The 1880s (pronounced "eighteen-eighties") was a decade of the Gregorian calendar that began on January 1, 1880, and ended on December 31, 1889. The period was characterized in general by economic growth and prosperity in many parts of the world, especially Europe and the Americas, with the emergence of modern cities signified by the foundation of many long-lived corporations, franchises, and brands and the introduction of the skyscraper. The decade was a part of the Gilded Age (1874–1907) in the United States and the Victorian Era in the British Empire. It also occurred at the height of the Second Industrial Revolution and saw numerous developments in science and a sudden proliferation of electrical technologies, particularly in mass transit and telecommunications. Politics and wars Wars Aceh War (1873–1904) War of the Pacific (1879–1884) First Boer War (1880–1881) Mahdist War (1881–1899) 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War (1882) 13 September 1882 — British troops occupy Cairo, and Egypt becomes a British protectorate. Sino-French War (1884–1885) Serbo-Bulgarian War (1885) Internal conflicts American Indian Wars (Intermittently from 1622 to 1918) 20 July 1881 — Sioux chief Sitting Bull leads the last of his fugitive people in surrender to United States troops at Fort Buford in Montana. Frequent lynchings of African Americans in Southern United States during the years 1880–1890 Colonization France colonizes Indochina (1883) German colonization (1887) Increasing colonial interest and conquest in Africa leads representatives from Britain, France, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Italy and Spain to divide Africa into regions of colonial influence at the Berlin Conference. This would be followed over the next few decades by conquest of almost the entirety of the remaining uncolonised parts of the continent, broadly along the lines determined. (1889) Prominent political events 3 August 1881: The Pretoria Convention peace treaty is signed, officially ending the war between the Boers and Britain. 3 May 1882: The Chinese Exclusion Act was signed into law by President Chester A. Arthur. 1884: International Meridian Conference in Washington D.C., held to determine the Prime Meridian of the world. 1884–1885: Berlin Conference, when the western powers divided Africa. The United States had five Presidents during the decade, the most since the 1840s. They were Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Chester A. Arthur, Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison. Disasters May to August, 1883: Krakatoa, a volcano in Indonesia, erupted cataclysmically; 36,000 people were killed, the majority being killed by the resulting tsunami. September 1887: The Yellow