congo.
Modern Era
Congo Free State (1885-1908): Leopold II's Rubber Terror
International outrage over forced labour and atrocities led Belgium to annex the territory as the Belgian Congo in November 1908, ending Leopold II's personal rule.
Modern Era
Pasteur's Rabies Vaccine (1885): Saving the Boy Joseph Meister
Joseph Meister survived after a course of injections, the treatment was adopted internationally and the Pasteur Institute was founded in 1888.
Modern Era
First Irish Home Rule Bill (1886): Gladstone and Parnell
The bill was defeated at its second reading by 343 votes to 313, splitting the Liberal Party and bringing the Conservatives back to power.
Modern Era
Benz Patent-Motorwagen (1886): The First Practical Automobile
Karl Benz received German patent No. 37435 for a vehicle powered by a petrol engine, the design generally regarded as the first practical automobile.
Modern Era
Hertz Proves Radio Waves Exist (1887): Maxwell's Theory Confirmed
Hertz generated and detected electromagnetic waves in the laboratory, confirming Maxwell's prediction and laying the scientific foundation for radio.
Modern Era
Jack the Ripper: The Whitechapel Murders of 1888
The murders stopped after November 1888, but no one was ever charged and the killer's identity remains unknown.