The Year 1883 in Review: Fun Facts, Trivia, and Historic Highlights

This quick read presents a collection of fun facts, trivia, and historical events from the year 1883. Discover the year’s top news stories, most influential people, historic facts, sports trivia, famous weddings, grocery prices, and much more.

1. President of the United States: Chester A. Arthur (R-New York)
2. Vice President: Vacant
3. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Morrison Waite (Ohio)
4. Speaker of the House of Representatives: J. Warren Keifer (R-Ohio)—until March 4
5. Speaker of the House of Representatives: John G. Carlisle (D-Kentucky)—Starting December 3
6. In 1883, the 47th U.S. Congress was in session until March 4. On that date, the 48th U.S. Congress convened.
7. Unemployment rate: About 3.48% (During the 1880s, no state or federal agencies compiled “accurate tallies” of America’s unemployment rate. Only “rough estimates” of the U.S. jobless rate were available.)
8. Just so you know, 1883 was part of the Depression of 1882-1885, a 38-month economic downturn that lasted from March 1882 to May 1885 and followed a railroad construction boom. Stock market volatility, wage cuts, deflation, and a nationwide increase in poverty all unfolded during the economic contraction.
9. Inflation rate: -0.98%
10. $1.00 in 1883 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $3,209.00 today. In other words, prices today are about 32 times higher than in 1883 due to inflation.
11. The cost of a first-class stamp was two cents.
12. American companies and brands established in 1883 included Benjamin Moore & Co., Gretsch, Khan’s, Kroger, Oscar Mayer, Parker Brothers, Peabody Energy, PPG Industries, and the Wilson Trailer Company.
13. In 1883, the average life expectancy at birth in the U.S. was 40 to 45 years because of a high infant mortality rate. Americans who survived childhood often lived into their 50s, 60s, and even 70s.
14. On January 19, Roselle, New Jersey, became the first municipality in the world to be illuminated with an electric lighting system that used overhead wires. Wired.com explains that “The [lighting] system was built by Thomas Edison as part of an experiment to prove that an entire community could be lit by electricity from a shared, central generating station.”
15. On February 9, inventor and entrepreneur Garnet Carter was born in Sweetwater, Tennessee. He is considered one of the fathers of miniature golf and received a U.S. patent in 1927 for a version of the game he called “Tom Thumb Golf.”
16. On February 23, Alabama became the first U.S. state to enact an antitrust (competition) law.
17. On February 28, the first vaudeville theater in the United States—B. F. Keith's Theatre—opened in Boston, Massachusetts.
18. In March, Susan Hayhurst became the first woman in the United States to receive a pharmacy degree.
19. On April 4, actress Sarah Bernhardt married diplomat Aristide Damala in London.
20. On May 1, at the first National League baseball game in Philadelphia since 1876, the Providence Grays beat the Philadelphia Quakers, 4-3.
21. On May 19, William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody launched his famous Buffalo Bill’s Wild West, Rocky Mountain, and Prairie Exhibition in Omaha, Nebraska.
22. On May 23, William Donohue, aboard the horse Leonatus, won the 9th Kentucky Derby.
23. On May 24, after 13 years of construction, the Brooklyn Bridge opened to traffic.
24. On May 30, a rumor that the Brooklyn Bridge was going to collapse caused a deadly stampede on the structure, which resulted in 12 deaths and dozens of injuries. The tragic event “spurred P. T. Barnum to lead his elephants, including Jumbo, across the bridge in a publicity stunt to restore public confidence in the engineering marvel.”
25. On May 26, G. Barbee, aboard the horse Jacobus, won the 11th Preakness Stakes.
26. On June 2, at the first nighttime baseball game, which took place in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Quincy (Illinois) defeated the M. E. Church Nine, 19-11. Over 2,000 fans attended the seven-inning game.
27. On June 9, Jim McLaughlin, aboard the horse George Kinney, won the 17th Belmont Stakes.
28. On June 16, in baseball’s first “Ladies’ Day” game, the New York Gothams beat the Cleveland Blues, 5-2, at the Polo Grounds in New York City.
29. In August, President Arthur became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Yellowstone National Park, which brought national attention to Yellowstone.
30. On August 1, President Arthur opened the first Southern Exposition in Louisville, Kentucky. (The Southern Exposition was a five-year series of world’s fairs that highlighted new technologies, including Thomas Edison's electric lights, and drew massive crowds to Louisville’s Central Park area.)
31. On August 2, education pioneer Booker T. Washington married Fanny Smith.
32. On September 5, Mary Hoyt became the second person, and first woman, to be appointed to a federal job.
33. On September 18, Elmer Maytag was born. He served as president of Maytag, Inc., a popular American washing machine manufacturer, from 1926 until his death in 1940. (The Maytag Washing Machine Company was founded by Frederick Maytag, Elmer Maytag’s father, in 1893. The company name was changed to Maytag, Inc., in 1925.)
34. On November 9, L. Frank Baum, the author of The Wizard of Oz, married producer Maud Gage.
35. On November 18, U.S. and Canadian railroads instituted five continental time zones—Intercolonial (now known as Atlantic Time in eastern Canada), Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific. This action ended the ongoing confusion of dealing with thousands of local times. According to History.com, “Most Americans and Canadians quickly embraced their new time zones, since railroads were often their lifeblood and main link with the rest of the world.”
36. On December 18, Walter Dorwin Teague, a “pioneering” industrial designer, architect, and entrepreneur, was born. He designed Steuben glassware, a number of well-known Kodak cameras, the first Polaroid camera, the Ford Building (San Diego), and Texaco gas stations.
37. In 1883, a hard frost in Manitoba, Canada, destroyed most of the grain crop.
38. Arthur Ashwell of London received a patent for the "vacant/engaged" door bolt for lavatory doors. (Some sources cite other years for this invention.)
39. Charles Gulden of New York received a U.S. patent for a mustard bottle cap.
40. The Ladies Home Journal and Practical Housekeeper both began publishing.
41. Barney Kroger invested his life savings of $372 to open the first Kroger grocery store in Cincinnati, Ohio. (According to Cincinnati.com, in the 143 years since Barney Kroger opened his first grocery store in Cincinnati, the Kroger Co. has grown from a single downtown grocer selling brooms and canned goods into the largest supermarket chain in the country—and the nation’s third-largest retailer behind Walmart and Costco. Despite its success, Kroger still calls Cincinnati home and keeps its corporate headquarters at 1014 Vine Street.)
42. Key literary works published during 1883: George A. Moore’s A Modern Lover, Guy de Maupassant’s Une Vie (A Life), Hugh Conway’s Called Back, John Hay’s The Bread-Winners, and Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s Phantom Fortune.
43. America’s most beloved songs included A Boy’s Best Friend Is His Mother, Polly Wolly Doodle, Ring Dem Heavenly Bells, The Farmer in the Dell, There Is a Tavern in the Town, and Transit of Venus March.
44. Famous and infamous people born during 1883 included Benito Mussolini (politician), Coco Chanel (fashion designer), Douglas Fairbanks Sr. (movie actor), Ernest Everett Just (biologist), Francis X. Bushman (screenwriter), Franz Kafka (author), Jack Quinn (baseball player), Max Fleischer (cartoonist), Napoleon Hill (self-help author), and Rollie Zeider (baseball player).
45. Notable people who died in 1883 included Angela Peralta (opera singer), Edward Sabine (astronomer), Joseph Plateau (physicist), Karl Marx (philosopher), and Richard Wagner (composer).
46. In 1883 as well, the words “bootlegger,” “brown rice,” “central time,” “crackpot,” “electric chair,” “grandfather clock,” “incinerator,” “jumping jack,” “mountain time,” “petroleum jelly,” “rainy day fund,” “roller coaster,” “suede,” “telephone book,” and “windstorm” all appeared in print for the first time.
47. Beans: About 13 cents a quart
48. Brown sugar: Around 10 cents a pound
49. Butter: About 35 cents a pound
50. Cheese: Around 18 cents a pound
51. Coal for home heating: About $7.84 a ton
52. Cornmeal: Around four cents a pound
53. Eggs: About 40 cents a dozen
54. Fresh pork: Around 13 cents a pound
55. Granulated sugar: About 11 cents a pound
56. Lard: Around 15 cents a pound
57. Milk: About six cents a quart
58. New Orleans molasses: Around 67 cents a gallon
59. Potatoes: About $1.26 a bushel
60. Rice: Around 10 cents a pound
61. Roasted coffee: About 29 cents a pound
62. Salted pork: Around 13 cents a pound
63. Smoked ham: About 15 cents a pound
64. Syrup: Around 77 cents a gallon
65. Wheat flour: About $8.57 a barrel

References:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1883_in_the_United_States
2. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/year/1883.html
3. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/deceased/1883.html
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1883_in_music
5. https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/1883
6. https://www.onthisday.com/weddings/date/1882
7. https://www.foodreference.com/html/html/food-history-1880.html
8. https://www.infoplease.com/history/world/1800-1899-ad-world-history
9. https://www.history.com/a-year-in-history/1883
10. https://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1883
11. https://www.wired.com/2011/01/0119edison-electric-streetlights/

Disclaimer: In writing and editing this article, Gregory DeVictor has made every effort to ensure historical accuracy and not to mislead his audience. In addition, the contents of this article, including text, graphics, and captions, are for general informational purposes only.

© 2026 Gregory DeVictor