16th January » The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, establishing the United States Civil Service Commission known as United States Civil Service, is passed.
19th January » The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires, built by Thomas Edison, begins service at Roselle, New Jersey.
23rd February » Alabama becomes the first U.S. state to enact an Competition law named anti-trust law.
28th February » The first vaudeville theater opens in Boston
20th March » The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property is signed.
28th March » Tonkin Campaign: French victory in the Battle of Gia Cuc.
20th May » Krakatoa 1883 eruption of Krakatoa e.g begins to erupt; the volcano explodes three months later, killing more than 36,000 people.
24th May » The Brooklyn Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction.
27th May » Alexander III of Russia e.g Alexander III is crowned Tsar of Russia.
30th May » In New York City, a rumor that the Brooklyn Bridge is going to collapse causes a stampede that crushes twelve people.
5th June » The first regularly scheduled Orient Express departs Paris.
16th June » The Victoria Hall disaster called Victoria Hall theatre panic in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear known as Sunderland, England kills 183 children.
12th August » The last quagga dies at the Natura Artis Magistra e.g Artis Magistra zoo in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
21st August » 1883 Rochester tornado known as An F5 tornado strikes Rochester, Minnesota, leading to the creation of the Mayo Clinic.
25th August » French Third Republic France and Nguyễn Dynasty Viet Nam sign the Treaty of Huế (1883) Treaty of Huế, recognizing a French protectorate over Annam and Tonkin.
26th August » The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa begins its final, paroxysmal, stage.
8th September » The Northern Pacific Railway (reporting mark NP) was completed in a ceremony at Gold Creek, Montana. Former president Ulysses S. Grant drove in the final "golden spike" in an event attended by rail and political luminaries.
3rd November » American Old West: Self-described "Charles Bolles named Black Bart the poet" gets away with his last stagecoach robbery, but leaves a clue that eventually leads to his capture.
9th November » The Royal Winnipeg Rifles of the Canadian Forces (known then as the "90th Winnipeg Battalion of Rifles") is founded.
18th November » American and Canadian railroads institute five standard continental time zones, ending the confusion of thousands of local times.
21st December » The Royal Canadian Dragoons and The Royal Canadian Regiment, the first Permanent Force cavalry and infantry regiments of the Canadian Army, are formed: .
26th December » The Harbour Grace Affray between Irish Catholics and Protestant Orange Order or Orangemen causes five deaths in Newfoundland Colony known as Newfoundland.