1898 CE

In Melbourne the representatives of five colonies adopt a constitution which will become the basis of the Commonwealth of Australia. The American steam boat Walkatomica, which has made regular runs for travelers along the Gulf Coast of Florida since 1885, is destroyed by fire while in port in Tallahassee. The island of Puerto Rico is turned over by Spain to the United States. Ángel Rivero Méndez, the 149th and last Spanish governor of Puerto Rico, yields the office and turns over the keys to all military installations in the capital, San Juan to U.S. Army Captain Henry A. Reed, and General John R. Brooke becomes the new American military governor.

In the 1890s, the 19th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Staten Island.source
January 12 – Ito Hirobumi begins his third term as Prime Minister.Japan source
1 March - In the presidential election, Manuel Ferraz de Campos Sales of the Republican Party of São Paulo, is successful, with 90.9% of the vote, replacing incumbent president Prudente de Morais who, because of ill-health, had already delegated most of his presidential duties to Vice President Manuel Vitorino.Brazil source
March 16 – In Melbourne the representatives of five colonies adopt a constitution which will become the basis of the Commonwealth of Australia.source
March 27 Convention for the Lease of the Liaotung Peninsula or Pavlov Agreement for Russian DalianChina source
28 March – The German Reichstag builds a battleship fleet from the Fleet Act, triggering an arms race at sea with the United Kingdom.Germany source
May 27 – The territory of Guangzhouwan is leased by China to France, according to the Treaty of 12 April 1892, as the Territoire de Kouang-Tchéou-Wan, forming part of French Indochina.source
June 12 – Philippine Declaration of Independence: After 333 years of Spanish dominance, General Emilio Aguinaldo declares the Philippines' independence from Spain.source
June 12 – Philippine Declaration of Independence is held at the ancestral home of Emilio Aguinaldo, proclaiming the sovereignty of the Philippines.Philippines source
June 13 – Yukon Territory is formed in Canada, with Dawson chosen as its capital.source
18 June – The recently reformed new administration of Antonio di Rudinì resigns.Italy source
June 21 – Spanish–American War: The United States captures Guam, making it the first overseas territory of the U.S.source
June 28 – Effective date of the Curtis Act of 1898 which will lead to the dissolution of tribal and communal lands in Indian Territory and ultimately the creation of the State of Oklahoma in 1907.source
August 24 – Chickasaw and Choctaw tribes sign the Atoka Agreement, a requirement of the Curtis Act of 1898.source
August 25 – 700 Greeks and 15 Englishmen are slaughtered by the Turks in Heraklion, Greece, leading to the establishment of the autonomous Cretan State.source
October 16 – The island of Puerto Rico is turned over by Spain to the United States. Ángel Rivero Méndez, the 149th and last Spanish governor of Puerto Rico, yields the office and turns over the keys to all military installations in the capital, San Juan to U.S. Army Captain Henry A. Reed, and General John R. Brooke becomes the new American military governor.source
October 28 – U.S. President William McKinley rejects a peace proposal that would result in Spain ceding the island of Luzon to the U.S., in return for Spanish control of the other Philippine Islands. McKinley's message to his five-man negotiating team in Paris is that "Cessation of Luzon alone, leaving the rest of the islands subject to Spanish rule, or to be the subject of future contention, cannot be justified on political, commercial, or humanitarian grounds. The cessation must be the whole archipelago or none."source
October 31 – Count Ōkuma Shigenobu, Japan's Prime Minister, announces his resignation along with that of his cabinet of ministers.source
November 1 – Charles Dupuy forms a new government as Prime Minister of France following the resignation of Henri Brisson.source
November 5 – Negros Revolution: Filipinos on the island of Negros revolt against Spanish rule and establish the short-lived Republic of Negros.source
November 7 – The final meeting of the Cuban Assembly of the República de Cuba en Armas, which had been founded in 1895 during the Cuban War of Independence, is called to order by General Calixto García in the city of Santa Cruz del Sur. Domingo Méndez Capote is elected as president of the assembly.source
November 8 – Count Yamagata Aritomo forms a new government as Prime Minister of Japan.source
November 8 – Elections are held in the U.S. for all 357 seats in the House of Representatives, as well as for the governors and state legislature of 25 of the 45 states. With 179 needed for a majority, the Republican Party maintains control with 187 seats, despite losing 19; the Democratic party gains 37 to reach 124 seats; the Populist party losses all but five of its 22 seats, and the other 4 seats are controlled by smaller parties. Among Governors elected are Theodore Roosevelt as Governor of the state of New York.source
November 10 – The new United Central American States, a merger of El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, places its capital in the Nicaraguan city of Chinandega.source
November 10 – Bartolomé Masó, the President of the República de Cuba en Armas that had been founded during the Cuban War of Independence, resigns.source
November 12 – The Earl of Minto takes office as the new Governor General of Canada.source
November 26 – General Ramón Blanco resigns as the spanish Governor-General of Cuba and is replaced by General Adolfo Jiménez Castellanos.source
November 30 – The United Central American States, a merger of Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador, is formally dissolved after the government was unable to suppress a revolution in San Salvador.source
December 2 – The French Chamber of Deputies declines to endorse the policies of Prime Minister Charles Dupuy, with the vote failing 228 to 243.source
December 10 – The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the Spanish–American War.source
December 10 – Treaty of Paris (1898)Spain source
Francisco Bilbao Workers Party is founded.Chile source

Conflict & Security

19 March — Wales defeat Ireland 11–3 in a game played at Thomond Park, LimerickWales source
April 5 – Annie Oakley promotes the service of women in combat situations, with the United States military. On this day, she writes a letter to President William McKinley "offering the government the services of a company of 50 'lady sharpshooters' who would provide their own arms and ammunition should war break out with Spain."source
April 21 – Spanish–American War: The United States Navy begins a blockade of Cuban ports and the USS Nashville captures a Spanish merchant ship.source
April 21 – Spanish–American War: The United States Navy begins a blockade of Cuban ports and USS Nashville captures a Spanish merchant ship.United States source
April 23 – Spanish–American War: A conference of senior Spanish Navy officers led by naval minister Segismundo Bermejo decide to send Admiral Pascual Cervera's squadron to Cuba and Puerto Rico.source
April 25 – Spanish–American War: The United States declares war on Spain; the U.S. Congress announces that a state of war has existed since April 21 (later backdating this one more day to April 20).source
May 1 – Spanish–American War: Battle of Manila Bay – Commodore Dewey destroys the Spanish squadron, in the first battle of the war, as well as the first battle in the Philippines Campaign.source
May 12 – Spanish–American War: The Puerto Rican Campaign begins with the Bombardment of San Juan.source
22 May - Belgian general election, 1898Belgium source
28 May – Fall of the administration of Antonio di Rudinì following the May massacres in Milan. Indignation at the results of his policy against the uprisings in May left him without support of both the Left – who blamed him for the bloodshed – and the Right – who blamed him for the permissiveness that allegedly had promoted the uprisings and led to his overthrow.Italy source
July 1 – Spanish–American War: Battle of San Juan Hill – United States troops (including Buffalo Soldiers and Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders) take a strategic position close to Santiago de Cuba from the Spanish.source
July 1 – Filipino revolutionaries began the Siege of Baler in part of the offensive against Spanish troops.Philippines source
July 3 – Spanish–American War: Battle of Santiago de Cuba – The United States Navy destroys the Spanish Navy's Caribbean Squadron.source
July 3 – Spanish–American War: Battle of Santiago de CubaSpain source
July 17 – Spanish–American War: Battle of Santiago Bay. Troops under United States General William R. Shafter take the city of Santiago de Cuba from the Spanish.source
July 25 – Spanish–American War: The United States invasion of Puerto Rico begins, with a landing at Guánica Bay.source
August 12 – Spanish–American War: Hostilities end between American and Spanish forces in Cuba.source
August 13 – Spanish–American War: Battle of Manila – By prior agreement, the Spanish commander surrenders the city of Manila in the Philippines to the United States, in order to keep it out of the hands of Filipino rebels, ending the war.source
September 10 – Italian anarchist Luigi Lucheni assassinates Empress Elisabeth of Austria in Geneva, as an act of propaganda of the deed.source
September 18 – Fashoda Incident: A powerful flotilla of British gunboats arrives at the French-occupied fort of Fashoda on the White Nile, leading to a diplomatic stalemate, until French troops are ordered to withdraw on November 3.source
September 21 – Empress Dowager Cixi of China engineers a coup d'état, marking the end of the Hundred Days' Reform; the Guangxu Emperor is arrested.source
October 5 – At the Battle of Sugar Point in the Indian Wars, some Pillager Band of Chippewa Indians (a group of Ojibwe, referred to at the time as Chippewa) warriors, led by Bugonaygeshig, defeat U.S. Army infantry troops in northern Minnesota, with seven U.S. troops killed and 19 wounded. Bugonayegeshig, whom the American soldiers were sent to capture, escapes and is never apprehended.source
October 12 – The "Battle of Virden" takes place in the coal mining town of Virden, Illinois, when strikebreakers of the Thiel Detective Service Company exchange gunfire with armed members of the United Mine Workers of America. Thirteen people are killed and 35 wounded in the fight. In all, eight UMWA miners and five strikebreakers die from their injuries. The train, attempting to bring about 100 African-American coal miners to Virden, departs without disembarking its passengers.source
October 21 – General Leonard Wood, the U.S. military governor of Cuba, issues a proclamation guaranteeing personal rights to the Cuban people.source
October 28 – A general uprising by Filipinos, led by Adriano Hernández against the remaining Spanish authorities in the Philippines begins in the province of Iloilo on the island of Panay.source
November 3 – With increasing violence threatened by rebels in China, the Russian fleet at Port Arthur and the British warships at Wei-Hai-Wei are readied for battle.source
November 9 – In the U.S., the racial violence in Phoenix, South Carolina, comes to an end after 12 African-Americans have been lynched.source
November 10 – The Wilmington massacre of 1898 begins as a coup d'état by the white Democratic Party of the U.S. state of North Carolina against the Republican Mayor of Wilmington. On the first day, a building housing a negro newspaper is burned and eight African Americans are killed.source
November 17 – Fighting begins in Pana, Illinois, between striking white coal miners and black miners hired to replace them.source
November 26 – The U.S. Marines arrive on USS Boston at Tientsin in China in order to guard the American legation at Beijing.source
Victoria wins the Sheffield ShieldAustralia source
Kit Coleman covers the Spanish–American War as Canada's first female war correspondent.Canada source

Exploration & Expansion

3 March – Cape Midland – Middelburg to Graaff-Reinet, 91 mi.South Africa source
March 9 Kiautschou Bay concession leasing Qingdao to German Empire "on 6 March 1898 the German Empire retreated from outright cession of the area and accepted a leasehold of the bay for 99 years, or until 1997"China source
May 3 – The Ugong conferees are rowed upstream in 17 bancas to a part of the Pasig River known as Bitukang Manok. They are welcomed by Valentin Cruz, president of the Sangguinang Bayan of the Katipunan in Pasig. In this big gathering, called Asemblea Magna, Dr. Pio Valenzuela is chosen to see Rizal in Dapitan.Philippines source
June 1 – The Trans-Mississippi Exposition World's Fair opens, in Omaha, Nebraska.source
June 9 – The British government arranges a 99-year rent of extended territories of Hong Kong from China.source
July 3 – American adventurer Joshua Slocum completes a 3-year solo circumnavigation of the world.source
July 29 – White Pass and Yukon Route opens (Skagway–Whitehorse).Canada source
August 23 – The Southern Cross Expedition, the first British venture of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, sets sail from London.source
October 10 – A military expedition departs from France toward the French Equatorial Africa colony of Chad. Commanded by Lieutenant de vaisseau Henri Bretonnet and Lt. Solomon Braun, the force is sent to liberate areas dominated by the Muslim warlord Rabih az-Zubayr, with the help of troops sent by the envoys of the Muslim rulers Mohammed al-Senoussi and Gaourang II, sultan of Bagirmisource
October 20 – The first residents of the "cooperative socialist colony", created by the Cooperative Brotherhood, arrive at what is now Burley, Washington in Kitsap County, settling on 260 acres of land purchased by the Brotherhood.source
22 October – Bjørn Skjærpe, gymnast and Olympic silver medallistNorway source
25 October _ WilheIm II voyages to the Levant.Germany source
440 yards – R. Oliphant (Auckland)New Zealand source

Religion & Belief

February 9 – publishing of the De Lôme LetterSpain source
March 15 – After two months of production, Ang Kalayaan gets published, bearing a false masthead stating that the printing was done in Yokohama when it was in fact done in Lavezares Street, Binondo, Manila. Marcelo H. del Pilar was stated as the editor, but it was Emilio Jacinto who made the final changes before printing, writing under a penname. Dimas-Ilaw, Aguedo del Rosario, and Apolinario de la Cruz subsidised types free of charge but the publisher, Pio Valenzuela, had to secure more, paying a peso for each type sold by four workforces of the Diario de Manila who stole them from the paper's production press.Philippines source
14 September – Nordal Church in Norddalsfjord is consecratedNorway source
October 9 – Ignatius Ephrem II Rahmani is elected as the new Patriarch of Antioch, leader of the Syriac Catholic Church, subject to the approval of Pope Leo XIII, which is made on November 28.source
October 31 – The Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, Jerusalem, is dedicated after the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire presents the area, said to be the site of the Virgin Mary's home, to Germany's Roman Catholics.source
13–17 July – Eleventh International Eucharistic Congress held in Brussels.Belgium source
Kirkeligt Samfund af 1898 is founded by right-leaning Grundtvigians in opposition to Indre Mission as well as left-leaning Grundtvigians.Denmark source
'O sole mio the globally known Neapolitan song is composed. Its lyrics were written by Giovanni Capurro and the music was composed by Eduardo di Capua.Italy source
1 mile – S. Pentecost (Canterbury)New Zealand source
Christian Workers Union of Sweden (1898) foundedSweden source

Economy & Finance

June 19 – Food processing giant Nabisco is founded in Chicago by merger as the National Biscuit Company.source
7 August - Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO) is foundedSweden source
7 September – Karl Hals, businessperson and politician (born 1822)Norway source
The Danish Confederation of Trade Unions is established with Jens Jensen as its first president.Denmark source
The year is marked by widespread bread riots all over Italy. The tariff on the duty on imported wheat is lowered from 75 lire a tonne to 50 lire. In 1897 the wheat harvest in Italy was substantially lower than the years before; it fell from on average 3.5 million tons in 1891–95 to 2.4 million tons that year. Moreover, import of American grain was more expensive due to the Spanish–American War in 1898. Wheat prices in Milan increased from 225 lire a tonne to 330 lire a tonne in April 1898. In order to try to diminish the rising prices the government of Antonio Di Rudinì was urged to abolish the duty on imported wheat. The lowering of the tariff is generally considered to be too little and too late. Street demonstrations demanding "bread and work" began in the South of Italy, which already had seen widespread revolts by the Fasci Siciliani in 1893–94. In towns like Bari and Naples rioting could be suppressed, while Florence was controlled by demonstrators for a whole day. The situation escalated when demonstrators were shot by nervous policemen, and rioting increased.Italy source
Top New Zealand stakes earner – MultiformNew Zealand source
1st Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour PartyRussia source
Scottish-born American industrialist Andrew Carnegie purchases Skibo Castle in Sutherland (which he has been leasing for a year).Scotland source
H. W. Perlman, American piano manufacturer is founded.United States source

Technology & Infrastructure

January Unknown date – A construction brand, Kumagai Gumi was founded in Fukui City.Japan source
March 24 – Robert Allison of Port Carbon, Pennsylvania, becomes the first person to buy an American-built automobile, when he buys a Winton automobile that has been advertised in Scientific American.source
March 26 – The Sabie Game Reserve in South Africa is created, as the first officially designated game reserve.source
April 25 – In Essen, German company Rheinisch-Westfälisches Elektrizitätswerk RWE is founded.source
April 29 – The Paris Auto Show, the first large-scale commercial vehicle exhibition show, is held in Tuileries Garden.source
1 May – The Slagelse-Verslev Railway opens on western Zealand.Denmark source
31 May – A/S Holmenkolbanen open the Holmenkollen Line to BesserudNorway source
August 20 – The Gornergrat railway opens, connecting Zermatt to the Gornergrat in Switzerland.source
October 11 – The Kubok Obschestva Velosipednoy Ezdy (Bicycle Riders Society Cup) first Grand Prix in Russia is staged with seven cars near Saint Petersburg, on a route from Alexandrovskaya to Strelna and back again for a total distance of 25 mi, and is won by Pavel Belyaev.source
October 15 – In Canada, the "9 O'Clock Gun" is fired for the first time at Stanley Park in Vancouver, and goes on to become a daily tradition to serve as a time signal for ships in port and for local residents to set their timepieces at exactly 9:00 p.m. local time.source
October 16 – The American ferryboat Berkeley, the only means prior to 1937 for motor vehicles to travel directly across San Francisco Bay between San Francisco and Oakland, is launched. Its role will be superseded in 1937 by the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge.source
17 October - The Perth Zoo opens with two lions and a tiger.Australia source
October 24 – Chinese soldiers attack a party of British engineers at the Marco Polo Bridge on the Beijing to Hankou railway.source
October 24 – Augustus Herring, hired by civil engineer Octave Chanute to design and help test heavier-than-air flying machines, reportedly makes a flight near St. Joseph, Michigan, traveling slightly above the ground for a level distance of more than 70 ft in 10 seconds.source
1 December: W H Bartlett films the opening of the Auckland Industrial and Mining Exhibition. The film is screened on Christmas Eve at Bartlett's studio – the first public screening of a New Zealand film.New Zealand source
December 15 – The French Chamber of Deputies votes to extend a loan of 200,000,000 francs for the construction of railroads in French Indochina.source
December 18 – Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat sets the first official land speed record in an automobile, averaging 63.15 km/h over 1 km in France.source
December 25 – Penny postage goes into effect throughout the British Empire, setting the cost of mailing a letter to most British colonies at one pence. Rates remain the same for mail to Australia, New Zealand and the Cape Colony.source
Unknown date – An industrial robot and factory automation manufacturing brand KUKA was founded in Bavaria.Germany source
A fourth batch of thirty-three 6th Class 4-6-0 steam locomotives. In 1912 they will be designated Class 6D on the South African Railways (SAR).South Africa source

Science & Discovery

March 15 – March 1898 Japanese general electionJapan source
26 March Ireland 0–3 Scotland (in Belfast)Ireland source
May 28 – Secondo Pia takes the first photographs of the Shroud of Turin and discovers that the image on the Shroud itself appears to be a photographic negative.source
28 May – Italian photographer Secondo Pia takes the first photograph of the Shroud of Turin, unwittingly taking the first step in the field of modern sindonology.Italy source
May 29 Lease of Guangzhouwan to FranceChina source
30 May – William Ramsay and Morris Travers make the first of their discovery of noble gases, krypton, followed on 7 June by neon and on 12 July by xenon at University College London.United Kingdom source
1 June – HNoMS Storm is launched, one of the oldest ships still in front line service in the Second World WarNorway source
June 7 – William Ramsay and Morris Travers discover neon at their laboratory at University College London, after extracting it from liquid nitrogen.source
July 18 – "The Adventures of Louis de Rougemont" first appear in The Wide World Magazine, as its August 1898 issue goes on sale.source
December 26 – Marie and Pierre Curie announce the discovery of an element that they name radium.source
26 December – Marie and Pierre Curie announce discovery of a substance they call radium.France source
880 yards – H. C. Garsia (Canterbury)New Zealand source

Health & Medicine

14 May – Bread riots continue in various areas in Italy, such as Naples and Pontedera, with several people killed.Italy source
12 August – Inebriates Act permits inebriates to be admitted to reformatories for up to 3 years if convicted of drunkenness 4 times in one year. It is largely ineffective as few reformatories are established. Of those who are committed, more than 80% are women.United Kingdom source
August 28 – American pharmacist Caleb Bradham names his soft drink Pepsi-Cola.source
August – Donald Farquharson becomes Premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing A. B. Warburton.Canada source
11 September – Nikoline Harbitz, author (born 1841)Norway source
September 21 – Geert Adriaans Boomgaard of Groningen in the Netherlands becomes the world's first validated supercentenarian.source
November 24 – Italy sends an ultimatum to the Sultan of Morocco concerning treatment of Italian residents.source
December 1 – The French government decrees a ban on imports of fruit and plants from the United States.source
Holdsveikraspítalinn í Laugarnesi (Leprosy Hospital) is established in Laugarnes.Iceland source
Walking Troubles of Organic Hemiplegy, the first filmed medical procedure and first documentary produced on film, is released.Romania source
Edward William Barton-Wright introduces Japanese martial arts to Europe, a form of jujitsu which he calls Bartitsu.United Kingdom source

Crime & Justice

January 8 – Seminole burning: Lynching by burning of two Seminole boys near Maud, Oklahoma; 6 of the lynch mob are convicted and imprisoned, the first successful prosecution of lynching in the Southwest.United States source
February 23 – Émile Zola is imprisoned in France, after writing J'Accuse…!.source
27 February – To annihilate the Sicilian Mafia, Italian troops arrest 64 people of Palermo. In a series of reports between 1898 and 1900, Ermanno Sangiorgi, the police chief of Palermo, identified 670 mafiosi belonging to eight Mafia clans that went through alternating phases of cooperation and conflict.Italy source
April 21 – More suspects were arrested by the Spanish authorities: Doroteo Jose; Cecilio Velarde, the parish priest of Quiapo; Felix Roxas; Padre Consunji; and many more.Philippines source
October 3 – U.S. Senator Matthew Quay of Pennsylvania is arrested for conspiracy to defraud the People's Bank of Philadelphia.source
October 23 – An anarchist, suspected of plotting the assassination of Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm II, is arrested in Egypt at Alexandria.source
December 15 – A warrant issued in Paris for the arrest of Count Ferdinand Esterhazy in connection with the Dreyfus case.source
26 December - Gatton murders - Three members of the same family are sexually molested and murdered near the town of Gatton, Queensland (unsolved).Australia source
December 29 – King Umberto of Italy commutes the sentences of all prisoners who had been given the death penalty.source
100 yards – George Smith (Auckland)New Zealand source
Laura Gundersen, actor (born 1832)Norway source
Charles Rennie Mackintosh carries out the interior design for Catherine Cranston's tearooms in Argyle Street, Glasgow, including the first appearance of his characteristic high-backed chair.Scotland source
T. Gwynn Jones — Gwedi Brad a GofidWales source

Disasters & Accidents

February 12 – The automobile belonging to Henry Lindfield of Brighton rolls out of control down a hill in Purley, London, England, and hits a tree; thus he becomes the world's first fatality from an automobile accident on a public highway.source
12 February – the car belonging to Henry Lindfield of Brighton runs away on a hill in Purley, Surrey and hits a tree; thus he becomes the world's first fatality from an automobile accident on the public highway.United Kingdom source
February 15 – Spanish–American War: The USS Maine explodes and sinks in Havana Harbor, Cuba, for reasons never fully established, killing 266 men. The event precipitates the United States' declaration of war on Spain, two months later.source
February 15 – USS Maine explodes and sinks in Havana harbor, Cuba, killing 266 men. Popular opinion blames Spain and helps precipitate the Spanish–American War.United States source
March 28 – After an investigation, the U.S. Navy publicly concludes that USS Maine was sunk by a mine, further pushing sentiment towards war.United States source
April 26 – An explosion in Santa Cruz, California, kills 13 workers, at the California Powder Works.source
6 May - The paddle steamer Maitland sinks near Broken Bay, drowning 24 people.Australia source
July 4 – En route from New York to Le Havre, the ocean liner SS La Bourgogne collides with another ship and sinks with the loss of 549 lives. It is considered one of the worst maritime disasters in historysource
September 11 – New Westminster, British Columbia destroyed by fire.Canada source
October 4 – The American steam boat Walkatomica, which has made regular runs for travelers along the Gulf Coast of Florida since 1885, is destroyed by fire while in port in Tallahassee.source
18 October – Trinity Chain Pier at Trinity, Edinburgh, collapses in a storm.Scotland source
October 26 – A collision between two Japanese steamers at sea kills 60 Japanese sailors.source
November 5 – In the U.S., the collapse of a theater under construction in Detroit kills 11 workmen.source
November 5 – In China, an admiral of the Imperial Russian Navy and 40 sailors are denied permission by the Chinese government to proceed from Tientsin to Beijing.source
November 18 – The wreck of the ship Atalanta off the coast of the U.S. state of Oregon kills 28 of the 30 crew aboard.source
December 4 – The wreck of the British steamer SS Clan Drummond in the Bay of Biscay kills 37 people on board.source
December 5 – A fire at a factory in the Russian city of Vilana (modern-day Vilnius in Lithuania) kills 15 women and girls, most of whom die after jumping from the windows.source
United Collieries Ltd formed in Glasgow to acquire coal mining companies.Scotland source
Cape Midland – Bamboo Junction to Cape Collieries, 16 mi.South Africa source

Climate & Environment

March 30 – The 5.8–6.4 Mw Mare Island earthquake shook the San Francisco Bay Area with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), causing $350,000 in damage.United States source
May 10 – Prescott National Forest is established.United States source
November 26 – A two-day blizzard known as the Portland Gale piles snow in Boston, severely impacting the Massachusetts fishing industry and several coastal New England towns.source
November 26 – A 2-day blizzard known as the Portland Gale piles snow in Boston, Massachusetts, and severely impacts the Massachusetts fishing industry and several coastal New England towns.United States source
December 28 – The Swiss village of Airolo is buried in an avalanche.source
Nils Pedersen Igland, farmer and politician (born 1833)Norway source

Culture & Society

January 13 – Novelist Émile Zola's open letter to the President of the French Republic on the Dreyfus affair, J'Accuse…!, is published on the front page of the Paris daily newspaper L'Aurore, accusing the government of wrongfully imprisoning Alfred Dreyfus and of antisemitism.source
March 13 – Vladimir Lenin creates the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in Minsk.source
March 14 – Association football and sports club BSC Young Boys is established in Bern, Switzerland, as the Fussballclub Young Boys.source
March 26 – The Sabie Game Reserve, renamed to Kruger National Park in 1926, is proclaimed in the Official Gazette of the South African Republic, the first officially designated game reserve.South Africa source
30 April – The German Fleet Association is founded in Berlin to arouse popular understanding and interest in the Imperial Navy. The government favors the construction of battleships in the Reichsmarineamt under Alfred von Tirpitz.Germany source
May 2 – Thousands of Chinese scholars and Beijing citizens seeking reforms protest in front of the capital control yuan.source
May 8 – The first games of the Italian Football Federation are played, in which Genoa play against Torino.source
8 May – Genoa C.F.C. wins the first FIGC endorsed Italian Football Championship at the Velodromo Umberto I in Turin against Internazionale F.C. Torino.Italy source
May 15 – Andres Bonifacio and a few katipuneros meet with the captain of the Japanese cruiser, Kongo, visiting Manila, and the Japanese consul in Manila in a room above the Japanese bazaar on Plaza Moraga, to discuss the possible purchase of Japanese arms and to request Japanese arms and to request Japan's aid to their cause. A Christian Japanese, Jose Moritario Tagawa, married to a Filipina from Bocaue, Bulacan and a friend of Dr. Pio Valenzuela, acts as interpreter.Philippines source
May 22 – The German Federation football club SV Darmstadt 98 is formed.source
June 11 – The Guangxu Emperor announces the creation of what would later become Peking University.source
June 11-September 21 - Hundred Days' ReformChina source
August 21 – Clube de Regatas Vasco da Gama is founded in Rio de Janeiro.source
October 1 – The Vienna University of Economics and Business is founded, under the name K.u.K. Exportakademie.source
October 6 – The Sinfonia Club, later to become the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia fraternity, is founded at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston by Ossian Everett Mills.source
October 12 – The Michigan–Michigan State football rivalry begins in U.S. college football as Michigan University defeats Michigan Agricultural College, 39 to 0.source
October 14 – At the age of 16, Russian composer Igor Stravinsky creates his first composition, the unfinished piano fragment "Tarantella". The piece will remain undiscovered for 72 years and will first be performed in 2021, more than 120 years after it was composed.source
October 15 – The Fork Union Military Academy is founded, in Fork Union, Virginia.source
October 19 – The Universidad Literaria y Cientifica de Filipinas, the first Filipino operated university and the precursor to the University of the Philippines, is established shortly after the proclamation of the First Philippine Republic.source
October 25 – The Academia Militar, precursor to the Philippine Military Academy, is founded at Malolos by decree of Philippine Republic President Emilio Aguinaldo.source
November 19 – In U.S. college football, Harvard University defeats Yale University, 17 to 0, to close the season unbeaten.source
December 21 – Prince George of Greece arrives in Crete as its High Commissioner, and is escorted by the flagships of four nations.source
December 29 – The Moscow Art Theatre production of The Seagull by Anton Chekhov opens.source
The first volume of the Linguistic Survey of India is published in Calcutta.source
The Queen Victoria Building in Sydney is completedAustralia source
Auckland Cup – Uhlan - the first horse-race to be filmed in New ZealandNew Zealand source
Russian Social Democratic Labor PartyRussia source

Births

28 January – Gheorghe I. Brătianu, politician and historian (died 1953).Romania source
February 10 – Bertolt Brecht, German writer (died 1956)source
March 5 – Zhou Enlai, Premier of China (died 1976)source
April 9 – Paul Robeson, African-American actor, singer and political activist (died 1976)source
May 3 – Golda Meir, Prime Minister of Israel (died 1978)source
May 19 – Julius Evola, Italian philosopher (died 1974)source
July 14 – Happy Chandler, American politician (died 1991)source
19 July – Gustavo Machado Morales, politician and journalist (died 1983)Venezuela source
September 20 – Josefa Llanes Escoda, Founder of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines (died 1945)Philippines source
September 24 – Howard Florey, Australian-born pharmacologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (died 1968)source
October 16 – William O. Douglas, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (died 1980)source
October 24 – Peng Dehuai, Chinese military leader (died 1974)source
November 14 – Benjamin Fondane, Romanian-French Symbolist poet, critic and existentialist philosopher (died 1944)source
November 24 – Liu Shaoqi, President of China (died 1969)source
November 29 – C. S. Lewis, British author (died 1963)source
December 20 – Irene Dunne, American actress (died 1990)source
December 27 – Inejiro Asanuma, Japanese politician (died 1960)source
December 27 – Inejiro Asanuma, politician, leader of the Japan Socialist Party (died 1960)Japan source

Deaths

January 14 – Lewis Carroll, British writer, mathematician (Alice in Wonderland) (born 1832)source
March 11 – William Rosecrans, California congressman, Register of the U.S. Treasury (born 1819)source
March 27 – Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, Indian university founder (born 1817)source
April 8 – León Kilat, Filipino revolutionary leader (born 1873)Philippines source
May 7–9 – Bava Beccaris massacre: Hundreds of demonstrators are killed, when General Fiorenzo Bava Beccaris orders troops to fire on a rally in Milan, Italy.source
May 19 – William Ewart Gladstone, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1809)source
July 1 – Joaquín Vara del Rey y RubioSpain source
29 July: Arturo Michelena (born 1863) — painter.Venezuela source
July 30 – Otto von Bismarck, German statesman (born 1815)source
August 23 – Félicien Rops, Belgian artist (born 1833)source
September 2 – Battle of Omdurman (Mahdist War): British and Egyptian troops led by Horatio Kitchener defeat Sudanese tribesmen led by Khalifa Abdullah al-Taashi, thus establishing British dominance in the Sudan. 11,000 Sudanese are killed and 1,600 wounded in the battle.source
September 2 – Wilford Woodruff, fourth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (born 1807)source
September 10 – Empress Elisabeth of Austria, empress consort of Austria, queen consort of Hungary (assassinated) (born 1837)source
September 16 – Ramón Emeterio Betances, Puerto Rican politician, medical doctor and diplomat (born 1827)source
September 19 – Sir George Grey, 11th Premier of New Zealand (born 1812)source
November 12 – Nakahama Manjirō, translator and castaway (born 1827)Japan source
December 9 – The first of the two Tsavo Man-Eaters is shot by John Henry Patterson; the second is killed 3 weeks later, after 135 railway construction workers have been killed by the lions.source
December 31 – French serial killer Joseph Vacher is executed at Bourg-en-Bresse.source