Calendar of Literary Facts

1883

Alfred Austin and William John Courthope found The National Review in London
Robert Louis Stevenson publishes Treasure Island
William Carlos Williams is born
James Whitcomb Riley publishes “The Old Swimmin’-Hole,” and ’Leven More Poems
Sarah Winnemucca publishes Life Among the Paiutes: Their Wrongs and Claims
Martin Flavin is born
The Sino-French War is fought over French claims to Cochin China (present-day Vietnam)
The socialist Fabian Society is founded in London
A ten-story building, the first “skyscraper,” is built in Chicago
The Orient Express, running from Paris to Istanbul, makes its first journey
The volcano Krakatoa erupts from the Pacific Ocean west of Java
Friedrich Nietzsche publishes Also Sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spake Zarathustra)
E. J. Pratt is born
Franz Kafka is born (June 3)
Ivan Turgenev dies (September 3)
Kahlil Gibran is born (January 6)
Karl Marx dies (March 14)
José Ortega y Gasset is born (May 19)