- January 18
- First exhibition of an X-ray machine, in New York City, New York. [1] [5]
- British troops occupy Kumasi, West Africa. [1]
- January 29
- Emile Grubbe is first doctor to use radiation treatment for breast cancer. [1] [5]
- February 18
- Cave of Winds at Niagara Falls goes almost dry for first time in 50 years. [1]
- February 23
- Tootsie Roll candy introduced by Leo Hirshfield. [1]
- February 25
- Italian government decides to attack governor Baratieri of Eritrea. [1]
- February 28
- France dismisses Queen Ranavalona of Madagascar. [1]
- March 1
- Battle of Aduwa: Abyssinia (Ethiopia) defeats invading Italians. Italian generals Albertone, Arimondi, and Dabormida die in battle. [1]
- March 5
- Italian Governor of Eritrea, General Baldissera, reaches Massawa. [1]
- Italian premier Crispi resigns. [1]
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- March 6
- First automobile in Detroit, Michigan, Charles B King rides his "Horseless Carriage". [1]
- March 12
- First movie shown in the Netherlands (Kalverstr 220). [1]
- March 20
- US Marines land in Nicaragua to protect US citizens. [1]
- Uprising in Matabeleland. [1]
- March 31
- Whitcomb Judson, of Chicago, Illinois, USA, patents a hookless fastening (zipper). [1]
- April 4
- Announcement of discovery of gold in the Yukon. [1]
- April 20
- First public film showing in US: John Philip Sousa's El Capitán, premieres in New York City. [1]
- April 23
- Vitascope system of movie projection first demonstrated (Koster and Bial's Music Hall, New York City). [1]
- May 1
- Naser ed-Din, shah of Persia (1848-96), is murdered at age 65. [1]
- May 4
- First edition of London Daily Mail is published (costs a half penny). [1]
- Grease fire ignites half ton of dynamite at Cripple Creek, Colorado, USA. [1]
- May 9
- First horseless carriage (automobile) show in London, England (features ten models). [1]
- May 18
- US Supreme Court affirms "separate but equal" racial policy (Plessy versus Ferguson). [1]
- May 26
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average is first published in Customer's Afternoon Letter. It represents the average of twelve stocks from important American industries. The previous index by Charles Dow of mostly railroad stocks is replaced by only industrial stocks.Initial value is 40.94. The stocks are General Electric, American Cotton Oil Company, American Sugar Company, American Tobacco Company, Chicago Gas Company, Distilling & Cattle Feeding Company, Laclede Gas Light Company, National Lead Company, North American Company, Tennessee Coal Iron and Railroad Company, U.S. Leather Company, and United States Rubber Company. [1] [227] [228]
- Last Czar of Russia, Nicholas II, is crowned. [1]
- May 27
- First major tornado to strike urban US (Saint Louis and East Saint Louis, Missouri); kills 255 and leaves thousands homeless. [1]
- May 30
- First car accident occurs: Henry Wells hits a bicyclist in New York City. [1]
- June 2
- In England, Guglielmo Marconi is awarded the first radio patent. He had succeeded the previous year in sending long-wave radio signals over a distance of about two kilometres. [457]
- June 4
- Henry Ford drives his first Ford automobile through the streets of Detroit, Michigan. [1]
- June 7
- G Harpo and F Samuelson leave New York to row the Atlantic Ocean to England (takes 54 days). [1]
- June 15
- Off Sanriku, Japan, a magnitude 8.5 earthquake occurs. 28,000 people are killed and 170 miles of coastline are destroyed by the resulting 25-metre (80-foot) tsunami. In Hawaii, wharves are demolished. In California, a 9.5-foot wave is observed. [1] [53]
- June 26
- First cinemaopens, the 400-seat Vitascope Hall in New Orleans, Louisiana. Admission is 10 cents. The cinema uses Thomas Edison's Vitascope projector. [55.38]
- July 1
- The Federated Malay States forms from Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, and Selangor. [1135]
- August 1
- George Samuelson completes rowing across the Atlantic Ocean (New York to England). [1]
- August 8
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average is 28.48, the lowest point ever for this index. [228]
- August 9
- Otto Lilenthal is killed during a glider test. [1]
- August 12
- Gold is discovered at Dawson on the Klondike River in Alaska. [430.68] [474.30] [1186.39]
- August 20
- The rotary dial telephone is patented. [1]
- August 26
- The Philippines' revolutionary secret society Kataastaasan Kagalanggalang Katipunan begins armed conflict with Spanish troops. [548.100]
- August 27
- Zanzibar loses to England in a 38-minute war (9:02-9:40 AM), the shortest war in history. [1] [5]
- August 29
- Chop suey is invented in New York City by chef of visiting Chinese Ambassador. [1]
- September 7
- A. H. Whiting wins first closed-circuit automobile race, held on a track at Cranston, Rhode Island. [1]
- September 9
- First operation involving a suture of the heart, to close a 1.5-cm knife wound to the right ventricle. The patient makes a complete recovery. [55.33]
- October 8
- Dow Jones starts reporting an average of industrial stocks. [1]
- November 16
- Electricity is first transmitted between a power plant (in Niagara Falls) and a city (Buffalo, New York). [5]
- November 28
- Samuel P. Langley, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institute makes unmanned flight of steam engine-powered aircraft, flies 4200 feet, estimated speed 30 MPH. [1193.1091]
- December 6
- D T Suzuki finds the awakening at Engakuji temple, in Kamakura. [1]
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- January 14
- 6,960m (22,834 feet) Cerro Aconcagua mountain (Argentina) is first climbed. [1]
- January 26
- Battle at Bida, Gold Coast: British troops beat Nupe's army. [1]
- January 27
- British troops occupy Bida, Gold Coast (Ghana). [1]
- February 8
- Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, premier of Spain, is murdered at age 69. [1]
- February 10
- New York Times newspaper begins using slogan "All the News That's Fit to Print". [1]
- March 4
- William McKinley inaugurated as 25th President of United States. [1]
- March 11
- In New Martinsville, West Virginia, USA, a man is reported struck by a meteorite, a horse killed, and walls pierced. [521]
- March 20
- France signs treaty with emperor Menelik II of Abyssinia. [1]
- March 29
- Japan adopts gold standard. [1]
- May 4
- Fire in Paris, France, bazaar at Rue Jean Goujon kills 200. [1]
- May 12
- 1800- to 1900-year-old fossil of "girl of Yde" found in Drente, Netherlands. [1]
- Battle at Thessalië: Turkish army beats Greece. [1]
- May 14
- Great Britain signs treaty with emperor Menelik II of Abyssinia. [1]
- May
- North German Lloyd's Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse launches as the first ocean liner. Capacity is 558 passengers in first class, 338 in second class, and 1074 in steerage. At 14,300 tons this is the world's largest ship, and the first with four funnels. [260.7,17]
- May 18
- Irish Music Festival first held (Dublin). [1]
- May 21
- Yerkes Observatory 40-inch (1-metre) refractor used for first time. [1]
- May 26
- Irish writer Bram Stoker's book Dracula goes on sale in London, England. [129]
- June 12
- In Assam, India, a magnitude 8.3 earthquake occurs. Causes complete devastation of over 9,000 square miles and is felt over 1.75 million square miles, resulting in over 1500 deaths. [1] [53]
- August 31
- Thomas Edison receives a patent on the Kinetoscope, the first movie projector. [1] [5]
- September 21
- New York Sun newspaper runs famous "Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus" editorial. [1]
- October 21
- Yerkes Observatory of the University of Chicago is dedicated. [1]
- October 24
- First comic strip in a newspaper, "The Yellow Kid" by Richard Outcault in New York Journal. [55.42]
- November 25
- Spain grants Puerto Rico autonomy. [1]
- December 12
- Anti-Jewish violence breaks out in Bucharest, Romania. [1]
- Rudolph Dirks' first Katzenjammer cartoon strip is published in New York Journal. [1]
- December 16
- First submarine with an internal combustion engine is demonstrated. [1]
- December 30
- Province of Zululand is annexed to Natal colony. [1]
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