U.S. gold coinage got an added starter in 1883. The U.S. Mint had neglected to place the word CENTS on the new Liberty Head nickel, so fast-buck artists gold-plated some of the coins and passed them off as $5 gold pieces. The practice ended late in the year when the Mint added the missing word.

It was an eventful year:

• The Brooklyn Bridge was opened in New York City in ceremonies attended by President Chester Arthur and Governor Grover Cleveland. Six days later, 12 people were killed in a stampede caused by rumors that the bridge was about to collapse.
• Congress passed the Pendleton Act, which laid the groundwork for reform of the Civil Service system.
• The first U.S. vaudeville theater opened in Boston.
• The first telephone call was placed between New York and Chicago.
• Krakatoa, west of Java, erupted in one of the most powerful natural disasters in recorded history.
  The explosion killed 40,000 people and spewed 20 million tons of sulfur into the atmosphere, causing global temperatures to drop 2 degrees and affecting the world’s climate for the next five years.
• Louis Waterman began experiments that led to the creation of the fountain pen.
• Ladies Home Journal began publication.
• Mark Twain released his memoir, Life on the Mississippi.

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