Centuries: 18th century - 19th century - 20th century
Decades: 1830s 1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s - 1880s - 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s
Years: 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 - 1885 - 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890
Events
- January 4 - The first successful appendectomy is performed (Dr. William Grant; patient was Mary Gartside).
- Change of US presidency from Chester A. Arthur (1881-1885) to Grover Cleveland (1885-1889)
- The North-West Rebellion took place and was put down in Canada (March to May).
- W.S. Gilbert & Arthur Sullivan's The Mikado
Births
- January 11 - Alice Paul, women's rights activist
- January 29 - Leadbelly
- February 7 - Sinclair Lewis, novelist
- February 9 - Alban Berg, Austrian composer
- March 31 - Pascin, the "Prince of Montparnasse"
- May 14 - Otto Klemperer, conductor
- September 11 - D.H. Lawrence
- September 22 - Ben Chifley, Australian Prime Minister
- October 7 - Niels Bohr, Danish physicist
Deaths
- November 16 - Louis Riel, controversial Canadian figure (hanged for treason)
- Justo Rufino Barrios