1889

This page is about the year 1889. For the board game, see 1889.

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1889 (MDCCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar).

Every human recorded to have been born in this year has since passed on except for the current (as of April 15 2006) oldest woman in the world, Maria Capovilla, born on September 14, 1889.

Events

January-April

File:Tour eiffel at sunrise from the trocadero.jpg

The Eiffel Tower in Paris.

January 8 - Herman Hollerith receives a patent for his electric tabulating machine
January 22 - Columbia Phonograph is formed in Washington, DC.
January 30 - Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria and his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera commit a double suicide (or a murder suicide) in Mayerling hunting lodge
February 11 - Meiji Constitution of Japan adopted; 1st Diet convenes in 1890
February 22 - President Grover Cleveland signs a bill admitting North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington as U.S. states.
March 4 - Grover Cleveland, 24th President of the United States (1885 - 1889) is succeeded by Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893).
March 9 - Yohannes IV is killed in the Battle of Metemma; Sudanese forces, who had been almost defeated, rally and destroy the Ethiopian army.
March 31 - The Eiffel Tower is inaugurated (opens May 6). Contemporary critics regard it aesthetically displeasing
April 20 - Adolf Hitler is born.
April 22 - At high noon, thousands rush to claim land in the Land Run of 1889. Within hours the cities of Oklahoma City and Guthrie are formed with populations of at least 10,000.

May-October

May 2 - Menelik II, Emperor of Ethiopia, signs a treaty of amity with Italy, giving Italy control over what will become Eritrea.
May 15 - In Samoa, three US and three German ships sink in a typhoon because the captains refuse to leave before the others - almost 200 drown. British steamer Calliope saves itself by pushing into the wind with full speed
May 31 - South Fork Dam collapses in western Pennsylvania, killing more than 2,200 people in and around Johnstown, Pennsylvania; the Johnstown Flood.
June 3 - The first long distance electric power transmission line in the United States is completed, running 14 miles between a generator at Willamette Falls and downtown Portland, Oregon.
June 6 - The Great Seattle Fire ravages through the downtown area without any fatalities.
June 12 - 88 are killed in the Armagh rail disaster near Armagh in Northern Ireland.
July 8 - The first issue of the Wall Street Journal is published on July 8th.
August 14 - The Great London Dock Strike breaks out in England.
September 10 - Albert Honoré Charles Grimaldi becomes Reigning Prince Albert I of Monaco
October 2 - In Washington, DC, the first international Conference of American States begins.
October 3 - Sister Carries goes to Chicago
October 24 - Sir Henry Parkes, Premier of New South Wales, delivers the Tenterfield Oration calling for the Federation of Australia.

November

November 2 - North Dakota and South Dakota are admitted as the 39th and 40th U.S. states.
November 6 - Nintendo Koppai (Later Nintendo Company, Limited) founded by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce and market the playing card game Hanafuda.
November 8 - Montana is admitted as the 41st U.S. state.
November 11 - Washington is admitted as the 42nd U.S. state.
November 14 - Inspired by Jules Verne pioneer woman Journalist Nellie Bly (Elizabeth Cochrane) begins an attempt to beat travel around the world in less than 80 days (Bly finished the journey in 72 days, 6 hours and 11 minutes).
November 15 - Brazil is declared a republic by Marechal Deodoro da Fonseca and Emperor Pedro II is deposed in a military coup (he was the second and last emperor of Brazil).

Unknown dates

Riverside Elementary School is opened in Wichita, Kansas
Adelaide Medical Students' Society is founded in Adelaide, Australia
Wisden Cricketer's Almanac publishes its first Wisden Cricketers of the Year (actually titled Six Great Bowlers Of The Year). The cricketers chosen are George Lohmann, Bobby Peel, Johnny Briggs, Charles Turner, John Ferris and Sammy Woods.
Frederick Abel invents cordite
Diet of Japan founded
French defense minister Georges Boulanger attempts a coup but is forced to flee the country
First free elections in Costa Rica
Glele, king of Dahomey, commits suicide
Yellow fever interrupts the building of Panama Canal
Huge locust swarm crosses the Red Sea and destroys crops in the Nile Valley
Ghost Dance movement
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad claimed to be the Promised Messiah and Mahdi.
Fabian Essays in Socialism, edited by George Bernard Shaw, is published.
Capilano Suspension Bridge was founded. This is the longest suspension bridge in the world, and the park is now a favourite attraction to tourists from all over the world. It is located in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
North Carolina Legislature issues a charter for the creation of Elon College.
In March of 1889, a German naval force shelled a village in Samoa, and by doing so destroyed some American property. Three American warships then entered the Samoan harbor and were prepared to fire on the three German warships found there. Before guns were fired, a hurricane blew up and sank all the ships, American and German. A compulsory armistice was called because of the lack of warships.
Sylvie and Bruno published.