istoryworld
All Events
France incorporates Laos within French Indochina
Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky dies after a short illness, possibly from cholera or perhaps in sinister circumstances that remain the subject of controversy
Joseph Stapley, aged 80, is the oldest of the five paupers admitted to the Richmond Workhouse on December 1
Hansel and Gretl, an opera by German composer Engelbert Humperdinck, has its premiere in Weimar
Harold Macmillan is born in London, son of the publisher Maurice Macmillan and his American wife, Nellie Tarleton
Gladstone retires as Britain's prime minister and his place is taken by his foreign secretary, Lord Rosebery
France and Russia, alarmed by Germany's ambitions, sign a defensive Franco-Russian alliance
French-born artist and author George du Maurier publishes his novel Trilby
Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book surrounds the child Mowgli with a collection of vivid animal guardians
Wealthy US astronomer Percival Lowell builds an observatory at Mars Hill in Flagstaff, Arizona
US Socialist Eugene Debs comes to prominence as leader of a strike by railway workers against the Pullman Company
London's Tower Bridge raises its roadway for the first time to let a ship pass up the Thames
The Basque Nationalist Party is founded, beginning more than a century of separatist unrest in northwest Spain
Scottish physicist William Ramsay isolates argon, following Rayleigh's discovery that an undiscovered gas combines with nitrogen in the air
Japan and China go to war over Korea, with disastrous results for China
William Randolph Hearst buys the New York Journal, the first of numerous purchases in building up his press empire
Brazil's first civilian president, Prudente de Morais, is peacefully elected, setting the pattern for the next four decades
Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer in the French army, is convicted of treason and sent to Devil's Island in French Guiana
Claude Debussy's tone poem L'Après-midi d'un faune has its premiere in Paris
The first competitive event for cars is held over a distance of 78 miles from Paris to Rouen
The tenor Enrico Caruso makes his debut in his home town of Naples
Swan Lake is performed in St Petersburg in its definitive version, with choreography shared between Lucien Petipa and Lev Ivanov
Oscar Wilde's most brilliant comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest is performed in London's St. James Theatre
Japan's navy destroys the remains of China's fleet at Weihaiwei
The territory south of the Zambezi is given the name Rhodesia, in honour of the man who has colonized it
