1898 - What happened in 1898 ?

January 1898

Saturday 01:

New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York. The four initial boroughs, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx, are joined on January 25th by Staten Island to create the modern city of five boroughs.

Wednesday 12:

Ito Hirobumi begins his third term as Prime Minister of Japan.

Thursday 13:

Emile Zola's J'accuse exposes the Dreyfus affair.

February 1898

Monday 07:

Emile Zola is brought to trial for libel for publishing J'Accuse.

Tuesday 15:

Spanish-American War: The USS Maine explodes and sinks in Havana Harbor, Cuba for then unknown reasons killing more than 260. This event leads the United States to declare war on Spain.

Wednesday 23:

Émile Zola is imprisoned in France after writing "J'accuse", a letter accusing the French government of anti-Semitism and wrongfully placing Captain Alfred Dreyfus in jail.

March 1898

Thursday 24:

Robert Allison of Port Carbon, Pennsylvania becomes the first person to buy an American-built automobile when he buys a Winton automobile that was advertised in Scientific American.

April 1898

Thursday 21:

Spanish-American War: The U.S. Congress, on April 25, recognizes that a state of war exists between the United States and Spain as of this date.

Friday 22:

Spanish-American War: The United States Navy begins a blockade of Cuban ports and the USS Nashville captures a Spanish merchant ship.

Sunday 24:

Spanish-American War: Spain declares war on the United States.

Monday 25:

Spanish-American War: The United States declares war on Spain.

May 1898

Sunday 01:

Sikasso falls to the French colonial army.

Sunday 08:

The first games of the Italian Football League are played.

June 1898

Saturday 11:

Spanish-American War: U.S. war ships start to sail for Cuba.

Sunday 12:

Philippine Declaration of Independence: General Emilio Aguinaldo declares the Philippines' independence from Spain.

Friday 17:

The US Navy Hospital Corps is established.

Tuesday 21:

Guam becomes a U.S. territory.

Monday 27:

First solo circumnavigation of the globe completed by Joshua Slocum from Briar Island Nova Scotia.

July 1898

Thursday 07:

History of United States imperialism: President of the United States William McKinley signs the Newlands Resolution annexing Hawaii as a territory of the United States.

Sunday 17:

Troops under United States General William R. Shafter take the city of Santiago de Cuba from the Spanish.

Monday 18:

Marie and Pierre Curie announce the discovery of a new element and proposed to call it polonium.

Wednesday 20:

Felipe Agoncillo in Hong Kong writes a letter to Apolinario Mabini expressing his apprehension regarding the supposed "alliance" between the Americans and the Filipinos.

Monday 25:

The United States invasion of Puerto Rico begins with U.S. troops landing at Guánica Bay.

August 1898

Thursday 11:

American troops enter the city of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War.

Friday 12:

The Hawaiian flag is lowered from Iolani Palace in an elaborate annexation ceremony and replaced with the American flag to signify the transfer of sovereignty from the Republic of Hawaii to the United States.

Sunday 28:

Caleb Bradham renames his carbonated soft drink "Pepsi-Cola".

Monday 29:

The Goodyear tire company is founded.

September 1898

Friday 02:

British and Egyptian troops defeat Sudanese tribesmen and establishing British dominance in the Sudan.

Saturday 10:

Empress Elizabeth of Austria is assassinated by Luigi Lucheni.

Tuesday 13:

Hannibal Williston Goodwin patents celluloid photographic film

Wednesday 21:

Empress Dowager Cixi seizes power and ends the Hundred Days' Reform in China.

October 1898

Saturday 01:

The Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration is founded under the name k.u.k. Exportakademie.

Tuesday 18:

United States takes possession of Puerto Rico.

December 1898

Saturday 10:

A treaty is signed in Paris that officially ends the Spanish-American War.

Wednesday 21:

Marie and Pierre Curie discover radium

Monday 26:

Marie and Pierre Curie announce the isolation of radium