1890 CE

The Teatro Massimo Bellini opera house in Catania, Sicily, named after the local-born composer Vincenzo Bellini, is inaugurated with a performance of the composer's masterwork, Norma. The United States Census Bureau begins using Herman Hollerith's tabulating machine to record census returns using punched card input, a landmark in the history of computing hardware. Hollerith's company eventually becomes IBM. London's City & South London Railway, the first deep-level underground railway in the world, opens. It runs a distance of 5.1 km between the City of London and Stockwell.

In the 1890s, the 19th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • January 1 – The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony in the Horn of Africa.source
  • 1 January – The Kingdom of Italy establishes Italian Eritrea as its colony in the Horn of Africa.Italysource
  • January 2 – Alice Sanger becomes the first female staffer in the White House.source
  • 25 January – A territorial dispute between Argentina and Brazil over the eastern sector of Misiones ("Questão Palmas") is resolved by the signing of the Treaty of Montevideo by Quintino Bocaiuva, the minister of external affairs.Brazilsource
  • March 20 – Kaiser Wilhelm II forces Otto von Bismarck to resign as Chancellor of Germany.source
  • 30 March - Legislative electionPortugalsource
  • May 2 – President Benjamin Harrison signs the Oklahoma Organic Act, under which Oklahoma Territory is organized, a prerequisite for later statehood.source
  • 23 June – President Paul Kruger of the South African Republic institutes a Second Volksraad which is responsible for controlling local matters.South Africasource
  • July 1 – 1890 Japanese general election: In the first general election for the House of Representatives of Japan, about 5% of the adult male population elect a lower house of the Diet of Japan, in accordance with the new Meiji Constitution of 1889.source
  • July 1 – Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty: Britain cedes the Heligoland islands (in the German Bight) to Germany, in return for protectorates over Wituland and the Sultanate of Zanzibar (the islands of Pemba and Unguja) in east Africa.source
  • 1 July — Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty. Germany receives Heligoland and the Caprivi Strip from the United Kingdom and a free hand to control and acquire the coast of Dar es Salaam. In return, Germany renounces its protectorate over Wituland (part of modern-day Kenya) and pledges not to interfere in the actions of the UK vis-à-vis the Sultanate of Zanzibar. The U.K. cedes sovereignty of the Heligoland archipelago to Germany.Germanysource
  • July 1 – 1890 Japanese general election; Empire of Japan’s first general election for members of the House of Representatives of the Diet of Japan. It was the first example of a popularly elected national assembly in AsiaJapansource
  • July 2 – The Sherman Antitrust Act and Sherman Silver Purchase Act become United States law.source
  • July 3 – Idaho is admitted as the 43rd U.S. state.source
  • July 10 – Wyoming is admitted as the 44th U.S. state.source
  • August 20 – Treaty of London: Portugal and the United Kingdom define the borders of the Portuguese colonies of Mozambique and Angola.source
  • August – Kaiser Wilhelm II and Tsar Alexander III meet at Narva.source
  • November 29 – The Meiji Constitution goes into effect in Japan, and its first Diet convenes.source
  • 29 December – Sir John Forrest becomes the Premier of Western Australia and the first Premier in Australia.Australiasource
  • Men's doubles – M. Fenwicke and J. JarkineNew Zealandsource

Conflict & Security

  • January 11 – 1890 British Ultimatum: The United Kingdom demands Portugal withdraw its forces from the land between the Portuguese colonies of Mozambique and Angola (most of present-day Zimbabwe and Zambia).source
  • 8 February Wales 5–2 Ireland (in Shrewsbury)Irelandsource
  • 21 February – First Franco-Dahomean War begins.Francesource
  • 27 March – Preston North End finish the second season of the Football League as title winners once again.United Kingdomsource
  • June 27 – Canadian-born boxer George Dixon defeats the British bantamweight champion in London, giving him claim to be the first black world champion in any sport.source
  • 27 June – In the First Battle of Agordat Italy defeats Mahdist Sudan.Italysource
  • 2 July – Brussels Conference Act of 1890 (anti-slavery convention)Belgiumsource
  • July 26 – In Buenos Aires, the Revolution of the Park takes place, forcing President Juárez Celman's resignation.source
  • October 11 – In Washington, D.C., the Daughters of the American Revolution is founded.source
  • November 29 – At West Point, New York, the United States Navy defeats the United States Army 24–0 in the first Army–Navy Game of college football.source
  • November 29 – In West Point, New York, the United States Navy defeats the United States Army 24–0 in the first Army–Navy football game.United Statessource
  • November – Carbine wins the Melbourne CupAustraliasource
  • December 29 – Wounded Knee Massacre: At Wounded Knee, South Dakota, a Lakota camp, the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment tries to disperse the non-violent "Ghost-Dance" which was promised to usher in a new era of power and freedom to Native Americans but is feared as a potential rallying tool for violent rebellion by some in the U.S. government. Shooting begins, and 153 Lakota Sioux and 25 troops are killed; about 150 flee the scene. This is the last tribe to be defeated and confined to a reservation as well as the beginning of the decline of both the American Indian Wars and the American frontier.source
  • Armenian Revolutionary FederationRussiasource

Exploration & Expansion

  • 1 February – Cape Western – Somerset West to Sir Lowry's Pass Village, 5 mi 20 ch.South Africasource
  • 13 October – Transvaal – Braamfontein to Springs, 30 mi.South Africasource
  • English archaeologist Flinders Petrie excavates at Tell el-Hesi, Palestine (mistakenly identified as Tel Lachish), the first scientific excavation of an archaeological site in the Holy Land, during which he discovers how tells are formed.source
  • Solitude football ground in Belfast, the home of Cliftonville, is opened, making it the oldest football ground in Ireland.Irelandsource
  • Pole vault – D. Robertson (Canterbury)New Zealandsource
  • 3 miles – Peter Morrison (South Canterbury)New Zealandsource
  • Eastern journey of Nicholas IIRussiasource
  • Tunnock's bakers established in Uddingston.Scotlandsource
  • Cricket - The England ladies' team plays an exhibition match at Newport.Walessource

Religion & Belief

  • April 2 – Kashihara Shrine, a landmark spot in Nara Prefecture, Japan, is officially built by Emperor Mutsuhito (Emperor of Meiji).source
  • May 31 – The Ulm Minister opens in Ulm, Germany as the world's tallest cathedral.source
  • 31 May — The Ulm Minster is completed as the world's tallest cathedral.Germanysource
  • September 24 – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints President Wilford Woodruff issues the "1890 Manifesto" officially advising against any future polygamy in the Church.United Statessource
  • September 25 — President Wilford Woodruff of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issues the 1890 Manifesto ending the official practice of polygamy.source
  • 15 October – The Ab apostolici papal encyclical against Freemasonry in Italy is promulgated by Pope Leo XIII.Italysource
  • November 21 – Edward King, Anglican bishop of Lincoln, is convicted of using ritualistic practices.source
  • 21 November – Edward King (bishop of Lincoln) is convicted in a special ecclesiastical court (revived for the first time since 1699) of using ritualistic practices in Anglican worship, although on a majority of counts the court finds in his favour.United Kingdomsource
  • High School Cadets is written by John Philip Sousa.source
  • 16 to 21 August – Seventh International Eucharistic Congress held in Antwerp, with an estimated 150,000 participants.Belgiumsource
  • Staðarbakkakirkja church is constructed in Miðfjörður.Icelandsource
  • Savile Cup winners – ChristchurchNew Zealandsource
  • Arthur Machen - The Great God Pan (in the magazine The Whirlwind)Walessource

Economy & Finance

  • February 5 – The worldwide insurance and financial service brand Allianz is founded in Berlin, Germany.source
  • 5 February – German company Allianz is founded in Berlin.Germanysource
  • June 16 – Royal Dutch Petroleum, predecessor of Royal Dutch Shell, the major worldwide energy production and sales company, is founded in the Netherlands to develop an oilfield in Pangkalan Brandan, North Sumatra.source
  • 16 July - German company Mannesmann is founded in Düsseldorf.Germanysource
  • August 23 – The BOVESPA stock exchange is founded in São Paulo, Brazil.source
  • 9 December – The Finance Minister, Giovanni Giolitti, and the Minister of Public Works, Gaspare Finali, resign over a contrast on the Ministry of Public Works expenses.Italysource
  • Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts is founded. Pierre Puvis de Chavannes is president and co-founder.Francesource
  • A study finds that the most common Irish surnames are Murphy, Kelly, O'Sullivan and Walshe.Irelandsource
  • Establishment of the Niassa Company.Portugalsource
  • Baring crisis, a financial panic precipitated by the need to guarantee Barings Bank's risky debts in Argentina.United Kingdomsource

Technology & Infrastructure

  • February unknown date – Kubota founded in Nishi-ku, Osaka.Japansource
  • March 4 – The Forth Bridge, the longest bridge in Great Britain, on the Firth of Forth in Scotland, is opened to rail traffic.source
  • 4 March – the Forth Bridge (1,710 ft) is opened to rail traffic.Scotlandsource
  • March 17 – The first railway in Transvaal, the Randtram, opens between Boksburg and Braamfontein in Johannesburg.source
  • March 17 – The first railway line in the Transvaal, known as the Randtram, is opened for service between Boksburg and Braamfontein in Johannesburg.South Africasource
  • June 1 – The United States Census Bureau begins using Herman Hollerith's tabulating machine to record census returns using punched card input, a landmark in the history of computing hardware. Hollerith's company eventually becomes IBM.United Statessource
  • October 9 – The first brief flight of Clément Ader's steam-powered fixed-wing aircraft Ader Éole takes place in Satory, France. It flies uncontrolled approximately 50 m at a height of 20 cm, the first take-off of a powered airplane solely under its own power.source
  • 9 October – The first brief flight of Clément Ader's steam-powered fixed-wing aircraft Ader Éole takes place in Satory. It flies uncontrolled approximately 50 m at a height of 20 cm, the first take-off of a powered airplane solely under its own power.Francesource
  • 28 October: The first Labour Day is celebrated (but it is not a public holiday).New Zealandsource
  • November 4 – The first deep level London Underground (Tube) Railway, the City and South London Railway, opens officially.source
  • 4 November – London's City & South London Railway, the first deep-level underground railway in the world, opens. It runs a distance of 5.1 km between the City of London and Stockwell.United Kingdomsource
  • December 10 – The New York World Building is completed in New York City, the tallest building in the United States for 10 years at a height of 110 meters.source
  • Japanese tractor and iron pipe brand, Kubota founded in Osaka, Japan.source
  • Brown trout are introduced into the upper Firehole River, in Yellowstone National Park.source
  • Emerson Electric, an American electronics industry giant, is founded in Missouri.source
  • Blackwall Buildings, Whitechapel, noted philanthropic housing, is built in the East End of London.source
  • The United States city of Boise, Idaho, drills the first geothermal well.source
  • Opening of the Rock Mill watermill for woollen milling at Capel Dewi, Llandysul.Walessource

Science & Discovery

  • January 25 – American journalist Nellie Bly completes her round-the-world journey in 72 days.source
  • January 25 – Journalist Nellie Bly completes her round-the-world journey in 72 days.United Statessource
  • 20 March – The battle cruiser Almirante Tamandaré is launched at Rio de Janeiro Dockyards.Brazilsource
  • 20 March - Leo von Caprivi shift beginsGermanysource
  • 29 March Ireland 1–4 Scotland (in Belfast)Irelandsource
  • May 30 – The five-story skylight Arcade opens in Cleveland, Ohio.source
  • 15 October - "Birth" of Álvaro de Campos, one of Fernando Pessoa's heteronyms.Portugalsource
  • The folding carton box is invented by Robert Gair, a Brooklyn printer who developed production of paper-board boxes in 1879.source
  • Francis Galton announces a statistical demonstration of the uniqueness and classifiability of individual human fingerprints.source
  • 440 yards – H. Reeves (Canterbury)New Zealandsource
  • Saint Petersburg Mathematical SocietyRussiasource
  • William McGonagall's Poetic Gems published.Scotlandsource

Health & Medicine

  • March 27 – March 1890 middle Mississippi Valley tornado outbreak: 24 significant tornadoes are spawned by one system, including one that kills 76 people in Louisville, Kentucky.source
  • June 1 – The United States Census Bureau begins using Herman Hollerith's tabulating machine to tabulate census returns using punched card input, a landmark in the history of computing hardware. Hollerith's company eventually becomes IBM. The 1890 United States census determines the US population to be 62,979,766, an increase of 25.5 percent relative to the 1880 census.source
  • June 6 – Magadu Bhambada becomes chief of the AmaZondi people at the age of 25 after the death of his father and uncle.South Africasource
  • July 2 – The Sherman Antitrust Act becomes U.S. law.United Statessource
  • August 28 – The strongest storm in Finnish history kills at least three people.source
  • November 25 – The first Diet session is held.Japansource
  • Wilhelm II, German Emperor opposes Bismarck's attempt to renew the law outlawing the Social Democratic Party.source

Crime & Justice

  • May 20 – Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh moves to Auvers-sur-Oise on the edge of Paris, in the care of Paul Gachet, where he will produce around seventy paintings in as many days.source
  • August 6 – At Auburn Prison in New York, William Kemmler becomes the first person to be executed in the electric chair.source
  • 7 August - Anna Månsdotter became the last woman in Sweden to be executed.Swedensource
  • 24 October – "Hampstead Tragedy": Mary Pearcey brutally murders her lover's wife and child in north London, for which she will be hanged on 23 December.United Kingdomsource
  • November – Scotland Yard, headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service, moves to a building on London's Victoria Embankment, as New Scotland Yard.source
  • Verse by Adam Lindsay Gordon (1830-1870) set to music by Australian musician Theodore Tourrier (1846-1929)Australiasource
  • The Thorvaldsen Exhibition Medal is awarded to Georg Achen for the painting ]Johanne Achen. The Artist's Mother.Denmarksource
  • Octave Mirbeau - Sébastien RochFrancesource
  • Prevention Of Cruelty To Animals ActIndiasource
  • 100 yards freestyle (Hamilton) – H. Bailey (Auckland)New Zealandsource
  • Chair - Thomas Tudno Jones, "Y Llafurwr"Walessource

Disasters & Accidents

  • 6 February – an underground explosion at Llanerch Colliery, Abersychan in Monmouthshire kills 176.United Kingdomsource
  • February 17 - The British steamship Duburg is wrecked in the South China Sea: 400 lives are lostChinasource
  • 28 February – The steamship RMS Quetta sinks off Cape York Peninsula, killing 133Australiasource
  • March 31 — Manitoba Liberals under Thomas Greenway halt public funding of Catholic schools; causes uproar in Quebec.Canadasource
  • July 13 – In Minnesota, storms result in the Sea Wing disaster on Lake Pepin, killing 98.source
  • October 13 – On Lake Huron, the schooner J. F. Warner is lost in Thunder Bay (Michigan).United Statessource
  • December 27 - The British steamship Shanghai burns in the East China Sea off the coast of Anhui Province; 101 lives are lost.Chinasource
  • Seapoint tragedy: James O'Connor's wife and four of their daughters die after eating contaminated mussels.Irelandsource
  • Almost half of the town of Hammerfest burns down.Norwaysource

Climate & Environment

Culture & Society

  • 6 January – A state funeral is held for the former Empress Teresa Cristina of Brazil, in Lisbon. A mass is attended by members of several European royal families.Brazilsource
  • January 15 – Ballet The Sleeping Beauty, with music by Tchaikovsky, is premiered at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia.source
  • January 25 – The United Mine Workers of America is founded.source
  • February 18 – The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) is founded by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.source
  • February 24 – Chicago is selected to host the World's Columbian Exposition.source
  • March 3 – The first American football game in Ohio State University history is played in Delaware, Ohio, against Ohio Wesleyansource
  • March 8 – North Dakota State University is founded in Fargo.source
  • March 27 – Preston North End retain the English Football League Championship, winning their final game at Notts Countysource
  • March 28 – Washington State University is founded in Pullman.source
  • April 14 – At the First International Conference of American States, in Washington D.C., The Commercial Bureau of the American Republics is founded.source
  • 30 April - Founding of the German Naval LeagueGermanysource
  • May 1 – A coordinated series of mass rallies and one-day strikes is held throughout many cities and mining towns in Europe and North America, to demand an eight-hour workday.source
  • May 12 – The first ever official English County Championship cricket match begins in Bristol; Yorkshire beats Gloucestershire, by eight wickets.source
  • 31 May – The first Australian Championships in Athletics are held under the name Inter Colonial Meet. The men's competition is staged at the Moore Park in Sydney.Australiasource
  • 31 May – The Teatro Massimo Bellini opera house in Catania, Sicily, named after the local-born composer Vincenzo Bellini, is inaugurated with a performance of the composer's masterwork, Norma.Italysource
  • June 20 – The Picture of Dorian Gray (by Oscar Wilde) is published by Philadelphia-based Lippincott's Monthly Magazine (dated July).source
  • July 1 – The Ouija board is first released by Elijah Bond.source
  • July 26 - Revolution of the ParkArgentinasource
  • 14 August - Opening of Coliseu dos Recreios.Portugalsource
  • September 6 – Dublin association football club Bohemian F.C. is founded in the Gate Lodge, Phoenix Park.source
  • September 12 – Salisbury, Rhodesia, is founded.source
  • September 19 – The University of North Texas is founded, as the Texas Normal College and Teacher Training Institute.source
  • October 12 – The Uddevalla Suffrage Association is founded in Sweden, with a formal founding event on November 2 a month later.source
  • October 13 – The Delta Chi fraternity is founded by 11 law students at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.source
  • December 24 – The Oklahoma territorial legislature establishes three institutions of higher learning University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, and University of Central Oklahoma.source
  • American geostrategist Alfred Thayer Mahan publishes his influential book The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660–1783.source
  • Unknown date – Ōshita Kaishunō, as predecessor of Fumakillar, an insecticide manufacturing and sales brand, founded in Hiroshima.Japansource
  • Founding of the Freemasons' Grand Lodge of New Zealand (April)New Zealandsource

Births

  • March 9 (new style) – Vyacheslav Molotov, Soviet politician (died 1986)source
  • April 20 – Maurice Duplessis, premier of Quebec (died 1959)source
  • May 2 - Teddie Gerard, actress and entertainer (died 1942)Argentinasource
  • May 19 – Ho Chi Minh, Prime minister/President of North Vietnam (died 1969)source
  • June 21 – Lewis H. Brereton, American aviation pioneer and air force general (died 1967)source
  • July 19 – George II of Greece, King of Greece (died 1947)source
  • August 20 – H. P. Lovecraft, American writer (died 1937)source
  • September 10 – Sir Mortimer Wheeler, British archaeologist (died 1976)source
  • September 15 – Agatha Christie, English writer (died 1976)source
  • 15 September – Frank Martin, composer (died 1974 in the Netherlands)Switzerlandsource
  • October 8 – Eddie Rickenbacker, American race car driver and World War I fighter pilot (died 1973)source
  • October 9 – Aimee Semple McPherson, Canadian-American Pentecostal Evangelist (died 1944)source
  • October 14 – Dwight D. Eisenhower, US general and 34th President of the United States (died 1969)source
  • October 16 – Michael Collins, Irish patriot (died 1922)source
  • 31 October – Sava Caracaș, general (died 1945).Romaniasource
  • November 3 – Yamakawa Kikue, activist, writer, socialist, and feminist (died 1980)Japansource
  • November 22 – Charles de Gaulle, President of France (died 1970)source
  • November 23 – El Lissitzky, Russian artist and architect (died 1941)source

Deaths

  • January 7 – Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Empress Consort of Wilhelm I, German Emperor (born 1811)source
  • January 18 – King Amadeo I of Spain (born 1845)source
  • April 11 – Joseph Merrick (The Elephant Man), British oddity (born 1862)source
  • June 2 – Matsudaira Yoshinaga, daimyō (born 1828)Japansource
  • July 13 – John C. Frémont, American explorer and military officer (born 1813)source
  • July 27 – Death of Vincent van Gogh: van Gogh shoots himself, dying two days later.source
  • July 29 – Vincent van Gogh, Dutch painter (born 1853)source
  • August 11 – John Henry Newman, English Roman Catholic Cardinal (born 1801)source
  • October 20 – Richard Francis Burton, English explorer, linguist, soldier (born 1821)source
  • 26 October – Carlo Collodi, Italian writer (The Adventures of Pinocchio) (born 1826)Italysource
  • 1 November – Júlio Ribeiro, naturalist novelist, philologist, journalist and grammarian (born 1845; tuberculosis)Brazilsource
  • 3 November – Ulrich Ochsenbein, politician (born 1811)Switzerlandsource
  • November 8 – César Franck, Belgian composer and organist (born 1822)source
  • November 23 – King William III of the Netherlands dies without a male heir, and his daughter Princess Wilhelmina becomes Queen, causing the end of the personal union of thrones with Luxembourg (which requires a male heir) so that Adolphe, Duke of Nassau becomes Grand Duke of Luxembourg.source
  • November 24 – August Belmont, Sr., Prussian-born financier (born 1816)source
  • December 15 – Sitting Bull, Native American chief (born c. 1831)source
  • December 15 – Hunkpapa Lakota leader Sitting Bull is killed by police on Standing Rock Indian Reservation.source
  • December 26 – Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist (born 1822)source