1885

Events from the year 1885 in the United States.
==Incumbents==
===Federal Government===
* President: Chester A. Arthur (R-NY) (until March 4), Grover Cleveland (D-NY) (starting March 4)
* Vice President:
** until March 4: vacant
** March 4–November 25: Thomas A. Hendricks (D-IN)
** starting November 25: vacant
* Chief Justice: Morrison Waite (OH)
* Speaker of the House of Representatives: John G. Carlisle (D-KY)
* Congress: 48th (until March 4), 49th (starting March 4)
==Events==
===January - March===
* February 9 – The first Japanese arrive in Hawaii.
* February 16 – Charles Dow publishes the first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The index stands at a level of 62.76, and represents the dollar average of 14 stocks: 12 railroads and two leading American industries.
* February 18 – Mark Twain publishes Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in the United States.
* February 21 – United States President Chester A. Arthur dedicates the Washington Monument.
* March 3 – A subsidiary of the American Bell Telephone Company, American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T), is incorporated in New York.
* March 4 – Grover Cleveland is sworn in as the 22nd President of the United States, and Thomas A. Hendricks is sworn in as Vice President of the United States.
===April - June===
* April 30
** A bill is signed in the New York State legislature forming the Niagara Falls State Park.
** Boston Pops Orchestra is formed.
* May 1 – The Depression of 1882–85 ends.
* June 17 – The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor.
===July - September===
* July 11 – San Diego Building and Loan Association founded, predecessor of Great American Bank.
* July 14 – Sarah E. Goode is the first female African-American to apply for and receive a patent, for the invention of the hideaway bed.
* July 23 – Former President and Civil War general Ulysses S. Grant dies in Mount McGregor, New York.
* August 25 – Author Laura Ingalls Wilder marries Almanzo Wilder.
* September 2 – The Rock Springs massacre occurs in Rock Springs, Wyoming; 150 white miners attack their Chinese coworkers, killing 28, wounding 15, and forcing several hundred more out of town.
* September 8 – Saint Thomas Academy is founded in Minnesota.
===October - December===
* October 13 – The Georgia Institute of Technology is established in Atlanta, Georgia as the Georgia School of Technology.
* November 25 – Vice President Thomas A. Hendricks dies in office.
* December 1 – The U.S. Patent Office acknowledges this date as the day Dr Pepper is served for the very first time; the exact date of Dr Pepper's invention is unknown.
==Sport==
* August 29 – John L. Sullivan becomes First World Heavyweight Boxing Champion.
* September 30 – The Chicago White Stockings clinch their Third National League pennant with a 2–1 win over the New York Giants.
==Memoriam==
* January 13 – Schuyler Colfax, 17th Vice President of the United States from 1869 to 1873 (aged 61; Mankato, MN, USA)
* January 24 – Martin Delany, African American abolitionist, journalist and physician (aged 72; Wilberforce, OH, USA)
* February 2 – John W. Phelps, Union Army general (aged 71; Guilford, VT, USA)
* February 12 – Alexandre Mouton, U.S. Senator from Louisiana from 1843 to 1846 (aged 80; Lafayette, LA, USA)
* March 17 – Susan Warner (pseudonym Elizabeth Weatherell), religious and children's writer (aged 65; Highland Falls, NY, USA)
* May 4 – Irvin McDowell, Union Army officer known for defeat in the First Battle of Bull Run (aged 66; San Francisco, CA, USA)
* May 17 – Jonathan Young, U.S. Navy commodore (aged 58; New London, CT, USA)
* May 19 – Robert Emmet Odlum, swimming instructor, dies as result of becoming the first person to jump from the Brooklyn Bridge (aged 33; New York City, NY, USA)
* May 20 – Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, 29th United States Secretary of State (aged 67; Newark, NJ, USA)
* July 23 – Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of the United States from 1869 to 1877 (aged 63; Wilton, NY, USA)
* August 10 – James W. Marshall, contractor, builder of Sutter's Mill (aged 74; Kelsey, CA, USA)
* September 3 – William M. Gwin, U.S. Senator from California from 1850 to 1855 and from 1857 to 1861 (aged 79; New York City, NY, USA)
* October 5 – Thomas C. Durant, railroad financier (aged 65; Warren County, NY, USA)
* October 29 – George B. McClellan, soldier, civil engineer, railroad executive and politician (aged 58; West Orange, NJ, USA)
* November 25 – Thomas A. Hendricks, 21st Vice President of the United States from March to November 1885 (aged 66; Indianapolis, IN, USA)
* December 8 – William Henry Vanderbilt, entrepreneur (aged 64; New York City, NY, USA)
* December 13 – Benjamin Gratz Brown, politician (aged 59; Kirkwood, MO, USA)
* December 15 – Robert Toombs, U.S. Senator from Georgia from 1853 to 1861 (aged 75; Washington, GA, USA)
* December 29 – James E. Bailey, U.S. Senator from Tennessee from 1877 to 1881 (aged 63; Clarksville, TN, USA)
==External links==
* 1885 in the United States
Category:United States History: Volume 11