1888

1888 (MDCCCLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (dominical letter AG) of the Gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on Friday (dominical letter CB) of the Julian calendar, the 1888th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 888th year of the 2nd millennium, the 88th year of the 19th century, and the 9th year of the 1880s decade. Note that the Julian day for 1888 is 12 calendar days difference, which continued to be used from 1582 until the complete conversion of the Gregorian calendar was entirely done in 1929. In Germany, 1888 is known as the Year of the Three Emperors. Currently, it is the year that, when written in Roman numerals, has the most digits (13). This will be surpassed as late as 2888.

Events

January–March

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern United States and is the United States' 27th-most extensive, fourth-most populous, and seventh-most densely populated state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south and Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont to the east. The state has a maritime border in the Atlantic Ocean with Rhode Island, east of Long Island, as well as an international border with the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the north and Ontario to the west and north. The state of New York, with an estimated 19.8 million residents in 2015, is often referred to as New York State to distinguish it from New York City, the state's most populous city and its economic hub.

With an estimated population of nearly 8.5 million in 2014, New York City is the most populous city in the United States and the premier gateway for legal immigration to the United States. The New York City Metropolitan Area is one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. New York City is a global city, exerting a significant impact upon commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and entertainment, its fast pace defining the term New York minute. The home of the United Nations Headquarters, New York City is an important center for international diplomacy and has been described as the cultural and financial capital of the world, as well as the world's most economically powerful city. New York City makes up over 40% of the population of New York State. Two-thirds of the state's population lives in the New York City Metropolitan Area, and nearly 40% live on Long Island. Both the state and New York City were named for the 17th century Duke of York, future King James II of England. The next four most populous cities in the state are Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, and Syracuse, while the state capital is Albany.

Leeds Bridge

Leeds Bridge is a historic river crossing in Leeds, England. The present cast iron road bridge over the River Aire dates from 1870. It is Grade II listed.

The medieval town of Leeds centred on 13th century burgess building plots either side of a wide road from the river crossing called Bridge Gate, now Briggate. A wool cloth market operated at Leeds Bridge, becoming the centre of wool trade for the West Riding of Yorkshire in the late 17th century.

A medieval bridge was built at the site of a ferry across the River Aire. It was widened in 1730 and 1760. The bridge was rebuilt in 1870-73 by W. H. Barlow to a design by T. Dyne Steel. The iron was cast by John Butler of Stanningley. The cast iron balustrade is of rings and flowers. The east side bears the arms of the Corporation of Leeds (crowned owls and fleece). The western side has the names of civic dignitaries on a plaque.

In 1875 thousands of local inhabitants crammed onto the bridge, Briggate and local streets to watch The Theatre burning down.

Taarak Mehta

Taarak Mehta is an Indian columnist, humorist, writer and playwright who is best known for the column Duniya Na Undha Chasma in the Gujarati language. He has translated and adapted several comedies into Gujarati, and has been well-known figure in the Gujarati theatre.

The humorous weekly column first appeared in Chitralekha in March 1971 and ever since has been looking at contemporary issues from a different perspective. He has published 80 books, over the years, three books are based on the columns he wrote in Gujarati newspaper, Divya Bhaskar while rest were compiled from the stories in Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah.

In 2008 SAB TV, a popular entertainment channel in India, started a show Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah that is based on his column, and soon it became the flagship show of the channel.

Personal life

Taarak Mehta comes from a Jain family. He lives in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, where he moved in 2000, with his second wife, Indu, of over 30 years. His first wife, Ila who later married Manohar Doshi, (died 2006), also stayed in the same apartment building. He has daughter from his first marriage, Ishani, who stays in US, and has two children, Kushaan and Shailee.

Louis Le Prince

Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince (28 August 1841 – vanished 16 September 1890) was a French inventor who shot the first moving pictures on paper film using a single lens camera. He has been heralded as the "Father of Cinematography" since 1930.

A Frenchman who also worked in the United Kingdom and the United States, Le Prince conducted his ground-breaking work in 1888 in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.

In October 1888, Le Prince filmed moving picture sequences Roundhay Garden Scene and a Leeds Bridge street scene using his single-lens camera and Eastman's paper film. These were several years before the work of competing inventors such as Auguste and Louis Lumière and Thomas Edison.

He was never able to perform a planned public demonstration in the United States because he mysteriously vanished from a train on 16 September 1890. His body and luggage were never found, but, over a century later, a police archive was found to contain a photograph of a drowned man who could have been him. Not long after Le Prince's disappearance, Thomas Edison tried to take credit for the invention. But Le Prince’s widow and son, Adolphe, were keen to advance his cause as the inventor of cinematography. In 1898 Adolphe appeared as a witness for the defence in a court case brought by Edison against the American Mutoscope Company, claiming that Edison was the first and sole inventor of cinematography (and thus entitled to royalties for the use of the process). He was not allowed to present the two cameras as evidence (and so establish Le Prince’s prior claim as inventor) and eventually the court ruled in favour of Edison; a year later that ruling was overturned.