References are numbered in [brackets], which are listed here. A number after the dot gives the page in the source.

Last updated: 2008 April 30.

1893 January 1 First US college extension courses for credit, University of Chicago. [1] Japan adopts the Gregorian calendar. [1] January 2 First US commemoratives and first US stamp to picture a woman issued. [1] January 4 US President Harrison grants amnesty to Mormon polygamy. [1] January 6 Great Northern Railway connects Seattle with east coast. [1] January 7 Death of Josef Stefan in Vienna, Austria; physicist at the University of Vienna; the Stefan-Boltzmann law of physics. [37] Hermann Sudermanns "Heimat" premieres in Berlin. [1] January 9 Mohara Arab ivory/slave trader, dies in battle and is eaten. [1] January 10 Richard Drigo's ballet "The Magic Flute" premieres, Saint Petersburg. [1] January 11 Benjamin F Butler US General /presidential candidate (anti-monopoly), dies at 74. [1] January 13 British Independent Labor Party forms (Keir Hardie as its leader). [1] January 16 Johan Philip Koelman painter/sculptor/architect, dies at 74. [1] January 17 -17 degrees F (-27 degrees C), Millsboro DE (state record). [1] Queen Liliuokalani deposed, Kingdom of Hawaii becomes a republic. [1] Rutherford B Hayes 19th US President (1877-81), dies in Fremont Ohio at 70. [1] January 19 Julius Eichberg composer, dies at 68. [1] January 22 Vincenz Lachner composer, dies at 81. [1] January 23 José Zorrilla y Moral Spanish poet (Granada), dies at 75. [1] January 27 James G Blaine US minister of foreign affairs, dies at 62. [1] January 28 Edward Mcdowell's "Hamlet and Ophelia" premieres in Boston. [1] January 31 "Westminster Gazette" begins publishing. [1] February 1 Giacomo Puccini's Opera "Manon Lescaut" premieres in Turin. [1] Thomas A. Edison finishes construction of the first motion picture studio, the Black Maria in West Orange, New Jersey. [1] [5] February 2 First movie close-up (of a sneeze), Edison studio, West Orange New Jersey. [1] February 9 Canal builder De Lesseps and others sentenced to prison for fraud. [1] Verdi's opera "Falstaff" premieres in Milan. [1] February 13 Ignacio M Altamirano Mexican author (El Zarco), dies at 58. [1] February 26 Two Clydesdale horses set record by pulling 48 tons on a sledge, Michigan. [1] February 28 Edward Acheson, Pennsylvania, patents an abrasive he names "carborundum". [1] March 1 Diplomatic Appropriation Act, authorizes the US rank of ambassador. [1] March 2 First federal railroad legislation passed; required safety features. [1] March 3 Columbian Isabella silver quarter authorized. [1] US Congress authorizes first federal road agency, in Department of Agriculture. [1] March 4 Francis Dhanis' army attacksthe Lualaba, occupies Nyangwe. [1] Grover Cleveland (Democrat) inaugrated as 24th US President (second term). [1] March 5 Hippolyte Taine French philosopher/historian, dies at 64. [1] Richard Samuel Hughes composer, dies at 37. [1] March 9 Congo cannibals killed 1000s of Arabs. [1] March 10 Ivory Coast becomes a French colony. [1] New Mexico State University cancels its first graduation ceremony, as its only graduate Sam Steele was robbed and killed the night before. [1] March 19 Karel Komzak composer, dies at 69. [1] March 30 Thomas F Bayard becomes first US ambassador in Great Britain. [1] April 3 First New South Wales vs Queensland F-C game, at Brisbane Exhibition Ground. [1] April 4 Alphonse de Candolle Swiss botanist, dies at 86. [1] April 5 Cleveland passes Park Act (forerunner of Metroparks). [1] April 6 Mormon temple in Salt Lake City dedicated. [1] April 8 The Critic reports that the ice cream soda is our national drink. [1] April 9 Disma Fumagalli composer, dies at 66. [1] April 12 Battle at Hoornkrans Southwest-Africa German Schutztruppen chases away Hottentotten under Hendrik Witbooi. [1] April 19 John Addington Symonds critic/poet, dies. [1] April 22 Francis Dhanis army occupies Kasongo. [1] Paul Kruger elected President of Transvaal for third time. [1] April 26 First Cleveland Board of Park Commissioners forms. [1] April 27 John Murray Corse US General (Union), dies on his 58th birthday. [1] April 30 Edouard Manet French painter (Olympia), dies at 61. [1] Gyula Beliczay composer, dies at 57. [1] May 1 World Columbian Exposition opens in Chicago. [1] May 3 Josef Rudolf Zavrtal composer, dies at 73. [1] May 4 Cowboy Bob Pickett invents bulldogging. [1] George Washington Hewitt composer, dies at 82. [1] May 5 Panic of 1893: Great crash on New York Stock Exchange. [1] May 10 Imperial Institute in London opens. [1] May 14 Earnest E Kummer German mathematician (surface of Kummer), dies at 83. [1] Johan T Buys Dutch lawyer, dies at 65. [1] May 19 Heavy rain washes "quick clay" into a deep valley, kills 111 (Norway). [1] May 22 Montréal Athletic Association beat Ottawa Generals 2-1, in first Cup Game. [1] May 27 Audath Yisroel forms at Kattowitz (Katowice) Poland. [1] June 1 The opera "Falstaff" is produced (Berlin). [1] June 20 Lizzie Borden found innocent in New Bedford Massachusetts [1] June 21 First Ferris wheel premieres (Chicago's Columbian Exposition). [1] June 30 Excelsior diamond (blue-white 995 carats) discovered. [1] July 4 A Borrelly discovers asteroid #369 Aeria. [1] July 9 Daniel H Williams performs "world's first successful heart coperation". [1] July 14 A Charlois discovers asteroid #370 Modestia. [1] July 15 Commodore Perry arrives in Japan. [1] July 16 A Charlois discovers asteroid #371 Bohemia. [1] August 7 53rdUS Congress (1893-95) convenes. [1] August 10 Chinese deported from San Francisco under Exclusion Act. [1] Rudolf Diesel's prime model first runs on its own power. [5] August 14 France issues first driving licenses, includes required test. [1] [5] August 15 US no longer allowed exclusive rights in Bering Sea. [1] September 11 Bronx Gas and Electric Company opens on Frisby and Tremont Ave. [1] September 16 Cherokee Strip, Oklahoma opened to white settlement homesteaders. [1] September 21 Frank Duryea drives first US made gas propelled vehicle (car). [1] September 22 First auto built in US (by Duryea brothers) runs in Springfield. [1] October 1 Third worst hurricane in US history kills 1,800 (Mississippi). [1] October 27 Hurricane hits coast between Savannah Georgia and Charleston South Carolina. [1] October 30 Sir John Abbott Prime Minister of Canada (Conservative) (1891-92), dies at 72. [1] December 1 Eduard Franck composer, dies at 76. [1] December 3 Allan Wilson British/Rhodesian major, dies in battle. [1] Ndebeles destroy Rhodesia. [1] December 5 First electric car (built in Toronto) could go 15 miles between charges. [1] December 9 George Elvey composer, dies at 77. [1] December 11 Eleven fishing ships wash up at Wadden Sea, 22 killed. [1] December 14 Karolina Pawlowa writer, dies at 86. [1] December 15 Dvoráks "From the New World" premieres at Carnegie Hall New York City. [1] December 16 Anton Dvorak's "New World Symphony" premieres. [1] December 17 Levinus T Keuchenius Dutch Minister of Colonies (1888-90), dies at 71. [1] Russia ratifies Duple Alliance with France. [1] December 20 First state anti-lynching statute approved, in Georgia. [1] December 22 Benedikt Randhartinger composer, dies at 91. [1] Johann Czerski German chaplain, dies at 80. [1] December 23 The opera "Hansel und Gretel" is produced (Weimar). [1] December 24 Henry Ford completes his first useful gas motor. [1] December 25 Birth of Ropert L Ripley Santa Rosa California, cartoonist (Believe It or Not). [1] December 28 French lieutenant Boiteux annexes Tumbuktu. [1] December 30 Russia signs military accord with France. [1] Samuel White Baker English explorer, dies at 72. [1] December 31 Jacob G de Scheffer Dutch vicar/theologist, dies at 74. [1] 1894 January 1 Death of Heinrich Hertz in Bonn, Germany; physicist, discovered how to produce, send, and receive radio waves. The radio frequency measurement "hertz" is named for him. [37] Denmark adopts Mid-European time. [1] Manchester Ship Canal in England opens to traffic. [1] January 4 France ratifies Duple Alliance with Russia. [1] January 7 Motion picture experiment of comedian Fred Ott filmed sneezing. [1] January 8 Columbus World's fair in Chicago destroyed by fire. [1] Pierre-Joseph van Beneden paleontologist (life of tapeworms), dies at 84. [1] January 9 "Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze" released in movie theaters. [1] Georges Feydeau's "Un à la Patte" premieres in Paris. [1] January 13 Revolution in Sicily crushed by government troops. [1] January 19 François Haverschmidt Dutch writer, dies at 58. [1] January 21 Guillaume Jean Joseph Nicolas Lekeu composer, dies at 24. [1] January 23 G W Bunbury of Dublin sets shorthand record of 250 wpm for 10 minutes. [1] January 27 Midwinter Fair opens in Golden Gate Park. [1] January 30 Pneumatic hammer patented by Charles King of Detroit. [1] US flag fired on in Rio; prompt satisfaction exacted by Admiral Benham. [1] February 2 US warship Kearsarge wrecked on Roncador Reef, near Solomon Island. [1] February 3 First US steel sailing vessel, Dirigo, launched, Bath ME. [1] February 4 Antoine J "Adolphe" Sax instrument maker (saxophone), dies at 79. [1] February 5 Female suffrage organization in Amsterdam forms. [1] February 8 Enforcement Act repealed, making it easier to disenfranchise blacks. [1] February 11 Pasqual Juan Emilio Arrieta y Corera composer, dies at 70. [1] February 13 Franjo Racki Croatian historian/politician, dies at 65. [1] February 14 Venus is both a morning star and evening star. [1] February 16 British troops occupy Ilorin, Gold Coast. [1] February 19 Ernesto Camillo Sivori composer, dies at 78. [1] February 21 Gustave Caillebotte French shipbuilding designer/painter, dies at 45. [1] February 24 Nicaragua captures Tegucigalpa, Honduras (National Day, sort of). [1] February 25 James Morrison Steele Mackaye US actor/author/director, dies at 51. [1] March 3 First Greek-language publication in US begins, "New York Atlantis". [1] 4th and last British government of Gladstone resigns. [1] March 4 Great fire in Shanghai; over 1,000 buildings destroyed. [1] March 5 Seattle authorizes first municipal employment office in US. [1] March 8 New York passes first state dog license law. [1] March 12 Pittsburgh issues free season tickets for ladies on Tuesday and Friday. [1] March 13 J L Johnstone of England invents horse racing starting gate. [1] March 16 Jules Massenet's opera "Thaïs" premieres in Paris France. [1] March 17 US and China sign treaty preventing Chinese laborers from entering US. [1] March 20 Lajos Kossuth Hungarian freedom fighter/president (1849), dies at 91. [1] March 21 Jacob Rosenhaim composer, dies at 80. [1] March 24 37 miners killed at Franklin Washington. [1] Robert Prescott Stewart composer, dies at 68. [1] March 25 Coxey's Army of the unemployed sets out from Massillon Ohio for Washington DC. [1] March 27 Verney L Cameron English explorer (Tanganyika), dies at 49. [1] April 5 Eleven strikers killed in riot at Connellsville Pennsylvania. [1] Start of Sherlock Holmes "Adventure of the Empty House" (BG). [1] April 8 Bankim C Chattopadhyaya writer (Mrinalini, Anandamath), dies at 55. [1] April 9 First performance of Anton Bruckner's 5th Symphony in B in Graz. [1] April 12 British and Belgian secret accord on dividing Central-Africa. [1] April 14 First public showing of Thomas Edison's kinetoscope (moving pictures). [1] April 19 Jules Massenet's opera "Werther", premieres in New York City. [1] April 20 136,000 mine workers strike in Ohio for pay increase. [1] April 21 George Bernard Shaw's "Arms and the Man", premieres in London. [1] April 29 Commonwealth of Christ (Coxey's Army) arrives in Washington DC 500 strong to protest unemployment; Coxey arrested for trespassing at Capitol. [1] May 8 Klara Fey German orchestra leaser (Die Kleinen Betrachtungen), dies at 79. [1] May 11 American Railroad Union strikes Pullman Sleeping Car Co. [1] May 12 Ludwig Englander's musical "Passing Show" premieres in New York City. [1] May 14 Fire in the Boston bleachers spreads to 170 adjoining buildings. [1] May 21 August A Kundt German physicist, (test of Kundt), dies at 54. [1] May 23 William Love hosts ground breaking ceremonies for Love Canal. [1] May 24 William Joseph Westbrook composer, dies at 63. [1] May 26 Emanuel Lasker (26) becomes World Champion chess player. [1] May 28 Belgium Princess Josephine marries Prince Karl von Hohenzollern. [1] June 17 First US poliomyelitis epidemic breaks out, Rutland, Vermont. [1] June 21 Workers in Pittsburgh strike Pullman sleeping car company. [1] June 28 Labor Day established as a federal employees holiday. [1] June 30 Korea declares independence from China, asks for Japanese aid. [1] July 2 Government obtains injunction against striking Pullman Workers. [1] July 4 Elwood Haynes successfully tests one of first US autos at 6 MPH. [1] Republic of Hawaii established. [1] July 6 Cleveland sends 2,000 troops to Chicago to suppress Pullman strike. [1] July 16 Many negro miners in Alabama killed by striking white miners. [1] Treaty of Aoki-Kimberley signed between Japan and England. [1] July 20 2000 fed troops recalled from Chicago, having ended Pullman strike. [1] August 18 US Congress creates Bureau of Immigration. [1] August 31 Philadelphia Phillies Billy Hamilton steals 7 bases. [1] September 15 Japan defeats China in Battle of Ping Yang. [1] September 27 Aqueduct racetrack opens in New York. [1] October 1 Civic organization, Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben founded in Omaha, Nebraska. [1] October 17 Ohio national guard kills three lynchers while rescuing a black man. [1] October 29 First election of the Hawaiian Republic. [1] October 30 Domenico Melegatti obtains a patent for a procedure to be applied in producing pandoro industrially. [5] November 1 Vaccine for diphtheria announced by Dr Roux of Paris. [1] November 14 Start of Sherlock Holmes "Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez" (BG). [1] November 16 6,000 Armenians massacred by Turks in Kurdistan. [1] November 17 Daily Racing Form founded. [1] November 18 First newspaper Sunday color comic section published (New York World). [1] November 20 US intervenes in Bluefields, Nicaragua. [1] November 25 Greenback (Independent) Party organizes in Indianapolis. [1] December 3 Jozef Schadde Flem architect (Antwerp Stock exchange), dies at 76. [1] Robert Louis Stevenson English writer (Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde), dies from a cerebral hemorrhage at 45. [1] December 5 Georges Feydeaus' "L'hôtel du libre échange" premieres in Paris. [1] December 7 Ferdinand de Lesseps French engineer/diplomat/earl, dies at 89. [1] December 8 Willem JF Nuyens Dutch physician/Roman Catholic historian, dies at 71. [1] December 9 Roman Catholics win Parliamentary election in Belgium. [1] December 13 Sarah Parker Remond US/Italian abolitionist, dies at 68. [1] December 22 Debussy's "Prélude à l'apres-midi d'un faune" premieres. [1] Dutch coast hit by hurricane. [1] French officer Alfred Dreyfus court-martialed for treason, triggers worldwide charges of anti-Semitism (Dreyfus later vindicated). [1] December 23 Debussy's ballet "L'aprés-midi d'un faune" premieres in Paris. [1] December 24 Scheveningse fishing boats destroyed by storm. [1] December 29 Chris Rossetti writer, dies at 64. [1] December 30 Amelia Jenks Bloomer suffragist (Bloomers named for her), dies at 76. [1] December 31 Thomas J Stieltjes mathematician (Stieltjes-integral), dies at 38. [1]