What Happened in 1888 — Events, Births & Deaths

The Great Blizzard of 1888 begins along the eastern seaboard of the United States, shutting down commerce and killing more than 400 people.

The eruption of Ritter Island triggers tsunamis that kill up to 3,000 people on nearby islands.

Start of the Anglo-Tibetan War of 1888.

The premiere of the very first Romani language operetta is staged in Moscow, Russia.

In England, The Football League, the world's oldest professional association football league, meets for the first time.

Jack the Ripper: The first of 11 unsolved brutal murders of women committed in or near the impoverished Whitechapel district in the East End of London, occurs.

With the passage of the Lei Áurea ("Golden Law"), the Empire of Brazil abolishes slavery.

Nikola Tesla delivers a lecture describing the equipment which will allow efficient generation and use of alternating currents to transmit electric power over long distances.

The White Rajahs territories become the British protectorate of Sarawak.

George Edward Gouraud records Handel's Israel in Egypt onto a phonograph cylinder, thought for many years to be the oldest known recording of music.

The stratovolcano Mount Bandai erupts, killing approximately 500 people in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.

The first successful adding machine in the United States is patented by William Seward Burroughs.

George Eastman registers the trademark Kodak and receives a patent for his camera that uses roll film.

Jack the Ripper kills his third and fourth victims, Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes.

The "From Hell" letter allegedly sent by Jack the Ripper is received by investigators.

The Rudd Concession is granted by Matabeleland to agents of Cecil Rhodes.