WORLD HISTORY · 19TH CENTURY 日本語
Events of the 1890s1890–1899
What happened in the 1890s?
In the 1890s (1890–1899), the First Sino-Japanese War broke out between Japan and Qing China, and Japan's first electric railway opened in Kyoto. Bismarck was dismissed in Germany, and the decade also saw women's suffrage in New Zealand, the first modern Summer Olympics, and the peace treaty ending the Spanish–American War.
- Wilhelm II dismisses BismarckEurope
- Construction of Trans-Siberian Railway beginsAsia
- Tanaka Shozo questions government on Ashio pollutionAsia
- New Zealand grants women the voteOceania
- First Sino-Japanese War beginsAsia
- Japan's first electric railway opens in KyotoAsia
- First modern Summer Olympics held in AthensEurope
- Treaty of Paris ends Spanish–American WarEurope
Summaries are written by the site editors.
The 1890s in AP history courses
| AP World History | Unit 5–6 (Revolutions; Consequences of Industrialization) |
|---|---|
| AP U.S. History | Periods 6–7 |
Events of the 1890s (timeline · 330)
Tip: the PC view is best for studying
On a computer, each region has its own vertical line, so you can follow the flow of events and see what was happening in different parts of the world at the same time.
Eritrea is consolidated into a colony by the Italian government as Italian Eritrea.
The longest bridge in Great Britain, the Forth Bridge in Scotland, measuring 8,094 feet (2,467 m) long, is opened by the Duke of Rothesay, later King Edward VII.
Chancellor of the German Empire Otto von Bismarck is dismissed by Emperor Wilhelm II.
The Pan-American Union is founded by the First International Conference of American States in Washington, D.C.
The United States Census Bureau begins using Herman Hollerith's tabulating machine to count census returns.
In Buenos Aires, Argentina the Revolución del Parque takes place, forcing President Miguel Ángel Juárez Celman's resignation.
At Auburn Prison in New York, murderer William Kemmler becomes the first person to be executed by electric chair.
Anna Månsdotter, found guilty of the 1889 Yngsjö murder, becomes the last woman to be executed in Sweden.
Malleco Viaduct in Chile, at the time "the highest railroad bridge in the world", is inaugurated by President José Manuel Balmaceda.
City and South London Railway: London's first deep-level tube railway opens between King William Street and Stockwell.
King William III of the Netherlands dies without a male heir and a special law is passed to allow his daughter Princess Wilhelmina to succeed him.
Hunkpapa Lakota leader Sitting Bull is killed on Standing Rock Indian Reservation, leading to the Wounded Knee Massacre.
Cornwallis Valley Railway begins operation between Kentville and Kingsport, Nova Scotia.
Wounded Knee Massacre: On Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, 300 Lakota are killed by the United States 7th Cavalry Regiment.
Following the Wounded Knee Massacre, the United States Army and Lakota warriors face off in the Drexel Mission Fight.
Liliʻuokalani is proclaimed the last monarch and only queen regnant of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
History of Portugal: The first attempt at a Portuguese republican revolution breaks out in the northern city of Porto.
Shoshone National Forest is established as the first national forest in the US and world.
Almon Strowger patents the Strowger switch, a device which led to the automation of telephone circuit switching.
SS Utopia collides with HMS Anson in the Bay of Gibraltar and sinks, killing 562 of the 880 passengers on board.
Chilean Civil War: The ironclad Blanco Encalada is sunk at Caldera Bay by torpedo boats.
On Labor Day in Catania, Sicily, workers establish the first successful Fascio Siciliano, launching a movement of peasants and laborers protesting poverty, landlordism, taxation, and economic hardship across Sicily.
The 1891 New Orleans Lynchings: 11 Italian immigrants are lynched by a mob in Louisiana, USA after the acquittal of several defendants in a murder case, the largest mass lynching in U.S. history.
The Music Hall in New York City (later known as Carnegie Hall) has its grand opening and first public performance, with Tchaikovsky as the guest conductor.
Pope Leo XIII defends workers' rights and property rights in the encyclical Rerum novarum, the beginning of modern Catholic social teaching.
The International Electrotechnical Exhibition opens in Frankfurt, Germany, featuring the world's first long-distance transmission of high-power, three-phase electric current (the most common form today).
History of cinema: The first public display of Thomas Edison's prototype kinetoscope.
The Basilica of San Sebastian, Manila, the first all-steel church in Asia, is officially inaugurated and blessed.
The first hydropower plant of Finland is commissioned along the Tammerkoski rapids in Tampere, Pirkanmaa.
A diplomatic incident between the United States and Chile occurred after U.S. sailors were attacked in Valparaíso, nearly leading to war.
The Mino–Owari earthquake, the largest inland earthquake in Japan's history, occurs.
The Lobau bombing is one of the first attacks of the Ère des attentats (1892-1894).
Homer Plessy is arrested for refusing to leave his seat in the "whites-only" car of a train; he lost the resulting court case, Plessy v. Ferguson.
The Limelight Department, one of the world's first film studios, is officially established in Melbourne, Australia.
Western Samoa changes the International Date Line, causing Monday (July 4) to occur twice, resulting in a leap year with 367 days.
Three thousand eight hundred striking steelworkers engage in a day-long battle with Pinkerton agents during the Homestead Strike, leaving ten dead and dozens wounded.
The Katipunan is established, the discovery of which by Spanish authorities initiated the Philippine Revolution.
Dadabhai Naoroji is elected as the first Indian Member of Parliament in Britain.
The father and stepmother of Lizzie Borden are found murdered in their Fall River, Massachusetts home. She will be tried and acquitted for the crimes a year later.
A locomotive shunting falls into a hole in the ground, leading to the burial of the locomotive.
The first night game for American football takes place in a contest between Wyoming Seminary and Mansfield State Normal.
The Pledge of Allegiance is first recited by students in many US public schools.
Opening ceremonies for the World's Columbian Exposition are held in Chicago, though because construction was behind schedule, the exposition did not open until May 1, 1893.
The Carmaux-Bons Enfants bombing marks the start of Émile Henry's attacks into the Ère des attentats (1892–1894).
The New Orleans general strike begins, uniting black and white American trade unionists in a successful four-day general strike action for the first time.
Pudge Heffelfinger becomes the first professional American football player on record, participating in his first paid game for the Allegheny Athletic Association.
The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky premiers in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
U.S. Marines land in Honolulu, Hawaii from the USS Boston to prevent the queen from abrogating the Bayonet Constitution.
Lorrin A. Thurston, along with the Citizens' Committee of Public Safety, led the Overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii and the government of Queen Liliʻuokalani.
The Tati Concessions Land, formerly part of Matabeleland, is formally annexed to the Bechuanaland Protectorate, now Botswana.
Thomas A. Edison finishes construction of the first motion picture studio, the Black Maria in West Orange, New Jersey.
Electrical engineer Nikola Tesla gives the first public demonstration of radio in St. Louis, Missouri.
The trial of Lizzie Borden for the murder of her father and step-mother begins in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
Grover Cleveland notices a rough spot in his mouth and on July 1 undergoes secret, successful surgery to remove a large, cancerous portion of his jaw; the operation was not revealed to the public until 1917, nine years after the president's death.
The Royal Navy battleship HMS Camperdown accidentally rams the British Mediterranean Fleet flagship HMS Victoria which sinks taking 358 crew with her, including the fleet's commander, Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon.
Daniel Hale Williams, American heart surgeon, performs the first successful open-heart surgery in United States without anesthesia.
A revolution led by the liberal general and politician José Santos Zelaya takes over state power in Nicaragua.
Katharine Lee Bates writes "America the Beautiful" after admiring the view from the top of Pikes Peak near Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Ibadan area becomes a British Protectorate after a treaty was signed by Fijabi, the Baale of Ibadan, with the British acting Governor of Lagos, George C. Denton.
The Sea Islands hurricane strikes the United States near Savannah, Georgia, killing between 1,000 and 2,000 people.
In New Zealand, the Electoral Act of 1893 is consented to by the governor, giving all women in New Zealand the right to vote.
Charles Duryea and his brother road-test the first American-made gasoline-powered automobile.
Pyotr Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Pathétique receives its première performance only nine days before the composer's death.
The Battle of Bembezi took place and was the most decisive battle won by the British in the First Matabele War of 1893.
Women's suffrage: Women in the U.S. state of Colorado are granted the right to vote, the second state to do so.
Abdur Rahman Khan accepts the Durand Line as the border between the Emirate of Afghanistan and the British Raj.
13 November stabbing is committed by Léon Léauthier during the Ère des attentats. This is an influential event in the birth of modern terrorism.
Women's suffrage in New Zealand concludes with the 1893 New Zealand general election.
First Matabele War: A patrol of 34 British South Africa Company soldiers is ambushed and annihilated by more than 3,000 Matabele warriors on the Shangani River in Matabeleland.
National Assembly bombing by Auguste Vaillant during the Ère des attentats (1892–1894).
Symphony No. 9 ("From the New World" a.k.a. the "New World Symphony") by Antonín Dvořák premieres in a public afternoon rehearsal at Carnegie Hall in New York City, followed by a concert premiere on the evening of December 16.
Thomas Edison makes a kinetoscopic film of someone sneezing. On the same day, his employee, William Kennedy Dickson, receives a patent for motion picture film.
The Cripple Creek miner's strike, led by the Western Federation of Miners, begins in Cripple Creek, Colorado, United States.
Café Terminus bombing by Émile Henry during the Ère des attentats (1892–1894). This is considered one of the first acts of modern terrorism.
20 February bombings by Désiré Pauwels during the Ère des attentats (1892-1894).
The Stanley Cup ice hockey competition is held for the first time, in Montreal, Canada.
Coxey's Army, the first significant American protest march, departs Massillon, Ohio for Washington, D.C.
The first ever commercial motion picture house opens in New York City, United States. It uses ten Kinetoscopes, devices for peep-show viewing of films.
Norway formally adopts the Krag–Jørgensen bolt-action rifle as the main arm of its armed forces, a weapon that would remain in service for almost 50 years.
Coxey's Army, the first significant American protest march, arrives in Washington, D.C.
The Manchester Ship Canal in the United Kingdom is officially opened by Queen Victoria, who later knights its designer Sir Edward Leader Williams.
Governor Davis H. Waite orders the Colorado state militia to protect and support the miners engaged in the Cripple Creek miners' strike.
The International Olympic Committee is founded at the Sorbonne in Paris, at the initiative of Baron Pierre de Coubertin.
Assassination of the French President, Sadi Carnot by Sante Caserio during the Ère des attentats (1892–1894).
The first ever motor race is held in France between the cities of Paris and Rouen. The fastest finisher was the Comte Jules-Albert de Dion, but the "official" victory was awarded to Albert Lemaître driving his three-horsepower petrol engined Peugeot.
The First Sino-Japanese War begins when the Japanese fire upon a Chinese warship.
The Empire of Japan and Qing China declare war on each other after a week of fighting over Korea, formally inaugurating the First Sino-Japanese War.
Mahatma Gandhi forms the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) in order to fight discrimination against Indian traders in Natal.
Kitasato Shibasaburō discovers the infectious agent of the bubonic plague and publishes his findings in The Lancet.
Over 400 people die in the Great Hinckley Fire, a forest fire in Hinckley, Minnesota.
First Sino-Japanese War: Japan defeats the Qing dynasty in the Battle of Pyongyang, causing the Qing army to withdraw to the Chinese border with Korea.
Battle of the Yalu River, the largest naval engagement of the First Sino-Japanese War.
First Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Jiuliancheng: Under the command of General Yamagata Aritomo, the Imperial Japanese Army covertly crosses the Yalu River into Qing territory and launches an assault on the fortifications at Hushan.
Nicholas II becomes the new (and last) Tsar of Russia after his father, Alexander III, dies.
Buffalo Bill, 15 of his Native Americans, and Annie Oakley were filmed by Thomas Edison in his Black Maria Studio in West Orange, New Jersey.
H. H. Holmes, one of the first modern serial killers, is arrested in Boston, Massachusetts.
Port Arthur, China, falls to the Japanese, a decisive victory of the First Sino-Japanese War; Japanese troops are accused of massacring the remaining inhabitants.
The Dreyfus affair begins in France, when Alfred Dreyfus is wrongly convicted of treason.
Dreyfus affair: French army officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island.
First Italo-Ethiopian War: The war's opening battle, the Battle of Coatit, occurs; it is an Italian victory.
Fountains Valley, Pretoria, the oldest nature reserve in Africa, is proclaimed by President Paul Kruger.
William G. Morgan creates a game called Mintonette, which soon comes to be referred to as volleyball.
Revolution breaks out in Baire, a town near Santiago de Cuba, beginning the Cuban War of Independence; the war ends along with the Spanish–American War in 1898.
Before the Société pour L'Encouragement à l'Industrie, brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière demonstrate movie film technology publicly for the first time.
The trial in the libel case brought by Oscar Wilde begins, eventually resulting in his imprisonment on charges of homosexuality.
In Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. the Supreme Court of the United States declares unapportioned income tax to be unconstitutional.
The 1895 Ljubljana earthquake, both the most and last destructive earthquake in the area, occurs.
The Treaty of Shimonoseki between China and Japan is signed. This marks the end of the First Sino-Japanese War, and the defeated Qing Empire is forced to renounce its claims on Korea and to concede the southern portion of the Fengtian province, Taiwan and the Penghu to Japan.
Joshua Slocum, the first person to sail single-handedly around the world, sets sail from Boston, Massachusetts aboard the sloop Spray.
In Saint Petersburg, Russian scientist Alexander Stepanovich Popov demonstrates to the Russian Physical and Chemical Society his invention, the Popov lightning detector—a primitive radio receiver. In some parts of the former Soviet Union the anniversary of this day is celebrated as Radio Day.
Playwright, poet and novelist Oscar Wilde is convicted of "committing acts of gross indecency with other male persons" and sentenced to serve two years in prison.
Paris–Bordeaux–Paris, sometimes called the first automobile race in history or the "first motor race", takes place.
Émile Levassor wins the world's first real automobile race. Levassor completed the 732-mile course, from Paris to Bordeaux and back, in just under 49 hours, at a then-impressive speed of about fifteen miles per hour (24 km/h).
The Kiel Canal, crossing the base of the Jutland peninsula and the busiest artificial waterway in the world, is officially opened.
The inaugural run of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Royal Blue from Washington, D.C., to New York City, the first U.S. passenger train to use electric locomotives.
The United States Court of Private Land Claims rules James Reavis's claim to Barony of Arizona is "wholly fictitious and fraudulent."
Japanese invasion of Taiwan: Battle of Baguashan: The Empire of Japan decisively defeats a smaller Formosan army at Changhua, crippling the short-lived Republic of Formosa and leading to its surrender two months later.
John Brallier becomes the first openly paid professional American football player, when he was paid US$10 by David Berry, to play for the Latrobe Athletic Association in a 12–0 win over the Jeanette Athletic Association.
In Paris, an express train derails after overrunning the buffer stop, crossing almost 30 metres (100 ft) of concourse before crashing through a wall and falling 10 metres (33 ft) to the road below.
The strongest earthquake in the Midwestern United States since 1812 strikes near Charleston, Missouri, causing damage and killing at least two.
At the Swedish–Norwegian Club in Paris, Alfred Nobel signs his last will and testament, setting aside his estate to establish the Nobel Prize after he dies.
The first American automobile race takes place over the 54 miles from Chicago's Jackson Park to Evanston, Illinois. Frank Duryea wins in approximately 10 hours.
Wilhelm Röntgen publishes a paper detailing his discovery of a new type of radiation, which later will be known as x-rays.
The Lumière brothers perform for their first paying audience at the Grand Cafe in Boulevard des Capucines.
Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent, becomes the first person to be convicted of speeding. He was fined one shilling, plus costs, for speeding at 8 mph (13 km/h), thereby exceeding the contemporary speed limit of 2 mph (3.2 km/h).
La bohème premieres in Turin at the Teatro Regio (Turin), conducted by the young Arturo Toscanini.
An Englishman raised in Australia, Bob Fitzsimmons, fights an Irishman, Peter Maher, in an American promoted event which technically takes place in Mexico, winning the 1896 World Heavyweight Championship in boxing.
Battle of Adwa: An Ethiopian army defeats an outnumbered Italian force, ending the First Italo-Ethiopian War.
With the approval of Emperor Guangxu, the Qing dynasty post office is opened, marking the beginning of a postal service in China.
Charilaos Vasilakos wins the first modern Olympic marathon race with a time of three hours and 18 minutes.
An explosion at the Brunner Mine near Greymouth, New Zealand, kills 65 coal miners in the country's worst industrial accident.
In Athens, the opening of the first modern Olympic Games is celebrated, 1,500 years after the original games are banned by Roman emperor Theodosius I.
Summer Olympics: The Olympic marathon is run ending with the victory of Greek athlete Spyridon Louis.
While on a pilgrimage of Shah Abdol-Azim Shrine in Ray, Tehran, Naser al-Din Shah of Qajar Persia, was assassinated by Mirza Reza Kermani.
Khodynka Tragedy: A mass panic on Khodynka Field in Moscow during the festivities of the coronation of Russian Tsar Nicholas II results in the deaths of 1,389 people.
The United States Supreme Court rules in Plessy v. Ferguson that the "separate but equal" doctrine is constitutional.
The F4-strength St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado hits in St. Louis, Missouri, and East St. Louis, Illinois, killing at least 255 people and causing over $10 million in damage.
Henry Ford completes the Ford Quadricycle, his first gasoline-powered automobile, and also gives it a successful test run.
An explosion in the Newton Coal Company's Twin Shaft Mine in Pittston, Pennsylvania results in a massive cave-in that kills 58 miners.
William Jennings Bryan delivers his Cross of Gold speech advocating bimetallism at the 1896 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Skookum Jim Mason, George Carmack and Dawson Charlie discover gold in a tributary of the Klondike River in Canada, setting off the Klondike Gold Rush.
Bridget Driscoll becomes the first recorded case of a pedestrian killed in a collision with a motor car in the United Kingdom.
Anglo-Zanzibar War: The shortest war in world history (09:02 to 09:40) occurs, between the United Kingdom and Zanzibar.
Philippine Revolution: After Spanish victory in the Battle of San Juan del Monte, eight provinces in the Philippines are declared under martial law by the Spanish Governor-General Ramón Blanco y Erenas.
Anglo-Egyptian conquest of Sudan: British forces under the command of Horatio Kitchener take Dongola.
Queen Victoria surpasses her grandfather King George III as the longest reigning monarch in British history (later surpassed by her great-great-granddaughter Elizabeth II on 9 September 2015).
A picture showing the bare breasts of a woman appears in National Geographic magazine for the first time.
The Western Pennsylvania Hockey League, which later became the first ice hockey league to openly trade and hire players, began play at Pittsburgh's Schenley Park Casino.
Alfred Jarry's Ubu Roi premieres in Paris. A riot breaks out at the end of the performance.
The Glasgow Underground Railway is opened by the Glasgow District Subway Company.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's Schenley Park Casino, which was the first multi-purpose arena with the technology to create an artificial ice surface in North America, is destroyed in a fire.
Filipino patriot and reform advocate José Rizal is executed by a Spanish firing squad in Manila.
Canadian ice hockey player Ernie McLea scores the first hat-trick in Stanley Cup play, and the Cup-winning goal as the Montreal Victorias defeat the Winnipeg Victorias 6–5.
J. J. Thomson of the Cavendish Laboratory announces his discovery of the electron as a subatomic particle, over 1,800 times smaller than a proton (in the atomic nucleus), at a lecture at the Royal Institution in London.
A treaty annexing the Republic of Hawaii to the United States is signed; the Republic would not be dissolved until a year later.
British colonial officers Charles Walter Rand and Lt. Charles Egerton Ayerst are assassinated in Pune, Maharashtra, India by the Chapekar brothers and Mahadeo Vinayak Ranade, who are later caught and hanged.
Salomon August Andrée leaves Spitsbergen to attempt to reach the North Pole by balloon.
American author Jack London embarks on a sailing trip to take part in the Klondike's gold rush, from which he wrote his first successful stories.
Anglo-Afghan War: The Pashtun fakir Saidullah leads an army of more than 10,000 to begin a siege of the British garrison in the Malakand Agency of the North West Frontier Province of India.
Anglo-Afghan War: The Siege of Malakand ends when a relief column is able to reach the British garrison in the Malakand states.
Italian anarchist Michele Angiolillo assassinates Spanish Prime Minister Antonio Cánovas del Castillo.
The first International Congress of Mathematicians is held in Zürich, Switzerland.
The Tremont Street Subway in Boston opens, becoming the first underground rapid transit system in North America.
Lattimer massacre: A sheriff's posse kills 19 unarmed striking immigrant miners in Lattimer, Pennsylvania, United States.
After months of pursuit, generals of Menelik II of Ethiopia capture Gaki Sherocho, the last king of the Kaffa.
Tirah campaign: In the Battle of Saragarhi, ten thousand Pashtun tribesmen suffer several hundred casualties while attacking 21 Sikh soldiers in British service.
Italian Sport-Club Juventus is founded by a group of students of Liceo Classico Massimo d'Azeglio.
The first Library of Congress building opens its doors to the public; the library had previously been housed in the Congressional Reading Room in the U.S. Capitol.
New York, New York annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York. The four initial boroughs, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx, are joined on January 25 by Staten Island to create the modern city of five boroughs.
British colonial engineer and estate manager William Claxton Peppé discovered the Buddha's remains in Piprahwa, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Dreyfus affair: Émile Zola is brought to trial for libel for publishing J'Accuse...!
The battleship USS Maine explodes and sinks in Havana harbor in Cuba, killing about 274 of the ship's roughly 354 crew. The disaster pushes the United States to declare war on Spain.
Émile Zola is imprisoned in France after writing J'Accuse...!, a letter accusing the French government of antisemitism and wrongfully imprisoning Captain Alfred Dreyfus.
In Melbourne, the representatives of five colonies adopt a constitution, which would become the basis of the Commonwealth of Australia.
U.S. President William McKinley signs a joint resolution to Congress for declaration of war against Spain, beginning the Spanish–American War.
Spanish–American War: The United States Navy begins a blockade of Cuban ports. When the U.S. Congress issued a declaration of war on April 25, it declared that a state of war had existed from this date.
Spanish–American War: President William McKinley calls for 125,000 volunteers to join the National Guard and fight in Cuba, while Congress more than doubles regular Army forces to 65,000.
Spanish–American War: The United States Congress declares that a state of war between the U.S. and Spain has existed since April 21, when an American naval blockade of the Spanish colony of Cuba began.
Spanish–American War: Battle of Manila Bay: The Asiatic Squadron of the United States Navy destroys the Pacific Squadron of the Spanish Navy after a seven-hour battle. Spain loses all seven of its ships, and 381 Spanish sailors die. There are no American vessel losses or combat deaths.
Spanish–American War: In the Battle of Guantánamo Bay, U.S. Marines begin the American invasion of Spanish-held Cuba.
The Hundred Days' Reform, a planned movement to reform social, political, and educational institutions in China, is started by the Guangxu Emperor, but is suspended by Empress Dowager Cixi after 104 days. (The failed reform led to the abolition of the Imperial examination in 1905.)
Philippine Declaration of Independence: General Emilio Aguinaldo declares the Philippines' independence from Spain.
The United States captures Guam from Spain. The few warning shots fired by the U.S. naval vessels are misinterpreted as salutes by the Spanish garrison, which was unaware that the two nations were at war.
Spanish–American War: In a chaotic operation, 6,000 men of the U.S. Fifth Army Corps begins landing at Daiquirí, Cuba, about 16 miles (26 km) east of Santiago de Cuba. Lt. Gen. Arsenio Linares y Pombo of the Spanish Army outnumbers them two-to-one, but does not oppose the landings.
The first solo circumnavigation of the globe is completed by Joshua Slocum from Briar Island, Nova Scotia.
Spanish–American War: The Battle of San Juan Hill is fought in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba.
A Spanish squadron, led by Pascual Cervera y Topete, is defeated by an American squadron under William T. Sampson in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba.
En route from New York to Le Havre, the SS La Bourgogne collides with another ship and sinks with the loss of 549 lives, one of the worst maritime disasters in history.
US president William McKinley signs the Newlands Resolution, annexing Hawaii as a territory of the United States.
Spanish–American War: The American invasion of Spanish-held Puerto Rico begins, as United States Army troops under General Nelson A. Miles land and secure the port at Guánica.
The Hawaiian flag is lowered from ʻIolani Palace in an elaborate annexation ceremony and replaced with the flag of the United States to signify the transfer of sovereignty from the Republic of Hawaii to the United States where it is formally recognized as Hawaii.
Spanish–American War: Spanish and American forces engage in a mock battle for Manila, after which the Spanish commander surrendered in order to keep the city out of Filipino rebel hands.
The Southern Cross Expedition, the first British venture of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, departs from London.
Count Muravyov, Foreign Minister of Russia presents a rescript that convoked the First Hague Peace Conference.
Battle of Omdurman: British and Egyptian troops defeat Sudanese tribesmen and establish British dominance in Sudan.
Seven hundred Greek civilians, 17 British guards and the British Consul of Crete are killed by a Turkish mob.
The Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration is founded under the name k.u.k. Exportakademie.
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the largest American music fraternity, is founded at the New England Conservatory of Music.
The steam ship SS Mohegan sinks near the Lizard peninsula, Cornwall, killing 106.
France withdraws its troops from Fashoda (now in Sudan), ending the Fashoda Incident.
Negrese nationalists revolt against Spanish rule and establish the short-lived Republic of Negros.
White supremacists seized power and massacred black Americans during the Wilmington massacre, the only instance of a municipal government being overthrown in United States history.
The Duquesne Country and Athletic Club defeats an all-star collection of early football players 16–0, in what is considered to be the first all-star game for professional American football.
Spanish–American War: The Treaty of Paris is signed, officially ending the conflict. Spain cedes administration of Cuba to the United States, and the United States agrees to pay Spain $20 million for the Philippines.
Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat sets the first officially recognized land speed record of 63.159 km/h (39.245 mph) in a Jeantaud electric car.
The Malolos Constitution is inaugurated, establishing the First Philippine Republic. Emilio Aguinaldo is sworn in as its first president.
The Australian Premiers' Conference held in Melbourne decides to locate Australia's capital city, Canberra, between Sydney and Melbourne.
The Philippine–American War begins when four Filipino soldiers enter the "American Zone" in Manila, igniting the Battle of Manila.
Spanish–American War: The Treaty of Paris, a peace treaty between the United States and Spain, is ratified by the United States Senate.
Tsar Nicholas II of Russia issues a declaration known as the February Manifesto, which reduces the autonomy of the Grand Duchy of Finland, thus beginning the first period of oppression.
Filipino forces led by General Antonio Luna launch counterattacks for the first time against the American forces during the Philippine–American War. The Filipinos fail to regain Manila from the Americans.
Cyclone Mahina sweeps in north of Cooktown, Queensland, with a 12 metres (39 ft) wave that reaches up to 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) inland, killing over 300.
Phoebe, a satellite of Saturn, becomes the first to be discovered with photographs, taken in August 1898, by William Henry Pickering.
Emilio Aguinaldo leads Filipino forces for the only time during the Philippine–American War at the Battle of Marilao River.
German Society of Chemistry issues an invitation to other national scientific organizations to appoint delegates to the International Committee on Atomic Weights.
Philippine–American War: Malolos, capital of the First Philippine Republic, is captured by American forces.
The St. Andrew's Ambulance Association is granted a royal charter by Queen Victoria.
Finnish farmworker Karl Emil Malmelin kills seven people with an axe at the Simola croft in the village of Klaukkala.
Pearl Hart, a female outlaw of the Old West, robs a stage coach 30 miles southeast of Globe, Arizona.
American Temperance crusader Carrie Nation begins her campaign of vandalizing alcohol-serving establishments by destroying the inventory in a saloon in Kiowa, Kansas.
New Richmond tornado: The ninth deadliest tornado in U.S. history kills 117 people and injures around 200.
NEC Corporation is organized as the first Japanese joint venture with foreign capital.
Mackinder, Ollier and Brocherel make the first ascent of Batian (5,199 m – 17,058 ft), the highest peak of Mount Kenya.
Philippine-American War: the American Asiatic Squadron destroys a Filipino battery at the Battle of Olongapo.
The Second Boer War erupts in South Africa between the British-ruled Cape Colony, and the Boer-ruled Transvaal and Orange Free State.
The Boers begin their 118-day siege of British-held Ladysmith during the Second Boer War.
Second Boer War: Battle of Chieveley, a British armored train is ambushed and partially derailed. British lose the battle, with 80 soldiers captured, along with war correspondent Winston Churchill.
The Second Boer War: A British column is engaged by Boer forces at the Battle of Modder River; although the Boers withdraw, the British suffer heavy casualties.
FC Barcelona is founded by Catalan, Spanish and Englishmen. It later develops into one of Spanish and world football's most iconic and strongest teams.
Philippine–American War: The Battle of Tirad Pass, known as the "Filipino Thermopylae", is fought.
Second Boer War: In the Battle of Magersfontein the Boers commanded by general Piet Cronjé inflict a defeat on the forces of the British Empire commanded by Lord Methuen trying to relieve the Siege of Kimberley.
British Army forces are defeated at the Battle of Colenso in Natal, South Africa, the third and final battle fought during the Black Week of the Second Boer War.
Source: Wikipedia date pages ("January 1" … "December 31") / CC BY-SA 4.0. Regions are assigned by the site editors.
Dates and events are based on Wikipedia and other references. Summaries and regions are written by the site editors.