1885 – 1908★★★★★
Leopold II's Congo Free State
King Leopold II of Belgium ruled the Congo as a personal possession; its forced-labour rubber regime caused mass deaths until Belgium annexed the territory in 1908.
PoliticsEconomy· DR Congo, Belgium
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Events this year
1885★★★★★
Third Anglo-Burmese War
Britain takes Mandalay and deposes King Thibaw, ending the Konbaung dynasty and annexing all of Burma to British India.
WarPolitics· Myanmar, United Kingdom
July 1885 – 1896★★★★★
Cần Vương movement
After a failed attack on the French at Huế, Emperor Hàm Nghi flees the capital and issues an edict calling for resistance to French rule.
WarRevolution· Vietnam, France
July 6, 1885★★★★★
Pasteur's rabies vaccine is first used on a human
Louis Pasteur administers his rabies vaccine to Joseph Meister, a boy bitten by a rabid dog, who survives.
ScienceDisease· France
December 28, 1885★★★★★
Founding of the Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress holds its first session in Bombay; it later leads the independence movement.
Politics· India
Ongoing
1858 – 1947★★★★★
Beginning of the British Raj
After the 1857 rebellion, the Government of India Act transfers rule from the East India Company to the British Crown; the Mughal Empire formally ends.
Politics· India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, United Kingdom
November 15, 1884 – February 26, 1885★★★★★
Berlin Conference on Africa
European powers met in Berlin to set rules for colonial claims in Africa, accelerating the "Scramble for Africa" without any African representation.
PoliticsTreaty· Germany, United Kingdom, France, Portugal, Belgium