- January 21
- First issue of Propria Cures, Amsterdam student-weekly newspaper. [1]
- January 22
- José Marti forms La Liga (Union of Cuban exiles) in New York City, New York. [1]
- January 25
- National Afro-American League forms in Chicago. [1]
- Nellie Bly beats Phileas Fogg's time around world by 8 days (72 days). [1] [5]
- United Mine Workers of America forms. [1]
- February 10
- Around 11 million acres, ceded to US by Sioux Indians opens for settlement. [1]
- February 20
- Amsterdam Theater destroyed by fire. [1]
- February 27
- D Needham and P Kerrigan box 100 rounds (6 hours 39 minutes), San Francisco; match is draw. [1]
- March 1
- First US edition of Sherlock Holmes (Study in Scarlet) published. [1]
- March 4
- The 1.5-mile long Forth Railway Bridge of Scotland is completed, the world's first major steel bridge, with girders spanning 1710 feet. [5] [402.73]
- March 18
- First US state naval militia organized (Massachusetts). [1]
- March 20
- General Federation of Womens' Clubs founded. [1]
- German emperor Wilhelm II fires republic chancellor Otto Von Bismarck. [1]
- March 21
- Austrian Jewish communities are defined by law. [1]
- April 6
- French troops under Captain Archinard occupy Segu, West-Sudan. [1]
- April 11
- Ellis Island designated as an immigration station. [1]
- April 14
- Pan American Day-first conference of American states (Washington DC). [1]
- April 18
- New York Commission of Emigration ends, closing Castle Clinton. [1]
- April 19
- Henry Morton Stanley is inaugurated in Brussels. [1]
- April 26
- Henry Morton Stanley inaugurated in London. [1]
- April 27
- French troops under Captain Archinard occupy Oussébougou West Sudan. [1]
- May 2
- Territory of Oklahoma created. [1]
- May 6
- Mormon Church renounces polygamy [1006-Truth Restored (Morman pub)]. [1]
- May 12
- Louisiana legalized prize fighting. [1]
- May 13
- Lord Salisbury offers Germany Helgoland in exchange for Zanzibar, Uganda and Equatoria. [1]
- May 17
- Clyde Fitch's "Beau Brummel" premieres in New York City. [1]
- Comic Cuts, first weekly comic paper, published in London, created by Alfred Harmsworth. [1] [55.42]
- Pietro Costanzi's opera "Rustic Chivalry" premieres in Rome. [1]
- May 24
- Caprivi succeeds Bismarck on as chancellor of Germany. [1]
- Geo Train and Sam Wall circle world in record 67 days, Tacoma-Tacoma. [1]
- Tivoli Theater of Varities opens in London. [1]
- June 7
- The Comic Cuts weekly paper introduces the first true comic strip. [55.42]
- June 9
- The opera "Robin Hood" is produced (Chicago). [1]
- June 13
- Eagle Ave in the Bronx is cut out and named. [1]
- (month unknown)
- The Kakangari meteorite falls in India. [523.93]
- July 1
- Canada and Bermuda are linked by telegraph cable. [5]
- July 2
- Sherman Antitrust Act prohibits industrial monopolies. [1]
- July 3
- Idaho is admitted to the USA as 43rd state. [446.58]
- July 15
- A Charlois discovers asteroid #294 Felicia. [1]
- July 20
- Snow and hail in Calais, Maine. [1]
- July 27
- Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh shoots himself. [129]
- August 6
- First use of electric chair execution, convicted murderer William Kemmler, at Auburn Prison, New York. [55.53] (John Hart [1])
- Cy Young pitches and wins first game. [1]
- August 8
- Daughters of the American Revolution organizes. [1]
- August 16
- Alexander Clark, journalist/lawyer, named minister to Liberia. [1]
- September 19
- Turkish frigate "Ertogrul" burns off of Japan, kills 540. [1]
- September 24
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially renounces polygamy. [5]
- October 1
- General Grant National Park and Yosemite National Park (1189 square miles) are established in California. [1] [5] [416.72] [439.5] [459.52]
- October 6
- Mormon Church outlaws polygamy. [1]
- October 11
- First 100 yard dash under 10 seconds (John Owens 9-4/5 secs, Washington DC). [1]
- Daughters of the American Revolution founded. [1]
- October 15
- Alabama Penny Savings Bank organizes in Birmingham. [1]
- Funny Cuts weekly comic paper first released by Alfred Gray, with full front-page strip cartoon. [55.42]
- October 18
- John Owen is first man to run 100-yard dash in under 10 seconds. [1]
- October 23
- The opera "Prince Igor" is produced (Saint Petersburg). [1]
- November 4
- Great Britain proclaims Zanzibar as a protectorate. [1]
- November 20
- Pope Leo XIII encyclical On slavery in the missions. [1]
- November 27
- First signal box for San Francisco Police Department goes into operation. [1]
- December 4
- Willem III Dutch king, buried. [1]
- Willem III, Dutch king, buried. [1]
- December 5
- Berlioz' opera "Les Troyens" premieres in Karlsruhe. [1]
- December 15
- In South Dakota, Pine Ridge reservation police kill Sioux chief Sitting Bull Hunkpapa, while trying to arrest him. [1] [129]
- December 16
- Negro Methodist Episcopal Church founded in Jackson Tennessee. [1]
- December 18
- Lugards expedition to Mengo/Kampala, Uganda. [1]
- December 21
- Pim Mulier first and only trip to "Alvesteddetocht". [1]
- December 26
- King Mwanga of Uganda signs contract with East Africa Company. [1]
- December 29
- The U.S. 7th Cavalry massacres 146 Sioux Indians (nearly half women and children) at Wounded Knee Creek on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. 25 cavalry men are killed. [1] [129] (over 200 Indians killed [648.40])
- December 31
- Ellis Island (New York City, New York) opens as a US immigration depot. [1]
1891
- January 1
- French troops occupy Nioro, West-Sudan, 3000 killed. [1]
- King Pakketvaart sails to Netherlands Indies. [1]
- January 26
- Oscar Wilde's "Duchess of Padua" premieres in New York City, New York. [1]
- January 27
- Mine explosion kills 109 at Mount Pleasant Pennsylvania. [1]
- January 29
- Liliuokalani is proclaimed Queen of Hawaii, its last monarch. [5]
- February 6
- First great train robbery by Dalton Gang (Southern Pacific #17). [1]
- February 7
- Great Blizzard of 1891 begins. [1]
- February 9
- First shipment of asparagus arrives in San Francisco from Sacramento. [1]
- February 18
- Captain Archinard's army fights with Nyamina of Niger in West-Sudan. [1]
- February 24
- French troops under Captain Archinard occupy Diéna West Sudan. [1]
- March 3
- US Congress creates Office of Superintendent of Immigration (Treasury Department). [1]
- US Congress creates US Courts of Appeal. [1]
- March 17
- British Steamer "Utopia" sinks off Gibraltar killing 574. [1]
- March 18
- Britain is linked to the continent by Telephone. [1]
- March 21
- A Hatfield marries a McCoy, ends long feud in West Virginia; it started with an accusation of pig-stealing and lasted 20 years. [1]
- March 23
- First jazz concert is held at Carnegie Hall. [1]
- April 1
- London-Paris telephone connection opens. [1]
- Painter Gauguin leaves Marseille for Tahiti. [1]
- The Wrigley Company is founded in Chicago, Illinois. [5]
- April 7
- Nebraska introduces the 8 hour work day. [1]
- April 11
- Eight-year old Jewish tailor's daughter disappears in Greece, rumour spreads that she was a Christian girl ritually killed by Jews. [1]
- April 23
- Jews are expelled from Moscow Russia. [1]
- April 25
- President Benjamin Harrison visits San Francisco. [1]
- May 4
- Sherlock Holmes "dies" at Reichenbach Falls. [1]
- May 5
- Carnegie Hall opens in New York City with Tchaikovsky as guest conductor. [1]
- May 6
- Conductors on London General Omnibus Company go on strike. [1]
- May 7
- Battle in Bunyoro: Captain F Lugard stops Muslim rebellion, 300 killed. [1]
- May 12
- Riot against tax increase in Paramaribo Suriname. [1]
- May 15
- British Central African Protectorate (now Malawi) is established. [1]
- Jules Massenets opera "Griselde" premieres in Paris France. [1]
- Operations begin at Philips and Company in Holland. [1]
- Pope Leo XIII publishes encyclical Rerum novarum. [1]
- May 16
- George A Hormel and Company introduce Spam. [1]
- May 19
- Rice Institute, which became Rice University, is chartered. [1]
- May 20
- Thomas Edison first publically displays his kinetoscope prototype. [5]
- May 22
- First motion picture shown to National Federation of Women's Clubs. [1]
- May 31
- Work on trans-Siberian railway begins. [1]
- June 11
- A Charlois discovers asteroid #311 Claudia. [1]
- June 29
- 100 degrees F (San Francisco, CA). [1]
- July 5
- Hail kills six horses in Rapid City, South Dakota. [1]
- July 7
- Travelers cheque patented. [1]
- July 8
- 61 degrees F, the highest temp for July 1891, in Baltimore and Philadelphia. [1]
- Future president Harding marries Florence K DeWolfe in Marion Ohio. [1]
- July
- In Monte Carlo, Charles Deville Wells of England wins about 1 million francs at roulette. [565.89]
- August 19
- William Huggins describes astronomical application of spectrum. [1]
- August 24
- Thomas Edison patents the motion picture camera. [1] [5]
- September 3
- Cottonpickers organize union and stage strike in Texas. [1]
- John Stephens Durham, named minister to Haiti. [1]
- September 14
- "Empire State Express" train goes from New York City to East Buffalo, a distance of 436 miles, in a record 7H6M. [1]
- October 12
- Astronomical Society of France is inaugurated. [1]
- October 20
- First International six day bike race (New York Madison Square Gardens) begins. [1]
- October 25
- First International six day bike race (New York Madison Square Gardens) ends. [1]
- October 28
- In Mino-Owari, Japan, an approximate magnitude 8 earthquake occurs. Over 7,000 deaths. The earthquake caused damage over a 4200 square mile area. 130,000 houses were destroyed. [1] [53]
- November 10
- First Woman's Christian Temperance Union meeting held (in Boston). [1]
- December 19
- First Negro Catholic priest ordained in US, Charles Uncles, Baltimore. [1]
- December 20
- Strongman Louis Cyr withstands the pull of four horses. [1]
- December 29
- Edison patents "transmission of signals electrically" (radio). [1]
1892
- January 1
- Ellis Island becomes reception center for new immigrants. [1]
- January 2
- Annie Moore, from Ireland, becomes the first person to pass through the newly opened Ellis Island. [129]
- January 5
- First successful auroral photograph made. [1]
- January 7
- Mine explosion kills 100, Krebs Oklahoma-blacks trying to help rescue white survivors, driven away with guns. [1]
- January 11
- Hawaiian Historical Society founded. [1]
- Paul Gauguin marries a 13-year-old Tahitian girl. [1]
- William D McCoy of Indiana appointed US minister to Liberia. [1]
- January 24
- Battle at Mengo, Uganda French missionaries attack British missionaries. [1]
- January 30
- Bobby Abel carries his bat for 132* for England in Sydney Cricket Ground Test. [1]
- Captain Lugard occupies Uganda's King Mwanga's hide out. [1]
- February 1
- Mrs William Astor invites 400 guests to a grand ball at her mansion thus beginning the use of the "400" to describe the socially elite. [1]
- February 2
- Bottle cap with cork seal patented by William Painter (Baltimore). [1]
- February 3
- Russia closes down Yeshiva of Volozhin. [1]
- February 7
- In Verkhoyansk, Russia, an Asian record cold temperature of -90 degrees F is recorded. [54]
- February 16
- The opera "Werther" is produced (Vienna). [1]
- February 22
- "Lady Windermere's Fan" by Oscar Wilde premieres at Saint James Theater (London). [1]
- February 23
- First college student government established, Bryn Mawr Pennsylvania. [1]
- February 24
- In Imperial Valley, California, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake occurs. At the old Carrizo station in San Diego County, all adobe buildings were destroyed. [53]
- February 25
- James Barrie's "Walker London" premieres in London. [1]
- February 29
- Britain and US sign treaty on seal hunting in Bering Sea. [1]
- March 3
- First cattle tuberculosis test in US made, Villa Nova Pennsylvania. [1]
- March 15
- First escalator patented by inventor Jesse W Reno (New York City, New York). [1]
- New York State unveils automatic ballot booth (voting machine). [1]
- April 12
- George C Blickensderfer patents portable typewriter. [1]
- April 15
- General Electric Company forms and is incorporated in New York. [1] [5]
- April 21
- Black Longshoremen strike for higher wages in Saint Louis Mo. [1]
- April 28
- First performance of Antonin Dvorák's overture "Carneval". [1]
- May 1
- US Quarantine Station opens on Angel Island, San Francisco Bay. [1]
- May 15
- Arthur Hodister British ivory seller (Heart of Darkness), murdered. [1]
- May 19
- Charles Brady King invents pneumatic hammer. [1]
- National Society of Colonial Dames of America founded. [1]
- May 20
- George Sampson patents clothes dryer. [1]
- Triple Alliance between Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary forms. [1]
- May 21
- Ruggiero Leoncavallo's opera "I Pagliacci" premieres in Milan. [1]
- May 22
- Dr Washington Sheffield invents toothpaste tube. [1]
- May 28
- Sierra Club forms by John Muir in San Francisco, for conservation of nature. [1]
- June 18
- Macademia nuts first planted in Hawaii. [1]
- July 6
- Striking steelworkers in Homestead, Pennsylvania, USA fire on scabs, killing 7. [1]
- July 7
- Andres Bonifacio establishes the revolutionary secret society Kataastaasan Kagalanggalang Katipunan, with aim being to liberate the Philippines from Spain. [548.100]
- July 8
- American Psychological Association organized, Worcester, Massachusetts [1]
- July 10
- First concrete-paved street built (Bellefountaine, Ohio). [1]
- August 4
- Sunday school teacher Lizzie Borden arrested in Fall River, Massachusetts [1]
- August 13
- Baltimore Afro-American forms. [1]
- September 7
- James J Corbett kayos John L Sullivan in round 21 at New Orleans. [1]
- September 8
- First appearance of "The Pledge of Allegiance" (Youth's Companion). [1]
- September 9
- Almalthea, 5th moon of Jupiter, discovered by EE Barnard at Lick. [1]
- September 14
- AP Giannini marries Clorinda Cuneo. [1]
- September 26
- First public appearance of John Philip Sousa's band (New Jersey). [1]
- October 5
- Dalton Gang ends in shoot-out in Coffeyville, Kansas bank holdup. [1]
- October 18
- First commercial long-distance phone line opens (Chicago-New York). [1]
- October 31
- Arthur Conan Doyle publishes "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes." [5]
- November 8
- Grover Cleveland (Democrat) elected President. [1]
- December 1
- ? de Bruyne Belgian sergeant in Congo, murdered. [1]
- Joseph Lippens Belgian lieutenant in Congo, murdered. [1]
- December 5
- Anti-semite Hermann Ahlwardt elected to Germany's Reichstag. [1]
- December 18
- Anton Bruckner's 8th Symphony, premieres. [1]
- The Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg holds the first performance of Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker. [1] [5]
- December 20
- Phileas Fogg completes around world trip, according to Verne. [1]
- Pneumatic automobile tire patented, Syracuse New York. [1]
- December 26
- The opera "Cristoforo Colombo" is produced (La Scala). [1]
- December 27
- Foundation Stone of the Cathedral of Saint John laid (New York City, New York). [1]
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