1885 - Emmet Brown goes back in time to build the first clock tower, so he can send back Marty McFly in 1955 and get sent back in time to build the first clock tower, so he can send back Marty McFly in 1955 and get sent back in time to build the first clock tower, to...

He didn't build the clock tower you silly boy. He just got his picture taken in front of it, harnessed the power of the lightning that struck it and watched as Griff flew through the window of it.

 

Incidently, it wasn't until 1886 that an economically viable process was developed to extract aluminium.

Not a million miles away in India, baseball sized hailstones killed 246 people in 1888.

You're just a fountain of time-travel knowledge, you.

 

Speaking of which, I bet the critics of Paris soon wished they had a time-machine in 1889, when they declared the newly inaugurated Eiffel Tower to be aesthetically displeasing. Lawks!

Indeed, they were so embarassed, they were inclined to walk the streets with their heads hidden inside cardboard boxes, as conveniently invented by Robert Gair, in 1890.

With the cardboard box, of course, came incredibly-hard-to-tear-cardboard-box-tape. This was no obstacle, however, as the Swiss Army quickly came to everyone's aid by producing their handy new Knife.

The newly discovered element of argon unfortunately proves to be useless for making knives out of.

 

However Edison has just patented the TWO WAY TELEGRAPH! Telephone conversations no longer neccesitate the participants having their speaking and listening devices transported between each others' locations repeatedly.

 

This is going to get a lot more interesting around post number 2006.

Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren't lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.

Dorothy Parker (1893 - 1967)

Might as well live to see the first bottle of Coca Cola produced, in 1894.

Indeed. In fact, maybe it was discoveries like Coca Cola that Alfred Nobel had in mind in 1895 when he wrote his last will and testament dedicating his estate to the establishment of the Prize which bears his name. Which was lucky because...

...he died in 1896.

Unlike Mark Twain, who, the very next year, is quoted as saying "The report of my death was an exaggeration."

Henry Moore, Northern Sculpturer who has an art gallery named after him Leeds, was born in this year on the 30th of July.

Just imagine, after a hard day's sculpting, you'd want to head off down to the pub, have a pint, and listen to the jukebox. Although it would help if you were in San Francisco in 1899, where the first jukebox was located.

Racoon, my dear. You posted 1900 just before I did, which I'm rather displeased about. I've got a big stick, and i'm going to hit you with.

 

Vice-President Roosevelt would be proud of me, for in 1901, he coined the phrase "speak softly and carry a big stick".

Theodore Roosevelt is famous for refusing to shoot a bear, but i can't help but wonder if he was as squemish about Tigers. I would hope not because between 1902 and 1907, the same tiger killed 434 people in India.

You can't help but wonder how much nicer the world would be if tigers ate peanuts instead of people. It's not as if there's a limited number of things they could do with them, as in 1903 some research was started at the Tuskeegee Institute, which eventually yielded over 300 uses for the peanut including cheese, mayonnaise, chili sauce, shampoo, bleach, axle grease, linoleum and ice cream.

Versatile though the peanut was justly found to be, it is of little use in a sinking ship. No, in such circumstances, you require that which internationally replaced CQD in 1904; you need SOS.