1886

Society

1886. The Haymarket Massacre at Chicago gives the U.S. labor movement its first martyrs and marks the beginnings of May Day as a worldwide revolutionary memorial day. Chicago police fire into a crowd of strikers May 1, killing four and wounding many others.

1886. Labor agitation for an 8-hour day and better working conditions makes this the peak year for strikes in 19th-century America.

1886. The new American Federation of Labor (AF of L) is founded undere the leadership of Samuel Gompers.

1886. A streetcar strike ties up New York City public transit completely until motormen settle for $2 for a 12-hour day with a half hour off for lunch.

1886. The last major Indian war in the U.S. ends September 4 with the capture by U.S. troops of the Apache chief Geronimo after 4 years of warfare on the Mexican border.

1886. A gold rush to South Africa's Transvaal follows discovery of the yellow metal on the Witwatersrand.

1886. German inventor Paul O. Gottlieb Nipkov pioneers television with his rotating scanning device.

1886. The tuxedo dinner jacket worn by tobacco heir Griswold Lorillard October 10 at the Autumn Ball of the Tuxedo Park Country Club at Tuxedo, NY, is a short black coat with satin lapels modeled on the English smoking jacket. It will replace the tailcoat worn until now at evening social affairs.

1886. Sears, Roebuck has its beginnings at North Redwood, Minn.

1886. North Dakota rancher Theodore Rooseveolt, 28, sustains heavy losses, gives up and returns to New York to enter politics.

1886. Maxwell House coffee gets its name. The 17-year-old hotel at Nashville, Tenn., serves its guests coffee made from the blend perfected by Joel Cheek who is persuaded by the praise of the guests to market his blend unde the name Maxwell House.

1886. Dr. Pepper is introduced as "The King of Beverages, Free from Caffeine" by Waco, Tex., chemist R.S. Lazenby.

1886. The Staue of Liberty dedicated October 28 on Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor has been designed by French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi and presened by the people of France.

Literature

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Robert Louis Stevenson. British. 1886. Novel. Dual personality. Tries to separate good and evil into two distinctive personalities. Unmitigated evil personality predominates. Commits suicide.

The Power of Darkness. Leo Tolstoy. Russian. 1886. Play. Peasant drama showing their faults and vices. Epigraph of the play: "When one claw is caught, the whole bird is doomed."

The Princess Casamassina. Henry James. American/British. 1886. Novel. Radical makes way into upper class society. Grows to appreciate civilization. Rather than commit assassination, he commits suicide.

Kidnapped. Robert Louis Stevenson. British. 1886. Historical Novel. Adventures of David Balfour and Alan Breck, a Jacobite, considered one of Stevenson's most interesting characters.

Beyond Good and Evil. Friedrich Nietzsche. German. 1886. Nonfiction. Aphorisms. No human values are absolute. Value distinctions like good/evil are artificial and traditional.

Little Lord Fauntleroy. Frances Hodgson Burnett. British/American. 1886. Children's Story. Disinherited for marrying an American, the father dies and his son goes to England where he wins the hearts of everyone.

The Mayor of Casterbridge. Thomas Hardy. British. 1886. Novel. Man sells wife and child whilie drunk. Swears off drinking. Tries unsuccessfully to find his family. Years later, he is mayor and retribution comes as his wife and child by a second husband return.

The Bostonians. Henry James. American/British. 1886. Novel. Satirically portrays a strong-minded Boston feminist, representing a new generation of "do-gooders."

"The Death of Ivan Ilyich." Leo Tolstoy. Russian. 1886. Story. Thoughts on life, death by a dying man. Accepts death as part of the natural order of things.

Dr. Doolittle. Hugh Lofting. British/American. 1886/87. Children's Literature. Kindly, resourceful doctor. First man to learn the languages of the animals.