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  • England
    1888
    Computer

    First Computing Device

    England
    1888

    Charles Babbage, an English mechanical engineer and polymath, originated the concept of a programmable computer. Considered the "father of the computer", he conceptualized and invented the first mechanical computer in the early 19th century. After working on his revolutionary difference engine, designed to aid in navigational calculations, in 1833 he realized that a much more general design, an Analytical Engine, was possible. The input of programs and data was to be provided to the machine via punched cards, a method being used at the time to direct mechanical looms such as the Jacquard loom. For output, the machine would have a printer, a curve plotter and a bell. The machine would also be able to punch numbers onto cards to be read in later. The Engine incorporated an arithmetic logic unit, control flow in the form of conditional branching and loops, and integrated memory, making it the first design for a general-purpose computer that could be described in modern terms as Turing-complete. The machine was about a century ahead of its time. All the parts for his machine had to be made by hand – this was a major problem for a device with thousands of parts. Eventually, the project was dissolved with the decision of the British Government to cease funding. Babbage's failure to complete the analytical engine can be chiefly attributed to political and financial difficulties as well as his desire to develop an increasingly sophisticated computer and to move ahead faster than anyone else could follow. Nevertheless, his son, Henry Babbage, completed a simplified version of the analytical engine's computing unit (the mill) in 1888. He gave a successful demonstration of its use in computing tables in 1906.




  • Brunei
    1888
    Brunei revolt

    Brunei became a British Protectorate

    Brunei
    1888

    Brunei became a British protectorate in 1888, had an area of about 2,226 square miles (5,800 km2) and some 85,000 people.




  • U.S.
    1888
    Cameras

    Kodak

    U.S.
    1888

    The use of photographic film was pioneered by George Eastman, who started manufacturing paper film in 1885 before switching to celluloid in 1889. His first camera, which he called the "Kodak," was first offered for sale in 1888.




  • U.S.
    Thursday Jan 12, 1888
    Disasters with highest death tolls

    Schoolhouse Blizzard

    U.S.
    Thursday Jan 12, 1888

    The Schoolhouse Blizzard, also known as the Schoolchildren's Blizzard, School Children's Blizzard, or Children's Blizzard, hit the U.S. plains states on January 12, 1888. The blizzard came unexpectedly on a relatively warm day, and many people were caught unaware, including children in one-room schoolhouses. The death toll from this blizzard is estimated to be in the range of 235 people.




  • U.S.
    Mar, 1888
    Disasters with highest death tolls

    Great Blizzard of 1888

    U.S.
    Mar, 1888

    The Great Blizzard of 1888, Great Blizzard of '88, or the Great White Hurricane (March 11–14, 1888) was one of the most severe recorded blizzards in American history. The storm paralyzed the East Coast from the Chesapeake Bay to Maine, as well as the Atlantic provinces of Canada. The death toll from this blizzard is estimated to be 400 people.




  • Paris, France
    Tuesday Mar 20, 1888
    Eiffel Tower

    Completion of the first level

    Paris, France
    Tuesday Mar 20, 1888

    Completion of the first level.




  • London, England, United Kingdom
    Apr, 1888
    Winston Churchill

    Churchill narrowly passed the entrance exam for Harrow School

    London, England, United Kingdom
    Apr, 1888

    In April 1888, aged 13, Churchill narrowly passed the entrance exam for Harrow School. His father wanted him to prepare for a military career and so his last three years at Harrow were in the army form. After two unsuccessful attempts to gain admittance to the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, he succeeded on his third.


  • Paris, France
    Tuesday May 15, 1888
    Eiffel Tower

    Start of construction on the second stage

    Paris, France
    Tuesday May 15, 1888

    Start of construction on the second stage.


  • U.S.
    May, 1888
    Nikola Tesla

    The innovative electric motor patented in May 1888

    U.S.
    May, 1888

    The innovative electric motor, patented in May 1888, was a simple self-starting design that did not need a commutator, thus avoiding sparking and the high maintenance of constantly servicing and replacing mechanical brushes.


  • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
    Thursday May 17, 1888
    Nikola Tesla

    William Arnold Anthony and Electrical World magazine editor Thomas Commerford Martin arranged for Tesla to demonstrate his AC motor

    Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
    Thursday May 17, 1888

    Physicist William Arnold Anthony (who tested the motor) and Electrical World magazine editor Thomas Commerford Martin arranged for Tesla to demonstrate his AC motor on 16 May 1888 at the American Institute of Electrical Engineers.


  • Christmas Island
    Wednesday Jun 6, 1888
    Christmas Island

    Annexation of the Island by The British Crown

    Christmas Island
    Wednesday Jun 6, 1888

    Among the rocks obtained and submitted to Murray for examination were many of nearly pure phosphate of lime. This discovery led to annexation of the island by the British Crown on 6 June 1888.


  • U.S.
    1888
    Frederick Douglass

    Douglass became the first African American to receive a vote for President of the United States

    U.S.
    1888

    At the 1888 Republican National Convention, Douglass became the first African American to receive a vote for President of the United States in a major party's roll call vote.


  • Harvard University, Massachusetts, U.S.
    1888
    W. E. B. Du Bois

    Du Bois attended Harvard College

    Harvard University, Massachusetts, U.S.
    1888

    After receiving a bachelor's degree from Fisk, he attended Harvard College (which did not accept course credits from Fisk) from 1888 to 1890, where he was strongly influenced by his professor William James, prominent in American philosophy.


  • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
    Jul, 1888
    Nikola Tesla

    Brown and Peck negotiated a licensing deal with George Westinghouse for Tesla's polyphase induction motor

    Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
    Jul, 1888

    In July 1888, Brown and Peck negotiated a licensing deal with George Westinghouse for Tesla's polyphase induction motor and transformer designs for $60,000 in cash and stock and a royalty of $2.50 per AC horsepower produced by each motor. Westinghouse also hired Tesla for one year for the large fee of $2,000 per month to be a consultant at the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company's Pittsburgh labs.


  • Hungary
    1888
    X-ray

    X-rays emitted from Lenard tubes

    Hungary
    1888

    Starting in 1888, Philipp Lenard conducted experiments to see whether cathode rays could pass out of the Crookes tube into the air. He built a Crookes tube with a "window" in the end made of thin aluminum, facing the cathode so the cathode rays would strike it (later called a "Lenard tube"). He found that something came through, that would expose photographic plates and cause fluorescence. He measured the penetrating power of these rays through various materials. It has been suggested that at least some of these "Lenard rays" were actually X-rays.


  • Mumbai, India
    Thursday Aug 9, 1888
    Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

    Travelling to Mumbai

    Mumbai, India
    Thursday Aug 9, 1888

    On 10 August 1888, Gandhi aged 18, left Porbandar for Mumbai, then known as Bombay. Upon arrival, he stayed with the local Modh Bania community while waiting for the ship travel arrangements. The head of the community knew Gandhi's father. After learning Gandhi's plans, he and other elders warned Gandhi that England would tempt him to compromise his religion, and eat and drink in Western ways. Gandhi informed them of his promise to his mother and her blessings. The local chief disregarded it, and excommunicated him from his caste. But Gandhi ignored this.


  • Paris, France
    Tuesday Aug 21, 1888
    Eiffel Tower

    Completion of the second level

    Paris, France
    Tuesday Aug 21, 1888

    Completion of the second level.


  • London, England
    Tuesday Sep 4, 1888
    Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

    Travelling to London

    London, England
    Tuesday Sep 4, 1888

    On 4 September, he sailed from Bombay to London. His brother saw him off.Gandhi attended University College, London which is a constituent college of University of London.


  • U.S.
    1888
    Nikola Tesla

    Tesla's demonstration of his induction motor and Westinghouse's subsequent licensing of the patent

    U.S.
    1888

    Tesla's demonstration of his induction motor and Westinghouse's subsequent licensing of the patent, both in 1888, came at the time of extreme competition between electric companies. The three big firms, Westinghouse, Edison, and Thomson-Houston, were trying to grow in a capital-intensive business while financially undercutting each other. There was even a "war of currents" propaganda campaign going on with Edison Electric trying to claim their direct current system was better and safer than the Westinghouse alternating current system. Competing in this market meant Westinghouse would not have the cash or engineering resources to develop Tesla's motor and the related polyphase system right away.


  • Paris, France
    1888
    Nobel Prize

    Death obituart

    Paris, France
    1888

    In 1888, Nobel was astonished to read his own obituary, titled The merchant of death is dead, in a French newspaper. It was Alfred's brother Ludvig who had died; the obituary was eight years premature. The article disconcerted Nobel and made him apprehensive about how he would be remembered. This inspired him to change his will.


  • Paris, France
    Wednesday Dec 26, 1888
    Eiffel Tower

    Construction of the upper stage

    Paris, France
    Wednesday Dec 26, 1888

    Construction of the upper stage.


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