istoryworld
Events relating to europe
Frank Hornby patents in Liverpool his Meccano construction system for children
Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen sails into the Arctic in the purpose-built Fram, beginning a three-year expedition to reach the North Pole
The British Central African Protectorate is set up in the region of present-day Malawi
The Gaelic League is founded to restore the use of Gaelic as Ireland's spoken language
The Scottish game of shinty is provided with a standardized set of rules
Tchaikovsky's symphony no. 6, known as the 'Pathetic' or Pathétique, has its premiere in St Petersburg
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
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
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
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
The territory south of the Zambezi is given the name Rhodesia, in honour of the man who has colonized it
Scottish chemist William Ramsay isolates the element helium
Khama III, the king of Bechuanaland, travels to London to demand the continuing protection of the British crown
Oscar Wilde loses a libel case that he has brought against the marquess of Queensberry for describing him as a sodomite
21-year-old Guglielmo Marconi succeeds in transmitting a radio signal more than a mile at his home near Bologna
