The funeral of Queen Victoria is held at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle American anarchist Leon Czolgosz shoots U.S. President William McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. McKinley dies 8 days later. Annie Edson Taylor, a 63-year old schoolteacher from Bay City, Michigan, became the first person to plunge over Niagara Falls …
The second modern Olympics takes place in Paris. Events include angling, cannon shooting, life saving, pigeon racing, fire fighting and ballooning. The Boxer Rebellion in China escalates into a full-blown war between China and a coalition of western forces The Boer War continues, with heavy losses on both sides, and the expansion of concentration camps …
New Things Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Opel Motors, aspirin, Elgar’s Enigma Variations, the paperclip, Scott Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag, The Bronx Zoo, FC Barcelona, A.C. Milan, Oxo beef stock cubes, The Miele Company The first international Peace Conference ends, with the signing of the First Hague Convention. RMS Oceanic sails on her maiden voyage – at 17,272 …
 War The Spanish—American War The Battle of Omdurman: British and Egyptian troops defeat Sudanese tribesmen. 700 Greeks and 15 Englishmen are slaughtered by the Turks in Heraklion, Greece, leading to the establishment of the autonomous Cretan State. Other Conflict (inter-human) Émile Zola’s “J’accuse…!” letter is published on the front page of the Paris daily newspaper …
Firsts The first Boston Marathon, the discovery of the electron, Kyoto University, Juventus F.C., The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, The play Cyrano de Bergerac, Aspirin, The Kinetoscope, The Tremont Street Subway in Boston – the first underground metro in North America. It began in Africa Benin is put to the torch by the British Army’s …
Firsts The first modern Olympic Games takes place, Blackpool Pleasure Beach opens, X-rays are discovered, La bohème premiers, Henry Ford builds The Ford Quadricycle, his first vehicle, there is the world’s first motoring fatality, the first speeding fine and the first study of the sensitivity of global climate to atmospheric carbon dioxide. American Politics William …
Beginnings The London School of Economics, The Swarovski Company, The internal combustion bus, The portable handheld electric drill, The National Trust, volleyball, The Northern Rugby Football Union (the modern-day Rugby Football League), The first professional American football game, The Proms. Auguste and Louis Lumière display their first moving picture film in Paris. Jail French officer …
Beginnings The first battery-operated telephone switchboard in Lexington, Massachusetts. Blackpool Tower The Manchester Ship Canal Tower Bridge in London Paris—Rouen Competition for Horseless Carriages, the first automobile competition. New Zealand enacts the world’s first minimum wage law. The National College of Music, London. Sir William Ramsay and Lord Rayleigh discover the first noble gas, …
A crash on the New York Stock Exchange starts a depression France takes over Laos and Ivory Coast. Interests connected to the USA overthrow the Kingdom of Hawaii The United States Supreme Court legally declares the tomato to be a vegetable Gandhi arrives in South Africa where he will live until 1914 Lizzie Borden is …
Firsts Ellis Island opens. Rudolf Diesel applies for a patent for the Diesel engine. The Carnegie Steel Company, Liverpool Football Club and Newcastle United F.C. are founded. Abercrombie & Fitch is established. The “Pledge of Allegiance” is first recited by students in U.S. public schools. The Nutcracker ballet with music by Tchaikovsky is premiered. Viruses …
