Births on December 20

Yitzhak Baer, German-Israeli historian and academic (d. 1980)

Yitzhak Baer (Hebrew: יצחק בער; 20 December 1888 – 22 January 1980) was a German-Israeli historian and an expert on medieval Spanish Jewish history.

16 May

Electric power transmission
Nikola Tesla delivers a lecture describing the equipment which will allow efficient generation and use of alternating currents to transmit electric power over long distances.
31 Aug

Jack the Ripper
Mary Ann Nichols is murdered. She is the first of Jack the Ripper's confirmed victims.
4 Sep

Kodak
George Eastman registers the trademark Kodak and receives a patent for his camera that uses roll film.
8 Sep

Annie Chapman
In London, the body of Jack the Ripper's second murder victim, Annie Chapman, is found.
30 Sep

Elizabeth Stride
Jack the Ripper kills his third and fourth victims, Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes.