1897 CE

Despite the guarantees given by the Great Powers on the Ottoman sovereignty over Crete, Colonel Timoleon Vassos unilaterally proclaimed the union of the island with Greece. The Powers reacted by demanding that the Greek Prime Minister Theodoros Deligiannis immediately withdraw Greek forces from the island in exchange for a statute of autonomy. The demand was rejected, and on 7 February the first full-scale battle between Greeks and Turks occurred, when the Greek expeditionary force in Crete defeated a 4,000-strong Ottoman force at the Battle of Livadeia, Crete. The bold action of the Greeks excites popular admiration in Italy and sympathy with the Cretan Christians. The Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Sicily, the third largest opera house—after the Palais Garnier in Paris and the K. K. Hof-Opernhaus in Vienna—was inaugurated with a performance of Verdi's Falstaff conducted by Leopoldo Mugnone. Essendon wins the first Victorian Football League premiership.

In the 1890s, the 19th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

2 February – The Treaty of Washington between Venezuela and the United Kingdom is signed, towards the end of the Venezuelan crisis of 1895.Venezuela source
February 16 – The French conquer the island of Raiatea and capture the rebel chief Teraupo'o, ending the Leeward Islands War and bringing all of the Society Islands under their control.source
25 February - Commune of Providencia is established.Chile source
February 27 – The French military governor of Madagascar, Joseph Gallieni, exiles Queen Ranavalona III to Réunion, abolishing the monarchy the next day.source
28 March – Second round of the Italian general election, 1897. The "Ministerial" left-wing bloc, led by Giovanni Giolitti remained the largest in Parliament, winning 327 of the 508 seats. The Di Rudini government continues.Italy source
April 21 – Sir Alfred Milner becomes High Commissioner of South Africa and Governor of the Cape Colony.South Africa source
April 23 – Representatives of the Chickasaw Nation, Choctaw Nation and U.S. Dawes Commission sign the Atoka Agreement, which becomes an important precursor for creating the State of Oklahoma.source
10 May – The Handelsgesetzbuch (HGB) is passed by the Reichtstag. The HGB will come into force together with the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (BGB) on 1 January 1900.Germany source
May 19 – Oscar Wilde is released from prison in England, and goes into voluntary exile on the continent.source
July 17 – The Klondike Gold Rush begins when the first successful prospectors arrive in Seattlesource
September 20 – Greece and Turkey sign a peace treaty to end the Greco-Turkish War.source
October 12 – The city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil is created. The construction of the second Brazilian planned city is completed successfully; an immigration of 1,000,000 people is estimated.source
October 12 – The Korean Empire is proclaimed, marking the end of the Joseon dynasty after just over 500 years.source
12 October – The city of Belo Horizonte is created and its construction is completely successfully.Brazil source
November 25 – Spain grants Puerto Rico autonomy.source
December 14 – Pact of Biak-na-Bato: The Philippine Revolution is settled, with Spanish promises to reform.source
December 14 – The Pact of Biak-na-Bato is signed between Governor-General Fernando Primo de Rivera and Emilio Aguinaldo, aiming to end the Philippine Revolution.Philippines source
December 30 – Natal annexes Zululand.source
Men's doubles – H. Parker and C. GoreNew Zealand source

Conflict & Security

2 February – Despite the guarantees given by the Great Powers on the Ottoman sovereignty over Crete, Colonel Timoleon Vassos unilaterally proclaimed the union of the island with Greece. The Powers reacted by demanding that the Greek Prime Minister Theodoros Deligiannis immediately withdraw Greek forces from the island in exchange for a statute of autonomy. The demand was rejected, and on 7 February the first full-scale battle between Greeks and Turks occurred, when the Greek expeditionary force in Crete defeated a 4,000-strong Ottoman force at the Battle of Livadeia, Crete. The bold action of the Greeks excites popular admiration in Italy and sympathy with the Cretan Christians.Italy source
February 13 – Governor-General Camilo de Polavieja begins his campaign with 16,000 Spanish soldiers to regain Cavite from Filipino revolutionaries.Philippines source
February 17 – Filipino forces win in the Battle of Zapote Bridge at the boundary of Las Piñas and Cavite.Philippines source
20 February England 6–0 Ireland (in Nottingham)Ireland source
April 18 – The Greco-Turkish War of 1897 breaks out.source
April 27–6 May – Greco-Turkish War of 1897: Battle of Velestino.source
May 5 – Port Elizabeth is flooded.South Africa source
July 26–August 2 – Siege of Malakand: British troops are besieged by Pashtun tribesmen in Malakand, on the Northwest frontier of British India (modern-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan).source
26 July–2 August – Siege of Malakand: British troops are besieged by Pashtun tribesmen in Malakand.United Kingdom source
September 10 – Lattimer massacre: A sheriff's posse kills 19 unarmed immigrant miners in Pennsylvania.source
September 10 – Lattimer Massacre: A sheriff's posse kills more than 19 unarmed immigrant miners in Pennsylvania.United States source
September 11 – After months of searching, generals of Menelik II of Ethiopia capture Gaki Sherocho, the last king of Kaffa, bringing an end to that ancient kingdom.source
September 12 – Battle of Saragarhi: Twenty-one Sikhs of the 36th Sikhs regiment of the British Indian Army defend an army post to the death, against 10,000 Afghan and Orakzai tribesmen, in the Tirah Campaign on the Northwest frontier of the British Raj (modern-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan).source
2 October – the War of Canudos comes to a brutal end, when a large Brazilian army force overruns the village and kills nearly all the inhabitants.Brazil source
October 5 – After a long siege, Brazilian government troops take Canudos in north Brazil, crushing Antônio Conselheiro and his followers.source
October 6 – Ethiopia adopts the tricolor flag: green is for the land, yellow for gold, and red is symbolic of strength and the blood shed.source
Karl Lueger becomes mayor of Vienna.source

Exploration & Expansion

January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a punitive expedition against Benin.source
February 18 – Benin is put to the torch by the British Army's Benin Expedition. Ovonramwen, Oba of Benin, is exiled from his kingdom and the Benin Bronzes are carried off to London.source
14 May: Pigeon post is introduced between Auckland and Great Barrier Island.New Zealand source
July 11 – S. A. Andrée's Arctic Balloon Expedition of 1897 begins. The ill-fated expedition to fly over the Arctic results in the death of the entire team within months.source
July 17 – The Klondike Gold Rush begins when the first successful prospectors arrive in Seattle. On July 25 Jack London sails to join the Rush.United States source
7 August – Euclides da Cunha goes to the sertão ("backland"), as war correspondent for O Estado de S. Paulo.Brazil source
16 August – Belgian Antarctic Expedition sets sail from AntwerpBelgium source
16 August – Emil Racoviță departs on an expedition aboard the Norwegian research vessel RV Belgica as part of the Belgian Antarctic Expedition. The international team is the first to overwinter in Antarctica.Romania source
October 12 – USS Baltimore (Cruiser # 3, later CM-1) is recommissioned, since 1890, for several months of duty in the Hawaiian Islands.source
Bergville is established in the foothills of the Drakensberg mountains in Natal.South Africa source
Lord Grey proposes that Canada create a navy to protect its west coast; Prime Minister Laurier does not act on the recommendation.Canada source
Congested Districts Board (Scotland) set up by the government to administer grants for the development of agriculture, fishing and cottage industries in Highlands and Islands areas where existing resources are inadequate for support of the population.Scotland source

Religion & Belief

February 10 – Freedom of religion is proclaimed in Madagascar.source
March 22 – Emilio Aguinaldo unseats Andrés Bonifacio at the Tejeros Convention, becoming the new head of the Filipino revolutionary group Katipunan.source
March 22 – The two factions of the Katipunan convene at the Tejeros Convention to resolve the leadership status in the organization.Philippines source
April 27 – Grant's Tomb is dedicated in New York.United States source
May 24 – Lion of Belfort (Montreal) unveiled.Canada source
28 July – The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Maracaibo is established.Venezuela source
July 31 – Mount Saint Elias, the second highest peak in the United States and Canada, is first ascended.source
August 29 – The First Zionist Congress convenes in Basel, Switzerland.source
September 21 – Francis P. Church responds (anonymously) to a letter to the editor of The Sun (New York City) that is known as the famous "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" letter.source
27 October - St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne is consecratedAustralia source
16 December – Charles-Gustave Walravens appointed bishop of TournaiBelgium source
"Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" ("God Bless Africa") is composed as a Xhosa hymn by South African teacher Enoch Sontonga.South Africa source
The pan-African anthem "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" ("God Bless Africa") is composed as a Xhosa hymn by South African teacher Enoch Sontonga.source
Monarch – Umberto I (1878–1900)Italy source

Economy & Finance

20 March – The East Asiatic Company is founded by H. N. Andersen in Copenhagen.Denmark source
April 15 – Yamaichi Securities founded in Japan; it will cease trading a hundred years later.source
16 November – Salomon v A Salomon & Co Ltd, a landmark case in United Kingdom company law, is decided in the House of Lords: creditors of an insolvent company cannot not sue the company's shareholders individually to pay up outstanding debts.United Kingdom source
December 12 – Belo Horizonte, the first planned city in Brazil, is incorporated.source
Red Revenue incident, Chinese revenue stamps were overprinted (surcharged) and subsequently used as postage stamps in 1897China source
The machine company Titan A/S us founded by merger of two existing companies.Denmark source
The Danish Workers' Union is founded.Denmark source
The Irish Motor Car and Cycle Company is established.Ireland source
Top New Zealand stakes earner – MultiformNew Zealand source
The recently formed Engineering Employers' Federation stages a lockout of its employees across the north of England and Scotland; continues to January 1898.United Kingdom source

Technology & Infrastructure

January 22 – In this date's issue of the journal Engineering, the word computer is first used to refer to a mechanical calculation device.source
16 March – An agreement for the construction of the careening dock and the shipyard Cantiere navale di Palermo was signed between the government and the Ignazio Florio Jr., scion of the wealthy Florio family, and shipowner and owner of the Navigazione Generale Italiana company, which provided regular services within Sicily and to the ports of Naples and Marseille. The financing of the work was divided between the Florio family (66%), the Italian State, the Municipality of Palermo and the Province of Palermo, as well as a small subsidy from the Cassa di Risparmio of Palermo.Italy source
April 19 – The first Boston Marathon is held in the United States, with fifteen men competing, and is won by John McDermott.source
May 11 – A patent is awarded for the invention of the first automotive muffler, with the granting by the U.S. Patent Office of application number 582,485 to Milton Reeves and his brother Marshall T. Reeves, of the Reeves Pulley Company of Columbus, Indiana.source
May 22 – The Blackwall Tunnel, at this time the longest underwater road tunnel in the world, is opened for traffic beneath the River Thames in the East End of London by the Prince of Wales.source
June 1 – Opening of Matsugishi Station in Chōshi, Chiba.Japan source
June 12 - opening of Els Quatre Gats in BarcelonaSpain source
22 June - The second Victoria Bridge is opened in Brisbane by the Governor of Queensland, Lord Lamington. The previous bridge was destroyed by floodwatersAustralia source
10 August – Rudolf Diesel builds his first working prototype Diesel engine in Augsburg.Germany source
August 21 – The Olds Motor Vehicle Co. is founded in Lansing, Michigan, by Ransom E. Olds.source
August 31 – Thomas Edison is granted a patent for the Kinetoscope, a precursor of the movie projector.source
September 1 – The Tremont Street subway is opened in Boston, Massachusetts.source
Dos Equis beer is first brewed in Mexico, in anticipation of the new century. "Dos equis" is Spanish for "two x", a reference to the 20th Century (XX in Roman numerals)source
The first electric bicycle is invented.source
Garðskagaviti lighthouse is constructed on Suðurnes.Iceland source
Pole vault – tie Jimmy Te Paa (Auckland) and Hori Eruera (Auckland)New Zealand source
The independent Pretoria-Pietersburg Railway in the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (Transvaal Republic) purchases a 4-6-0 35 Tonner tank locomotive named Portuguese from the Lourenco Marques, Delagoa Bay and East Africa Railway in Mozambique.South Africa source

Science & Discovery

27 March Scotland 5–1 Ireland (in Glasgow)Ireland source
April 30 – 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.source
30 April – J. J. Thomson first announces his discovery of the electron.United Kingdom source
May 6 – John Jacob Abel announces the successful isolation of epinephrine (adrenaline), in a paper read before the Association of American Physicians.source
July 25 – Writer Jack London sails to join the Klondike Gold Rush, where he will write his first successful stories.source
October 13 – HMS Canopus, a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy, is launched at Portsmouth, England; she will be deployed widely in World War I.source
13 October – HMS Canopus, a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy, is launched at Portsmouth; she will be deployed widely in World War I.United Kingdom source
Jules Verne - Le Sphinx des glacesFrance source
David Hilbert unifies the field of algebraic number theory with his treatise Zahlbericht.Germany source
Pairs – W. Cowie and W. Thomson (skip) (Dunedin)New Zealand source
Arthur Cheetham begins making films in Wales.Wales source
Walford Davies – Overture in D minorWales source

Health & Medicine

1 May – The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek ioens in Copenhagen.Denmark source
3 May: Margaret Cruickshank becomes New Zealand's first registered woman doctor.New Zealand source
June 2 – Mark Twain, responding to rumors that he is dead, is quoted by the New York Journal as saying, "The report of my death was an exaggeration."United States source
August 10 – At the Bayer pharmaceutical company, pharmacist Felix Hoffmann successfully synthesizes acetylsalicylic acid, after isolating a compound from a plant of the Spiraea family; the company markets it under the brand name "Aspirin".source
20 August – Ronald Ross, who is to become the first Scot to win a Nobel prize (in 1902), discovers the malaria Plasmodium in dissecting an Anopheles mosquito, demonstrating the transmission mechanism for the disease.Scotland source
10 October – Chemists working at Bayer AG create a synthetically altered version of salicin which the company names Aspirin.Germany source
October 29 – Henry Emmerson becomes premier of New Brunswick, replacing James Mitchell.Canada source
Elsa Eschelsson become the first female with a Doctor of Laws in Sweden.Sweden source
Rugby Union – Due to an argument with the International Football Rugby Board the Welsh Rugby Union withdraws from the organisation and Wales do not play international rugby for 12 months.Wales source

Crime & Justice

January 23 – Elva Zona Heaster is found dead in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. The resulting murder trial of her husband is perhaps the only capital case in United States history, where spectral evidence helps secure a conviction.United States source
February 2 – Clara Brett Martin becomes the first woman to practise law in Ontario.Canada source
22 April – King Umberto I is attacked by an unemployed anarchist ironsmith, Pietro Acciarito, who tried to stab him near Rome.Italy source
1 July – Workmen's Compensation Act introduces a form of no-fault workman's compensation in dangerous trades.United Kingdom source
Maurice Barrès - Les DéracinésFrance source
Long jump – Leonard Cuff (Canterbury)New Zealand source
The General Art and Industrial Exposition of StockholmSweden source
Ellis Pierce – Teulu'r GilfachWales source

Disasters & Accidents

April 15 – Drillers near Bartlesville, Oklahoma strike oil for the first time, in the designated "Indian Territory", on land leased from the Osage Indians. The gusher, at the Nellie Johnstone Number One well, leads to rapid population growth.source
4 May – Bazar de la Charité Fire.France source
May 10 – 19 zinc miners die of carbon monoxide poisoning at Snaefell Mine on the Isle of Man.source
11 July – The 1897 Gentofte train crash takes place.Denmark source
November – Four Customs officers are rescued from the River Usk, near Newport's Alexandra Dock pier-head after their boat capsizes.Wales source

Climate & Environment

January 7 – A cyclone destroys Darwin, Australia.source
7 January - Darwin has its highest ever daily rainfall with 296.1 millimetres from its most severe cyclone until Tracy.Australia source
February 22 – Black Hills National Forest is established.United States source
1 May – all the able-bodied men of Pabbay, Barra Isles, are lost in a storm while out fishing.Scotland source
June 12 – 1897 Assam earthquake: An earthquake of magnitude of 8.0 rocks Assam, India, killing over 1,500 people.source
12 June – The 8.0 Mw Assam earthquake shook northeastern India with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), killing 1,542.India source
The Indian famine of 1896–97 comes to a closeIndia source

Culture & Society

January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City.source
January 8 – Lady Flora Shaw, future wife of Governor General Lord Lugard, officially proposes the name "Nigeria" in a newspaper contest, to be given to the British Niger Coast Protectorate.source
28 January – Early film screenings are held at the Baralt Theatre in Maracaibo, the premiere of the first Venezuelan filmsVenezuela source
January 31 – The Czechoslovak Trade Union Association is founded in Prague.source
February 19 – World's first Women's Institute founded in Stoney Creek, Ontario.Canada source
February 26 – The Sigma Pi fraternity is founded in Vincennes, Indiana.source
March 13 – San Diego State University is founded.source
May 14 – The Stars and Stripes Forever, an American patriotic march by John Philip Sousa, is performed for the first time.source
May 14 – (or May 15) – The Scientific-Humanitarian Committee (Wissenschaftlich-humanitäres Komitee, WhK) is founded in Berlin as an LGBT campaigning organization, the first such in history.source
16 May – The Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Sicily, the third largest opera house—after the Palais Garnier in Paris and the K. K. Hof-Opernhaus in Vienna—was inaugurated with a performance of Verdi's Falstaff conducted by Leopoldo Mugnone.Italy source
May 26 – Irish-born theatrical manager Bram Stoker's contemporary Gothic horror novel Dracula is first published (in London); it will influence the direction of vampire literature for the following century.source
May 31 – On Decoration Day (later Memorial Day) the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial is dedicated in Boston. The bronze bas relief by Augustus St. Gaudens depicts the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment of black Civil War soldiers.source
June 18 – Kyoto University is officially established in Japan.source
June 18 – establishment of Kyoto University under the name Kyoto Imperial University.Japan source
June 22 – The British Empire celebrates Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, marking the 60th year of her reign. No other British monarch will celebrate such a jubilee until Victoria's great-great-granddaughter Elizabeth II in 2012.source
4 September - Essendon wins the first Victorian Football League premiership.Australia source
October 23 – The Kappa Delta sorority is founded in Farmville, Virginia.source
27 October - Deportes Magallanes football club is founded.Chile source
November 1 – Juventus FC is founded as an association football club in Turin.source
December 9 – The first issue of the feminist newspaper La Fronde is published by Marguerite Durand in Paris.source
December 12 – The comic strip The Katzenjammer Kids debuts in the New York Journal.source
December 28 – The play Cyrano de Bergerac, by Edmond Rostand, premieres in Paris.source
Alexander Scriabin publishes his Piano Sonata no. 2 "Sonata-Fantasia" in G sharp minorsource
Zhejiang University is founded in China.source
Émile Durkheim publishes his classic study Suicide.source
Scindia School is established in GwaliorIndia source
The play A Doll House was written by Henrik Ibsen.Norway source

Births

January 23 – Subhas Chandra Bose, Indian political leader, led the Indian National Army (died 1945?)source
February 8 – Zakir Husain, Indian politician, 3rd President of India (died 1969)source
February 9 – Charles Kingsford Smith, Australian aviator famous for his trans-Pacific flight (died 1935)source
February 27 – Marian Anderson, African-American contralto (died 1993)source
March 3 – José Romero, Filipino politician (died 1978)Philippines source
March 13 – Tadeusz Vetulani in SanokPoland source
March 24 – Wilhelm Reich, Austrian psychotherapist (died 1957)source
April 23 – Lester B. Pearson, 14th Prime Minister of Canada, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (died 1972)source
May 18 – Frank Capra, American film producer, director and writer (died 1991)source
June 12 – Anthony Eden, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1977)source
June 13 – Paavo Nurmi, Finnish runner (died 1973)source
July 14 – Plaek Phibunsongkhram, Thai field marshal, prime minister, and dictator (died 1964)source
July 24 – Amelia Earhart, American aviator (died 1937)source
4 August – José Nucete Sardi (died 1972) — historian, journalist and diplomat.Venezuela source
August 11 – Enid Blyton, British children's writer (died 1968)source
19 October – Henrieta Delavrancea, architect (died 1987).Romania source
October 29 – Joseph Goebbels, German Nazi propagandist (died 1945)source
November 15 – Aneurin Bevan, Welsh politician (died 1960)source

Deaths

January 1 – Joseph S. Skerrett, American admiral (born 1833)source
March 9 – Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani, Iranian teacher, writer (born 1838)source
March 10 – Savitribai Phule, Indian social reformer and poet (born 1831)source
March 19 – Antoine Thomson d'Abbadie, Irish-born traveler (born 1810)source
April 3 – Johannes Brahms, German composer (born 1833)source
May 3 – Sir Frederick Knight, British politician (born 1812)source
May 10 – Andrés Bonifacio, Filipino revolutionary (born 1863)source
May 10 – Andrés Bonifacio and his brother Procopio Bonifacio are killed in Maragondon, Cavite.Philippines source
May 21 – Gregorio Luperón, Dominican revolutionary leader (born 1839)source
June 16 – Antonina Hoffmann in KrakówPoland source
July 1 – Ropata Wahawaha, New Zealand Māori military leader (born c.1820)source
8 August – Jacob Burckhardt, historian of art and culture (born 1818)Switzerland source
August 25 - Juan Idiarte Borda, President, assassinatedUruguay source
August 31 – Louisa Lane Drew, English-born American actress, theater manager (born 1820)source
September 27 – George M. Robeson, American politician (born 1829)source
September 30 – Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, French Roman Catholic and Discalced Carmelite nun, saint (born 1873)source
October 19 – George Pullman, American inventor and industrialist (born 1831)source
October 29 – Henry George, American economist (born 1839)source