Joseph Plateau, Belgian physicist and academic (b. 1801)
Joseph Antoine Ferdinand Plateau (14 October 1801 – 15 September 1883) was a Belgian physicist and mathematician. He was one of the first people to demonstrate the illusion of a moving image. To do this, he used counterrotating disks with repeating drawn images in small increments of motion on one and regularly spaced slits in the other. He called this device of 1832 the phenakistiscope.

1883Sep, 15
Joseph Plateau
Choose Another Date
Events on 1883
- 16Jan
United States Civil Service Commission
The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, establishing the United States Civil Service, is passed. - 20May
1883 eruption of Krakatoa
Krakatoa begins to erupt; the volcano explodes three months later, killing more than 36,000 people. - 17Aug
National Anthem of the Dominican Republic
The first public performance of the Dominican Republic's national anthem, Himno Nacional. - 20Oct
Treaty of Ancón
Peru and Chile sign the Treaty of Ancón, by which the Tarapacá province is ceded to the latter, bringing an end to Peru's involvement in the War of the Pacific. - 3Nov
Black Bart (outlaw)
American Old West: Self-described "Black Bart the poet" gets away with his last stagecoach robbery, but leaves a clue that eventually leads to his capture.