1899 in the United States
Encyclopedia
Incumbents
- PresidentPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
: 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...
(RepublicanRepublican 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...
) - Vice PresidentVice President of the United StatesThe Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
: Garret HobartGarret HobartGarret Augustus Hobart was the 24th Vice President of the United States, serving from March 4, 1897 until his death. He was the sixth American vice president to die in office....
(RepublicanRepublican 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...
) (until November 21), vacant (starting November 21) - Chief JusticeChief Justice of the United StatesThe Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...
: Melville FullerMelville FullerMelville Weston Fuller was the eighth Chief Justice of the United States between 1888 and 1910.-Early life and education:... - Speaker of the House of RepresentativesSpeaker of the United States House of RepresentativesThe Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...
: Thomas Brackett ReedThomas Brackett ReedThomas Brackett Reed, , occasionally ridiculed as Czar Reed, was a U.S. Representative from Maine, and Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1889–1891 and from 1895–1899...
(RRepublican 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...
-Maine) (until March 4), David B. HendersonDavid B. HendersonDavid Bremner Henderson , a ten-term Republican Congressman from Dubuque, Iowa, was the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1899 to 1903...
(RRepublican 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...
-Iowa) (starting December 4) - CongressUnited States CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
: 55th55th United States Congress-House of Representatives:* Republican: 206 * Democratic: 124* Populist: 22* Silver Republican: 3* Silver: 1* Independent Republican: 1TOTAL members: 357-Leadership:-Senate:* President: Garret Hobart * President pro tempore: William P...
(until March 4), 56th56th United States Congress-House of Representatives:- Leadership :- Senate :* President: Garret Hobart , until November 21, 1899 , vacant thereafter.* President pro tempore: William P. Frye * Democratic Caucus Chairman: James K. Jones...
(starting March 4)
January
- January 1 – QueensQueensQueens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
and Staten Island merge with 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...
. - January 10 – The Tau Kappa EpsilonTau Kappa EpsilonTau Kappa Epsilon is a college fraternity founded on January 10, 1899 at Illinois Wesleyan University with chapters in the United States, and Canada, and affiliation with a German fraternity system known as the Corps of the Weinheimer Senioren Convent...
Fraternity is founded at Illinois Wesleyan UniversityIllinois Wesleyan UniversityIllinois Wesleyan University is an independent undergraduate university located in Bloomington, Illinois. Founded in 1850, the central portion of the present campus was acquired in 1854 with the first building erected in 1856...
in Bloomington, IllinoisBloomington, IllinoisBloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States and the county seat. It is adjacent to Normal, Illinois, and is the more populous of the two principal municipalities of the Bloomington-Normal metropolitan area...
. - January 17 – The United States takes possession of Wake IslandWake IslandWake Island is a coral atoll having a coastline of in the North Pacific Ocean, located about two-thirds of the way from Honolulu west to Guam east. It is an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States, administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior...
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February
- February 4 – 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...
begins as hostilities break out in Manila. - February 6 – 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...
: A peace treaty between the United States and SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
is ratified by the United States SenateUnited States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
. - February 12–14 – Great Blizzard of 1899Great Blizzard of 1899The Great Blizzard of 1899 was an unprecedented winter weather event that affected the southern United States. What made it historic was both the severity of winter weather and the extent of the U.S. it affected, especially in the South. The first reports indicated record-high barometric pressure...
: Freezing temperatures and snowSnowSnow is a form of precipitation within the Earth's atmosphere in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by...
extend well south into North America, including southern FloridaFloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. It is the latest in a series of disasters to Florida's citrusCitrusCitrus is a common term and genus of flowering plants in the rue family, Rutaceae. Citrus is believed to have originated in the part of Southeast Asia bordered by Northeastern India, Myanmar and the Yunnan province of China...
industry. - February 14 – Voting machineVoting machineVoting machines are the total combination of mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic equipment , that is used to define ballots; to cast and count votes; to report or display election results; and to maintain and produce any audit trail information...
s are approved by the U.S. Congress for use in federal electionElectionAn election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
s.
March
- March 2 – In Washington State, USA, Mount Rainier National ParkMount Rainier National ParkMount Rainier National Park is a United States National Park located in southeast Pierce County and northeast Lewis County in Washington state. It was one of the US's earliest National Parks, having been established on March 2, 1899 as the fifth national park in the United States. The park contains...
is established. - March 24 – George DeweyGeorge DeweyGeorge Dewey was an admiral of the United States Navy. He is best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War...
is made Admiral of the US NavyAdmiral of the Navy (United States)Admiral of the Navy is a rank in the United States Navy that has only been held once in history, by George Dewey. In recognition of his victory at Manila Bay in 1898, Congress authorized a single officer to hold the rank of Admiral, and promoted Dewey to this rank in March 1899...
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April
- April 15 – Students at the University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, BerkeleyThe University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
steal the Stanford Axe from Stanford UniversityStanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
yell leaders following a baseball game, thus establishing the Axe as a symbol of the rivalry between the schools.
June
- June 12 – A tornadoNew Richmond TornadoThe 1899 New Richmond Tornado was an unprecedented disaster in the northern Great Plains. It nearly destroyed the village of New Richmond, Wisconsin on June 12, 1899, killing 117 and injuring 125 people...
completely destroys the town of New Richmond, WisconsinNew Richmond, WisconsinNew Richmond is a city in St. Croix County, Wisconsin, United States. Its population was 8,375 as of the 2010 census.-History:New Richmond was founded in 1857. In August 2007, the town celebrated its sesquicentennial....
, killing 117 and injuring more than 200. - June 25 – Three Denver, ColoradoDenver, ColoradoThe City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
newspapers publish a story (later proved to be a fabrication) that the Chinese government under 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...
is going to demolish the Great Wall of ChinaGreat Wall of ChinaThe Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built originally to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups...
. - June 30 – Mile-a-Minute MurphyMile-a-Minute MurphyCharles Minthorn Murphy , also known as Mile-a-Minute Murphy, was an American cycling athlete. He was the first man ever to ride a bicycle for one mile in less than a minute...
earns his famous nickname this day, after he becomes the first man to ride a bicycle for one mile in under a minute on Long IslandLong IslandLong Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
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July
- July 17 – America's first juvenile courtJuvenile courtA juvenile court is a tribunal having special authority to try and pass judgments for crimes committed by children or adolescents who have not attained the age of majority...
is established 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...
. - July 19 – The Newsboys Strike takes place when the Newsies of 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...
go on strike (strike lasts until August 2). - July 30 – The Harriman Alaska ExpeditionHarriman Alaska ExpeditionIn 1899, wealthy railroad magnate Edward Harriman arranged for a maritime expedition to Alaska. Harriman brought with him an elite community of scientists, artists, photographers, and naturalists to explore and document the Alaskan coast...
ends successfully.
August
- August 3 – The John Marshall Law School is founded 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...
, 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,...
. - August 17 – A hurricane1899 Hurricane San Ciriaco1899 San Ciriaco hurricane, also known as the 1899 Puerto Rico Hurricane, was the longest-lived Atlantic hurricane and the eleventh deadliest tropical cyclone in the basin. It was an intense and long-lived Atlantic Cape Verde-type hurricane which crossed Puerto Rico over the two day period August 8...
makes landfall in North CarolinaNorth CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
's Outer BanksOuter BanksThe Outer Banks is a 200-mile long string of narrow barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina, beginning in the southeastern corner of Virginia Beach on the east coast of the United States....
, completely destroying the town of Diamond CityDiamond City, North CarolinaDiamond City was a settlement on the eastern end of Shackleford Banks, in Carteret County, North Carolina.Due to a hurricane that struck in August 1899, the approximately 500 residents of the settlement and island decided to move...
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September
- September 14 – Henry H. Bliss becomes the first motor vehicle accident fatality in the US. On disembarking from a streetcar 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...
, an electric-powered taxicabTaxicabA taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
strikes and crushes him and he dies from his injuries next morning.
October
- October 30 – The Augusta High School Building is completed in Augusta, KentuckyAugusta, KentuckyAugusta is a city in Bracken County, Kentucky, United States, along the Ohio River. As of the 2005 census, the city population was 2,004. When Bracken County was organized in 1796, Augusta was the county seat...
; Augusta Methodist College shuts down.
November
- November 4 – The Alpha Sigma TauAlpha Sigma TauAlpha Sigma Tau is a national Panhellenic sorority founded on November 4, 1899, at Michigan State Normal College...
Sorority is founded in Ypsilanti, MichiganMichiganMichigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. - November 8 – The Bronx ZooBronx ZooThe Bronx Zoo is located in the Bronx borough of New York City, within Bronx Park. It is the largest metropolitan zoo in the United States, comprising of park lands and naturalistic habitats, through which the Bronx River flows....
opens 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...
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December
- December 2 – 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...
– Battle of Tirad PassBattle of Tirad PassThe Battle of Tirad Pass, sometimes referred to as the "Philippine Thermopylae", was a battle in the Philippine-American War fought on December 2, 1899, in northern Luzon in the Philippines, in which a 60-man Filipino rearguard commanded by Brigadier General Gregorio del Pilar succumbed to 500...
: ("The Filipino Thermopylae") General Gregorio del PilarGregorio del PilarGregorio del Pilar y Sempio was one of the youngest generals in the Philippine Revolutionary Forces during the Philippine Revolution and the Philippine-American War. He is most known for his role and death at the Battle of Tirad Pass...
and his troops are able to guard the retreat of Philippine President 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...
before being wiped out.
Undated
- The North Carolina General AssemblyNorth Carolina General AssemblyThe North Carolina General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of North Carolina. The General Assembly drafts and legislates the state laws of North Carolina, also known as the General Statutes...
incorporates the town of ManteoManteo, North CarolinaManteo is a town in Dare County, North Carolina, United States, located on Roanoke Island. The population was 1,052 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Dare County.-Geography:...
, which was originally laid out as the DareDare County, North Carolina-National protected areas:* Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge * Cape Hatteras National Seashore * Fort Raleigh National Historic Site* Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge* Wright Brothers National Memorial-Demographics:...
county seat in 1870. - Gold is discovered in Nome, AlaskaNome, AlaskaNome is a city in the Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska, located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. According to the 2010 Census, the city population was 3,598. Nome was incorporated on April 9, 1901, and was once the...
.
Ongoing
- Gay NinetiesGay NinetiesGay 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...
(1890–1899) - 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...
(1890s–1920s) - Lochner eraLochner eraThe Lochner era is a period in American legal history in which the Supreme Court of the United States tended to strike down laws held to be infringing on economic liberty or private contract rights, and takes its name from a 1905 case, Lochner v. New York. The beginning of the period is usually...
(c. 1897–c. 1937) - Philippine–American War (1899–1902)