1884 Here

In May of 1884, a young Serbian-American inventor named stepped off a ship in New York with nothing but four cents in his pocket and a letter of recommendation for Thomas Edison. That same year, a fellow engineer named Robert Bosch was also boarding a ship for New York, dazzled by the 2,500 light bulbs he had seen illuminating a theater in Munich—a glow made possible by Edison’s patents. A Fateful Decision at Sea

: Representatives from 25 nations met in Washington for the International Meridian Conference, officially establishing Greenwich, England, as the Prime Meridian and the standard for time-reckoning across the globe. Shadows of the Era In May of 1884, a young Serbian-American inventor

While inventors dreamed of lighting up the night, four men were fighting for their lives in the South Atlantic. The yacht Mignonette had sunk in a storm, leaving the crew adrift in a tiny dinghy. After three weeks without food or water, Captain Thomas Dudley made a horrifying choice to ensure the survival of his men. The resulting trial for cannibalism became a landmark in legal history, forcing the world to define the limits of "necessity." Symbols of a New World On land, 1884 was a year of monumental completions: Shadows of the Era While inventors dreamed of

: After decades of construction, the monument was finally finished in D.C., becoming the tallest structure in the world at the time. The resulting trial for cannibalism became a landmark