Directory

1889 CE

President Grover Cleveland signs the Enabling Act of 1889, admitting North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington as U.S. states. Rubber tire company Michelin is registered by Édouard and André Michelin in Clermont-Ferrand, France. North Dakota and South Dakota are admitted as the 39th and 40th U.S. states, respectively.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • February 11 – The Meiji Constitution of Japan is adopted; the 1st Diet of Japan convenes in 1890.source
  • February 22 – President Grover Cleveland signs the Enabling Act of 1889, admitting North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington as U.S. states.source
  • March 2 – The United States Congress proclaims the entire Bering Sea to be under US control.source
  • March 31 – The Eiffel Tower is inaugurated in Paris (opens May 6). At 300 m ft, its height exceeds the previous tallest structure in the world by 130 m ft. Contemporary critics regard it as aesthetically displeasing.source
  • April 22 – At high noon in Oklahoma Territory, thousands rush to claim land in the Land Rush of 1889. Within hours the cities of Oklahoma City and Guthrie are formed, with populations of at least 10,000.source
  • May 2 – Menelik II, Emperor of Ethiopia, signs a treaty of amity with Italy, giving Italy control over what will become Eritrea.source
  • May 31 – The Naval Defence Act dictates that the fleet strength of the British Royal Navy must be equal to that of at least any two other countries.source
  • June 26 – Bangui is founded in the French Congo.source
  • June 29–30 – First Inter-Parliamentary Conference held.source
  • October 2 – In Washington, D.C., the first International Conference of American States begins.source
  • October 12 – Gustaf Åkerhielm, previously Swedish Foreign Minister, replaces Gillis Bildt as Prime Minister of Sweden.source
  • October 24 – Sir Henry Parkes, Premier of New South Wales, delivers the Tenterfield Oration, calling for the Federation of Australia.source
  • November 2 – North Dakota and South Dakota are admitted as the 39th and 40th U.S. states, respectively.source
  • November 8 – Montana is admitted as the 41st U.S. state.source
  • November 11 – Washington is admitted as the 42nd U.S. state.source
  • November 17 – The Brazilian Imperial Family is forced into exile in France.source
  • November 18 – Elisha P. Ferry is inaugurated as first governor of Washington.source
  • November 19 – The modern-day flag of Brazil is adopted by the Provisional Government of the Republic.source
  • November 20 – Argentina is the first country to recognize the abolition of the monarchy in Brazil.source
  • November – The first free elections are held in Costa Rica.source

Conflict & Security

  • March 9 – Battle of Metemma: Yohannes IV, Emperor of Ethiopia, is killed; Sudanese forces, who have been almost defeated, rally and destroy the Ethiopian army. Yohannes is probably the world's last ruler ever to die in battle; on March 25 Menelik II proclaims himself as his successor.source
  • April 1 – Following a failure on January 27 to launch a coup, former French defense minister General Georges Boulanger flees to Brussels to avoid arrest for treason.source
  • April 20 – Birth of Adolf Hitler at Braunau am Inn in Austria-Hungary, the son of customs official Alois Hitler and his third wife, Klara.source
  • July 15 – The Emperor of Brazil, Pedro II, survives an assassination attempt in Rio de Janeiro.source
  • August 3 – Mahdist War: Battle of Toski – Egyptian and British troops are victorious.source
  • November 15 – Field Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca organizes a military coup which deposes Emperor Pedro II of Brazil and abolishes the Brazilian monarchy. Deodoro da Fonseca proclaims Brazil a republic, and forms a provisional government.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • October 6 – Mount Kilimanjaro's summit is first reached, by German geologist Hans Meyer with Austrian mountaineer Ludwig Purtscheller.source
  • December 30 – Abdul Hamid II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, introduces the Kanunname of 1889 against the slave trade.source

Religion & Belief

  • March 23 – Claiming to be the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad founds the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in Punjab Province (British India).source
  • August – The Jewish settlement of Moisés Ville is founded in Argentina.source
  • The Wisden Cricketers' Almanack publishes its first Wisden Cricketers of the Year (actually titled Six Great Bowlers of the Year). The cricketers chosen are George Lohmann, Bobby Peel, Johnny Briggs, Charles Turner, John Ferris and Sammy Woods.source

Economy & Finance

  • May 28 – Rubber tire company Michelin is registered by Édouard and André Michelin in Clermont-Ferrand, France.source
  • August 14–September 15 – London Dock Strike: Dockers strike for a minimum wage of sixpence an hour ("The dockers' tanner"), which they eventually receive, a landmark in the development of New Unionism in Britain.source
  • September 23 – The Nintendo Koppai (later Nintendo Company, Limited) is founded in Japan by Fusajiro Yamauchi, to produce and market Hanafuda playing cards.source
  • October 29 – The British South Africa Company receives a Royal Charter.source

Technology & Infrastructure

  • January 8 – Herman Hollerith receives a patent for his electric tabulating machine in the United States.source
  • March 12 – Almon B. Strowger, an undertaker in Topeka, Kansas, files a patent in the United States for an automatic telephone exchange using the Strowger switch.source
  • April – British chemists Frederick Abel and James Dewar file their first patent for the smokeless propellant cordite.source
  • May 6 – The Exposition Universelle opens in Paris, with the Eiffel Tower as its entrance arch. The Galerie des machines, at 111 m ft, spans the longest interior space in the world at this time. The Exposition, which marks the centenary of the French Revolution, runs until October 31.source
  • June 3 – The first long distance electric power transmission line in the United States is completed, running 14 mi km between a generator at Willamette Falls and downtown Portland, Oregon.source
  • June 11 – A Neapolitan baker named Raffaele Esposito invents the Pizza Margherita, named after the queen consort of Italy Margherita of Savoy. This is the forerunner of the modern pizza.source
  • August 6 – The Savoy Hotel in London opens.source
  • August 30 – The Royal Mail Mount Pleasant Sorting Office officially opens in London.source
  • October 6 – The Moulin Rouge cabaret opens in Paris.source
  • November 2 – English Association football team Wimbledon F.C. plays their first match.source
  • November 23 – The first jukebox goes into operation, at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco.source
  • December 28 – The first interurban tram-train to emerge in the United States is the Newark and Granville Street Railway in Ohio.source
  • An early method of high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission, as developed by the Swiss engineer René Thury, is implemented commercially in Italy by the Acquedotto de Ferrari-Galliera Company. This system transmits 630 kW at 14 kV DC over a distance of 120 km mi.source
  • Yellow fever interrupts the building of the Panama Canal.source
  • The Capilano Suspension Bridge (the longest suspension foot-bridge in the world) is opened in British Columbia.source

Science & Discovery

  • January 1 – The total solar eclipse of January 1, 1889 is seen over parts of California and Nevada.source
  • June 28 – The annular solar eclipse of June 28, 1889 is visible across the Atlantic Ocean, Africa and Indian Ocean, and is the 47th solar eclipse of Solar Saros 125.source
  • October 21 – Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke the Elder is recorded by Adelbert Theodor Wangemann, a German associate of Thomas Edison, on wax cylinders via phonograph. The two surviving wax cylinders that are produced make von Moltke, who was born in 1800, the earliest-living human whose voice has been recorded, and the only person born in the 18th century whose voice will be heard into the 21st.source
  • November 14 – Pioneer American woman journalist Nellie Bly (Elizabeth Cochrane) begins an attempt to travel around the world in less than 80 days, inspired by Jules Verne; she finishes the journey in 72 days, 6 hours and 11 minutes.source

Health & Medicine

  • January 1 – Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka experiences a vision, leading to the start of the Ghost Dance movement in the Dakotas.source
  • January 4 – An Act to Regulate Appointments in the Marine Hospital Service of the United States is signed by President Grover Cleveland. It establishes a Commissioned Corps of officers, as a predecessor to the modern-day U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.source
  • January 15 – The Coca-Cola Company is originally incorporated as the Pemberton Medicine Company in Atlanta, Georgia.source
  • May – The first case of the 1889–1890 pandemic of is reported in the city of Bukhara in the Central Asian part of the Russian Empire.source

Crime & Justice

  • January 30 – Mayerling incident: Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria, and his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera commit a double suicide (or a murder-suicide) at the Mayerling hunting lodge in the Vienna Woods.source
  • February 25 – The landmark court decision in the case of The Moorcock establishes the concept of implied terms in English contract law.source
  • May 11 – Wham Paymaster robbery: An attack upon a U.S. Army paymaster and escort in the Arizona Territory results in the theft of over $28,000, and the award of two Medals of Honor.source
  • June – Vincent van Gogh paints The Starry Night at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence.source
  • July 6 – Several aristocrats are implicated in the Cleveland Street scandal after police raid a male brothel in London.source
  • August 26 – The Prevention of Cruelty to, and Protection of, Children Act, commonly known as the Children's Charter, is passed in the United Kingdom; for the first time it imposes criminal penalties to deter child abuse.source
  • Arthur Wharton signs for Rotherham Town F.C. in England for the 1889/90 season, becoming probably the world's first black professional Association football player.source

Disasters & Accidents

  • March 15 – Samoan crisis: German and American warships keep each other at bay in a standoff in Apia Harbor, ending when a cyclone blows in and sinks them all.source
  • May 31 – Johnstown Flood: The South Fork Dam collapses in western Pennsylvania, killing more than 2,200 people in and around Johnstown, Pennsylvania.source
  • June 6 – The Great Seattle Fire ravages through the downtown area without any fatalities.source
  • June 12 – The Armagh rail disaster: runaway carriages from a Sunday school excursion collide with an oncoming train near Armagh in the north of Ireland, killing 80, leading to rapid passage of the Regulation of Railways Act 1889 on railway signalling and brakes in the United Kingdom.source
  • August 4 – The Great Fire of Spokane, Washington, destroys some 32 blocks of the city, prompting a mass rebuilding project.source

Climate & Environment

  • A huge locust swarm crosses the Red Sea and destroys crops in the Nile Valley.source

Culture & Society

  • January 22 – Columbia Phonograph is formed in Washington, D.C.source
  • February 15 – The first issue of the Filipino liberal newspaper La Solidaridad is published in Spain.source
  • February 17 – The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is founded in Manchester (England), originally known as "The Plumage League" to campaign against the use of plumage in women's clothing.source
  • March 11 – The North Carolina Legislature issues a charter for the creation of Elon College.source
  • March 22 – English Association football team Sheffield United F.C. is formed at the Adelphi Hotel, Sheffield. They play their first match on September 7.source
  • March 30 – Preston North End F.C. win the 1889 FA Cup final in England. Having on January 5 won the first Football League title with no defeats all season, they complete the double in Association football.source
  • April 10 – The Hammarby Roddförening (later Hammarby IF) sports club is founded in Sweden.source
  • July 8 – The first issue of The Wall Street Journal is published in New York City.source
  • July 8 – The last official bare-knuckle boxing title fight is held (under London Prize Ring Rules): Heavyweight Champion John L. Sullivan, the Boston Strong Boy, defeats Jake Kilrain in a world championship bout, lasting 75 rounds, in Mississippi.source
  • July 14 – International Workers Congresses of Paris open, and establish the Second International.source
  • July 31 – Louise, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom, marries Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife, at Buckingham Palace in London.source
  • September 10 – Albert Honoré Charles Grimaldi becomes Albert I, Prince of Monaco.source
  • September 17 – American Civil War veteran Charles Jefferson Wright founds New York Military Academy, with 75 students on 30 acre m2 of land in Cornwall, New York.source
  • November 20 – Gustav Mahler premieres his Symphony No. 1, in Budapest.source
  • November 27 – Clemson University is founded in Clemson, South Carolina.source
  • December 14 – In U.S. college football, Wofford and Furman play the first intercollegiate football game in the state of South Carolina, starting the Furman–Wofford football rivalry.source
  • December 23 – The Spanish Association football team Recreativo de Huelva is formed (the oldest club in Spain by the 21st century).source

Births

  • January 12 – Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad, 2nd Caliph of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Islam (d. 1965)source
  • February 2 – Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, French general, posthumous Marshal of France (d. 1952)source
  • February 3 – Risto Ryti, Prime Minister and President of Finland (d. 1956)source
  • February 7 – Harry Nyquist, Swedish-American contributor to information theory (d. 1976)source
  • March 21 – Bernard Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg, British army general and Governor-General of New Zealand (d. 1963)source
  • April 7 – Gabriela Mistral, Chilean writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)source
  • April 26 – Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austrian-born philosopher (d. 1951)source
  • May 12 – Abelardo L. Rodríguez, Mexican professional baseball player, general and substitute President of Mexico, 1932–1934 (d. 1967)source
  • July 14 – Ante Pavelić, Croatian fascist dictator (d. 1959)source
  • October 3 – Carl von Ossietzky, German pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1938)source
  • October 12 – Troy H. Middleton, American general and educator (d. 1976)source
  • November 1 – Philip Noel-Baker, Baron Noel-Baker, Canadian-born peace activist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1982)source
  • November 14 – Jawaharlal Nehru, 1st Prime Minister of India (d. 1964)source
  • December 30 – Adolfo Ruiz Cortines, 47th President of Mexico (d. 1973)source

Deaths

  • March 5 – Mary Louise Booth, American editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar (b. 1831)source
  • March 9 – Emperor Yohannes IV of Ethiopia (b. 1837)source
  • April 15 – Father Damien, Belgian Roman Catholic priest, missionary to Hawaiians with leprosy, and saint (b. 1840)source
  • April 21 – Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada, Mexican jurist, 27th President of Mexico (b. 1823)source
  • May 10 – Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, Russian satirist (b. 1826)source
  • June 25 – Lucy Webb Hayes, First Lady of the United States (b. 1831)source
  • July 4 – Susan Catherine Koerner Wright, mother of the Wright Brothers (b. 1831)source
  • July 7 – Giovanni Bottesini, Italian conductor, composer and virtuoso double bass player (b. 1821)source
  • July 10 – Julia Gardiner Tyler, First Lady of the United States (b. 1820)source
  • September 29 – Louis Faidherbe, French general and colonial administrator (b. 1818)source
  • November 20 – August Ahlqvist, Finnish professor, poet, scholar of the Finno-Ugric languages, author and literary critic (b. 1826)source
  • December 28 – Teresa Cristina of the Two Sicilies, Empress consort of Brazil (b. 1822)source
  • December 29 – Priscilla Cooper Tyler, de facto First Lady of the United States (b. 1816)source
  • December 31 – Ion Creangă, Romanian writer (b. 1837 or 1839)source