1890s
Encyclopedia
The 1890s were sometimes referred to as the "Mauve
Decade" - because William Henry Perkin's aniline dye
allowed the widespread use of that colour
in fashion - and also as the "Gay Nineties
", under the then-current usage of the word "gay" which referred simply to merriment and frivolity, with no connotation of homosexuality
as in present-day usage. The phrase, "The Gay Nineties," was not coined until 1926. This decade was also part of the Gilded Age
, a phrase coined by Mark Twain
, alluding to the seemingly profitable era that was riddled with crime. In the United States
, the 1890s were marked by a severe economic depression sparked by the Panic of 1893
, as well as several strikes
in the industrial workforce. As of November 25, 2011, there were 35 verified living people who were born in the 1890s.
Mauve
Mauve is a pale lavender-lilac color, one of many in the range of purples. The color mauve is named after the mallow flower....
Decade" - because William Henry Perkin's aniline dye
Aniline
Aniline, phenylamine or aminobenzene is an organic compound with the formula C6H5NH2. Consisting of a phenyl group attached to an amino group, aniline is the prototypical aromatic amine. Being a precursor to many industrial chemicals, its main use is in the manufacture of precursors to polyurethane...
allowed the widespread use of that colour
Mauve
Mauve is a pale lavender-lilac color, one of many in the range of purples. The color mauve is named after the mallow flower....
in fashion - and also as the "Gay Nineties
Gay Nineties
Gay Nineties is an American nostalgic term that refers to the decade of the 1890s. It is known in the UK as the Naughty Nineties, and refers there to the decade of supposedly decadent art by Aubrey Beardsley, the witty plays and trial of Oscar Wilde, society scandals and the beginning of the...
", under the then-current usage of the word "gay" which referred simply to merriment and frivolity, with no connotation of homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
as in present-day usage. The phrase, "The Gay Nineties," was not coined until 1926. This decade was also part of the Gilded Age
Gilded Age
In United States history, the Gilded Age refers to the era of rapid economic and population growth in the United States during the post–Civil War and post-Reconstruction eras of the late 19th century. The term "Gilded Age" was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their book The Gilded...
, a phrase coined by Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
, alluding to the seemingly profitable era that was riddled with crime. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the 1890s were marked by a severe economic depression sparked by the Panic of 1893
Panic of 1893
The Panic of 1893 was a serious economic depression in the United States that began in 1893. Similar to the Panic of 1873, this panic was marked by the collapse of railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing which set off a series of bank failures...
, as well as several strikes
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
in the industrial workforce. As of November 25, 2011, there were 35 verified living people who were born in the 1890s.
Politics and wars
Wars
- First Franco-Dahomean War (1890)
- Second Franco-Dahomean WarSecond Franco-Dahomean WarThe Second Franco-Dahomean War, which raged from 1892 to 1894, was a major conflict between the French Third Republic, led by General Alfred-Amédée Dodds, and the Kingdom of Dahomey under King Béhanzin....
(1892–1894) - First Sino-Japanese WarFirst Sino-Japanese WarThe First Sino-Japanese War was fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over control of Korea...
(1894–1895) - Spanish-American WarSpanish-American WarThe Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
(1898) - Second Boer WarSecond Boer WarThe Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
(1899–1902)
Internal conflicts
- 1890: Wounded Knee MassacreWounded Knee MassacreThe Wounded Knee Massacre happened on December 29, 1890, near Wounded Knee Creek on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, USA. On the day before, a detachment of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment commanded by Major Samuel M...
in South DakotaSouth DakotaSouth Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
. On December 29, 1890, 365 troops of the US 7th CavalryU.S. 7th Cavalry RegimentThe 7th Cavalry Regiment is a United States Army Cavalry Regiment, whose lineage traces back to the mid-19th century. Its official nickname is "Garryowen," in honor of the Irish air Garryowen that was adopted as its march tune....
, supported by four Hotchkiss gunHotchkiss gunThe Hotchkiss gun can refer to different products of the Hotchkiss arms company starting in the late 19th century. It usually refers to the 1.65-inch light mountain gun; there was also a 3-inch Hotchkiss gun...
s, surrounded an encampment of Miniconjou (Lakota) and Hunkpapa Sioux (Lakota) near Wounded Knee CreekWounded Knee CreekWounded Knee Creek is a tributary of the White River, approximately long, in southwestern South Dakota in the United States. Its Lakota name is '....
, South Dakota. The Army had orders to escort the Sioux to the railroad for transport to Omaha, NebraskaOmaha, NebraskaOmaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
. One day earlier, the Sioux had been cornered and agreed to turn themselves in at the Pine Ridge AgencyPine Ridge Indian ReservationThe Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is an Oglala Sioux Native American reservation located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Originally included within the territory of the Great Sioux Reservation, Pine Ridge was established in 1889 in the southwest corner of South Dakota on the Nebraska border...
in South Dakota. They were the very last of the Sioux to do so. They were met by the 7th Cavalry, who intended to disarm them and ensure their compliance. During the process of disarming the Sioux, a deaf tribesman named Black CoyoteBlack CoyoteBlack Coyote was a Lakota Sioux who refused to give up his weapon at the battle of Wounded Knee and is believed to have unintentionally triggered the terrible massacre....
could not hear the order to give up his rifle and was reluctant to do so. A scuffle over Black Coyote's rifle escalated into an all-out battle, with those few Sioux warriors who still had weapons shooting at the 7th Cavalry, and the 7th Cavalry opening fire indiscriminately from all sides, killing men, women, and children, as well as some of their own fellow troopers. The 7th Cavalry quickly suppressed the Sioux fire, and the surviving Sioux fled, but US cavalrymen pursued and killed many who were unarmed. By the time it was over, about 146 men, women, and children of the Lakota Sioux had been killed. Twenty-five troopers also died, some believed to have been the victims of friendly fireFriendly fireFriendly fire is inadvertent firing towards one's own or otherwise friendly forces while attempting to engage enemy forces, particularly where this results in injury or death. A death resulting from a negligent discharge is not considered friendly fire...
as the shooting took place at point blank range in chaotic conditions. Around 150 Lakota are believed to have fled the chaos, with an unknown number later dying from hypothermiaHypothermiaHypothermia is a condition in which core temperature drops below the required temperature for normal metabolism and body functions which is defined as . Body temperature is usually maintained near a constant level of through biologic homeostasis or thermoregulation...
. The incident is noteworthy as the engagement in military history in which the most Medals of Honor have been awarded in the military history of the United StatesMilitary history of the United StatesThe military history of the United States spans a period of over two centuries. During the course of those years, the United States evolved from a new nation fighting the British Empire for independence without a professional military , through a monumental American Civil War to the world's sole...
.
- 1891: Chilean Civil WarChilean Civil WarThe Chilean Civil War of 1891 was an armed conflict between forces supporting Congress and forces supporting the sitting President, José Manuel Balmaceda. The war saw a confrontation between the Chilean Army and the Chilean Navy, which had sided with the president and the congress, respectively...
fought from January to September, 1891. José Manuel BalmacedaJosé Manuel BalmacedaJosé Manuel Emiliano Balmaceda Fernández was the 11th President of Chile from September 18, 1886 to August 29, 1891. Balmaceda was part of the Castilian-Basque aristocracy in Chile...
, President of ChilePresident of ChileThe President of the Republic of Chile is both the head of state and the head of government of the Republic of Chile. The President is responsible of the government and state administration...
and the Chilean ArmyChilean ArmyThe Chilean Army is the land arm of the Military of Chile. This 45,000-person army is organized into seven divisions, a special operations brigade and an air brigade....
loyal to him face Jorge MonttJorge MonttJorge Montt Álvarez was vice-admiral of the Chilean Navy and president of Chile from 1891 to 1896.-Early life:...
's JuntaGovernment Junta of Chile (1891)Revolutionary Junta of Iquique , was the political structure established to challenge the power of Chilean President José Manuel Balmaceda following the insurrection of the navy that started the Chilean Civil War...
. The latter was formed by an alliance between the National Congress of ChileNational Congress of ChileThe National Congress is the legislative branch of the government of the Republic of Chile.The National Congress of Chile was founded on July 4, 1811...
and the Chilean NavyChilean Navy-Independence Wars of Chile and Peru :The Chilean Navy dates back to 1817. A year before, following the Battle of Chacabuco, General Bernardo O'Higgins prophetically declared "this victory and another hundred shall be of no significance if we do not gain control of the sea".This led to the...
.
- 1891: Tobacco ProtestTobacco ProtestThe Tobacco Protest, was a Shi'a cleric-led revolt in Iran against an 1890 tobacco concession granted by the Shah to the Western imperial power of Great Britain. The protest climaxed in a widely-obeyed December 1891 fatwa against tobacco use supposedly issued by Grand Ayatollah Mirza Hassan Shirazi...
in Qajar dynastyQajar dynastyThe Qajar dynasty was an Iranian royal family of Turkic descent who ruled Persia from 1785 to 1925....
IranIranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. On March 20, 1890, Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, Shah of Iran granted a concession to (British) Major G. F. Talbot for a full monopolyMonopolyA monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
over the production, sale, and export of tobaccoTobaccoTobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
for fifty years. In exchange, Talbot paid the shah an annual sum of £15,000 in addition to a quarter of the yearly profits after the payment of all expenses and a dividend of 5 percent on the capital. By the fall of 1890 the concession had been sold to the Imperial Tobacco Corporation of Persia, a company that some have speculated was essentially Talbot himself as he heavily promoted shares in the corporation. At the time of the concession, the tobaccoTobaccoTobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
crop was valuable not only because of the domestic market but because Iranians cultivated a variety of tobacco "much prized in foreign markets" that was not grown elsewhere. A Tobacco Régie (monopolyMonopolyA monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
) was subsequently established and all the producers and owners of tobacco in Persia were forced to sell their goods to agents of the Régie, who would then resell the purchased tobacco at a price that was mutually agreed upon by the company and the sellers with disputes settled by compulsory arbitrationCompulsory arbitrationCompulsory arbitration. In labor disputes, some laws of some communities force the two sides labor and management, to undergo arbitration. These laws mostly apply when the possibility of a strike seriously affects the public interest...
At the time the Persian tobacco industry employed over 200,000 people and therefore the concession represented a major blow to Persian farmers and bazaariBazaariBazaari is the name given to the merchants and workers of bazaars, the traditional marketplaces of Iran. Bazaaris are involved in "petty trade of a traditional, or nearly traditional, kind, centered on the bazaar and its Islamic culture." Bazaari have been described as "the class of people who...
s whose livelihoods were largely dependent on the lucrative tobacco business. Now they were forced to seek permits from the Tobacco Régie as well as required to inform the concessionaires of the amount of tobacco produced. In essence the concession not only violated the long-established relationship between Persian tobacco producers and tobacco sellers, but it also threatened the job security of a significant portion of the population. During the spring of 1891 mass protests against the Régie began to emerge in major Iranian cities. Initially it was the bazaariBazaariBazaari is the name given to the merchants and workers of bazaars, the traditional marketplaces of Iran. Bazaaris are involved in "petty trade of a traditional, or nearly traditional, kind, centered on the bazaar and its Islamic culture." Bazaari have been described as "the class of people who...
s who led the opposition under the conviction that it was their income and livelihood which were at stake. Affluent merchants such as Hajj Mohammad Malek al-Tojjar played a vital role in the tobacco movement by organizing bazaariBazaariBazaari is the name given to the merchants and workers of bazaars, the traditional marketplaces of Iran. Bazaaris are involved in "petty trade of a traditional, or nearly traditional, kind, centered on the bazaar and its Islamic culture." Bazaari have been described as "the class of people who...
protests as well as appealing to well known mujtahids for their support in opposing the Régie. . In December 1891 a fatwaFatwaA fatwā in the Islamic faith is a juristic ruling concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar. In Sunni Islam any fatwā is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be considered by an individual as binding, depending on his or her relation to the scholar. The person who issues a fatwā...
was issued by the most important religious authority in Iran, marja’-i taqlid Mirza Hasan Shirazi, declaring the use of tobacco to be tantamount to war against the Hidden Imam, Muhammad al-MahdiMuhammad al-MahdiMuḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Mahdī is believed by Twelver Shī‘a Muslims to be the Mahdī, an ultimate savior of humankind and the final Imām of the Twelve Imams...
. The reference to the Hidden Imam, a critical person in Shia Islam, meant that Shirazi was using the strongest possible language to oppose the Régie. Initially there was skepticism over the legitimacy of the fatwaFatwaA fatwā in the Islamic faith is a juristic ruling concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar. In Sunni Islam any fatwā is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be considered by an individual as binding, depending on his or her relation to the scholar. The person who issues a fatwā...
, however Shirazi would later confirm the declaration. Nevertheless, there has been speculation among historians suggesting that the fatwa was forged by Haj Kazim Malek al-Tojjar, a prominent bazaari, with the assistance of the leading mujtahid of TehranTehranTehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
, Mirza Hasan Ashtiyani. .
- 1892: The Johnson County WarJohnson County WarThe Johnson County War, also known as the War on Powder River, was a range war which took place in April 1892 in Johnson County, Natrona County and Converse County in the U.S. state of Wyoming...
in WyomingWyomingWyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
. Actually this range warRange warA range war is a type of conflict that occurs in agrarian or stockrearing societies. Typically fought over water rights or grazing rights to unfenced/unowned land, it could pit competing farmers or ranchers against each other...
took place in April 1892 in Johnson County, Natrona County and Converse County. The combatants were the Wyoming Stock Growers AssociationWyoming Stock Growers AssociationThe Wyoming Stock Growers Association is a historic American cattle organization created in 1873. The Association was started among Wyoming cattle ranchers to standardize and organize the cattle industry, but quickly grew into a political force that has been called "the de facto territorial...
(the WSGA) and the Northern Wyoming Farmers and Stock Growers' Association (NWFSGA). WSGA was an older organization, comprising some of the state's wealthiest and most popular residents. It held a great deal of political sway in the state and region. A primary function of the WSGA was to organize the cattle industry by scheduling roundups and cattle shipments. The NWFSGAA was a group of smaller Johnson County ranchers led by a local settler named Nate ChampionNate ChampionNathan "Nate" D. Champion was a key figure in the Johnson County War. Labeled falsely by the wealthy cattlemens association in Wyoming as a rustler, Champion was the first person murdered by a band of hit men hired by the cattlemen...
. They had recently formed their organization in order to compete with the WSGA. The WSGA "blacklisted" the NWFSGA and told them to stop all operations, but the NWFSGA refused the powerful WSGA's orders to disband and instead made public their plans to hold their own roundup in the spring of 1892. The WSGA, under the direction of Frank WolcottFrank WolcottFrank Wolcott was an officer in the Union Army, a law man and also an outlaw-Early life:Frank Wolcott was born in 1840 in Canandaigua, NY. He served in the Union Army in the Civil War, and was promoted to the rank of Major before being discharged in 1866 after the end of the war. He attempted to...
(WSGA Member and large North Platte rancher), hired a group of skilled gunmen with the intention of eliminating alleged rustlers in Johnson County and break up the NWFSGA. Twenty three gunmen from the Paris, TexasParis, TexasParis, Texas is a city located northeast of the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex in Lamar County, Texas, in the United States. It is situated in Northeast Texas at the western edge of the Piney Woods. Physiographically, these regions are part of the West Gulf Coastal Plain. In 1900, 9,358 people lived...
region and four cattle detectives from the WSGA were hired, as well as IdahoIdahoIdaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
frontiersman George Dunning who would later turn against the group. A cadre of WSGA and Wyoming dignitaries also joined the expedition, including State Senator Bob Tisdale, state water commissioner W.J. Clarke, as well as W.C. Irvine and Hubert Teshemacher, both instrumental in organizing Wyoming's statehood four years earlier. They were also accompanied by surgeon Dr. Charles Penrose, who served as the group's doctor, as well as Asa Shinn MercerAsa Shinn MercerAsa Shinn Mercer was the first president of the Territorial University of Washington and a member of the Washington State Senate....
, the editor of the WSGA's newspaper, and a newspaperNewspaperA newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
reporter for the Chicago Herald, Sam T. Clover, whose lurid first-hand accounts later appeared in the eastern newspapers.
- 1893: The Leper War on Kaua'iLeper War on Kaua'iThe Leper War on Kauai also known as the Koolau Rebellion, Battle of Kalalau or the short name, the Leper War. Following the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, the stricter government enforced the 1865 "Act to Prevent the Spread of Leprosy" carried out by Attorney General and President of the...
in the island of KauaiKauaiKauai or Kauai, known as Tauai in the ancient Kaua'i dialect, is geologically the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands. With an area of , it is the fourth largest of the main islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, and the 21st largest island in the United States. Known also as the "Garden Isle",...
. The Provisional Government of HawaiiProvisional Government of HawaiiThe Provisional Government of Hawaii abbreviated "P.G." was proclaimed on January 17, 1893 by the 13 member Committee of Safety under the leadership of Sanford B. Dole...
under Sanford B. DoleSanford B. DoleSanford Ballard Dole was a lawyer and jurist in the Hawaiian Islands as a kingdom, protectorate, republic and territory...
passes a law which would forcibly relocatePopulation transferPopulation transfer is the movement of a large group of people from one region to another by state policy or international authority, most frequently on the basis of ethnicity or religion...
lepersLeprosyLeprosy or Hansen's disease is a chronic disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Named after physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen, leprosy is primarily a granulomatous disease of the peripheral nerves and mucosa of the upper respiratory tract; skin lesions...
to the Leprosy Colony of KalawaoKalawao County, Hawaii-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 147 people, 115 households, and 21 families residing in the county. The population density was 11 people per square mile . There were 172 housing units at an average density of 13 per square mile...
on the Kalaupapa peninsulaKalaupapa, HawaiiKalaupapa is a small unincorporated community on the island of Molokai in the U.S. state of Hawaii, within Kalawao County.The village is located on the Kalaupapa peninsula at the base of the highest sea cliffs in the world, dropping about into the Pacific Ocean.- Volcanic origin :Kalaupapa...
. When Kaluaikoolau, a leper, resisted arrest by a deputy sheriff and killed the man, Dole reacted by sending armed militia against the lepers of Kalalau ValleyKalalau ValleyThe Kalalau Valley is located on the northwest side of the island of Kauai in the state of Hawaii. The valley is located in the Nā Pali Coast State Park and houses the beautiful Kalalau Beach. The Nā Pali Coast is very rugged and is inaccessible to automobiles...
. Kaluaikoolau reportedly foiled or killed some of his pursuers. But the conflict ended with the evacuation of the area in July, 1893. The main source for the event is a 1906 publication by Kahikina Kelekona (John Sheldon), preserving the story as told by Piilani, Kaluaikoolau's widow.
- 1893–1894: Enid-Pond Creek Railroad WarEnid-Pond Creek Railroad WarThe Enid-Pond Creek Railroad War pitted the citizens of two United States designated county seats against the Rock Island Railroad.-Background:...
in the Oklahoma TerritoryOklahoma TerritoryThe Territory of Oklahoma was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 2, 1890, until November 16, 1907, when it was joined with the Indian Territory under a new constitution and admitted to the Union as the State of Oklahoma.-Organization:Oklahoma Territory's...
. Effectively a county seat warCounty seat warA county seat war is a phenomenon that occurred in the American West as it was being settled, although incidences elsewhere, such as in West Virginia, have been also been recorded. As new towns sprang up and county lines were drawn, there was intense competition for the status and tax benefits...
. The Rock Island Railroad CompanyChicago, Rock Island and Pacific RailroadThe Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock.-Incorporation:...
had invested in the townships of EnidEnid, OklahomaEnid is a city in Garfield County, Oklahoma, United States. In 2010, the population was 49,379, making it the ninth largest city in Oklahoma. It is the county seat of Garfield County. Enid was founded during the opening of the Cherokee Outlet in the Land Run of 1893, and is named after Enid, a...
and Pond CreekPond Creek, OklahomaPond Creek is a city in Grant County, Oklahoma, along the Salt Fork Arkansas River. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 856.-History:...
following an announcement by the United States Department of the InteriorUnited States Department of the InteriorThe United States Department of the Interior is the United States federal executive department of the U.S. government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land and natural resources, and the administration of programs relating to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native...
that the two would become county seats. The Department of the Interior decided to create an Enid and Pond Creek at another location, free of company influence. Resulting in two Enids and two Pond Creeks vying for becoming county seats, starting in September, 1893. Rock Island refused to have its trains stop at "Government Enid". They would pass by without taking passengers. Frustrated Enid residents "turned to acts of violence". Some were regularly shootingShootingShooting is the act or process of firing rifles, shotguns or other projectile weapons such as bows or crossbows. Even the firing of artillery, rockets and missiles can be called shooting. A person who specializes in shooting is a marksman...
at the trains. Others were damaging trestleTrestleA trestle is a rigid frame used as a support, especially referring to a bridge composed of a number of short spans supported by such frames. In the context of trestle bridges, each supporting frame is generally referred to as a bent...
s and rail tracksRail tracksThe track on a railway or railroad, also known as the permanent way, is the structure consisting of the rails, fasteners, sleepers and ballast , plus the underlying subgrade...
, setting up train accidents. Only government intervention stopped the conflict in September, 1894.
- 1893–1897: War of CanudosWar of CanudosThe War of Canudos was a conflict between the state of Brazil and a group of some 30,000 settlers who had founded their own community in the northeastern state of Bahia, named Canudos...
, a conflict between the state of BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
and a group of some 30,000 settlers under Antônio ConselheiroAntônio ConselheiroAntônio Conselheiro was a Brazilian religious leader, preacher, and founder of the village of Canudos, the scene of the War of Canudos , a civil rebellion against the central government which was brutally stamped out with the loss of more than 15,000 lives.-Early...
who had founded their own community in the northeastern state of BahiaBahiaBahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
, named CanudosCanudosCanudos was a town founded in the racially diverse Bahia state of northeastern Brazil in 1893 by Antônio Vicente Mendes Maciel. Antonio was an itinerant preacher from Ceara who had been wandering through the backroads and lesser-inhabited areas of the country from the 1870s onwards, followed by a...
. After a number of unsuccessful attempts at military suppression, it came to a brutal end in October 1897, when a large Brazilian armyMilitary of BrazilThe Brazilian Armed Forces is the unified military organization comprising the Brazilian Army , the Brazilian Navy and the Brazilian Air Force....
force overran the village and killed most of the inhabitants. The conflict started with Conselheiro and his jagunçoJagunçoJagunço, from the Portuguese zarguncho was the name applied to armed hands or bodyguards, usually hired by farmers and "colonels" in the backlands of the Northeast of Brazil...
s (landless peasants) of this "remote and arid" area protesting against the payment of taxes to the distant government of Rio de JaneiroRio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
. They founded their own self-sufficientSelf-sufficiencySelf-sufficiency refers to the state of not requiring any outside aid, support, or interaction, for survival; it is therefore a type of personal or collective autonomy...
village, soon joined by others in search of a "Promised LandPromised landThe Promised Land is a term used to describe the land promised or given by God, according to the Hebrew Bible, to the Israelites, the descendants of Jacob. The promise is firstly made to Abraham and then renewed to his son Isaac, and to Isaac's son Jacob , Abraham's grandson...
". By 1895, they refused requests by Rodrigues Lima, Governor of Bahia and Jeronimo Thome da Silva, Archbishop of São Salvador da BahiaRoman Catholic Archdiocese of São Salvador da BahiaThe Archdiocese of São Salvador da Bahia is part of the Roman Catholic Church in Brazil. The Archbishop of São Salvador da Bahia also carries the title Primate of Brazil...
to start obeying the laws of the Brazilian state and the rules of the Catholic Church. In 1896, a military expedition under Lieutenant Manuel da Silva Pires Ferreira was send to pacify them. It was instead attacked, defeated and forced to retreat. Increasingly stronger military forces were sent against Canudos, only to meet with fierce resistance and suffering heavy casualties. In October 1897, Canudos finally fell to the Brazilian military forces. "Those jagunços who were not killed in combat were taken prisoner and summarily executed (by beheading) by the army".
- 1894: The Donghak Peasant RevolutionDonghak Peasant RevolutionThe Donghak Peasant Revolution, also known as the Donghak Peasant Movement, was an anti-government, anti-feudal and anti-foreign uprising in 1894 in the southern Korea which was the catalyst for the First Sino-Japanese War....
in Joseon DynastyJoseon DynastyJoseon , was a Korean state founded by Taejo Yi Seong-gye that lasted for approximately five centuries. It was founded in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Goryeo at what is today the city of Kaesong. Early on, Korea was retitled and the capital was relocated to modern-day Seoul...
KoreaKoreaKorea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
. The uprising started in Gobu during February 1894, with the peasantPeasantA peasant is an agricultural worker who generally tend to be poor and homeless-Etymology:The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district.- Position in society :Peasants typically...
classSocial classSocial classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
protesting against the political corruptionPolitical corruptionPolitical corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
of local government officials. The revolution was named after DonghakDonghakDonghak is a Korean religion founded in 1860 by Choe Je-u. Donghak venerated the god Haneullim and believed that man is not created by a supernatural god but man is instead caused by an innate god...
, a Korean religionReligion in KoreaReligion in Korea encompasses a number of different traditions. Traditional Buddhism, Mugyo with a background of Korean Confucianism and later Christianity all play a role in Korea's religious tradition...
stressing "the equalityEgalitarianismEgalitarianism is a trend of thought that favors equality of some sort among moral agents, whether persons or animals. Emphasis is placed upon the fact that equality contains the idea of equity of quality...
of all human beings". The forces of Emperor Gojong failed in their attempt to suppress the revolt, with initial skirmishes giving way to major conflicts. The Korean government requested assistance from the Empire of JapanEmpire of JapanThe Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
. Japanese troops, armed with "rifleRifleA rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
s and artilleryArtilleryOriginally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
", managed to suppress the revolution. With Korea being a tributary stateTributary stateThe term tributary state refers to one of the two main ways in which a pre-modern state might be subordinate to a more powerful neighbour. The heart of the relationship was that the tributary would send a regular token of submission to the superior power...
to Qing DynastyQing DynastyThe Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, the Japanese military presence was seen as a provocation. The resulting conflict over dominance of Korea would become the First Sino-Japanese WarFirst Sino-Japanese WarThe First Sino-Japanese War was fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over control of Korea...
. In part, the government of Emperor MeijiEmperor MeijiThe or was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 3 February 1867 until his death...
was acting to prevent expansion by the Russian EmpireRussian EmpireThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
or any other great powerGreat powerA great power is a nation or state that has the ability to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength and diplomatic and cultural influence which may cause small powers to consider the opinions of great powers before taking actions...
towards Korea. Viewing such an expansion as a direct threat to Japanese national securityNational securityNational security is the requirement to maintain the survival of the state through the use of economic, diplomacy, power projection and political power. The concept developed mostly in the United States of America after World War II...
.
- 1895: The DoukhoborDoukhoborThe Doukhobors or Dukhobors , earlierDukhobortsy are a group of Russian origin.The Doukhobors were one of the sects - later defined as a religious philosophy, ethnic group, social movement, or simply a "way of life" - known generically as Spiritual Christianity. The origin of the Doukhobors is...
s, a pacifistPacifismPacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...
ChristianChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
sect of the Russian EmpireRussian EmpireThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, attempt to resist a number of laws and regulations forced on them by the Russian government. They are mostly active in the South CaucasusSouth CaucasusThe South Caucasus is a geopolitical region located on the border of Eastern Europe and Southwest Asia also referred to as Transcaucasia, or The Trans-Caucasus...
, where universal military conscriptionConscriptionConscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
was introduced in 1887 and was still controversial. They also refuse to swear an oath of allegianceOath of allegianceAn oath of allegiance is an oath whereby a subject or citizen acknowledges a duty of allegiance and swears loyalty to monarch or country. In republics, modern oaths specify allegiance to the country's constitution. For example, officials in the United States, a republic, take an oath of office that...
to Nicholas IINicholas II of RussiaNicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
, the new Russian Emperor. Under further instructions from their exiled leader Peter Vasilevich VeriginPeter Vasilevich VeriginPeter Vasilevich Verigin often known as Peter "Lordly" Verigin was a Russian philosopher, activist and preacher of the Doukhobors.- In Transcaucasia:...
, as a sign of absolute pacifism,the Doukhobors of the three Governorates of Transcaucasia made the decision to destroy their weaponWeaponA weapon, arm, or armament is a tool or instrument used with the aim of causing damage or harm to living beings or artificial structures or systems...
s. As the Doukhobors assembled to burn them on the night of June 28/29 (July 10/11, Gregorian CalendarGregorian calendarThe Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
) 1895, with the singing of psalms and spiritual songs, arrests and beatings by government Cossacks followed. Soon, Cossacks were billeted in many of the Large Party Doukhobors' villages, and over 4,000 of their original residents were dispersed through villages in other parts of GeorgiaGeorgia within the Russian EmpireBetween 1801 and 1918 the country of Georgia was part of the Russian Empire. For centuries, the Muslim Ottoman and Persian empires had fought over various fragmented Georgian kingdoms and principalities but by the 18th century, a third imperial power, Russia, had emerged in the region. Since Russia...
. Many of those died of starvation and exposure.
- 1896–1898: The Philippine RevolutionPhilippine RevolutionThe Philippine Revolution , called the "Tagalog War" by the Spanish, was an armed military conflict between the people of the Philippines and the Spanish colonial authorities which resulted in the secession of the Philippine Islands from the Spanish Empire.The Philippine Revolution began in August...
. The PhilippinesPhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, part of the Spanish East IndiesSpanish East IndiesSpanish East Indies was a term used to describe Spanish territories in Asia-Pacific which lasted for three centuries . With the seat of government in Manila, the territory encompassed the Philippine Islands, Guam and the Mariana Islands, the Caroline Islands, and for a period of time, parts of...
, attempt to secede from the Spanish EmpireSpanish EmpireThe Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
. The Philippine Revolution began in August 1896, upon the discovery of the anti-colonial secret organizationSecret societyA secret society is a club or organization whose activities and inner functioning are concealed from non-members. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla insurgencies, which hide their...
KatipunanKatipunanThe Katipunan was a Philippine revolutionary society founded by anti-Spanish Filipinos in Manila in 1892, whose primary aim was to gain independence from Spain through revolution. The society was initiated by Filipino patriots Andrés Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata, Ladislao Diwa, and others on the night...
by the Spanish authorities. The Katipunan, led by Andrés BonifacioAndres BonifacioAndrés Bonifacio y de Castro was a Filipino nationalist and revolutionary. He was a founder and later Supremo of the Katipunan movement which sought the independence of the Philippines from Spanish colonial rule and started the Philippine Revolution...
, was a secessionSecessionSecession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...
ist movement and shadow governmentShadow governmentShadow government may refer to:*An opposition government in a parliamentary system, see Shadow Cabinet*A term for plans for an emergency government that takes over in the event of a disaster, see continuity of government...
spread throughout much of the islands whose goal was independenceIndependenceIndependence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....
from Spain through armed revolt. In a mass gathering in Caloocan, the Katipunan leaders organized themselves into a revolutionary government and openly declared a nationwide armed revolution. Bonifacio called for a simultaneous coordinated attack on the capital ManilaManilaManila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
. This attack failed, but the surrounding provinces also rose up in revolt. In particular, rebels in CaviteCaviteCavite is a province of the Philippines located on the southern shores of Manila Bay in the CALABARZON region in Luzon, just 30 kilometers south of Manila. Cavite is surrounded by Laguna to the east, Metro Manila to the northeast, and Batangas to the south...
led by Emilio AguinaldoEmilio AguinaldoEmilio Aguinaldo y Famy was a Filipino general, politician, and independence leader. He played an instrumental role during the Philippines' revolution against Spain, and the subsequent Philippine-American War or War of Philippine Independence that resisted American occupation...
won early victories. A power struggle among the revolutionaries led to Bonifacio's execution in 1897, with command shifting to Aguinaldo who led his own revolutionary government. That year, a truce was officially reached with the Pact of Biak-na-BatoPact of Biak-na-BatoThe Pact of Biak-na-Bato, signed on December 14, 1897, created a truce between Spanish Colonial Governor-General Fernando Primo de Rivera and Emilio Aguinaldo to end the Philippine Revolution...
and Aguinaldo was exiled to Hong KongHong KongHong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, though hostilities between rebels and the Spanish government never actually ceased. In 1898, with the outbreak of the Spanish-American WarSpanish-American WarThe Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
, Aguinaldo unofficially allied with the United States, returned to the Philippines and resumed hostilities against the Spaniards. By June, the rebels had conquered nearly all Spanish-held ground within the Philippines with the exception of Manila. Aguinaldo thus declared independencePhilippine Declaration of IndependenceThe Philippine Declaration of Independence occurred on June 12, 1898 in Cavite II el Viejo , Cavite, Philippines. With the public reading of the Act of the Declaration of Independence, Filipino revolutionary forces under General Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed the sovereignty and independence of the...
from Spain and the First Philippine RepublicFirst Philippine RepublicThe Philippine Republic , more commonly known as the First Philippine Republic or the Malolos Republic was a short-lived insurgent revolutionary government in the Philippines...
was established. However, neither Spain nor the United States recognized Philippine independence. Spanish rule in the islands only officially ended with the 1898 Treaty of ParisTreaty of Paris (1898)The Treaty of Paris of 1898 was signed on December 10, 1898, at the end of the Spanish-American War, and came into effect on April 11, 1899, when the ratifications were exchanged....
, wherein Spain ceded the Philippines and other territories to the United States. The Philippine-American WarPhilippine-American WarThe Philippine–American War, also known as the Philippine War of Independence or the Philippine Insurrection , was an armed conflict between a group of Filipino revolutionaries and the United States which arose from the struggle of the First Philippine Republic to gain independence following...
broke out shortly afterward.
- 1897: The Lattimer massacreLattimer massacreThe Lattimer massacre was the violent deaths of 19 unarmed striking immigrant anthracite coal miners at the Lattimer mine near Hazleton, Pennsylvania, on September 10, 1897. The miners, mostly of Polish, Slovak, Lithuanian and German ethnicity, were shot and killed by a Luzerne County sheriff's...
. The violent deaths of 19 unarmed strikingStrike actionStrike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
immigrant anthracite coalCoalCoal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
miners at the Lattimer mine near Hazleton, PennsylvaniaHazleton, PennsylvaniaHazleton is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 25,340 at the 2010 census, an increase of 8.6% from the 2000 census count .-Greater Hazleton:...
, on September 10, 1897. The miners, mostly of PolishPolesthumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
, SlovakSlovaksThe Slovaks, Slovak people, or Slovakians are a West Slavic people that primarily inhabit Slovakia and speak the Slovak language, which is closely related to the Czech language.Most Slovaks today live within the borders of the independent Slovakia...
, and LithuanianLithuaniansLithuanians are the Baltic ethnic group native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,765,600 people. Another million or more make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Russia, United Kingdom and Ireland. Their native language...
ethnicity, were shot and killed by a Luzerne CountyLuzerne County, Pennsylvania- Demographics :As of the 2010 census, the county was 90.7% White, 3.4% Black or African American, 0.2% Native American, 1.0% Asian, 3.3% were of some other race, and 1.5% were two or more races. 6.7% of the population was of Hispanic or Latino ancestry...
sheriff's possePosse comitatus (common law)Posse comitatus or sheriff's posse is the common-law or statute law authority of a county sheriff or other law officer to conscript any able-bodied males to assist him in keeping the peace or to pursue and arrest a felon, similar to the concept of the "hue and cry"...
. Scores more workers were wounded. The Lattimer massacre was a turning point in the history of the United Mine WorkersUnited Mine WorkersThe United Mine Workers of America is a North American labor union best known for representing coal miners and coal technicians. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing workers and public employees in the United States and Canada...
(UMW).
- 1898: The Bava-Beccaris massacreBava-Beccaris massacreThe Bava Beccaris massacre, named after the Italian General Fiorenzo Bava Beccaris, refers to the repression of widespread riots in Milan in May 1898....
in MilanMilanMilan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Kingdom of ItalyKingdom of Italy (1861–1946)The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
. On May 5, 1898, workers organized a strike to demonstrate against the government of Antonio Starabba, Marchese di RudinìAntonio Starabba, Marchese di RudinìMarquis Antonio Starabba di Rudinì was the 18th and 21st Prime Minister of Italy between 1891 and 1892 and from 1896 until 1898.-Biography:...
, Prime Minister of Italy, holding it responsible for the general increase of pricesInflationIn economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...
and for the famineFamineA famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...
that was affecting the country. The first blood was shed that day at PaviaPaviaPavia , the ancient Ticinum, is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It is the capital of the province of Pavia. It has a population of c. 71,000...
, when the son of the mayor of Milan was killed while attempting to halt the troops marching against the crowd. After a protest in Milan the following day, the government declared a state of siegeState of SiegeState of Siege is a 1972 French film directed by Costa Gavras starring Yves Montand and Renato Salvatori.-Summary:...
in the city. Infantry, cavalry and artillery were brought into the city and General Fiorenzo Bava-BeccarisFiorenzo Bava-BeccarisFiorenzo Bava-Beccaris was an Italian general, especially remembered for his brutal repression of riots in Milan in 1898, known as the Bava-Beccaris massacre.-Biography:...
ordered his troops to fire on demonstrators. According to the government, there were 118 dead and 450 wounded. The opposition claimed 400 dead and more than 2,000 injured people. Filippo TuratiFilippo TuratiFilippo Turati was an Italian sociologist, poet and Socialist politician.-Early life:Born in Canzo, province of Como, he graduated in law at the University of Bologna in 1877, and participated in the Scapigliatura movement with the most important artists of the period in Milan, publishing poetry...
, one of the founder of the Italian Socialist PartyItalian Socialist PartyThe Italian Socialist Party was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy founded in Genoa in 1892.Once the dominant leftist party in Italy, it was eclipsed in status by the Italian Communist Party following World War II...
, was arrested and accused of inspiring the riots.
- 1898: The Battle of Sugar PointBattle of Sugar PointThe Battle of Sugar Point, or the Battle of Leech Lake, was fought on October 5, 1898 between the 3rd U.S. Infantry and members of the Pillager Band of Chippewa Indians in a failed attempt to apprehend Pillager Ojibwe Bugonaygeshig , as the result of a dispute with Indian Service officials on the...
takes place in the northeast shore of Leech LakeLeech LakeLeech Lake is a lake located in north central Minnesota, United States. It is southeast of Bemidji, located mainly within the Leech Lake Indian Reservation, and completely within the Chippewa National Forest. It is used as a reservoir...
, MinnesotaMinnesotaMinnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. "Old Bug" (Bugonaygeshig), a leading member of the Pillager Band of Chippewa IndiansPillager Band of Chippewa IndiansPillager Band of Chippewa Indians are a historical band of Chippewa , originally living at the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Their name "Pillagers" is a translation of Makandwewininiwag, which literally means "Pillaging Men"...
in Bear IslandBear Island (Minnesota)Bear Island is an island in Bear Island Lake, which is about southwest of Ely in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The lake measures , or about by . In addition to Bear Island, which is by far the largest and sits right in the middle of the lake, there are at least 20 other islands in the lake...
had been arrested in September, 1898. A reported number of 22 Pillagers helped him escape. Arrest warrantArrest warrantAn arrest warrant is a warrant issued by and on behalf of the state, which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual.-Canada:Arrest warrants are issued by a judge or justice of the peace under the Criminal Code of Canada....
s were issued for all Pillagers involved in the incident. On October 5, 1898, about 80 men serving or attached to the 3d US Infantry Regiment arrived on Bear Island to perform the arrests. Finding it abandoned, they proceeded to Sugar PointLeech Lake Indian ReservationThe Leech Lake Indian Reservation or Gaa-zagaskwaajimekaag in the Ojibwe language, is an Native American reservation located in the north-central Minnesota counties of Cass, Itasca, Beltrami, and Hubbard. It is the land-base for the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe...
. There, a force of 19 Pillagers armed with Winchester rifleWinchester rifleIn common usage, Winchester rifle usually means any of the lever-action rifles manufactured by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, though the company has also manufactured many rifles of other action types...
was observing the soldiers from a forested area. When a soldier fired his weapon, allegedly a new recruit who had done so accidentally, the Pillagers returned fire. Major Melville Wilkinson, the commanding officer, was shot three times and killed. By the end of the conflict, seven soldiers had been killed (including Wilkinson), another 16 wounded. There were no casualties among the 19 Natives. Peaceful relations were soon re-established but this uprising was among the last Native AmericanNative Americans in the United StatesNative Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
victories in the American Indian Wars. It is known as "the last Indian Uprising in the United States".
Prominent political events
- The Dreyfus AffairDreyfus AffairThe Dreyfus affair was a political scandal that divided France in the 1890s and the early 1900s. It involved the conviction for treason in November 1894 of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a young French artillery officer of Alsatian Jewish descent...
– a political scandalPolitical scandalA political scandal is a kind of political corruption that is exposed and becomes a scandal, in which politicians or government officials are accused of engaging in various illegal, corrupt, or unethical practices...
that divided France in the 1890s and the early 20th century. It involved the conviction for treasonTreasonIn law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
in November 1894 of Captain Alfred DreyfusAlfred DreyfusAlfred Dreyfus was a French artillery officer of Jewish background whose trial and conviction in 1894 on charges of treason became one of the most tense political dramas in modern French and European history...
, a young French artillery officer of Alsatian Jewish descentHistory of Jews in AlsaceThe history of the Jews in Alsace is one of the oldest in Europe. It was first attested in 1165 by Benjamin of Tudela, who wrote about a "large number of learned men" in "Astransbourg", and it is assumed that it dates back until around the year 1000 CE...
. - 1896 Republican RealignmentUnited States presidential election, 1896The United States presidential election held on November 3, 1896, saw Republican William McKinley defeat Democrat William Jennings Bryan in a campaign considered by political scientists to be one of the most dramatic and complex in American history....
- A split erupted in Irish nationalismIrish nationalismIrish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
over a scandal involving the Irish leader Charles Stewart ParnellCharles Stewart ParnellCharles Stewart Parnell was an Irish landowner, nationalist political leader, land reform agitator, and the founder and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party...
's affair with a fellow MP's wife, Kitty O'Shea. - The New ImperialismNew ImperialismNew Imperialism refers to the colonial expansion adopted by Europe's powers and, later, Japan and the United States, during the 19th and early 20th centuries; expansion took place from the French conquest of Algeria until World War I: approximately 1830 to 1914...
- 1895: The Gongche Shangshu movementGongche Shangshu movementThe Gongche Shangshu movement was a political movement in late Qing dynasty China, seeking reforms and expressing opposition to the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895. It is considered the first modern political movement in China...
. In April, Over 1300 JǔrénImperial examinationThe Imperial examination was an examination system in Imperial China designed to select the best administrative officials for the state's bureaucracy. This system had a huge influence on both society and culture in Imperial China and was directly responsible for the creation of a class of...
, present in BeijingBeijingBeijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
to participate in the imperial examination, sign a petition requesting reforms by the Guangxu EmperorGuangxu EmperorThe Guangxu Emperor , born Zaitian of the Aisin-Gioro clan, was the eleventh emperor of the Manchurian Qing Dynasty, and the ninth Qing emperor to rule over China. His reign lasted from 1875 to 1908, but in practice he ruled, under Empress Dowager Cixi's influence, only from 1889 to 1898...
. Kang YouweiKang YouweiKang Youwei , was a Chinese scholar, noted calligrapher and prominent political thinker and reformer of the late Qing Dynasty. He led movements to establish a constitutional monarchy and was an ardent Chinese nationalist. His ideas inspired a reformation movement that was supported by the Guangxu...
is the main organizer of the movement. In May, thousands of Beijing scholars and citizens protested against the Treaty of ShimonosekiTreaty of ShimonosekiThe Treaty of Shimonoseki , known as the Treaty of Maguan in China, was signed at the Shunpanrō hall on April 17, 1895, between the Empire of Japan and Qing Empire of China, ending the First Sino-Japanese War. The peace conference took place from March 20 to April 17, 1895...
. The Emperor would respond with the Hundred Days' ReformHundred Days' ReformThe Hundred Days' Reform was a failed 104-day national cultural, political and educational reform movement from 11 June to 21 September 1898 in late Qing Dynasty China. It was undertaken by the young Guangxu Emperor and his reform-minded supporters...
of 1898.
Technology
- 1890: Clément AderClément AderClément Ader was a French inventor and engineer born in Muret, Haute Garonne, and is remembered primarily for his pioneering work in aviation.- The inventor :...
of MuretMuretMuret is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France.It is an outer suburb of the city of Toulouse, even though it does not belong to Greater Toulouse, which it has declined to join...
, France creates his Ader ÉoleAder ÉoleThe Ader Éole, also called Avion, was an early steam-powered aircraft. The Éole was named after the Greco-Roman wind god Aeolos. It was developed by Clément Ader in 1890. Unlike many early flying machines, the Éole did not attempt to fly by flapping its wings, but was to rely on the lift...
. "Ader claimed that while he was aboard the Ader Eole he made a steam-engine powered low-level flight of approximately 160 feet on October 9, 1890, in the suburbs of ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, from a level field on the estate of a friend." It was a powered and heavier-than-air flight, but is often discounted as a candidate for the first flying machineFirst flying machineThere are conflicting views as to what was the first flying machine.Much of the debate surrounding records of early flying machines depends on the exact definition of what constitutes a "flying machine", "flight", and even "first"....
for two main reasons. "It was not capable of a prolonged flight (due to the use of a steam engine) and it lacked adequate provisions for full flight control.". His Ader Avion IIAder Avion IIThe Avion II was the second primitive aircraft designed by Clément Ader in the 1890s. Most sources agree that work on it was never completed, Ader abandoning it in favour of the Avion III that had a financial backer...
and Ader Avion IIIAder Avion III-See also:...
had more complex designs but failed to take-off. - 1891: Commercial production of automobiles began and was at an early stage. The first company formed exclusively to build automobiles was Panhard et LevassorPanhardPanhard is currently a French manufacturer of light tactical and military vehicles. Its current incarnation was formed by the acquisition of Panhard by Auverland in 2005. Panhard had been under Citroën ownership, then PSA , for 40 years...
in FranceFrench Third RepublicThe French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
, which also introduced the first four-cylinder engine. Panhard was originally called Panhard et Levassor, and was established as a car manufacturing concern by René PanhardRené PanhardLouis François René Panhard was a French engineer, merchant and a pioneer of the automobile industry in France....
, Émile LevassorEmile LevassorÉmile Levassor was a French engineer and a pioneer of the automobile industry and car racing in France.- Biography :...
, and Belgian lawyer Edouard Sarazin in 1887. In 1891, the company built their first all-Lavassor design, a "statese of the art" model: the Systeme Panhard consisted of four wheels, a front-mounted engine with rear wheel drive, and a crude sliding-gear transmission, sold at 3500 francs. (It would remain the standard until CadillacCadillacCadillac is an American luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors . Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mostly in North America. Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile manufacturer behind fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest...
introduced synchromesh in 1928.) This was to become the standard layout for automobiles for most of the next century. The same year, Panhard shared their Daimler engine license with bicycle maker Armand PeugeotArmand PeugeotArmand Peugeot was a French industrialist, pioneer of the automobile industry and the founder of the French firm Peugeot.-Family:...
, who formed his own car company. In 1895, 1205 cc (74 ci) Panhards finished 1–2 in the Paris–Bordeaux–Paris race, one piloted solo by Levassor, for 48¾hr. - 1891: Otto LilienthalOtto LilienthalOtto Lilienthal was a German pioneer of human aviation who became known as the Glider King. He was the first person to make well-documented, repeated, successful gliding flights. He followed an experimental approach established earlier by Sir George Cayley...
of AnklamAnklamAnklam is a town in the Western Pomerania region of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the banks of the Peene river, just 8 km from its mouth in the Kleines Haff, the western part of the Stettin Lagoon. Anklam has a population of 14,603 and was the capital of the former...
, Province of Pomerania, Kingdom of PrussiaKingdom of PrussiaThe Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
creates his Derwitzer Glider, a glider aircraftGlider aircraftGlider aircraft are heavier-than-air craft that are supported in flight by the dynamic reaction of the air against their lifting surfaces, and whose free flight does not depend on an engine. Mostly these types of aircraft are intended for routine operation without engines, though engine failure can...
. It became "the first successful manned aircraft in the world, covering flight distances of up to about 80 feet near Derwitz/Krielow in Brandenburg." Lilienthal continued creating and testing flying machines to 1896. He achieved international fame. On August 9, 1896, one of his gliders collapsed during a flight. Lillienthal crashed down and suffered severe injuries. He died the following day. - 1892: Rudolf DieselRudolf DieselRudolf Christian Karl Diesel was a German inventor and mechanical engineer, famous for the invention of the diesel engine.-Early life:Diesel was born in Paris, France in 1858 the second of three children of Theodor and Elise Diesel. His parents were Bavarian immigrants living in Paris. Theodor...
of ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France discovers the Diesel cycleDiesel cycleThe Diesel cycle is the thermodynamic cycle which approximates the pressure and volume of the combustion chamber of the Diesel engine, invented by Rudolph Diesel in 1897. It is assumed to have constant pressure during the first part of the "combustion" phase...
, a thermodynamic cycleThermodynamic cycleA thermodynamic cycle consists of a series of thermodynamic processes transferring heat and work, while varying pressure, temperature, and other state variables, eventually returning a system to its initial state...
. On February 23, 1893, Diesel received a patent for compression ignition engine which would put his discovery in practical use. Further research would lead to his creation of the Diesel engineDiesel engineA diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
, an internal combustion engineInternal combustion engineThe internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high -pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine...
. "Diesel originally designed the diesel engine to use peanut oilPeanut oilPeanut oil is an organic material oil derived from peanuts, noted to have the aroma and taste of its parent legume....
as a fuel in order to help support agrarian society." It was an early form of biodieselBiodieselBiodiesel refers to a vegetable oil- or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl esters. Biodiesel is typically made by chemically reacting lipids with an alcohol....
. - 1893: The Duryea Motor Wagon CompanyDuryea Motor Wagon CompanyThe Duryea Motor Wagon Company, established in 1895, was one of the first American firms to build gasoline automobiles.Founded by Charles Duryea and his brother Frank, they built a one-cylinder "Ladies Phaeton", first demonstrated on September 21, 1893 in Springfield, Massachusetts, on Taylor...
, founded by siblings Charles DuryeaCharles DuryeaCharles Edgar Duryea was the engineer of the first-ever working American gasoline-powered car. He was born near Canton, Illinois, the son of George Washington Duryea and Louisa Melvina Turner and died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but spent most of his life working in Springfield, Massachusetts...
and J. Frank DuryeaJ. Frank DuryeaJames Frank Duryea , along with his brother Charles Duryea, invented and built the first American, road-tested gasoline-fueled automobile in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1892-1893...
, arguably becomes the first American automobile firm. In 1893, the Duryea brothers tested their first gasolineGasolineGasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...
-powered automobileAutomobileAn automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
model and in 1896 established their company to build the Duryea model automobileAutomobileAn automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
, supposedly the first auto ever commercially manufactured. Their 1893 model was a one-cylinder "Ladies Phaeton", first demonstrated on September 21, 1893 at Chicopee, MassachusettsChicopee, MassachusettsChicopee is a city located on the Connecticut River in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States of America. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 55,298, making it the second largest city in...
. It is considered the first successful gas-engine vehicle built in the U.S. Their 1895 model, driven by Frank, won the Chicago Times Herald raceChicago Times-Herald raceThe Chicago Times-Herald race was the first automobile race held in the United States. Sponsored by the Chicago Times-Herald, the race was held in Chicago in 1895 between six cars and won by Charles Duryea's Motorized Wagon...
in ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
on a snowy ThanksgivingThanksgivingThanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
day. He travelled 54 miles (87 km) at an average 7.5 mph (12 km/h), marking the first U.S. auto race in which any entrants finished. That same year, the brothers began commercial production, with thirteen cars sold by the end of 1896.
- 1893–1894: The KinetoscopeKinetoscopeThe Kinetoscope is an early motion picture exhibition device. Though not a movie projector—it was designed for films to be viewed individually through the window of a cabinet housing its components—the Kinetoscope introduced the basic approach that would become the standard for all cinematic...
, an early motion pictureFilmA film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
exhibition device invented by Thomas EdisonThomas EdisonThomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
and developed by William Kennedy Dickson, is introduced to the public. (It was in development since 1889 and a number of films had already been created for it). The premiere of the completed Kinetoscope was held not at the Chicago World's FairWorld's Columbian ExpositionThe World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
, as originally scheduled, but at the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences on May 9, 1893. The first film publicly shown on the system was Blacksmith SceneBlacksmith SceneBlacksmith Scene is an 1893 American short black-and-white silent film directed by William K.L...
(aka Blacksmiths); directed by Dickson and shotCinematographyCinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...
by Heise, it was produced at the new Edison moviemaking studio, known as the Black MariaEdison's Black MariaThe Black Maria was Thomas Edison's movie production studio in West Orange, New Jersey. It is widely referred to as America's First Movie Studio.- History :...
. Despite extensive promotion, a major display of the Kinetoscope, involving as many as twenty-five machines, never took place at the Chicago exposition. Kinetoscope production had been delayed in part because of Dickson's absence of more than eleven weeks early in the year with a nervous breakdown. On April 14, 1894, a public Kinetoscope parlor was opened by the Holland Bros. in New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
at 1155 Broadway, on the corner of 27th Street—the first commercial motion picture house. The venue had ten machines, set up in parallel rows of five, each showing a different movie. For 25 cents a viewer could see all the films in either row; half a dollar gave access to the entire bill. The machines were purchased from the new Kinetoscope Company, which had contracted with Edison for their production; the firm, headed by Norman C. Raff and Frank R. Gammon, included among its investors Andrew M. Holland, one of the entrepreneurial siblings, and Edison's former business chief, Alfred O. Tate. The ten films that comprise the first commercial movie program, all shot at the Black Maria, were descriptively titled: Barber Shop, Bertoldi (mouth support) (Ena Bertoldi, a British vaudeville contortionist), Bertoldi (table contortion), Blacksmiths, Roosters (some manner of cock fight), Highland Dance, Horse Shoeing, Sandow (Eugen SandowEugen SandowEugen Sandow , born Friedrich Wilhelm Müller, was a Prussian pioneering bodybuilder in the 19th century and is often referred to as the "Father of Modern Bodybuilding".-Early life:...
, a German strongman), Trapeze, and Wrestling. As historian Charles MusserCharles MusserCharles Musser is Professor of Film and American Studies at Yale University. He is a prominent film historian and documentary film maker who has "added a great deal to our knowledge of early cinema with his writings and his filmmaking."...
describes, a "profound transformation of American life and performance culture" had begun. - 1894: Hiram Stevens MaximHiram Stevens MaximSir Hiram Stevens Maxim was an American-born inventor who emigrated to England at the age of forty-one, although he remained an American citizen until he became a naturalized British subject in 1900. He was the inventor of the Maxim Gun – the first portable, fully automatic machine gun – and the...
of Sangerville, MaineSangerville, MaineSangerville is a town in Piscataquis County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,270 at the 2000 census. The town was named after Colonel Calvin Sanger, a landowner...
completes his flying machine. He built a 145' long craft that weighed 3.5 tons, with a 110' wingspan that was powered by two compound 360 hp steam engineSteam engineA steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
s driving two propellers. In trials at BexleyBexleyBexley is an South East London]] in the London Borough of Bexley, London, England. It is located on the banks of the River Cray south of the Roman Road, Watling Street...
in 1894 his machine rode on 1800' of rails and was prevented from rising by outriggers underneath and wooden safety rails overhead, somewhat in the manner of a roller coaster. His apparent goal in building this machine was not to soar freely, but to test if it would lift off the ground. During its test run all of the outriggers were engaged, showing that it had developed enough lift to take off, but in so doing it damaged the track; the "flight" was aborted in time to prevent disaster. The craft was almost certainly aerodynamically unstable and uncontrollable, which Maxim probably realized, because he subsequently abandoned work on it. "On the Maxim Biplane Test-Rig's third test run, on July 31, 1894, with Maxim and a crew of three aboard, it lifted with such force that it broke the reinforced restraining track and careened for some 200 yards, at times reaching an altitude of 2 or 3 feet above the damaged track. It was believed that a lifting force of some 10,000 pounds had likely been generated." - 1894: Lawrence HargraveLawrence HargraveLawrence Hargrave was an engineer, explorer, astronomer, inventor and aeronautical pioneer.- Early life :Hargrave was born in Greenwich, England, the second son of John Fletcher Hargrave and was educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Kirkby Lonsdale, Westmorland...
of GreenwichGreenwichGreenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
, England successfully lifted himself off the ground under a train of four of his box kiteBox kiteA box kite is a high-performance kite, noted for developing relatively high lift; it is a type within the family of cellular kites. The typical design has four parallel struts. The box is made rigid with diagonal crossed struts. There are two sails, or ribbons, whose width is about a quarter of the...
s at Stanwell ParkStanwell Park, New South WalesStanwell Park is a picturesque coastal village and northern suburb of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. It is the northernmost point of the Illawarra coastal strip and lies south of Sydney's Royal National Park. It is situated in a small valley between Bald Hill to the north, Stanwell Tops...
beach, New South WalesNew South WalesNew South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
on 12 November 1894. Aided by James Swain, the caretaker at his property, the kite line was moored via a spring balance to two sandbags. Hargrave carried an anemometerAnemometerAn anemometer is a device for measuring wind speed, and is a common weather station instrument. The term is derived from the Greek word anemos, meaning wind, and is used to describe any airspeed measurement instrument used in meteorology or aerodynamics...
and inclinometerInclinometerAn inclinometer or clinometer is an instrument for measuring angles of slope , elevation or depression of an object with respect to gravity...
aloft to measure windspeed and the angle of the kite line. He rose 16 feet (4.9 m) in a wind speed of 21 mi/h. This experiment was widely reported and established the box kite as a stable aerial platform
- 1895: Auguste and Louis LumièreAuguste and Louis LumièreThe Lumière brothers, Auguste Marie Louis Nicolas and Louis Jean , were among the earliest filmmakers in history...
of BesançonBesançonBesançon , is the capital and principal city of the Franche-Comté region in eastern France. It had a population of about 237,000 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2008...
, Franche-ComtéFranche-ComtéFranche-Comté the former "Free County" of Burgundy, as distinct from the neighbouring Duchy, is an administrative region and a traditional province of eastern France...
, France introduce cinematograph, a combination film cameraCameraA camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
, film projectorFilm projectorFilm projection or Film projector may refer to:*Movie projector for projection of moving images from film*Slide projector for projection of still images from film...
and developer, to the public. Their first public screening of films at which admission was charged was held on December 28, 1895, at Salon Indien du Grand CaféSalon Indien du Grand CaféLe Salon Indien du Grand Café was a café in Paris at the Place de l'Opéra where on December 28, 1895, the Lumière brothers hosted the very first public moviescreening. Among the ten short clips presented by the French innovators were La Sortie des usines Lumière and l'Arroseur Arrosé.Currently, the...
in Paris. This history-making presentation featured ten short films, including their first film, Sortie des Usines Lumière à LyonWorkers Leaving the Lumiere FactoryWorkers Leaving The Lumière Factory in Lyon Workers Leaving The Lumière Factory in Lyon Workers Leaving The Lumière Factory in Lyon (also known as La Sortie des usines Lumière à Lyon (original title), Employees Leaving the Lumière Factory and Exiting the Factory (US titles) is an 1895 French short...
(Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory). - 1896: Samuel Pierpont LangleySamuel Pierpont LangleySamuel Pierpont Langley was an American astronomer, physicist, inventor of the bolometer and pioneer of aviation...
of Roxbury, Boston, MassachusettsMassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
has two significant breakthroughs while testing his Langley AerodromeLangley AerodromeThe Langley Aerodrome was a pioneering but unsuccessful manned, powered flying machine designed at the close of the 19th century by Smithsonian Institution Secretary Samuel Langley. The U.S...
s, flying machines. In May, Aerodrome number 5 made "circular flights of 3,300 and 2,300 feet, at a maximum altitude of some 80 to 100 feet and at a speed of some 20 to 25 miles an hour". In November, Aerodrome number 6 "flew 4,200 feet, staying aloft over 1 minute.". The flights were powered (by a steam engineSteam engineA steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
), but unmaned. - 1896: Octave ChanuteOctave ChanuteOctave Chanute was a French-born American railway engineer and aviation pioneer. He provided the Wright brothers with help and advice, and helped to publicize their flying experiments. At his death he was hailed as the father of aviation and the heavier-than-air flying machine...
and Augustus Moore HerringAugustus Moore HerringAugustus Moore Herring was an American aviation pioneer, who flew a compressed-air powered aircraft in 1898, five years before the Wright Brothers made their own powered flight. It has been claimed that he was the first aviator of a motorized heavier-than-air aircraft.-Biography:Herring was born...
co-design the Chanute-Herring Biplane. "Each 16-foot (4.9-meter) wing was covered with varnished silk. The pilot hung from two bars that ran down from the upper wings and passed under his arms. This plane was originally flown at Dune ParkIndiana Dunes State ParkIndiana DunesDesignationState Park; National Natural LandmarkLocationPorter County, Indiana, USAAddress1600 N 25 EChesterton, IN 46304Nearest CityPorter, IndianaCoordinatesAreaDate of Establishment1925...
, IndianaIndianaIndiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, about sixty miles from Chanute's home in ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, as a triplaneTriplaneA triplane is a fixed-wing aircraft equipped with three vertically-stacked wing planes. Tailplanes and canard foreplanes are not normally included in this count, although they may occasionally be.-Design principles:...
on August 29, 1896, but was found to be unwieldy. Chanute and Herring removed the lowest of the three wings, which vastly improved its gliding ability. In its flight on September 11, it flew 256 feet (78 meters)." It influenced the design of later aircrafts, setting the pattern for a number of years. - 1897: Carl Richard NybergCarl Richard NybergCarl Richard Nyberg was the founder of Max Sieverts Lödlampfabrik, then one of the largest industries in Sundbyberg, Sweden. Nyberg was born in Arboga. After school he started working for a jeweller and later he moved to Stockholm and worked with various metalworks. He later got work at J. E...
of ArbogaArbogaArboga is a locality and the seat of Arboga Municipality in Västmanland County, Sweden with 10,369 inhabitants in 2005.-Overview:The city of Arboga is known to have existed as a town since the 13th century but the area has been inhabited since around 900 AD...
, SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
starts constructing his FluganFluganFlugan was an early aeroplane designed and built by Carl Richard Nyberg outside his home in Lidingö, Sweden. Construction started in 1897 and he kept working on it until 1922. The craft only managed a few short jumps and Nyberg was often ridiculed, however several of his innovations are still in use...
, an early fixed-wing aircraftFixed-wing aircraftA fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...
, outside his home in LidingöLidingöLidingö is an island in the inner Stockholm archipelago, located north east of central Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. It is also the seat of Lidingö Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 44,000 inhabitants in 2011....
. Construction started in 1897 and he kept working on it until 1922. The craft only managed a few short jumps and Nyberg was often ridiculed, however several of his innovations are still in use. He was the first to test his design in a wind tunnelWind tunnelA wind tunnel is a research tool used in aerodynamic research to study the effects of air moving past solid objects.-Theory of operation:Wind tunnels were first proposed as a means of studying vehicles in free flight...
and the first to build a hangarHangarA hangar is a closed structure to hold aircraft or spacecraft in protective storage. Most hangars are built of metal, but other materials such as wood and concrete are also sometimes used...
. The reasons for failure include poor wing and propeller design and, allegedly, that he was afraid of heights. - 1898: WurlitzerWurlitzerThe Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to simply as Wurlitzer, was an American company that produced stringed instruments, woodwinds, brass instruments, theatre organs, band organs, orchestrions, electronic organs, electric pianos and jukeboxes....
builds the first coin-operated player pianoPlayer pianoA player piano is a self-playing piano, containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism that operates the piano action via pre-programmed music perforated paper, or in rare instances, metallic rolls. The rise of the player piano grew with the rise of the mass-produced piano for the home in...
. - 1899: Gustave WhiteheadGustave WhiteheadGustave Albin Whitehead, born Gustav Albin Weisskopf was an aviation pioneer who emigrated from Germany to the U.S., where he designed and built early flying machines and engines meant to power them....
, a German AmericanGerman AmericanGerman Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...
from BavariaBavariaBavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, after working on building hang glidersHang glidingHang gliding is an air sport in which a pilot flies a light and unmotorized foot-launchable aircraft called a hang glider ....
turns his attention to heavier-than-air flying machines. According to a witness who gave his report in 1934, Whitehead made a very early motorized flight of about half a mile in PittsburghPittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
in April or May 1899. Louis Darvarich, a friend of Whitehead's, said they flew together at a height of 20 to 25 ft (6 to 8 m) in a steam-poweredSteam engineA steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
monoplaneMonoplaneA monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. Since the late 1930s it has been the most common form for a fixed wing aircraft.-Types of monoplane:...
aircraft and crashed into a three-storyStoreyA storey or story is any level part of a building that could be used by people...
building. Darvarich said he was stoking the boiler and was badly scalded in the accident, requiring several weeks in a hospital. The fireman, Martin Devane, who was called to the scene of the accident reported: "...I believe I arrived immediately after it crashed into a brick building, a newly constructed apartment house on the O'Neal Estate. I recall that someone was hurt and taken to the hospital. I am able to identify the inventor Gustave Whitehead from a picture shown to me". - 1899: Percy PilcherPercy PilcherPercy Sinclair Pilcher was a British inventor and pioneer aviator who was his country's foremost experimenter in unpowered flight at the end of the 19th Century...
of Bath, Somerset dies in October, without having a chance to fly his early triplane. Pilcher had built a hang glider called The Bat which he flew for the first time in 1895. He then built more hang gliders ("The Beetle", "The Gull" and "The Hawk"), but had set his sights upon powered flight, which he hoped to achieve on his triplane. On 30 September 1899, having completed his triplane, he had intended to demonstrate it to a group of onlookers and potential sponsors in a field near Stanford Hall. However, days before, the engine crankshaft had broken and, so as not to disappoint his guests, he decided to fly the Hawk instead. The weather was stormy and rainy, but by 4 pm Pilcher decided the weather was good enough to fly. Whilst flying, the tail snapped and Pilcher plunged 10 metres (30 ft) to the ground: he died two days later from his injuries with his triplane having never been publicly flown. In 2003, a research effort carried out at the School of Aeronautics at Cranfield UniversityCranfield UniversityCranfield University is a British postgraduate university based on two campuses, with a research-oriented focus. The main campus is at Cranfield, Bedfordshire and the second is the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom based at Shrivenham, Oxfordshire. The main campus is unique in the United...
, commissioned by the BBC2 television series "Horizon", has shown that Pilcher's design was more or less workable, and had he been able to develop his engine, it is possible he would have succeeded in being the first to fly a heavier-than-air powered aircraft with some degree of control. Cranfield built a replica of Pilcher's aircraft and added the Wright brothersWright brothersThe Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur , were two Americans credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903...
' innovation of wing-warping as a safety backup for roll control. Pilcher's original design did not include aerodynamic controls such as ailerons or elevator. After a very short initial test, the craft achieved a sustained flight of 1 minute and 25 seconds, compared to 59 seconds for the Wright Brothers' best flight at Kitty Hawk. This was achieved under dead calm conditions as an additional safety measure, whereas the Wrights flew in a 25 mph+ wind to achieve enough airspeed on their early attempts. - 1899: Augustus Moore HerringAugustus Moore HerringAugustus Moore Herring was an American aviation pioneer, who flew a compressed-air powered aircraft in 1898, five years before the Wright Brothers made their own powered flight. It has been claimed that he was the first aviator of a motorized heavier-than-air aircraft.-Biography:Herring was born...
introduces his biplane glider with a compressed-air engine. On October 11, 1899 (or 1898), Herring flew at Silver Beach Amusement ParkSilver Beach Amusement ParkSilver Beach Amusement Park was located in St. Joseph, Michigan. The small amusement park operated between 1891 and 1971.-History:Silver Beach opened as a resort in 1891 when local businessmen in boat building Logan Drake and Louis D. Wallace built vacation cottages as Silver Beach Amusement and...
in St. Joseph, MichiganSt. Joseph, MichiganSt. Joseph is a city in the US state of Michigan. It was incorporated as a village in 1834 and as a city in 1891. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 8,789. It lies on the shore of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the St. Joseph River, about east-northeast of Chicago. It is the county...
. He reportedly covered a distance of 50 feet (15.2 m). However there are no known witnesses. On October 22, 1899 (or 1898) Herring took a second flight, covering 73 feet (22.3 m) in 8 to 10 seconds. This time the flight was covered by a newspaper reporter. It is often discounted as a candidate for the first flying machine for various reasons. The craft was difficult to steer, discounting it as controlled flight. While an aircraft outfited with an engine, said engine could operate for "only 30 seconds at a time". The design was still recognizably a glider, introducing now innovations in that regard. It was also a "technological dead end", failing to influence the flying machines of the 20th century. It also attracted little press coverage, though possibly because the Michigan press was preoccupied with William McKinleyWilliam McKinleyWilliam McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
, President of the United States visiting Three Oaks, MichiganThree Oaks, MichiganThree Oaks is a village in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,829 at the 2000 census. The village is located within Three Oaks Township.-Geography:...
at about the same time.
Science
- Henri BecquerelHenri BecquerelAntoine Henri Becquerel was a French physicist, Nobel laureate, and the discoverer of radioactivity along with Marie Curie and Pierre Curie, for which all three won the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics.-Early life:...
discovered radioactivity. - X-rayX-rayX-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
s were discovered by Wilhelm Röntgen. - Swedish scientist Svante ArrheniusSvante ArrheniusSvante August Arrhenius was a Swedish scientist, originally a physicist, but often referred to as a chemist, and one of the founders of the science of physical chemistry...
and US geologist Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin independently suggested that human CO2 emissions might cause global warmingGlobal warmingGlobal warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
. - Albert EinsteinAlbert EinsteinAlbert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
began his revolution of science. - 1894: ArgonArgonArgon is a chemical element represented by the symbol Ar. Argon has atomic number 18 and is the third element in group 18 of the periodic table . Argon is the third most common gas in the Earth's atmosphere, at 0.93%, making it more common than carbon dioxide...
was discovered by Lord Rayleigh and William RamsayWilliam RamsaySir William Ramsay was a Scottish chemist who discovered the noble gases and received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904 "in recognition of his services in the discovery of the inert gaseous elements in air" .-Early years:Ramsay was born in Glasgow on 2...
. - 1895: HeliumHeliumHelium is the chemical element with atomic number 2 and an atomic weight of 4.002602, which is represented by the symbol He. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas that heads the noble gas group in the periodic table...
was discovered to exist on the Earth by William RamsayWilliam RamsaySir William Ramsay was a Scottish chemist who discovered the noble gases and received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904 "in recognition of his services in the discovery of the inert gaseous elements in air" .-Early years:Ramsay was born in Glasgow on 2...
, 27 years after first being detected spectrographically on the Sun in 1868. - 1896: One year after helium's terrestrial discovery, neonNeonNeon is the chemical element that has the symbol Ne and an atomic number of 10. Although a very common element in the universe, it is rare on Earth. A colorless, inert noble gas under standard conditions, neon gives a distinct reddish-orange glow when used in either low-voltage neon glow lamps or...
, kryptonKryptonKrypton is a chemical element with the symbol Kr and atomic number 36. It is a member of Group 18 and Period 4 elements. A colorless, odorless, tasteless noble gas, krypton occurs in trace amounts in the atmosphere, is isolated by fractionally distilling liquified air, and is often used with other...
, and xenonXenonXenon is a chemical element with the symbol Xe and atomic number 54. The element name is pronounced or . A colorless, heavy, odorless noble gas, xenon occurs in the Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts...
were discovered by William RamsayWilliam RamsaySir William Ramsay was a Scottish chemist who discovered the noble gases and received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904 "in recognition of his services in the discovery of the inert gaseous elements in air" .-Early years:Ramsay was born in Glasgow on 2...
and Morris TraversMorris TraversMorris William Travers , the founding director of the Indian Institute of Science, was an English chemist who worked along with Sir William Ramsay in the discovery of xenon, neon and krypton...
. - 1897: Social scientist Émile DurkheimÉmile DurkheimDavid Émile Durkheim was a French sociologist. He formally established the academic discipline and, with Karl Marx and Max Weber, is commonly cited as the principal architect of modern social science and father of sociology.Much of Durkheim's work was concerned with how societies could maintain...
published the groundbreaking study SuicideSuicide (book)Suicide was one of the groundbreaking books in the field of sociology. Written by French sociologist Émile Durkheim and published in 1897 it was a case study of suicide, a publication unique for its time which provided an example of what the sociological...
.
Economics
- 1892: The Homestead StrikeHomestead StrikeThe Homestead Strike was an industrial lockout and strike which began on June 30, 1892, culminating in a battle between strikers and private security agents on July 6, 1892. It was one of the most serious disputes in U.S. labor history...
in Homestead, PennsylvaniaHomestead, PennsylvaniaHomestead is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA, in the "Mon Valley," southeast of downtown Pittsburgh and directly across the river from the city limit line. The borough is known for the Homestead Strike of 1892, an important event in the history of labor relations in the United...
. Labor dispute between the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel WorkersAmalgamated Association of Iron and Steel WorkersAmalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers was an American labor union formed in 1876 and which represented iron and steel workers. It partnered with the Steel Workers Organizing Committee, CIO, in November, 1935...
(the AA) and the Carnegie Steel CompanyCarnegie Steel CompanyCarnegie Steel Company was a steel producing company created by Andrew Carnegie to manage business at his steel mills in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area in the late 19th century.-Creation:...
starting in June, 1892. The union negotiated national uniform wage scales on an annual basis; helped regularize working hours, workload levels and work speeds; and helped improve working conditions. It also acted as a hiring hallHiring hallIn organized labor, a hiring hall is an organization, usually under the auspices of a labor union, which has the responsibility of furnishing new recruits for employers who have a collective bargaining agreement with the union....
, helping employers find scarce puddlers and rollers. With the collective bargaining agreement due to expire on June 30, 1892, Henry Clay FrickHenry Clay FrickHenry Clay Frick was an American industrialist, financier, and art patron. He founded the H. C. Frick & Company coke manufacturing company, was chairman of the Carnegie Steel Company, and played a major role in the formation of the giant U.S. Steel steel manufacturing concern...
(chairman of the company) and the leaders of the local AA union entered into negotiations in February. With the steel industry doing well and prices higher, the AA asked for a wage increase. Frick immediately countered with a 22% wage decrease that would affect nearly half the union's membership and remove a number of positions from the bargaining unit. Andrew CarnegieAndrew CarnegieAndrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...
encouraged Frick to use the negotiations to break the union: "...the Firm has decided that the minority must give way to the majority. These works, therefore, will be necessarily non-union after the expiration of the present agreement." Frick locked workers out of the plate mill and one of the open hearth furnaceOpen hearth furnaceOpen hearth furnaces are one of a number of kinds of furnace where excess carbon and other impurities are burnt out of the pig iron to produce steel. Since steel is difficult to manufacture due to its high melting point, normal fuels and furnaces were insufficient and the open hearth furnace was...
s on the evening of June 28. When no collective bargaining agreement was reached on June 29, Frick locked the union out of the rest of the plant. A high fence topped with barbed wireBarbed wireBarbed wire, also known as barb wire , is a type of fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strand. It is used to construct inexpensive fences and is used atop walls surrounding secured property...
, begun in January, was completed and the plant sealed to the workers. Sniper towers with searchlights were constructed near each mill building, and high-pressure water cannonWater cannonA water cannon is a device that shoots a high-pressure stream of water. Typically, a water cannon can deliver a large volume of water, often over dozens of metres / hundreds of feet. They are used in firefighting and riot control. Most water cannon fall under the category of a fire...
s (some capable of spraying boiling-hot liquid) were placed at each entrance. Various aspects of the plant were protected, reinforced or shielded. - 1892: Buffalo switchmen's strikeBuffalo switchmen's strikeThe Buffalo switchmen's strike was a two-week strike in August 1892 by railroad workers employed by three railroads in Buffalo, New York. The strike collapsed after two weeks when 8,000 state militia entered the town and other unions refused to support the workers.-Events of the strike:In early...
in Buffalo, New YorkBuffalo, New YorkBuffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
during August, 1892. In early 1892, the New York state legislature passed a law mandating a 10-hour work-day and increases in the day- and night-time minimum wage. On August 12, switchmen in the Buffalo railyards struck the Lehigh Valley RailroadLehigh Valley RailroadThe Lehigh Valley Railroad was one of a number of railroads built in the northeastern United States primarily to haul anthracite coal.It was authorized April 21, 1846 in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and incorporated September 20, 1847 as the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad...
, the Erie RailroadErie RailroadThe Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in New York State, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, originally connecting New York City with Lake Erie...
and the Buffalo Creek Railroad after the companies refused to obey the new law. On August 15, DemocraticDemocratic Party (United States)The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Governor Roswell P. FlowerRoswell P. FlowerRoswell Pettibone Flower was Governor of New York from 1892 to 1894.-Biography:He was a son of Nathan Monroe Flower and Mary Ann Flower, the sixth of nine children....
called out the New York State Guard to restore order and protect the railroads' property. However, State Guard Brigadier GeneralBrigadier GeneralBrigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
Peter C. Doyle, commanding the Fourth Brigade, held a full-time position as an agent of the Lehigh Valley Railroad and was determined to crush the strike. - 1892: New Orleans general strike1892 New Orleans general strikeThe New Orleans general strike was a general strike in the U.S. city of New Orleans, Louisiana, that began on November 8, 1892. Despite appeals to racial hatred, black and white workers remained united...
taking place in New Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
during November, 1892. 49 labor unions affiliated through the American Federation of LaborAmerican Federation of LaborThe American Federation of Labor was one of the first federations of labor unions in the United States. It was founded in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions disaffected from the Knights of Labor, a national labor association. Samuel Gompers was elected president of the Federation at its...
(AFL) had established a central labor council known as the Workingmen's Amalgamated Council that represented more than 20,000 workers. Three racially integrated unions—the TeamstersTeamstersThe International Brotherhood of Teamsters is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of several local and regional locals of teamsters, the union now represents a diverse membership of blue-collar and professional workers in both the public and private sectors....
, the Scalesmen, and the Packers—made up what came to be called the "Triple Alliance." Many of the workers belonging to the unions of the Triple Alliance were African AmericanAfrican AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
. The Triple Alliance started negotiations with the New Orleans Board of Trade in October. Employers utilized race-based appeals to try to divide the workers and turn the public against the strikers. The board of trade announced it would sign contracts agreeing to the terms—but only with the white-dominated Scalesmen and Packers unions. The Board of Trade refused to sign any contract with the black-dominated Teamsters. The Board of Trade and the city's newspapers also began a campaign designed to create public hysteria. The newspapers ran lurid accounts of "mobs of brutal Negro strikers" rampaging through the streets, of African American unionists "beating up all who attempted to interfere with them," and repeated accounts of crowds of blacks assaulting lone white men and women. The striking workers refused to break ranks along racial lines. Large majorities of the Scalesmen and Packers unions passed resolutions affirming their commitment to stay out until the employers had signed a contract with the Teamsters on the same terms offered to other unions. The Board of Trade's tactics essentially backfired when the Workingmen's Amalgamated Council called for a general strike, involving all of its unions. The city's supply of natural gas failed on November 8, as did the electrical grid, and the city was plunged into darkness. The delivery of food and beverages immediately ceased, generating alarm among city residents. Construction, printing, street cleaning, manufacturing and even fire-fighting services ground to a halt. - 1893: The Panic of 1893Panic of 1893The Panic of 1893 was a serious economic depression in the United States that began in 1893. Similar to the Panic of 1873, this panic was marked by the collapse of railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing which set off a series of bank failures...
set off a widespread economic depression in the United States that lasts until 1896. One of the first signs of trouble was the bankruptcyBankruptcyBankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
of the Philadelphia and Reading RailroadReading CompanyThe Reading Company , usually called the Reading Railroad, officially the Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road and then the Philadelphia and Reading Railway until 1924, operated in southeast Pennsylvania and neighboring states...
, which had greatly over-extended itself, on February 23, 1893, ten days before Grover ClevelandGrover ClevelandStephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
's second inauguration. Some historians consider this bankruptcy to be the beginning of the Panic. As concern of the state of the economy worsened, people rushed to withdraw their money from banks and caused bank runBank runA bank run occurs when a large number of bank customers withdraw their deposits because they believe the bank is, or might become, insolvent...
s. The credit crunchCredit crunchA credit crunch is a reduction in the general availability of loans or a sudden tightening of the conditions required to obtain a loan from the banks. A credit crunch generally involves a reduction in the availability of credit independent of a rise in official interest rates...
rippled through the economy. A financial panic in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and IrelandUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and IrelandThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
and a drop in trade in EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
caused foreign investors to sell American stocks to obtain American funds backed by goldGoldGold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
. People attempted to redeem silver notesSilver CertificateSilver Certificates are a type of representative money printed from 1878 to 1964 in the United States as part of its circulation of paper currency. They were produced in response to silver agitation by citizens who were angered by the Fourth Coinage Act, which had effectively placed the United...
for gold; ultimately the statutory limit for the minimum amount of gold in federal reserves was reached and US notes could no longer be successfully redeemed for gold. Investments during the time of the Panic were heavily financed through bond issues with high interest payments. The National Cordage CompanyNational Cordage CompanyThe National Cordage Company was formed in New Jersey in 1887, for the importation of hemp and the manufacture and sale ofcordage. It is noteworthy because of its expansion at the beginning of the 1890s and its initial public offering of $5,000,000 of 8% cumulative preferred stock. Thecorporation...
(the most actively traded stock at the time) went into receivershipBankruptcyBankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
as a result of its bankers calling their loans in response to rumors regarding the NCC's financial distress. As the demand for silver and silver notes fell, the price and value of silverSilverSilver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
dropped. Holders worried about a loss of face value of bonds, and many became worthless. A series of bank failures followed, and the Northern Pacific RailwayNorthern Pacific RailwayThe Northern Pacific Railway was a railway that operated in the west along the Canadian border of the United States. Construction began in 1870 and the main line opened all the way from the Great Lakes to the Pacific when former president Ulysses S. Grant drove in the final "golden spike" in...
, the Union Pacific RailroadUnion Pacific RailroadThe Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad failed. This was followed by the bankruptcy of many other companies; in total over 15,000 companies and 500 banks failed (many in the west). According to high estimates, about 17%–19% of the workforce was unemployedUnemploymentUnemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
at the Panic's peak. The huge spike in unemployment, combined with the loss of life savings by failed banks, meant that a once-secure middle-class could not meet their mortgageMortgage loanA mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
obligations. As a result, many walked away from recently built homes. From this, the sight of the vacant VictorianVictorian eraThe Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
(hauntedHaunted houseA haunted house is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were familiar with the property...
) house entered the American mindset. - 1896: The United States presidential election, 1896United States presidential election, 1896The United States presidential election held on November 3, 1896, saw Republican William McKinley defeat Democrat William Jennings Bryan in a campaign considered by political scientists to be one of the most dramatic and complex in American history....
becomes a realigning electionRealigning electionRealigning election are terms from political science and political history describing a dramatic change in the political system. Scholars frequently apply the term to American elections and occasionally to other countries...
. The monetary policyMonetary policyMonetary policy is the process by which the monetary authority of a country controls the supply of money, often targeting a rate of interest for the purpose of promoting economic growth and stability. The official goals usually include relatively stable prices and low unemployment...
standard supported by the candidates of the two major parties arguably dominated their electoral campaigns. William Jennings BryanWilliam Jennings BryanWilliam Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...
, candidate of the ruling Democratic PartyDemocratic Party (United States)The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
campaigned on a policy of Free SilverFree SilverFree Silver was an important United States political policy issue in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Its advocates were in favor of an inflationary monetary policy using the "free coinage of silver" as opposed to the less inflationary Gold Standard; its supporters were called...
. His opponent William McKinleyWilliam McKinleyWilliam McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
of the Republican PartyRepublican Party (United States)The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
, which had lost elections in 1884 and 1892, campaigned on a policy of Sound MoneyHard currencyHard currency , in economics, refers to a globally traded currency that is expected to serve as a reliable and stable store of value...
and maintaining the gold standardGold standardThe gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed mass of gold. There are distinct kinds of gold standard...
in effect since the 1870s. The "shorthand sloganSloganA slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a political, commercial, religious and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose. The word slogan is derived from slogorn which was an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic sluagh-ghairm . Slogans vary from the written and the...
s" actually reflected "broader philosophies of finance and public policy, and opposing beliefs about justice, order, and 'moral economy.'", The Republicans won the election and would win every election to 1912. Arguably ending the so-called Gilded AgeGilded AgeIn United States history, the Gilded Age refers to the era of rapid economic and population growth in the United States during the post–Civil War and post-Reconstruction eras of the late 19th century. The term "Gilded Age" was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their book The Gilded...
. The McKinley administration would embrace American imperialism, its involvement in the Spanish–American War (1896–1898) leading the United States in playing a more active role in the world scene. The term Progressive EraProgressive EraThe Progressive Era in the United States was a period of social activism and political reform that flourished from the 1890s to the 1920s. One main goal of the Progressive movement was purification of government, as Progressives tried to eliminate corruption by exposing and undercutting political...
has been suggested for the period, though often covering the reforms lasting from the 1880s to the 1920s.
- 1896–1899: The Klondike Gold RushKlondike Gold RushThe Klondike Gold Rush, also called the Yukon Gold Rush, the Alaska Gold Rush and the Last Great Gold Rush, was an attempt by an estimated 100,000 people to travel to the Klondike region the Yukon in north-western Canada between 1897 and 1899 in the hope of successfully prospecting for gold...
. In August, 1896, George CarmackGeorge CarmackGeorge Washington Carmack was a Contra Costa County, California-born prospector in the Yukon. He was originally credited with the discovery of gold that set off the Klondike Gold Rush on August 16, 1896...
, Kate CarmackKate CarmackShaaw Tláa, also known as Kate Carmack was a Tagish First Nation woman born near Bennett Lake. She lived with her parents, and seven sisters and brothers, near Carcross, Yukon. Her father, Kaachgaawáa, was the head of the Tlingit crow clan, while her mother, Gus’dutéen, was a member of the Tagish...
, KeishKeishKeish , better known by his English name Skookum Jim Mason, was a Canadian native part of the Tagish First Nation in what became the Yukon Territory of Canada...
, Dawson CharlieDawson CharlieDawson Charlie or K̲áa Goox̱ [qʰáː kuːχ] was a Canadian Tagish/Tlingit First Nation person and one of the co-discoverers of gold that led to the Klondike Gold Rush located in the Yukon territory of Northwest Canada. He was the nephew of Skookum Jim Mason and accompanied him on his search for his...
and Patsy Henderson, members of a TagishTagishThe Tagish or Tagish Khwáan are a group of Athabaskan First Nation people that lived around Tagish Lake and Marsh Lake, in the Yukon Territory of Canada. Tagish people intermarried heavily with Tlingit people from the coast and the Tagish language is almost extinct...
First NationsFirst NationsFirst Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
family group, discovered rich placerPlacer miningPlacer mining is the mining of alluvial deposits for minerals. This may be done by open-pit or by various surface excavating equipment or tunneling equipment....
gold deposits in Bonanza (Rabbit) CreekBonanza CreekBonanza Creek is a watercourse in Yukon Territory, Canada. It runs for about from King Solomon's Dome to the Klondike River. In the last years of the 19th century and the early 20th century, Bonanza Creek was the center of the Klondike Gold Rush, which attracted tens of thousands of prospectors to...
, YukonYukonYukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....
, CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Soon a massive movement of people, goods and money started moving towards the Klondike, YukonKlondike, YukonThe Klondike is a region of the Yukon in northwest Canada, east of the Alaska border. It lies around the Klondike River, a small river that enters the Yukon from the east at Dawson....
region and the nearby District of AlaskaDistrict of AlaskaThe District of Alaska was the governmental designation for Alaska from May 17, 1884 to August 24, 1912, when it became Alaska Territory. Previously it had been known as the Department of Alaska. At the time, legislators in Washington, D.C., were occupied with post-Civil War reconstruction issues,...
. Men from all walks of life headed for the Yukon from as far away as New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, South AfricaSouth AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and IrelandUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and IrelandThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
, and AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Surprisingly, a large proportion were professionals, such as teachers and doctors, even a mayor or two, who gave up respectable careers to make the journey. For instance, the residents of Camp Skagway Number One included: William Howard TaftWilliam Howard TaftWilliam Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
, who went on to become a U.S. President; Frederick Russell BurnhamFrederick Russell BurnhamFrederick Russell Burnham, DSO was an American scout and world traveling adventurer known for his service to the British Army in colonial Africa and for teaching woodcraft to Robert Baden-Powell, thus becoming one of the inspirations for the founding of the international Scouting Movement.Burnham...
, the celebrated American scout who arrived from Africa only to be called back to take part in the Second Boer WarSecond Boer WarThe Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
; and W. W. White, author and explorer. Most were perfectly aware of their chance of finding significant amounts of gold were slim to none, and went for the adventure. As many as half of those who reached Dawson City kept right on going without doing any prospecting at all. Thus, by bringing large numbers of entrepreneurial adventurers to the region, the Gold Rush significantly contributed to the economic development of Western CanadaWestern CanadaWestern Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and commonly as the West, is a region of Canada that includes the four provinces west of the province of Ontario.- Provinces :...
, AlaskaAlaskaAlaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
and the Pacific NorthwestPacific NorthwestThe Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
. New cities were created as a result of the Gold Rush, including among others Dawson City, Fairbanks, AlaskaFairbanks, AlaskaFairbanks is a home rule city in and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska.Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska, and second largest in the state behind Anchorage...
and Anchorage, AlaskaAnchorage, AlaskaAnchorage is a unified home rule municipality in the southcentral part of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the northernmost major city in the United States...
. The heyday of the individual prospector and the rush towards the north ended by 1899. Exploitation of the area by "big mining companies with their mechanical dredges" would last well into the 20th century. - 1894: Cripple Creek miners' strikeCripple Creek miners' strike of 1894The Cripple Creek miners' strike of 1894 was a five-month strike by the Western Federation of Miners in Cripple Creek, Colorado, USA. It resulted in a victory for the union and was followed in 1903 by the Colorado Labor Wars...
, a five-month strike by the Western Federation of MinersWestern Federation of MinersThe Western Federation of Miners was a radical labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mines of the western United States and British Columbia. Its efforts to organize both hard rock miners and smelter workers brought it into sharp conflicts – and often pitched battles...
(WFM) in Cripple CreekCripple Creek, ColoradoThe City of Cripple Creek is a Statutory City that is the county seat of Teller County, Colorado, United States. Cripple Creek is a former gold mining camp located southwest of Colorado Springs near the base of Pikes Peak. The Cripple Creek Historic District, which received National Historic...
, ColoradoColoradoColorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, United States. In January 1894, Cripple Creek mine owners J. J. Hagerman, David MoffatDavid MoffatDavid Halliday Moffat was an American financier and industrialist.Moffat was one of Denver's most important financiers and industrialists in late 19th and early 20th century Colorado, and he was responsible for the development of the Middle Park area. He served as president, treasurer and as a...
and Eben SmithEben SmithEben Smith was a successful mine owner, smelting company executive, railroad executive and bank owner in Colorado in the late 19th century and early 20th century.-Early life:...
, who together employed one-third of the area's miners, announced a lengthening of the work-day to ten hours (from eight), with no change to the daily wage of $3.00 per day. When workers protested, the owners agreed to employ the miners for eight hours a day – but at a wage of only $2.50. Not long before this dispute, miners at Cripple Creek had formed the Free Coinage Union. Once the new changes went into effect, they affiliated with the Western Federation of MinersWestern Federation of MinersThe Western Federation of Miners was a radical labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mines of the western United States and British Columbia. Its efforts to organize both hard rock miners and smelter workers brought it into sharp conflicts – and often pitched battles...
, and became Local 19. The union was based in AltmanAltman, ColoradoAltman is a ghost town in Teller County, Colorado, United States. Much of the town was destroyed by fire on May 24, 1903....
, and had chapters in AnacondaAnaconda, MontanaAnaconda, county seat of Anaconda City/Deer Lodge County, is located in mountainous southwestern Montana. The Continental Divide passes within 8 miles of the community with the local Pintler Mountain range reaching 10,379 feet...
, Cripple Creek and VictorVictor, ColoradoVictor is a Statutory City in Teller County, Colorado, United States. The population was 445 at the 2000 census.Victor is in the heart of Colorado's gold country, home to two of the major gold mines in the Cripple Creek mining district...
. On February 1, 1894, the mine owners began implementing the 10-hour day. Union president John CalderwoodJohn CalderwoodJohn Calderwood was born in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, Scotland. Little is known about his parentage or life. He went to work in the local coal mines at the age of nine while attending public night school....
issued a notice a week later demanding that the mine owners reinstate the eight-hour day at the $3.00 wage. When the owners did not respond, the nascent union struck on February 7. Portland, Pikes Peak, Gold Dollar and a few smaller mines immediately agreed to the eight-hour day and remained open, but larger mines held out. - 1894: Coxey's ArmyCoxey's ArmyCoxey's Army was a protest march by unemployed workers from the United States, led by the populist Jacob Coxey. They marched on Washington D.C. in 1894, the second year of a four-year economic depression that was the worst in United States history to that time. Officially named the Army of the...
a protest march by unemployed workersUnemploymentUnemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
from the United States, led by the populistPopulismPopulism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...
Jacob Coxey. The purpose of the march was to protest the unemployment caused by the Panic of 1893Panic of 1893The Panic of 1893 was a serious economic depression in the United States that began in 1893. Similar to the Panic of 1873, this panic was marked by the collapse of railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing which set off a series of bank failures...
and to lobby for the government to create jobs which would involve building roadRoadA road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places, which typically has been paved or otherwise improved to allow travel by some conveyance, including a horse, cart, or motor vehicle. Roads consist of one, or sometimes two, roadways each with one or more lanes and also any...
s and other public worksPublic worksPublic works are a broad category of projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community...
improvements. The march originated with 100 men in Massillon, OhioMassillon, OhioMassillon is a city located in Stark County in the U.S. state of Ohio, approximately 8 miles to the west of Canton, Ohio, 20 miles south of Akron, Ohio, and 50 miles south of Cleveland, Ohio. The population was 32,149 at the 2010 census....
on March 25, 1894, passing through Pittsburgh, Becks RunBecks RunBecks Run is a tributary of the Monongahela River. As an urban stream, it is heavily polluted, receiving combined sewer outflow from Carrick and Mount Oliver, Pennsylvania. There is a waterfall on a tributary, just downstream from a slate dump, near the intersection of Wagner Avenue and Mountain...
and Homestead, PennsylvaniaHomestead, PennsylvaniaHomestead is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA, in the "Mon Valley," southeast of downtown Pittsburgh and directly across the river from the city limit line. The borough is known for the Homestead Strike of 1892, an important event in the history of labor relations in the United...
in April. - 1894: The Bituminous Coal Miners' Strike, an unsuccessful national eight-week strike by miners of hard coalBituminous coalBituminous coal or black coal is a relatively soft coal containing a tarlike substance called bitumen. It is of higher quality than lignite coal but of poorer quality than Anthracite...
in the United States, which began on April 21, 1894. Initially, the strike was a major success. More than 180,000 miners in ColoradoColoradoColorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, IllinoisIllinoisIllinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, OhioOhioOhio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, PennsylvaniaPennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
and West VirginiaWest VirginiaWest Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
struck. In Illinois, 25,207 miners went on strike, while only 610 continued to work through the strike, with the average Illinois miner out of work for 72 days because of the strike. In some areas of the country, violence erupted between strikers and mine operators or between striking and non-striking miners. On May 23 near Uniontown, PennsylvaniaUniontown, PennsylvaniaUniontown is a city in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, southeast of Pittsburgh and part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. Population in 1900, 7,344; in 1910, 13,344; in 1920, 15,692; and in 1940, 21,819. The population was 10,372 at the 2010 census...
, 15 guards armed with carbineCarbineA carbine , from French carabine, is a longarm similar to but shorter than a rifle or musket. Many carbines are shortened versions of full rifles, firing the same ammunition at a lower velocity due to a shorter barrel length....
s and machine gunMachine gunA machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
s held off an attack by 1500 strikers, killing 5 and wounding 8. - 1894: May Day RiotsMay Day Riots of 1894The May Day Riots of 1894 were a series of violent demonstrations that occurred throughout Cleveland, Ohio on May 1 , 1894 . Cleveland's unemployment rate increased dramatically during the Panic of 1893...
, a series of violent demonstrations that occurred throughout Cleveland, OhioCleveland, OhioCleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
on May 1, 1894 (May DayMay DayMay Day on May 1 is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday; it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures....
). Cleveland's unemployment rate increased dramatically during the Panic of 1893Panic of 1893The Panic of 1893 was a serious economic depression in the United States that began in 1893. Similar to the Panic of 1873, this panic was marked by the collapse of railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing which set off a series of bank failures...
. Finally, riots broke out among the unemployed who condemned city leaders for their ineffective relief measures. - 1894: The workers of the Pullman Company went on strikePullman StrikeThe Pullman Strike was a nationwide conflict between labor unions and railroads that occurred in the United States in 1894. The conflict began in the town of Pullman, Illinois on May 11 when approximately 3,000 employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company began a wildcat strike in response to recent...
in IllinoisIllinoisIllinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. During the economic panic of 1893Panic of 1893The Panic of 1893 was a serious economic depression in the United States that began in 1893. Similar to the Panic of 1873, this panic was marked by the collapse of railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing which set off a series of bank failures...
, the Pullman Palace Car CompanyPullman CompanyThe Pullman Palace Car Company, founded by George Pullman, manufactured railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the early decades of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Pullman developed the sleeping car which carried his name into the 1980s...
cut wages as demands for their train cars plummeted and the company's revenue dropped. A delegation of workers complained of the low wages and twelve-hour workdays, and that the corporation that operated the town of Pullman didn't decrease rents, but company owner George PullmanGeorge PullmanGeorge Mortimer Pullman was an American inventor and industrialist. He is known as the inventor of the Pullman sleeping car, and for violently suppressing striking workers in the company town he created, Pullman .-Background:Born in Brocton, New York, his family moved to Albion,...
"loftily declined to talk with them." The boycott was launched on June 26, 1894. Within four days, 125,000 workers on twenty-nine railroads had quit work rather than handle Pullman cars. Adding fuel to the fire the railroad companies began hiring replacement workers (that is, strikebreakerStrikebreakerA strikebreaker is a person who works despite an ongoing strike. Strikebreakers are usually individuals who are not employed by the company prior to the trade union dispute, but rather hired prior to or during the strike to keep the organisation running...
s), which only increased hostilities. Many African AmericanAfrican AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s, fearful that the racism expressed by the American Railway UnionAmerican Railway UnionThe American Railway Union , was the largest labor union of its time, and one of the first industrial unions in the United States. It was founded on June 20, 1893, by railway workers gathered in Chicago, Illinois, and under the leadership of Eugene V...
would lock them out of another labor market, crossed the picket line to break the strike; thus adding a racially charged tone to the conflict. - 1896–1897: Leadville Colorado, Miners' StrikeLeadville Colorado, Miners' StrikeSilver was discovered in Leadville, Colorado in the 1870s, initiating the Colorado Silver Boom. The Leadville miners' strike in 1896-97 occurred during, and as a result of, rapid industrialization and consolidation of the mining industry. Mine owners had become more powerful, and they resolved not...
. The union local in the Leadville mining districtLeadville mining districtThe Leadville mining district was the most productive silver-mining district in the US state of Colorado. It is located immediately east of the town of Leadville....
was the Cloud City Miners' Union (CCMU), Local 33 of the Western Federation of MinersWestern Federation of MinersThe Western Federation of Miners was a radical labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mines of the western United States and British Columbia. Its efforts to organize both hard rock miners and smelter workers brought it into sharp conflicts – and often pitched battles...
. In 1896, representatives of the CCMU asked for a wage increase of fifty cents per day for all mine workers not already making three dollars per day. The union felt justified, for fifty cents a day had been cut from the miners' wages during the depression of 1893. By 1895, Leadville mines posted their largest combined output since 1889, and Leadville was then ColoradoColoradoColorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
's most productive mine camp, producing almost 9.5 million ounces of silverSilverSilver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
. The mine owners "were doing a lot better than they wanted anyone to know." Negotiations over an increase in pay for the lower-paid mineworkers broke down, and 1,200 miners voted unanimously to strike all mines that were still paying at the lower rate. The next day 968 miners walked out, and mine owners locked outLockout (industry)A lockout is a work stoppage in which an employer prevents employees from working. This is different from a strike, in which employees refuse to work.- Causes :...
another 1,332 mine workers. The Leadville strike set the scene not only for the WFM's consideration of militant tactics and its embrace of radicalism, but also for the birth of the Western Labor UnionWestern Labor UnionThe Western Labor Union was a labor federation created by the Western Federation of Miners after the disastrous Leadville strike of 1896-97. The WLU was conceived in November, 1897 in a proclamation of the State Trades and Labor Council of Montana, and gained support from the WFM's executive...
(which became the American Labor UnionAmerican Labor UnionWhen the Western Labor Union , a labor federation formed by the Western Federation of Miners, decided to overtly challenge the American Federation of Labor in 1902, it changed its name to the American Labor Union . The ALU was created because the WFM wanted a class-wide labor body with which to...
), the WFM's participation in the founding of the Industrial Workers of the WorldIndustrial Workers of the WorldThe Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...
, and for events which culminated in the Colorado Labor WarsColorado Labor WarsColorado's most significant battles between labor and capital occurred primarily between miners and mine operators. In these battles the state government, with one clear exception, always took the side of the mine operators....
. - 1898: Welsh coal strikeWelsh coal strike of 1898The Welsh coal strike of 1898 was an industrial dispute involving the colliers of South Wales and Monmouthshire. The strike began as an attempt by the colliers to remove the sliding scale, which determined their wage based on the price of coal...
, involving the colliers of South WalesSouth WalesSouth Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
and MonmouthshireMonmouthshire (historic)Monmouthshire , also known as the County of Monmouth , is one of thirteen ancient counties of Wales and a former administrative county....
. The strike began as an attempt by the colliers to remove the sliding scaleSliding scale feesSliding scale fees are variable costs for products, services, or taxes based on one's ability to pay. Such fees are thereby reduced for those who have lower incomes or less money to spare after their personal expenses, regardless of income....
, which determined their wage based on the price of coal. The strike quickly turned into a disastrous lockout which would last for six months and result in a failure for the colliers as the sliding scale stayed in place. The strike officially ended on September 1, 1898. The lack of organisation and vision apparent form the colliers' leaders was addressed by the foundation of the South Wales Miners' FederationSouth Wales Miners' FederationThe South Wales Miners' Federation , nicknamed "The Fed", was a trade union for miners in South Wales.The union was founded on 24 October 1898, following the defeat of the South Wales miners' strike of 1898...
, or 'the Fed'. - 1899: Newsboys StrikeNewsboys Strike of 1899The Newsboys Strike of 1899 was a youth-led campaign to force change in the way that Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst's newspapers compensated their child labor force. The strike lasted two weeks, causing Pulitzer's New York World to reduce its circulation from 360,000 to 125,000...
in New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. The newsboys were not employees of the newspapers but rather purchased the papers from the publishers and sold them as independent agents. Not allowed to return unsold papers, the newsboys typically earned around 30 cents a day and often worked until very late at night. Cries of "Extra, extra!" were often heard into the morning hours as newsboys attempted to hawk every last paper. In 1898, with the Spanish-American WarSpanish-American WarThe Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
increasing newspaper sales, several publishers raised the cost of a newsboy bundle of 100 newspapers from 50¢ to 60¢, a price increase that at the time was offset by the increased sales. After the war, many papers reduced the cost back to previous levels, with the notable exceptions of the New York WorldNew York WorldThe New York World was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers...
and the New York Morning Journal. In July 1899, a large number of New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
newsboys refused to distribute the papers of Joseph PulitzerJoseph PulitzerJoseph Pulitzer April 10, 1847 – October 29, 1911), born Politzer József, was a Hungarian-American newspaper publisher of the St. Louis Post Dispatch and the New York World. Pulitzer introduced the techniques of "new journalism" to the newspapers he acquired in the 1880s and became a leading...
, publisher of the World, and William Randolph HearstWilliam Randolph HearstWilliam Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father...
, publisher of the Journal. The strikers demonstrated across the Brooklyn BridgeBrooklyn BridgeThe Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River...
for several days, effectively bringing traffic to a standstill, along with the news distribution for most New EnglandNew EnglandNew England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
cities. Several rallies drew more than 5,000 newsboys, complete with charismatic speeches by strike leader Kid Blink. Blink and his strikers were the subject of violence, as well. Hearst and Pulitzer hired men to break up rallies and protect the newspaper deliveries still underway.
Popular culture
- Settlement movementSettlement movementThe settlement movement was a reformist social movement, beginning in the 1880s and peaking around the 1920s in England and the US, with a goal of getting the rich and poor in society to live more closely together in an interdependent community...
based on Jane AddamsJane AddamsJane Addams was a pioneer settlement worker, founder of Hull House in Chicago, public philosopher, sociologist, author, and leader in woman suffrage and world peace...
' Hull HouseHull HouseHull House is a settlement house in the United States that was co-founded in 1889 by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr. Located in the Near West Side of , Hull House opened its doors to the recently arrived European immigrants. By 1911, Hull House had grown to 13 buildings. In 1912 the Hull...
in Chicago. - Hale JohnsonHale JohnsonAttorney Hale Johnson , was an American politician. He was born in Montgomery County, Indiana and was the son of John B. Johnson. According to historian Nathaniel Haynes, "Mr. Johnson's father, Dr. John B. Johnson, served as assistant surgeon during the Civil War. His grandfather was a Baptist...
was a major leader of the temperance movementTemperance movementA temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...
. - Department of Scientific Temperance Instruction, under Mary HuntMary HuntMary Hunt became one of the most powerful women in the United States temperance movement promoting Prohibition of alcohol. As Superintendent of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union’s Department of Scientific Temperance Instruction she worked from the grass roots to the national level to ensure...
, achieved de facto control over all alcohol education in the USA. - The Fin de SiècleFin de siècleFin de siècle is French for "end of the century". The term sometimes encompasses both the closing and onset of an era, as it was felt to be a period of degeneration, but at the same time a period of hope for a new beginning...
(primarily in ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and BrusselsBrusselsBrussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
).
Literature and arts
- Oscar WildeOscar WildeOscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
published The Picture of Dorian GrayThe Picture of Dorian GrayThe Picture of Dorian Gray is the only published novel by Oscar Wilde, appearing as the lead story in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine on 20 June 1890, printed as the July 1890 issue of this magazine...
in 1890. - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published the first Sherlock HolmesSherlock HolmesSherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
in Strand Magazine in 1891. - Frank WedekindFrank WedekindBenjamin Franklin Wedekind , usually known as Frank Wedekind, was a German playwright...
releases Spring AwakeningSpring AwakeningSpring Awakening is a rock musical adaptation of the controversial 1892 German play of the same title by Frank Wedekind. It features music by Duncan Sheik and a book and lyrics by Steven Sater. Set in late-19th century Germany, it concerns teenagers who are discovering the inner and outer tumult of...
in 1891. - Thomas HardyThomas HardyThomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
published Tess of the d'UrbervillesTess of the d'UrbervillesTess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented, also known as Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman, Tess of the d'Urbervilles or just Tess, is a novel by Thomas Hardy, first published in 1891. It initially appeared in a censored and serialised version, published by the British...
in 1891. - Rudyard KiplingRudyard KiplingJoseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
published Barrack-Room BalladsBarrack-Room BalladsThe Barrack-Room Ballads, and Other Verses are a set of martial songs and poems by Rudyard Kipling originally published in two parts: the first set in 1892, the second in 1896...
in 1892. - Charlotte Perkins GilmanCharlotte Perkins GilmanCharlotte Perkins Gilman was a prominent American sociologist, novelist, writer of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction, and a lecturer for social reform...
published The Yellow WallpaperThe Yellow Wallpaper"The Yellow Wallpaper" is a short story by the American writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman, first published in January 1892 in The New England Magazine. It is regarded as an important early work of American feminist literature, illustrating attitudes in the nineteenth century toward women's physical...
in 1892. - Rudyard KiplingRudyard KiplingJoseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
published The Jungle BookThe Jungle BookThe Jungle Book is a collection of stories by British Nobel laureate Rudyard Kipling. The stories were first published in magazines in 1893–4. The original publications contain illustrations, some by Rudyard's father, John Lockwood Kipling. Kipling was born in India and spent the first six...
in 1894. - Kate ChopinKate ChopinKate Chopin, born Katherine O'Flaherty , was an American author of short stories and novels. She is now considered by some to have been a forerunner of feminist authors of the 20th century....
published "The Story of an HourThe Story of an Hour-Background:"The Story of an Hour" is a short story written by Kate Chopin on April 19, 1894, and published in Vogue on December 6, 1894. Initially, it was written and first published, under the title "The Dream of an Hour." Then later reprinted in St. Louis Life on January 5, 1895.The title of the...
" in 1894 - George H. Thomas published in 1894 the first illustrated songIllustrated songsAn illustrated song is a type of performance art and was a popular form of entertainment in the early 20th century in the United States.Live performers and music recordings were both used by different venues to accompany still images projected from glass slides...
for The Little Lost ChildThe Little Lost ChildThe Little Lost Child is a popular song of 1894 by Edward B. Marks and Joseph W. Stern which sold more than two million copies of its sheet music following its promotion as the first ever illustrated song, an early precursor to the music video...
. - H. G. WellsH. G. WellsHerbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...
published The Time MachineThe Time MachineThe Time Machine is a science fiction novella by H. G. Wells, published in 1895 for the first time and later adapted into at least two feature films of the same name, as well as two television versions, and a large number of comic book adaptations. It indirectly inspired many more works of fiction...
(1895), The Island of Doctor MoreauThe Island of Doctor MoreauThe Island of Doctor Moreau is an 1896 science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells. It is told from the point of view of a man named Edward Prendick who is shipwrecked, rescued by a passing boat, and then left at the ship's destination by the crew along with the ship's cargo of exotic animals...
(1896), and The War of the WorldsThe War of the WorldsThe War of the Worlds is an 1898 science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells.The War of the Worlds may also refer to:- Radio broadcasts :* The War of the Worlds , the 1938 radio broadcast by Orson Welles...
(1898). H. G. Wells created modern science fiction with his book The War of the Worlds.
- A. E. HousmanA. E. HousmanAlfred Edward Housman , usually known as A. E. Housman, was an English classical scholar and poet, best known to the general public for his cycle of poems A Shropshire Lad. Lyrical and almost epigrammatic in form, the poems were mostly written before 1900...
published A Shropshire LadA Shropshire LadA Shropshire Lad is a cycle of sixty-three poems by the English poet Alfred Edward Housman . Some of the better-known poems in the book are "To an Athlete Dying Young", "Loveliest of Trees, the Cherry Now" and "When I Was One-and-Twenty".The collection was published in 1896...
in 1896. - Bram StokerBram StokerAbraham "Bram" Stoker was an Irish novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula...
published DraculaDraculaDracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
in 1897. - Anton ChekhovAnton ChekhovAnton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
published Uncle VanyaUncle VanyaUncle Vanya is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1897 and received its Moscow première in 1899 in a production by the Moscow Art Theatre, under the direction of Konstantin Stanislavski....
in 1899. - Kate ChopinKate ChopinKate Chopin, born Katherine O'Flaherty , was an American author of short stories and novels. She is now considered by some to have been a forerunner of feminist authors of the 20th century....
published The AwakeningThe Awakening (novel)The Awakening is a novel by Kate Chopin, first published in 1899 . Set in New Orleans and the Southern Louisiana coast at the end of the nineteenth century, the plot centers around Edna Pontellier and her struggle to reconcile her increasingly unorthodox views on femininity and motherhood with the...
in 1899. - Joseph ConradJoseph ConradJoseph Conrad was a Polish-born English novelist.Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English, although he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties...
published Heart of DarknessHeart of DarknessHeart of Darkness is a novella written by Joseph Conrad. Before its 1903 publication, it appeared as a three-part series in Blackwood's Magazine. It was classified by the Modern Library website editors as one of the "100 best novels" and part of the Western canon.The story centres on Charles...
in 1899. - Increasing importance of Art NouveauArt NouveauArt Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
style.
Film
- For the first time in history, a coronationCoronationA coronation is a ceremony marking the formal investiture of a monarch and/or their consort with regal power, usually involving the placement of a crown upon their head and the presentation of other items of regalia...
is filmed. The coronation is of Tsar Nicholas II of RussiaNicholas II of RussiaNicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
.
Music
- RagtimeRagtimeRagtime is an original musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918. Its main characteristic trait is its syncopated, or "ragged," rhythm. It began as dance music in the red-light districts of American cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans years before being published...
music cho
World leaders
- Prime Minister John Sparrow David Thompson (CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
) - Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid LaurierWilfrid LaurierSir Wilfrid Laurier, GCMG, PC, KC, baptized Henri-Charles-Wilfrid Laurier was the seventh Prime Minister of Canada from 11 July 1896 to 6 October 1911....
(CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
) - Emperor Franz Josef (Austria-HungaryAustria-HungaryAustria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
) - Kaiser Wilhelm II (German EmpireGerman EmpireThe German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
) - Chancellor Leo von CapriviLeo von CapriviGeorg Leo Graf von Caprivi de Caprera de Montecuccoli was a German major general and statesman, who succeeded Otto von Bismarck as Chancellor of Germany...
(German EmpireGerman EmpireThe German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
) - King Umberto IUmberto I of ItalyUmberto I or Humbert I , nicknamed the Good , was the King of Italy from 9 January 1878 until his death. He was deeply loathed in far-left circles, especially among anarchists, because of his conservatism and support of the Bava-Beccaris massacre in Milan...
(ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
) - Pope Leo XIIIPope Leo XIIIPope Leo XIII , born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903...
- President Porfirio DíazPorfirio DíazJosé de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori was a Mexican-American War volunteer and French intervention hero, an accomplished general and the President of Mexico continuously from 1876 to 1911, with the exception of a brief term in 1876 when he left Juan N...
(MexicoMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
) - Czar Alexander IIIAlexander III of RussiaAlexander Alexandrovich Romanov , historically remembered as Alexander III or Alexander the Peacemaker reigned as Emperor of Russia from until his death on .-Disposition:...
(RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
) - Czar Nicholas IINicholas II of RussiaNicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
(RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
) - Queen Victoria (United Kingdom of Great Britain and IrelandUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and IrelandThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
) - Prime Minister Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (United Kingdom of Great Britain and IrelandUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and IrelandThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
) - Prime Minister William Ewart GladstoneWilliam Ewart GladstoneWilliam Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
(United Kingdom of Great Britain and IrelandUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and IrelandThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
) - Prime Minister Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery (United Kingdom of Great Britain and IrelandUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and IrelandThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
) - President Benjamin HarrisonBenjamin HarrisonBenjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States . Harrison, a grandson of President William Henry Harrison, was born in North Bend, Ohio, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at age 21, eventually becoming a prominent politician there...
(United States) - President Grover ClevelandGrover ClevelandStephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
(United States) - President William McKinleyWilliam McKinleyWilliam McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
(United States) - Emperor MeijiEmperor MeijiThe or was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 3 February 1867 until his death...
(Empire of JapanEmpire of JapanThe Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
) - President Nicolás de PiérolaNicolás de PiérolaH.E. Don Jose Nicolás Baltasar Fernández de Piérola y Villena was a prominent Peruvian politician, the Finance Minister and twice President of the Republic of Peru .-Early years:Nicolás de Piérola was born and educated in the southern Peruvian city of Arequipa...
(PeruPeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
) - ShahShahShāh is the title of the ruler of certain Southwest Asian and Central Asian countries, especially Persia , and derives from the Persian word shah, meaning "king".-History:...
s of Persia (Qajar dynastyQajar dynastyThe Qajar dynasty was an Iranian royal family of Turkic descent who ruled Persia from 1785 to 1925....
)
- Nasser-al-Din Shah, 1848–1896
- Mozzafar-al-Din Shah, 1896–1907
Entertainers
- Adelina PattiAdelina PattiAdelina Patti was a highly acclaimed 19th-century opera singer, earning huge fees at the height of her career in the music capitals of Europe and America. She first sang in public as a child in 1851 and gave her last performance before an audience in 1914...
- George W. JohnsonGeorge W. JohnsonGeorge Washington Johnson was a singer and pioneer sound recording artist, the first African American recording star of the phonograph.-Early life:...
- Justin SmithJustin SmithJustin Smith is the name of:In sport and gaming:* Justin Smith , American football player* Justin Smith , American poker player...
- George GershwinGeorge GershwinGeorge Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
Further reading
- The Mauve Decade, by Thomas BeerThomas BeerThomas Beer was an American author.Thomas Beer may also refer to:* Tom E. Beer , American football player* Tom Beer , American football player...
(1926) - The Alienist, By Caleb Carr
External links
- Quiz: Victorian Etiquette – Educational Game, In the style of Monty PythonMonty PythonMonty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
- 1890s 1890s