Year 1885 Fun Facts, Trivia, and Historical Events

This quick read presents a collection of fun facts, trivia, and historical events from the year 1885. Discover the year’s top news stories, most influential people, noteworthy inventions, historic firsts, sports facts, famous marriages, and much more.

Take a journey through history in just minutes.

1. President of the United States: Chester A. Arthur (R-New York)—until March 4
2. President of the United States: Grover Cleveland (D-New York)—Starting March 4
3. Vice President: Vacant until March 4
4. Vice President: Thomas A. Hendricks (D-Indiana)—Starting March 4 until November 25, when he passed away
5. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Morrison Waite (Ohio)
6. Speaker of the House of Representatives: John G. Carlisle (D-Kentucky)
7. In 1885, the 48th U.S. Congress was in session until March 4. On that day, the 49th U.S. Congress convened.
8. Unemployment rate: Around 4.6% (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.)
9. Inflation rate: -1.02%
10. $1.00 in 1885 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $35.00 today. In other words, the U.S. dollar has lost around 97% of its purchasing power since 1885.
11. If you invested $100 in the S&P 500 at the beginning of 1885, you would have amassed around $46,672,826.66 by the end of 2026, assuming that you reinvested all of your dividends. This is an ROI (return on investment) of 46,672,726.66%, or 9.70% per annum.
12. The cost of a first-class stamp was two cents.
13. American companies and brands established in 1885 included Cretors, Dramatic Publishing, Havertys, Irwin Industrial Tools, Johnson Controls, King & Spaulding, Mallet Ranch, US Vision, the W. C. Bradley Co., and WSP USA.
14. Consumer products launched during the year included Bicycle playing cards, Colby cheese, Dr Pepper, and Philadelphia cream cheese.
15. In 1885, 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.
16. On January 4, Dr. William Grant of Iowa performed America’s first appendectomy.
17. On February 18, American author and humorist Mark Twain published his “picaresque” and controversial novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
18. On February 21, President Chester Arthur dedicated the Washington Monument.
19. On March 3, the U.S. Postal Service began special delivery for first-class mail.
20. On March 3, American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T) was established “to build and operate the first long-distance telephone network,” thus “laying the foundation for a company that would become synonymous with innovation in communications.”
21. On March 4, Grover Cleveland (D-New York) was sworn in as the 22nd U.S. president.
22. On March 14, W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan’s comic opera, The Mikado, premiered in London.
23. On April 29, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edith Jones (Age of Innocence) married Edward "Teddy" Wharton.
24. On May 14, Babe Henderson, aboard the horse Joe Cotton, won the 11th Kentucky Derby.
25. Surinamese-American inventor Jan Ernst Matzeliger revolutionized shoe manufacturing when he invented the automated lasting machine, a device that “dramatically sped up the process of attaching the shoe's upper to its sole.” On May 19, the Consolidated Lasting Machine Company was founded in Lynn, Massachusetts, to manufacture Matzeliger’s automated lasting machine.
26. On June 6, Patsy Duffy, aboard the horse Tyrant, won the 19th Belmont Stakes.
27. On June 17, the disassembled Statue of Liberty arrived in New York Harbor aboard the French navy ship, Isere. Originally, Lady Liberty was made up of 350 individual pieces that were packed into over 200 crates. Once assembled on Bedloe’s Island—now known as Liberty Island—the Statue of Liberty would become the tallest structure in the world.
28. On June 24, college professor and future U.S. President Woodrow Wilson married artist Ellen Louise Axson.
29. On July 14, Sarah E. Goode of Chicago became the first African American woman to receive a U.S. patent. She invented the hideaway bed.
30. On August 5, British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle married Louisa Hawkins.
31. On August 29, in boxing’s first heavyweight title fight, which took place in Cincinnati’s Chester Park, John L. Sullivan defeated Dominick McCaffrey.
32. On August 29, German engineer and inventor Gottlieb Daimler received a German patent for a motorcycle.
33. On September 4, the Exchange Buffet, one of the first cafeteria-style restaurants in the United States, opened at 7 New Street in New York City. The eatery only served men.
34. On September 4, American inventor Sylvanus Bowser of Fort Wayne, Indiana, created the first gasoline pump.
35. On October 22, John Montgomery Ward, a shortstop with the New York Giants, along with several of his teammates, secretly formed the Brotherhood of Professional Baseball Players—baseball’s first labor union. The players gathered to discuss “low wages in an era when baseball’s popularity was skyrocketing and a rule known as the ‘reserve clause.’”
36. On October 24, at the World’s Championship Baseball Series in Cincinnati, the St. Louis Browns defeated the Chicago White Stockings, 13-4, in game seven of the series. (The World’s Championship Baseball Series was the precursor to the World Series.)
37. On December 1, Dr Pepper was served to the American public for the first time. The legendary soft drink was invented by Charles Alderton, a pharmacist at the Morrison’s Old Corner Drug Store in Waco, Texas. Dr Pepper is also America’s oldest soft drink, since Coca-Cola wasn’t invented until 1886 and Pepsi-Cola wasn’t created until 1893. (Just so you know, there is no “period” after the word “Dr” in Dr Pepper.)
38. What was the typical American diet like in 1885? LiveStrong.com states that in the 1880s, “the United States was vastly agricultural, and many families lived off the land, cultivating their vegetable and herb gardens and raising their livestock and poultry. Hunting and fishing provided wild game and other meat alternatives.” Americans also consumed apples, beets, bread, butter, cake, carrots, cheese, cherries, coffee, corn, hominy, jams, jellies, lettuce, melons, milk, pears, plums, potatoes, relishes, tomatoes, and turnips.
39. Russian chemist Constantin Fahlberg received a U.S. patent for the artificial sweetener saccharin.
40. American inventor LaMarcus Adna Thompson of Coney Island, New York, was issued a second U.S. patent for a gravity switchback railway.
41. French botanist Pierre-Marie-Alexis Millardet invented the first “effective” fungicide, known as the Bordeaux mixture (copper sulfate and lime).
42. Good Housekeeping magazine began publication.
43. The “Philadelphia” brand of cream cheese appeared in the marketplace for the first time.
44. Mass production of toothbrushes began in the United States.
45. The first shipments of Florida grapefruit arrived in New York City and Philadelphia.
46. Key literary works published during 1885: Guy de Maupassant’s Bel-Ami, Hall Caine’s She’s All the World to Me, Hall Caine’s The Shadow of a Crime, Henry Francis Keenan’s The Money Makers, Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mrs. W. K. Clifford’s Mrs. Keith’s Crime, Richard Jefferies’ After London, and Sarah Orne Jewett’s A Marsh Island
47. America’s most beloved songs included American Patrol, Some Sweet Day, and Three Little Maids From School.
48. Famous people born during 1885 included Alice Paul (civil rights leader), Ezra Pound (poet), George S. Patton (war hero), Harry O. Hoyt (screenwriter), Hedda Hopper (journalist), Hugo Boss (fashion designer), Joe King Oliver (trumpet player), Niels Bohr (physicist), Sinclair Lewis (novelist), and Wallace Beery (movie actor).
49. Notable people who died in 1885 included Jonathan Jasper Wright (lawyer), Josh Billings (novelist), Timothy Shay Arthur (novelist), Ulysses S. Grant (U.S. president), and Victor Hugo (novelist).
50. In 1885 as well, the words “Alice in Wonderland,” “billy club,” “delicatessen,” “humidify,” “John Hancock,” “light bulb,” “Mother Hubbard,” “out-of-pocket,” “pack rat,” “postal service,” “razzle-dazzle,” “roller rink,” “tea dance,” “typist,” and “Wall Streeter” all appeared in print for the first time.
51. Beans: About 13 cents a quart
52. Brown sugar: Around 10 cents a pound
53. Butter: About 35 cents a pound
54. Cheese: Around 18 cents a pound
55. Coal: About $7.84 a ton
56. Cotton flannel: Around 16 cents a yard
57. Eggs: About 40 cents a dozen
58. Granulated sugar: Around 11 cents a pound
59. Lard: About 15 cents a pound
60. Men’s heavy boots: Around $3.19 a pair
61. Milk: About six cents a quart
62. New Orleans molasses: Around 67 cents a gallon
63. Oolong tea: About 58 cents a pound
64. Potatoes: Around $1.26 a bushel
65. Puerto Rico molasses: About 63 cents a gallon
66. Rice: Around 10 cents a pound
67. Roasted coffee: About 29 cents a pound
68. Rye flour: Around five cents a pound
69. Salted pork: About 13 cents a pound
70. Satinet: Around 54 cents a yard
71. Smoked ham: About 15 cents a pound
72. Soup beef: Around six cents a pound
73. Super-fine wheat flour: About $9.92 a barrel
74. Syrup: Around 77 cents a gallon
75. Wheat flour: About $8.57 a barrel

References:

1. https://www.onthisday.com/sport/events/date/1885
2. https://www.onthisday.com/weddings/date/1885
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1885_in_the_United_States
4. https://www.infoplease.com/history/us/us-history-a-new-nation-1800-1849
5. https://www.foodreference.com/html/html/food-history-1885.html
6. https://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1885
7. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/deceased/1885.html
8. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/year/1885.html
9. https://www.history.com/a-year-in-history/1885
10. https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/1885

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