- Jan 1 1st football game between black colleges-Atlanta U 10, Tuskegee 0
Event of Interest
Jan 2 The SS Commodore ship Stephen Crane was aboard founders off the Florida coast, an experience he recounts in his short story "The Open Boat"
Brazil's Teatro Amazonas
Jan 7 Teatro Amazonas in Manaus, Brazil, opens with a performance by Italian tenor Enrico Caruso
- Jan 8 Michael Eagan wins 1st US national amateur handball championship
John Gabriel Borkman
Jan 10 Henrik Ibsen's play "John Gabriel Borkman" premieres in Helsingfors
- Jan 10 Ukrainian bacteriologist Wademar Haffkine performs the first human trial for a vaccine for the plague on himself during the Bombay epidemic
Istar
Jan 10 Vincent d'Indy's "Istar" premieres in Amsterdam & Brussels
"My Pedagogic Creed"
Jan 16 American scholar John Dewey's essay "My Pedagogic Creed" appears in School Journal
- Jan 23 Elva Zona Heaster is found dead in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. Resulting murder trial of her husband perhaps only case in US history where the alleged testimony of a ghost helped secure a conviction.
- Jan 26 Battle at Bida Gold Coast: British troops beat Nupe's army
- Jan 27 British troops occupy Bida Gold Coast (Ghana)
- Feb 1 1st auto insurance policy in US issued, by Travelers Insurance Company
- Feb 1 Shinhan Bank, the oldest bank in South Korea, opens in Seoul.
- Feb 5 1st showing of a motion picture in Hawaii at the Hawaiian Opera House
- Feb 5 Marcel Proust meets Jean Lorrain in a pistol duel
The Benin Pendant Mask
Feb 9 Invasion of Benin City by British Expedition force, the city is burnt and looted, marks the end of the Nigerian Kingdom of Benin formed in the 11th century
Battle of Zapote Bridge
Feb 17 Emilio Aguinaldo and a group of katipuneros defeat Spanish forces led by General Camilo de Polavieja at the Battle of Zapote Bridge in Cavite
- Feb 17 National Organization of Mothers formed in American by Alice McLellan Birney and Phoebe Apperson Hearst (Parent Teacher Association)
- Feb 19 Inaugural meeting of the Women's Institute at Stoney Creek, Ontario, set at the suggestion of Adelaide Hoodless, the organization will rapidly spread around the world [1]
William McKinley
Mar 4 William McKinley inaugurated as 25th US President
Mahler's 3rd Symphony
Mar 9 Premiere of (parts of) Gustav Mahler's 3rd Symphony, in Berlin, Germany
- Mar 11 A meteorite enters the earth's atmosphere and explodes over New Martinsville, West Virginia. The debris causes damage but no human injuries are reported.
- Mar 12 Vincent d'Indy's opera "Fervaal" premieres in Brussels
- Mar 13 San Diego State University is founded.
- Mar 15 1st indoor fly casting tournament opens, at Madison Square Garden
Fitzsimmons vs Corbett
Mar 17 British boxer Bob Fitzsimmons KOs American champion 'Gentleman' Jim Corbett in the 14th round to win World Heavyweight title in Carson City, Nevada
- Mar 20 1st US orthodox Jewish Rabbinical seminary (RIETS) incorporates in NY
Franco-Ethiopian Convention
Mar 20 France signs treaty with Emperor Menelik II of Abyssinia establishing a common border between French held Djibouti and Ethiopia
- Mar 26 59th Grand National: Terry Kavanagh aboard 6/1 favourite Manifesto wins by 20 lengths from Filbert
- Mar 29 Japan adopts Gold Standard
- Apr 5 The Greco-Turkish War, also called "Thirty Days' War", is declared between Greece and the Ottoman Empire.
- Apr 19 1st Boston Marathon (B.A.A. Road Race), won by John J. McDermott in 2:55:10; the world's oldest annual marathon inspired by success of the first marathon at the 1896 Summer Olympics
- Apr 22 NYC Jewish newspaper "Forward" begins publishing (still active)
- Apr 24 1st reporter, William Price (Washington Star), assigned to White House
- Apr 27 Grant's Tomb (famed of song & legend) dedicated
Discovery of the Electron
Apr 30 English physicist and head of the Cavendish laboratory J. J. Thomson announces his discovery of the electron in a lecture to the Royal Institution
- May 4 23rd Kentucky Derby: Buttons Garner aboard Typhoon II wins in 2:12.5
- May 4 Fire in Paris bazaar at Rue Jean Goujon kills 200
- May 8 22nd Preakness: T. Thorpe aboard Paul Kauvar wins in 1:51¼
- May 11 Washington Senator catcher Charlie Farrell throws out 8 attempted stealers
- May 12 1800-1900 year old fossil of "girl of Yde" found in Drente, Netherlands
- May 12 Battle at Thessalie: Turkish army beats Greece
- May 14 Great Britain signs treaty with Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II settling border issues with British Somaliland
- May 14 Oldest continuously operating movie theater in the world, the State Theatre first opens in Washington, Iowa (Guinness World Records)
- May 15 The Greek army retreats with heavy losses in the Greco-Turkish War.
Scientific-Humanitarian Committee
May 15 The Scientific-Humanitarian Committee is founded in Berlin by Magnus Hirschfeld, the first-ever LGBT rights organization
1st Successful Submarine
May 17 The first successful submarine that can run submerged for any considerable distance and combines electric and gasoline engines is launched in the USA by its designer John Philip Holland
Dow Chemical Founded
May 18 Herbert Henry Dow founds Dow Chemical in Midland, Michigan
- May 18 Irish Music Festival first held in Dublin
- May 18 New York Giants third baseman Bill Joyce becomes last player in baseball history to hit 4 triples in a game as Giants beat Pittsburgh Pirates, 11-5 at Exposition Park
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
May 18 Paul Dukas' symphonic scherzo "The Sorcerer’s Apprentice" (used in Disney's Fantasia film) premieres, based on poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Oscar Wilde Released
May 19 Playwright Oscar Wilde is released from Reading Gaol
37th British Open
May 20 37th British Open Men's Golf, Royal Liverpool GC: English amateur Harold Hilton wins 2nd Open title by 1 stroke from Scot James Braid
Dracula Published
May 26 "Dracula" by Irish author Bram Stoker is published by Archibald Constable and Company in London
- May 29 31st Belmont: Joe Scherrer aboard Scottish Chieftain wins in 2:23.25
- Jun 12 Possibly the most severe quake in history strikes Assam, India, Shock waves felt over an area size of Europe (low mortality rate given size of earthquake, 1,500 casualties).
- Jun 15 Liberals/social-democrats win Dutch 2nd Parliamentary election
- Jun 16 A treaty annexing the Republic of Hawaii to the United States is signed; the Republic would not be dissolved until a year later
- Jun 17 US State Department appoints New Jersey educator William Frank Powell as Envoy to Haiti, and Chargé d’Affaires for Dominican Republic
- Jun 19 MLB Baltimore Orioles outfielder Wee Willie Keeler's then-record 44 game hitting streak ends
- Jun 19 US National Championship Women's Tennis: 1895 title holder Juliette Atkinson beats defending champion Elisabeth Moore 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3
- Jun 22 Bombay plague commissioner Walter Charles Rand shot by Chapekar brothers as protest against his extreme measures to combat city's plague epidemic (dies July 3)
- Jun 24 Hail injures 26 in Topeka, Kansas
- Jun 28 Marquis C de Bonchamps' expedition reaches Gore Ethiopia
Bingley-Hillyard Wins Fourth Wimbledon Title
Jun 28 Wimbledon Women's Tennis: England's Blanche Bingley-Hillyard wins her 4th title beating Charlotte Cooper 5-7, 7-5, 6-2
The Balloon Expedition to the North Pole
Jul 11 Salomon August Andrée leaves Spitsbergen by balloon headed for the North Pole
Report on the Jameson Raid
Jul 16 The South African Committee, investigating the Jameson Raid releases its report finding that it was conducted almost implicitly through the support and encouragement of Cecil Rhodes and the mining houses in the Transvaal
Event of Interest
Jul 25 Writer Jack London sails to join the Klondike Gold Rush where he will write his first successful stories
- Jul 26 37.5 cm rainfall at Jewell, Maryland (state record)
- Jul 27 14.75" (37.5 cm) of rainfall, Jewell, Maryland (state 24-hr record)
- Jul 27 Dutch government of Pierson/Goeman Borgesius resigns
- Aug 3 John McNally's musical "Good Mr Best" premieres in NYC
- Aug 4 Henry A Rucker appointed Collector of Internal Revenue for Georgia
- Aug 10 Automobile Club of Great Britain established (now: Royal Automobile Club)
Aspirin Synthesized
Aug 10 German chemist Felix Hoffmann first synthesizes acetylsalicylic acid, which would later be patented by his company Bayer under the name "aspirin"
- Aug 14 The town of Anosimena is captured by French troops from Menabe defenders in Madagascar.
- Aug 17 W. B. Purvis patents electric railway switch (aka points)
- Aug 19 1st electric taxis driven in London
- Aug 21 Oldsmobile first manufactured by Olds Motor Vehicle Co. in Lansing, Michigan
- Aug 23 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Newport R.I.: Defending champion Robert Wrenn beats Wilberforce Eaves 4-6, 8-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 for his 4th US singles title
- Aug 30 The town of Ambiky is captured by France from Menabe in Madagascar
Kitchener Occupies Berber
Aug 31 British General Kitchener's army occupies Berber, North of Khartoum
Kinetoscope Patented
Aug 31 Thomas Edison patents the Kinetoscope [kinetographic camera], a device which produces moving pictures
- Sep 1 The Boston subway opens, becoming the first underground rapid transit system in North America.
- Sep 2 "McCal" magazine first published
- Sep 7 George Davis (Giants) HR off Sport McAllister (Spiders) in DH
- Sep 10 Lattimer Massacre - a sheriff's posse kills twenty unarmed immigrant miners in Pennsylvania, United States
- Sep 11 After months of pursuit, generals of Menelik II of Ethiopia capture Gaki Sherocho, the last king of Kaffa, bringing an end to that ancient kingdom
- Sep 12 Battle of Saragarhi: Thousands of Orakzai and Afridi tribesmen overwhelm and kill at great cost to themselves 21 British Raj Sikh Soldiers led by Havildar Ishar Singh at Tirah, North-West Frontier Province, British India
- Sep 17 US Open Men's Golf, Chicago GC: Englishman Joe Lloyd wins his only major title by 1 stroke over runner-up Willie Anderson of Scotland; last 36-hole US Open
- Sep 18 Gustave Kecker and Hugh Martin's musical "Belle of New York City" premieres in NYC
- Sep 21 NY Sun runs famous "Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus" editorial
- Sep 23 1st frontier days rodeo celebration (Cheyene Wyoming)
- Sep 25 1st British bus service opens
Devil's Disciple
Oct 4 George Bernard Shaw's play "Devil's Disciple" premieres in NYC
- Oct 5 Swedish explorer Solomon August Andrée expedition to the North Pole reaches White Island
Mahler Heads Court Opera
Oct 8 Emperor Franz Joseph I names composer Gustav Mahler as Director of the Vienna Court Opera
- Oct 15 Aaron and Samuel Bloch carry 1st Mail Pouch
Leopold II
Oct 15 King Leopold II takes Belgian crown
- Oct 21 Yerkes Observatory of University of Chicago is dedicated
- Oct 22 World's first car dealer opens in London
- Nov 1 Italian football club Juventus F.C. is founded by students in Turin as Sport-Club Juventus
- Nov 23 American inventor Andrew Jackson Beard invents the "jerry coupler" to connect railroad cars
- Nov 23 Portable pencil sharpener patented by American inventor John Lee Love
- Nov 24 Canadian Intercollegiate Rugby Football Union forms in Kingston
- Nov 25 Spain grants Puerto Rico autonomy
- Nov 29 1st motorcycle race in Surrey, England
- Dec 6 London becomes the world's first city to host licenced taxicabs
- Dec 9 French activist Marguerite Durand founds the feminist daily newspaper 'La Fronde' in Paris
- Dec 12 Anti-Jewish violence breaks out in Bucharest, Romania
- Dec 12 Belo Horizonte, the first planned city of Brazil, founded
- Dec 12 Rudolph Dirks' 1st "The Katzenjammer Kids" cartoon strip appears in NY Journal
- Dec 14 Emilio Aguinaldo signs the Pact of Biak-na-Bato, to end hostilities and dissolve his government, in exchange for amnesty and "$800,000 (Mexican)" as an indemnity
- Dec 16 1st submarine with an internal combustion engine demonstrated
- Dec 27 Stanley Cup, Victoria Rink, Montreal, Quebec: Montreal Victorias beat Ottawa Capitals, 15-2
- Dec 28 Edmond Rostand's play "Cyrano de Bergerac" premieres in Paris
- Dec 30 Province of Zululand annexed to Natal colony
- Dec 31 Brooklyn's last day as a city, it incorporates into NYC (1/1/1898)
Authors
Dictators
Explorers
Outlaws
Queens
Spies