1895 - What happened in 1895 ?

January 1895

Saturday 05:

Dreyfus Affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island.

February 1895

Saturday 09:

William G. Morgan invents volleyball.

Monday 11:

The lowest ever UK temperature of -27.2°C was recorded at Braemar in Aberdeenshire. This record was equalled on 10 January,1982 .

Thursday 14:

First showing of Oscar Wilde's last play The Importance of Being Earnest (St James's Theatre in London).

Sunday 17:

Swan Lake, one of the most famous and critically-acclaimed ballets, with music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, was first performed at full length in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

March 1895

Friday 22:

First display (a private screening) of motion pictures by Auguste and Louis Lumière.

April 1895

Wednesday 03:

The libel trial instigated by Oscar Wilde against the Marquess of Queensbury begins, eventually resulting in Wilde's arrest, trial and imprisonment on charges of homosexuality.

Saturday 06:

Oscar Wilde is arrested after losing a libel case against the John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry.

Monday 08:

The United States Supreme Court declared income tax to be unconstitutional in Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.

Wednesday 17:

The Treaty of Maguan (also known as the "Treaty of Shimonoseki") between China and Japan is signed. This marks the end of the first Sino-Japanese War, and the defeated Qing Empire is forced to renounce its claims on Korea and to concede the southern portion of the Fengtien province, Taiwan and the Pescadores Islands to Japan.

May 1895

Tuesday 07:

1895 ? In Saint Petersburg a russian scientist Alexander Stepanovich Popov demonstrated an invention which became the prototipe of radio. In the former Soviet Union this day was selebrated as Day of Radio.

Friday 24:

Henry Irving becomes the first personage from the theatre to be knighted.

Saturday 25:

The Republic of Taiwan is formed, with Tang Ching-sung as the president.

Monday 27:

Oscar Wilde is sent to prison for sodomy.

June 1895

Friday 28:

El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua form the Central American Union.

Saturday 29:

Doukhobors burn their weapons as a protest against conscription by the Tsarist Russian government.

July 1895

Thursday 11:

The brothers Lumière show film for scientists.

Monday 15:

Archie MacLaren scores County Championship record cricket innings of 424 for Lancashire against Somerset at Taunton.

August 1895

Monday 19:

American frontier murderer and outlaw, John Wesley Hardin, is killed by an off-duty policeman in a saloon in El Paso, Texas.

Thursday 29:

The formation of the Northern Rugby Union at the George Hotel, Huddersfield, England.

Saturday 31:

John Brallier is paid US$10 plus expenses to play football for the Latrobe, Pennsylvania YMCA, making him the first professional football player.

September 1895

Tuesday 03:

The first professional American football game is played, in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, between the Latrobe YMCA and the Jeannette Athletic Club. (Latrobe won the contest 12-0).

Wednesday 18:

Daniel David Palmer makes the first chiropractic adjustment.

Monday 30:

Madagascar becomes a French protectorate.

October 1895

Friday 04:

The first U.S. Open Mens' Golf Championship run by the United States Golf Association was played on a nine-hole course in Newport, Rhode Island.

Saturday 05:

The first individual time trial for racing cyclists is held on a 50-mile course north of London.

Tuesday 08:

Queen Min of Joseon, the last empress of Korea, was assassinated.

Monday 21:

The Republic of Taiwan collapses as Japanese forces invade.

November 1895

Tuesday 05:

George B. Selden is granted the first U.S. patent for an automobile.

Friday 08:

While experimenting with electricity Wilhelm Röntgen discovers x-rays.

Wednesday 27:

At the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris, Alfred Nobel signs his last will and testament, setting aside his estate to establish the Nobel Prize after he dies.

Thursday 28:

First American Automobile race. 54 miles from Chicago's Jackson Park to Evanston, Illinois. Frank Duryea wins in about 10 hours.

December 1895

Saturday 28:

The Lumiere brothers have their first paying audience at the Grand Cafe in Boulevard des Capucines -- this date is commonly considered the debut of the cinema.