- Jan 1 Brooklyn merges with NY to form present City of NY
"Sogno d'un Mattino di Primavera
Jan 1 Italian poet and playwright Gabriele D'Annunzio's dramatic work "Sogno d'un mattino di primavera," (Dream of a Spring Morning) premieres in Rome
Hirobumi's Third Term
Jan 12 Itō Hirobumi begins his third term as Prime Minister of Japan
Dreyfus Affair
Jan 13 Emile Zola publishes his open letter "J'accuse" accusing the French government of framing Alfred Dreyfus for sabotage
- Jan 14 Australian cricketer Joe Darling hits the 1st six in Tests (out of the ground)
- Jan 19 Brown defeats Harvard 6-0 in 1st intercollegiate hockey game
- Feb 8 John Ames Sherman patents 1st envelope folding & gumming machine in Massachusetts
- Feb 11 Owen Smith of NC, AME Zion minister, named US minister to Liberia
- Feb 15 USS Maine sinks in Havana harbor, cause unknown, 258 sailors die
- Feb 22 Black postmaster lynched, his wife & 3 daughters shot in Lake City, South Carolina
- Feb 23 Emile Zola is imprisoned in France for writing his "J'accuse" letter which accused the government of anti-Semitism and of wrongly jailing Alfred Dreyfus
- Mar 2 Chasing winning target of 275, Australian cricket batsman Joe Darling bashes 160 in 171 minutes with 30 fours to lead Australia to a 6-wicket 5th Test win over England in Sydney; complete 4-1 series rout
- Mar 8 Richard Straus' "Don Quixote" premieres in Keulen
1st Modern Submarine
Mar 17 John Philip Holland achieves successful test run for the first modern submarine off Staten Island, submerging for 1 hour 40 minutes
- Mar 25 60th Grand National: John Gourley wins aboard 25/1 shot Drogheda
- Mar 25 Intercollegiate Trapshooting Association formed in NYC
- Mar 25 Swami Vivekananda initiates Margaret Noble (Sister Nivedita) into vow of Brahmacharya, first western woman received into Indian monastic order
Writer O. Henry Sentenced
Mar 25 Writer O. Henry sentenced to 5 years in prison for embezzling $854 from a bank reportedly to pay for his sick wife's medical bills. Goes on to write many classics while in jail including "Whistling Dick's Christmas Stocking".
- Mar 26 Sabi Game Reserve opens in South Africa, the world's 1st officially designated game reserve; now part of Kruger National Park
- Mar 26 Sabie Game Reserve proclaimed in the Transvaal - the beginnings of Kruger National Park
- Apr 8 Battle of Atbara River: Anglo-Egyptian forces defeat 15,000 Sudanese during the Mahdist War, a turning point in the reconquest of Sudan
- Apr 10 First Navy Law is passed by the German Reichstag
Spain Declares War Against the United States
Apr 11 President McKinley asks for Spanish–American War declaration
- Apr 12 US Army transfers Yerba Buena Island in San Francisco Bay to Navy
- Apr 18 2nd Boston Marathon won by Canadian Ron McDonald in race record 2:42:00
- Apr 20 US Assay Office in Deadwood, South Dakota opens
- Apr 21 Phillies' pitcher Bill Duggleby hits a grand slam on 1st at bat
- Apr 21 Spanish–American War: The U.S. Congress, on April 25, recognizes that a state of war exists between the United States and Spain
- Apr 22 1st Spanish–American War action sees the USS Nashville capture a Spanish ship
- Apr 22 Baltimore James Hughes no-hits Boston Braves 8-0
- Apr 22 Cincinnati Red Theodore Breitenstein no-hits Pirates 11-0
- Apr 22 Congress passes Volunteer Army Act calling for a Volunteer Cavalry
- Apr 22 US President McKinley orders blockade of Cuban harbors
- Apr 24 Spanish–American War: Spain declares war after rejecting US ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba
Dewey Sails to the Philippines
Apr 24 US fleet under commodore George Dewey sails from Hong Kong to Philippines
- Apr 25 Spanish–American War: The United States declares state of war on Spain effective from 21st April
- Apr 30 Championship wrestling match at Met turns into a brawl
- May 1 US Admiral George Dewey commands "You may fire when you are ready, Gridley" as US rout Spanish fleet at Manila
- May 3 Camp Merriman forms at Presidio San Francisco (see 0517)
- May 4 24th Kentucky Derby: Willie Simms aboard Plaudit wins in 2:09
- May 8 The first games of the Italian Football League are played
- May 12 Louisiana adopts new constitution with "grandfather clause" designed to eliminate black voters
- May 17 Camp Merritt forms in Presidio [see 0503]
- May 19 US Congress passes the Private Mailing Card Act, allowing private publishers and printers to produce postcards, had to be labelled "Private Mailing Cards" until 1901, known as "souvenir cards"
- May 21 US Assay Office in Seattle, Washington, authorized
- May 23 1st Philippine Expeditionary Troops sail from San Francisco
- May 26 32nd Belmont: F Littlefield aboard Bowling Brook wins in 2:32
- May 26 San Francisco approves City Charter, allows Municipal ownership of utilities
- May 27 Arthur Pinero's "Trelawney of the Wells" premieres in London
- Jun 1 Trans-Mississippi International Exposition opens in Omaha
- Jun 7 Social Democracy of America party holds 1st national convention, Chicago
38th British Open
Jun 9 British Open Men's Golf, Prestwick GC: Harry Vardon of Jersey wins 2nd title by 1 stroke from dual champion Willie Park Jr
- Jun 9 China leases Hong Kong's new territories to the United Kingdom for 99 years
- Jun 9 Second Convention of Peking leases the "New Territories" of Hong Kong to United Kingdom for 99 years rent-free, expiring on 30 June 1997
- Jun 10 US Marines land in Cuba during the Spanish–American War
- Jun 11 1st US Marines (600) land at Guantanamo, Cuba during the Spanish–American War
- Jun 11 23rd Preakness: Willie Simms riding Sly Fox wins in 1:49.75
- Jun 11 Emperor De Zong proclaims reforms in Peking
Filipino Proclamation of Independence
Jun 12 Filipino revolutionary forces under General Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed the sovereignty and independence of the Philippine Islands from the colonial rule of Spain
- Jun 13 Yukon Territory of Canada established, Dawson chosen as capital
- Jun 14 Niger Convention signed in Paris by France and Great Britain agreeing to the partition of West Africa
- Jun 15 US House of Representatives passes resolution to annex Hawaii
- Jun 15 US marines attack Spanish off Guantánamo, Cuba
- Jun 16 China's emperor De Zong (Guang Xu) receives Kang Youwei
- Jun 17 The United States Navy Hospital Corps is established
- Jun 18 Steel Pier, 1st amusement pier opens in Atlantic City, New Jersey [1]
- Jun 18 US National Championship Women's Tennis, Philadelphia CC: Defending champion Juliette Atkinson beats Marion Jones 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 for her third US singles title
- Jun 18 US Open Men's Golf, Myopia Hunt Club: Scotsman Fred Herd easily wins by 7 strokes from countryman Alex Smith; first 72-hole US Open
- Jun 21 US captures Guam from Spain during the Spanish–American War
- Jun 23 Emilio Aguinaldo issues a decree replacing his dictatorial government with a revolutionary government, with himself as President
- Jun 24 American troops drive Spanish forces from La Guasimas, Cuba
Around The World Alone In A Fishing Boat
Jun 27 Canadian-American adventurer Joshua Slocum arrives in Newport, Rhode Island, completing the 1st solo circumnavigation of the globe
Doherty Wimbledon Champion
Jun 27 Wimbledon Men's Tennis: Defending champion R.F. Doherty beats younger brother Laurence Doherty 6-3, 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1
Cooper Wimbledon Champion
Jun 27 Wimbledon Women's Tennis: Charlotte Cooper beats Louisa Martin 6-4, 6-4 for her 3rd Wimbledon singles championship
- Jun 30 Winton Motor Carriage Company publishes the first known automobile ad in Scientific American using the headline “dispense with a horse.”
Roosevelt's Rough Riders
Jul 1 Theodore Roosevelt and his Rough Riders charge up San Juan Hill during US's successful assault on the city of Santiago [1]
- Jul 3 American troops, en route to the Philippines on the SS China, raise the American flag on Wake Island
- Jul 3 Dutch Automobile Club forms (KNAC)
- Jul 3 US Navy defeats Spanish fleet in Santiago harbor, Cuba
- Jul 4 French liner "La Bourgogne" collides with bark Cromartyshire, 560 die
- Jul 4 US flag hoisted over Wake Island (Spanish–American War)
- Jul 5 Lizzie Arlington becomes first woman to play professional men's baseball when she pitches 9th inning for the Reading Coal Heavers against the Allentown Peanuts; allows 2 hits and walks a batter but preserves 5-0 win
- Jul 6 US Senate agrees to annex Hawaii
- Jul 7 US President McKinley signs the Organic Act to annex Hawaii
- Jul 8 Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Red Donahue no-hits Boston Beaneaters, 5-0 at the Baker Bowl
- Jul 8 The shooting death of crime boss Soapy Smith releases Skagway, Alaska from his iron grip
- Jul 8 US battle fleet under Admiral George Dewey occupies Isla Grande at Manila
- Jul 10 Jean-Baptiste Marchands expedition reaches Fashoda at White Hippo
- Jul 12 Jean-Baptiste Marchand hoists French flag in Fashoda, Sudan
- Jul 13 San Francisco Ferry Building at foot of Market St opens
Golgi Apparatus
Jul 15 Camillo Golgi discovers the Golgi Apparatus (a delicate network inside cells essential for the transmission and reception of information between cells)
- Jul 17 Spanish–American War: Spaniards surrender to US forces at Santiago de Cuba
- Jul 22 Crew of Belgium RV Belgica see 1st sunrise in 1600 hrs - 1st expedition to endure Antarctic winter
- Jul 25 1st US troops land & occupy Puerto Rico, at Guanica Bay
- Jul 28 Spanish American War: U.S. Army occupies Ponce and declares victory in Puerto Rico over Spanish forces
Diesel Engine Patented
Aug 9 Rudolf Diesel of Germany obtains patent #608,845 for his internal combustion engine, later known as the diesel engine
- Aug 12 Hawaii is formally annexed to US
- Aug 12 Peace protocol ends Spanish–American War, signed
- Aug 13 US forces under Admiral George Dewey capture Manila during Spanish–American War
- Aug 16 Edwin Prescott patents roller coaster
- Aug 22 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Newport, RI: Malcolm Whitman wins first of 3 straight US singles titles; beats Dwight F. Davis 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1
- Aug 25 700 Greeks and 15 Englishmen are slaughtered by the Turks in Heraklion, Greece.
- Aug 28 Caleb Bradham renames his carbonated soft drink "Pepsi-Cola".
- Aug 29 The Goodyear tire company founded
- Sep 1 First forestry school in America opens at Biltmore Estate, North Carolina
Kitchener Attacks Omdurman
Sep 1 Lord Kitchener's troops attack Omdurman, Sudan
- Sep 2 Battle of Omdurman: Lord Kitchener retakes Sudan for Britain
- Sep 2 Machine gun 1st used in battle
- Sep 6 Lord Kitchener destroys Mahdi's tomb in Omdurman
- Sep 9 Ottawa Football Club re-organizes into the Rough Riders
- Sep 10 Empress Elizabeth of Austria is assassinated by anarchists Luigi Lucheni
- Sep 10 Lord Kitchener sails from Khartoum to Fashoda to confront French attempts to claim territory in the Sudan
- Sep 13 20,000 Paris construction workers go on strike
- Sep 15 National Afro-American Council forms in Rochester NY
- Sep 18 Lord Kitchener's ships reach Fashoda, Sudan
- Sep 21 Empress Dowager Cixi seizes power and ends the Hundred Days' Reform in China, imprisoning the Guangxu Emperor
- Sep 26 Victor Herbert and Harry Smith's operetta "The Fortune Teller" premieres at Wallack's Theater, New York City
- Sep 29 Wassoulou Empire leader Samori Ture captured by French troops in West Africa ending his 20 year rule
- Oct 1 Dutch railway Alkmaar-Receiver opens
- Oct 1 Henry Huntington buys LA Railway
- Oct 1 Jews are expelled from Kyiv, Ukraine
- Oct 1 The Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration is founded under the name k.u.k. Exportakademie.
- Oct 1 Tsar Nikolay II expels Jews from major Russian cities
Vienna Philharmonic
Oct 6 Gustav Mahler conducts his first Vienna Philharmonic concert
- Oct 6 Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity founded at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts
- Oct 8 First Canadian Intercollegiate football game: McGill beats Queen's, 3-2
- Oct 12 Establishment of the first town council in Mateur.
- Oct 18 American flag raised in Puerto Rico
- Oct 20 NC Mutual & Provident Insurance Company forms
Theodor Herzl Arrives in Jerusalem
Nov 2 Austro-Hungarian Jewish activist Theodor Herzl arrives in Jerusalem
First Official Cheerleader
Nov 2 Cheerleading begins in the United States as Johnny Campbell leads the crowd cheering on the football team at the University of Minnesota
- Nov 2 French government of Dupuy forms
Fuhrmann Henschel
Nov 5 Gerhart Hauptmann's play "Fuhrmann Henschel" premieres in Berlin
Beatty Made Commander
Nov 15 British naval officer David Beatty promoted to commander after Sudan Campaign
- Nov 22 Construction begins on the Simplon tunnel through the Alps, linking Italy and Switzerland; it becomes the world's longest railroad tunnel
- Nov 22 Pietro Mascagni's opera "Iris" premieres at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome, Italy
- Nov 24 The International Conference of Rome for the Social Defense Against Anarchists opens.
- Nov 26 -27) Snow and ice storm over US kills 455
- Nov 26 SS Portland “The Titanic of New England” leaves for Cape Cod, shipwrecked off Cape Ann, all 192 on board killed
- Dec 10 The first western pilgrims welcomed at The House of `Abdu'lláh Páshá
- Dec 10 Treaty of Paris which ended the Spanish–American War is signed by US President McKinley; US acquires Philippines, Puerto Rico and Guam
- Dec 12 1st first-class cricket game between Australian states NSW and Tasmania
- Dec 18 First automobile speed record set of 63 kph (39 mph) by French Count Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat of Paris
Curies Discover Radium
Dec 21 Scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discover radium
- Dec 24 Herman Heijermans' "Ghetto" premieres in Amsterdam
Admirals
Aviators
Gangsters
Generals
Industrialists
Suffragists