| January 1 | Wilhelm Rontgen announces his discovery of x-rays |
| January 2 | Battle at Doornkop, South Africa (Boers beat Dr. Jamesons troops) |
| January 3 | Emperor Wilhelm congratulates President Kruger on the Jameson Raid |
| January 4 | AFL charters Actors' National Protective Union, New York City |
| January 4 | Following Mormon abandonment of polygamy, Utah admitted as 45th state |
| January 5 | German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen's discovers x-rays |
| January 5 | Isaac Albeniz' opera "Pepita Jiminez," premieres in Barcelona |
| January 6 | 1st U.S. women's 6-day bicycle race starts, Madison Square Garden |
| January 6 | Cecil Rhodes resigns as premier of Cape colony |
| January 7 | Fanny Farmer publishes her 1st cookbook |
| January 12 | 1st X-ray photo in U.S. (Dr. Henry Smith, Davidson NC) |
| January 15 | Henry Arthur Jones' "Michael and his Lost Angel," premieres in London |
| January 18 | 1st demonstration of an X-ray machine in U.S. (New York City) |
| January 18 | British troops occupy Kumasi, West Africa |
| January 23 | Edward Macdowell's 2nd Suite in E, premieres |
| January 27 | Tasmania bowl out Victoria for 65 for their 1st ever innings victory |
| January 29 | Emile Grubbe is 1st dr to use radiation treatment for breast cancer |
| February 1 | Giacomo Puccini's Opera "La Boheme," premieres in Turin |
| February 8 | Georges Feydeaus' "Le Dindon," premieres in Paris |
| February 8 | Western Conference forms of Midwestern U, later renamed Big 10 Conf |
| February 11 | Oscar Wildes "Salom" premieres in Paris |
| February 14 | George Lohmann takes a hat-trick vs. South Africa, 8-7 for inning |
| February 14 | South Africa all out for 30 vs. England - their lowest ever |
| February 14 | Stanley Cup: Winnipeg Victorias beat Montreal Victorias, 2-0 |
| February 14 | Theodor Herzl publishes "Der Judenstaat" |
| February 17 | London Country Councils' Muzzling Order becomes effective |
| February 18 | Cave of Winds at Niagara Falls goes almost dry for 1st time in 50 yrs |
| February 23 | Tootsie Roll introduced by Leo Hirshfield |
| February 24 | Victoria all out for 43 vs South Australia, Jones 6-15 Jarvis 4-27 |
| February 25 | Italian government decides to attack governor Baratieri of Eritrea |
| February 28 | France dismisses Queen Ranavalona of Madagascar |
| March 1 | Battle of Adua: 80,000 Ethiopians destroy 20,000 Italians |
| March 2 | Battle of Aduwa, Abyssinia (Ethiopia) defeats invading Italians |
| March 2 | George Lohmann takes 9-28 vs. South Africa at Johannesburg |
| March 5 | Italian premier Crispi resigns |
| March 5 | Italians governor of Eritrea, General Baldissera, reaches Massawa |
| March 6 | 1st auto in Detroit, Charles B King rides his "Horseless Carriage" |
| March 7 | Gilbert and Sullivan's last operette "Grand Duke," premieres in London |
| March 8 | Volunteers of America forms (New York City) |
| March 10 | Bronx acquires O'Brien Square |
| March 10 | Charilaos Vasilakos of Greece wins 1st modern marathon in 3:18 |
| March 12 | 1st movie in Netherlands (Kalverstr 220) |
| March 14 | Sutro Baths (SF) opens by Cliff House (closed Sept 1, 1952) |
| March 16 | Premiere of Mahler's "Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen" |
| March 20 | Marines land in Nicaragua to protect U.S. citizens |
| March 20 | Uprising in Matabeleland |
| March 22 | Charilaos Vasilakos wins 1st marathon (3:18) |
| March 23 | Umberto Giordano's opera "Andrea Chenier," premieres in Milan |
| March 25 | Modern Olympics began in Athens, Greece |
| March 28 | The opera "Andrea Chenier" is produced (Milan) |
| March 31 | Whitcomb Judson, Chicago, patents a hookless fastening, also known as the zipper |
| April 4 | Announcement of Gold in Yukon |
| April 5 | 1st modern Olympic Games officially opens in Athens |
| April 6 | 1st modern Olympic games open in Athens Greece, American, James Connolly, wins 1st Olympic gold medal in mod history |
| April 10 | Spiridon Louis wins 1st Olympic marathon (2:58:50) |
| April 12 | Stamasia Portrisi is 1st woman to win a marathon (5:30 in Athens) |
| April 14 | John Philip Sousa's "El Capitan," premieres (New York City) |
| April 15 | 1st Olympic games close at Athens, Greece |
| April 19 | Herzl's "The Jewish State" is published |
| April 20 | 1st public film showing in U.S. John Philip Sousa's "El Capitan," premieres in New York City |
| April 23 | Premier of motion pictures (Koster and Bial's Music Hall, New York City) |
| April 23 | Vitascope system of movie projection 1st demonstrated (New York City) |
| April 25 | Fight in Central Dance Hall starts fire (Cripple Creek Colorado) |
| April 25 | Sidney Jones and Harry Greenbacks musical premieres in London |
| May 4 | 1st edition of London Daily Mail ( penny) |
| May 4 | Grease fire ignites ton of dynamite at Cripple Creek Colorado |
| May 6 | 22nd Kentucky Derby: Willie Simms aboard Ben Brush wins in 2:07.75 |
| May 8 | Yorkshire Cricket all out for 887 against Warwickshire |
| May 9 | 1st horseless carriage show in London (featured 10 models) |
| May 14 | Lowest U.S. temperature in May recorded -10 degrees F - Climax, Colorado |
| May 15 | Tornado kills 78 in Texas |
| May 18 | U.S. Supreme Court affirms race separation (Plessy vs. Ferguson) |
| May 19 | 1st auto (Benz) to arrive in Netherlands |
| May 26 | 1st American intercollegiate bicycle race, Manhattan Beach NY |
| May 26 | Dow Jones begins an index of 12 industrial stocks (closing is 40.94) |
| May 26 | Last Czar of Russia, Nicholas II, crowned |
| May 27 | Bay District Race Track closes |
| May 27 | Tornado hit St. Louis, killing 255 and leaving thousands homeless |
| May 30 | 1st car accident occurs, Henry Wells hit a bicyclist (New York City) |
| June 2 | 30th Belmont: Henry Griffin aboard Hastings wins in 2:24 |
| June 2 | Guglielmo Marconi patents the radio |
| June 4 | Henry takes his 1st Ford through streets of Detroit |
| June 6 | 21st Preakness: Henry Griffin aboard Margrave wins in 1:51 |
| June 6 | George Samuelson leaves New York harbor to row across Atlantic |
| June 7 | G Harpo and F Samuelson leave New York to row the Atlantic (takes 54 days) |
| June 11 | U.S. Assay Office in Deadwood South Dakota authorized |
| June 15 | Tsunami strikes Shinto festival on beach at Sanriku Japan 27,000 are killed, 9,000 injured, with 13,000 houses destroyed |
| June 16 | Temperature hits 127 degrees F at Fort Mojave, California |
| June 26 | 1st movie theater in U.S. opens, charging 10 cents for admission |
| June 30 | W. S. Hadaway patents electric stove |
| July 1 | Harbor of Ymuiden opens |
| July 1 | Wilfrid Laurier sworn in as 1st French speaking Prime Minister |
| July 8 | William Jennings Bryan "cross of gold" speech at Dem convention |
| July 13 | Ed Delahanty, becomes 2nd major leaguer to hit 4 home runs in a game |
| July 18 | 2nd U.S. Golf Open: James Foulis shoots a 152 at Shinnecock Hills NY |
| July 18 | George Giffen is 1st to complete 1000/100 double, in 30th Test Cricket |
| July 18 | Ranjitsinhji completes 154* on Test Cricket debut vs. Australia, Old Trafford |
| July 21 | National Federation of Afro-American Women and Colored Women's |
| July 28 | City of Miami incorporated |
| August 1 | George Samuelson completes rowing Atlantic (New York to England) |
| August 6 | France annexes Madagascar |
| August 11 | Harvey Hubbell patents electric light bulb socket with a pull chain |
| August 12 | Gold discovered at Klondike River at Dawson |
| August 12 | Willem II soccer team forms in Tilburg |
| August 16 | Gold discovered in Klondike, found at Bonanza Creek, Ala |
| August 17 | George Washington Carmack discoveres gold in Klondike region of Yukon |
| August 18 | Adolph Ochs (39) buys New York Times |
| August 20 | Dial telephone patented |
| August 26 | Armenian revolutionairy assault on Ottoman Bank Constantinople |
| August 27 | England defeated Zanzibar in a 38-minute war (9:02 AM-9:40 AM) |
| August 29 | Chop suey invented in New York City by chef of visiting Chinese Ambassador |
| August 31 | Louis Napoleon Parker's "Rosemary," premieres in New York City |
| September 7 | 1st closed-circuit auto race, at Cranston, RI |
| September 7 | A. H. Whiting wins 1st automobile race held on a track in Cranston, Rhode Island |
| September 20 | John Mcdermott wins 1st U.S. marathon (New York City) |
| September 21 | General Kitcheners army occupies Dongola Sudan |
| October 1 | Sherlock Holmes adventure "Veiled Lodger" takes place |
| October 1 | Yosemite becomes a National Park |
| October 5 | William Gillette's "Secret Service," premieres in New York City |
| October 8 | Dow Jones starts reporting an average of selected industrial stocks |
| October 17 | Anton Tsjechovs "Chayka," premieres in St. Petersburg |
| October 26 | Abyssinia and Italy sign peace treaty |
| October 27 | 1st Pali Road completed in Hawaii (winds so strong streams flow UP!) |
| October 30 | Martha Hughes Cannon of Utah becomes 1st female senator |
| November 1 | 1st bare women breast (Zulu) to appear in National Geographic Mag |
| November 3 | J. H. Hunter patents portable weighing scales |
| November 3 | Martha Hughes Cannon of Utah elected 1st female senator |
| November 3 | William McKinley (R) defeats William Jennings Bryan (D) for president |
| November 11 | Jules Vandenpeereboom becomes Belgium's minister of War |
| November 14 | Power plant at Niagara Falls begins operation |
| November 19 | Start of Sherlock Holmes "Adventure of Sussex Vampire" |
| November 24 | 1st U.S. absentee voting law enacted by Vermont |
| November 26 | 1st large indoor football game, University of Chicago beats University of Michigan 7-6 |
| November 26 | A. A. Stagg of U Chicago creates football huddle |
| November 27 | "Also Sprach Zarathustra" (Thus Spake Zarathustra) debuts in Frankfurt |
| December 1 | 1st certified public accountants receive certificates (NY) |
| December 2 | Gerhart Hauptmann's "Die versunkene Glocke," premieres in Berlin |
| December 5 | Henrik Ibsen's "Kejsor og Galileer," premieres in Leipzig |
| December 6 | D T Suzuki found the awakening at Engakuji temple, in Kamakura |
| December 8 | Start of Sherlock Holmes "Adventure of Missing 3 Quarter" |
| December 10 | 1st intercollegiate basketball game (Wesleyan beats Yale 4-3) |
| December 10 | Alfred Jarry's "Ubu Roi," premieres in Paris |
| December 25 | "Stars and Stripes Forever" written by John Philip Sousa |
| December 30 | Stanley Cup: Montreal Victorias beat Winnipeg Victorias, 6-5 |
| December 31 | 25th auto built in US |
