January 1 French troops occupy Nioro, West-Sudan, 3000 killed January 1 King Pakketvaart sails to Netherlands Indies January 26 Oscar Wilde's "Duchess of Padua," premieres in New York City January 27 Mine explosion kills 109 at Mount Pleasant Pennsylvania February 6 1st great train robbery by Dalton Gang (Southern Pacific #17) February 7 Great Blizzard of 1891 begins February 9 1st shipment of asparagus arrives in San Francisco from Sacramento February 18 Captain Archinard's army fights with Nyamina of Niger in West-Sudan February 24 French troops under captain Archinard occupy Diena West Sudan February 26 1st buffalo purchased for Golden Gate Park February 26 Henrik Ibsens "Hedda Gabler," premieres in Oslo February 28 Oscar Grunden skates world record 500m (50.8 sec) March 3 Congress creates U.S. Courts of Appeal March 3 Office of Superintendent of Immigration (Treasury Department) created March 17 British Steamer "Utopia" sinks off Gibraltar killing 574 March 18 Britain is linked to the continent by Telephone March 21 A Hatfield marries a McCoy, ends long feud in West Virginia it started with an accusation of pig-stealing and lasted 20 years March 28 1st world weightlifting championship held April 1 London-Paris telephone connection opens April 1 Painter Gauguin leaves Marseille for Tahiti April 7 Nebraska introduces 8 hour work day April 11 8 year old Jewish tailor's daughter disappears in Greece, rumor spreads that she was a Christian girl ritually killed by Jews April 23 Jews are expelled from Moscow, Russia April 24 Start of Sherlock Holmes adventure "Final Problem" April 25 President Benjamin Harrison visits San Francisco May 1 Cy Young pitches 1st game played in Cleveland's League Park Cleveland Spiders 12, Cincinnati Redlegs 3 May 5 Music Hall (Carnegie Hall) opens in New York, Tchaikovsky as guest conductor May 6 Conductors on London General Omnibus Company go on strike May 7 Battle in Bunyoro: Captain F Lugard stops Moslem rebellion, 300 killed May 12 Riot against tax increase in Paramaribo Suriname May 13 17th Kentucky Derby: Isaac Murphy aboard Kingman wins in 2:52 May 15 British Central African Protectorate (now Malawi) forms May 15 Jules Massenets opera "Griselde," premieres in Paris May 15 Operations begin at Philips and Co in Holland May 15 Pope Leo XIII publishes encyclical Rerum novarum May 16 George A Hormel and Co introduce Spam May 19 Rice Institute, which became Rice University, is chartered May 21 Boxers Peter Jackson and Jim Corbett fight to a draw in 61 rounds May 22 1st motion picture shown to National Federation of Women's Clubs May 31 Work on trans-Siberian railway begins June 9 Painter Gauguin arrives in Papeete, Tahiti June 10 25th Belmont: Ed Garrison aboard Foxford wins in 2:08.75 June 11 Puerto Rican flag adopted June 29 National Forest Service organized July 5 Hail kills 6 horses in Rapid City, SD July 7 Travelers checks patents July 8 61 degrees F, highest temp for July 1891, in Baltimore and Philadelphia July 8 Future president Harding marries Florence K DeWolfe in Marion Ohio July 14 John T. Smith patents corkboard July 26 Henry James' "American," premieres in London July 27 Titus van Wyck succeeds M de Savornin Lohman as Governor of Suriname August 5 1st travelers checks issued, American Express August 17 1st public bathhouse with showers opens in New York City (People's Bath) August 17 Electric self-starter for automobile patented August 18 Hurricane hits Martinique, about 700 die August 19 William Huggins describes astronomical application of spectrum August 21 Dutch Mackay government resigns August 24 Thomas Edison patents motion picture camera September 3 11th U.S. Mens Tennis: Oliver S Campbell beats C Hobart (26 75 79 61 62) September 3 Cotton pickers organize union and staged strike in Texas September 3 John Stephens Durham, named minister to Haiti September 7 Captain Frederick Lugards army reaches Kavalli Equatoria September 14 "Empire State Express" train goes from New York City to East Buffalo, a distance of 436 miles, in a record 7H6M September 18 Harriet Maxwell Converse is 1st white woman to become an Indian chief October 12 Astronomical Society of France is inaugurated October 18 1st international 6-day bicycle race in U.S. (MSG, New York City) begins October 20 1st International 6 day bike race (New York MSG) begins October 25 1st International 6 day bike race (New York MSG) ends October 28 Quake strikes Mino-Owari, Japan kills 7,300 November 10 1st Woman's Christian Temperance Union meeting held (in Boston) November 10 Granville T. Woods patents electric railway November 30 Pope Leo XIII's encyclical "Rerum novarum" published December 1 James Naismith creates the game of basketball December 2 52nd Congress (1891-93) convenes December 7 52nd Congress (1st to appropriate $1 billion) holds 1st session December 15 James Naismith invents basketball (Canada) December 19 Canadian Rugby Union forms December 20 Strongman Louis Cyr withstands pull of 4 horses December 21 18 students play 1st basketball game (Springfield College) December 29 Edison patents "transmission of signals electrically" (radio)
