Directory

1890 CE

A year defined by the tragic Massacre at Wounded Knee, the dismissal of Otto von Bismarck as German Chancellor, and the passage of the Sherman Antitrust Act as the United States grappled with the power of industrial monopolies.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • Kaiser Wilhelm II dismissed Otto von Bismarck as Chancellor of Germany on March 18, ending nearly three decades of Bismarck's domination of European diplomacy.
  • The United Kingdom exchanged the island of Heligoland with Germany for Zanzibar and other East African territories under the Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty signed on July 1.
  • The First International Conference of American States concluded in Washington, D.C., establishing the International Union of American Republics, a precursor to the Organization of American States.
  • Cecil Rhodes became Prime Minister of the Cape Colony in July, advancing British imperial ambitions in southern Africa.
  • Idaho and Wyoming were admitted as the 43rd and 44th states of the United States on July 3 and July 10, respectively.
  • The Anglo-German agreement defined spheres of influence in East Africa, ceding Uganda to Britain while Germany consolidated its hold on Tanganyika.
  • Luxembourg ended its personal union with the Netherlands upon the death of King William III, as Grand Duke Adolphe of Nassau assumed the throne.
  • The Brussels Conference Act was signed by European powers and the United States, aimed at ending the slave trade in Africa and restricting the arms and liquor trades.
  • Japan held its first general election on July 1 under the Meiji Constitution, establishing the Imperial Diet as the country's first national legislature.
  • France consolidated its colonial control over the territories of French West Africa, expanding administrative authority across the Sahel region.

Conflict & Security

  • The Massacre at Wounded Knee occurred on December 29, when the U.S. 7th Cavalry killed approximately 250 to 300 Lakota men, women, and children at the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.
  • The Ghost Dance movement spread among Plains Indian nations, alarming U.S. authorities who feared a coordinated uprising and deployed thousands of troops to the western reservations.
  • Sitting Bull was killed on December 15 by Indian agency police during an attempt to arrest him at the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota.
  • The First Franco-Dahomean War ended with a treaty that recognized French claims over Porto-Novo and the coastal region of Dahomey.
  • British forces fought the Anglo-Manipur War skirmishes along the northeastern frontier of India, leading to increased colonial control over the princely state.
  • The Mahdist State in Sudan continued to resist Egyptian and British encroachment, maintaining control over Khartoum and the surrounding territory.
  • Tensions between settlers and the Sioux nation escalated across the Great Plains, contributing to the military buildup that preceded the Wounded Knee Massacre.
  • Italy consolidated its colonial holdings in Eritrea, establishing it as a formal colony and using it as a base for further expansion into the Horn of Africa.
  • The Portuguese and British resolved their conflicting territorial claims in southern Africa through a diplomatic agreement following the British Ultimatum of 1890.
  • The Argentine Revolution of 1890, known as the Revolucion del Parque, broke out on July 26 in Buenos Aires, forcing President Miguel Juarez Celman to resign.

Economy & Finance

  • The Sherman Antitrust Act was signed into law by President Benjamin Harrison on July 2, establishing the first federal legislation against monopolistic business practices in the United States.
  • The McKinley Tariff was enacted on October 1, raising average import duties to nearly 50 percent and protecting American manufacturers from foreign competition.
  • The Sherman Silver Purchase Act required the U.S. Treasury to purchase 4.5 million ounces of silver each month, increasing the money supply and benefiting western mining states.
  • Andrew Carnegie's steel operations in Pittsburgh continued to expand, making him one of the wealthiest men in the world and a dominant force in American industry.
  • The Barings Bank crisis shook international financial markets when the London bank faced collapse due to excessive exposure to Argentine debt, requiring a rescue organized by the Bank of England.
  • Railroad construction continued to accelerate across the American West, with over 160,000 miles of track now in operation across the United States.
  • The German economy grew rapidly under policies of industrial expansion, with steel production and chemical manufacturing becoming major pillars of national wealth.
  • The pan-American customs union proposed at the Washington conference failed to gain support, as Latin American nations resisted U.S.-dominated trade agreements.
  • The Australian colonies experienced economic strain as a prolonged drought and falling wool prices undermined the pastoral economy.
  • John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Trust continued to dominate American petroleum refining, controlling approximately 88 percent of the nation's refined oil flows.

Technology & Infrastructure

  • The first electric underground railway, the City and South London Railway, opened on December 18, running deep-level tube trains beneath the streets of London.
  • The Forth Bridge, a cantilever railway bridge spanning the Firth of Forth in Scotland, was officially opened on March 4 and was the longest single cantilever bridge span in the world.
  • Herman Hollerith's tabulating machines were used to process the 1890 United States Census, dramatically reducing the time needed to compile population data.
  • Clement Ader claimed to have achieved a brief, uncontrolled flight in his steam-powered aircraft Eole on October 9 near Paris, though the flight was disputed.
  • The pneumatic tire, developed by John Boyd Dunlop for bicycles, gained widespread commercial adoption and transformed the cycling industry.
  • The first electric chair execution was carried out on August 6 at Auburn Prison in New York, marking a controversial new method of capital punishment.
  • Telephone networks expanded across American and European cities, with over 150,000 telephone subscribers in the United States by the end of the year.
  • Nikola Tesla was granted patents for his polyphase alternating current system, advancing the adoption of AC power for industrial and residential use.
  • The Eiffel Tower, completed the previous year for the Paris Exposition, became a permanent fixture of the Paris skyline and a symbol of modern engineering.
  • The Linde process for the liquefaction of gases was refined by Carl von Linde, enabling industrial-scale production of liquid air.

Science & Discovery

  • Emil von Behring and Shibasaburo Kitasato announced the discovery of antitoxins for diphtheria and tetanus, establishing the science of serum therapy.
  • William James published The Principles of Psychology, a landmark two-volume work that established psychology as a distinct scientific discipline in the United States.
  • Heinrich Hertz published his collected papers on electromagnetic waves, providing experimental confirmation of James Clerk Maxwell's theoretical predictions.
  • Édouard Branly developed the coherer, a device for detecting radio waves that became an essential component in early wireless telegraphy.
  • The element samarium was isolated in pure form by Paul Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran, expanding the understanding of the rare earth elements.
  • Koch's tuberculin, announced by Robert Koch as a cure for tuberculosis, was widely tested but ultimately proved ineffective as a treatment, though it later found use as a diagnostic tool.
  • James Dewar advanced the development of vacuum-insulated flasks, which would later bear his name and become essential for cryogenic research.
  • Alfred Russel Wallace published his essay on the relationship between biogeography and evolution, continuing to shape the field of evolutionary biology.
  • The National Geographic Society, founded two years earlier, expanded its membership and began its transformation into a major institution for public science education.
  • Yosemite National Park was established by an act of the United States Congress on October 1, preserving the Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove for future generations.

Health & Medicine

  • Emil von Behring and Shibasaburo Kitasato demonstrated that blood serum from immunized animals could provide passive immunity against diphtheria and tetanus.
  • Robert Koch's announcement of tuberculin as a potential cure for tuberculosis generated intense excitement but was followed by widespread disappointment when trials revealed it was ineffective.
  • Tuberculosis remained the leading cause of death in Europe and North America, killing approximately one in four Europeans.
  • Cholera outbreaks continued to occur in parts of Asia and the Middle East, with unsanitary water supplies remaining the primary vector for transmission.
  • Surgical antisepsis based on Joseph Lister's principles became increasingly standard in hospitals, significantly reducing post-operative infection rates.
  • The germ theory of disease gained wider acceptance among medical practitioners, though many doctors still resisted the idea that invisible microorganisms caused illness.
  • Influenza epidemics swept across parts of Europe, following the devastating 1889-1890 Russian flu pandemic that had killed approximately one million people worldwide.
  • Hospitals and medical schools in the United States began adopting the Johns Hopkins model of research-oriented medical education, raising professional standards.
  • The infant mortality rate in major industrialized nations remained alarmingly high, with approximately one in five children dying before reaching the age of five.
  • William Halsted at Johns Hopkins Hospital pioneered the use of rubber surgical gloves, which were initially developed to protect the hands of a nurse from harsh antiseptic chemicals.

Climate & Environment

  • Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration was approximately 293 parts per million, as later confirmed by ice core analysis.
  • Severe drought affected parts of the Australian interior, devastating sheep and cattle stations and contributing to economic hardship in the pastoral industry.
  • Sequoia National Park and General Grant National Park were established by the United States Congress on September 25, protecting ancient giant sequoia groves in California.
  • Yosemite National Park was created on October 1, preserving one of the most iconic natural landscapes in the American West.
  • Deforestation accelerated across tropical regions as colonial powers expanded plantation agriculture in Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
  • Coal consumption continued to rise sharply in Britain, Germany, and the United States, fueling industrialization and urban growth while increasing atmospheric pollution.
  • The United States Census Bureau used data from the 1890 Census to declare that the American frontier was effectively closed, as no clear line of settlement could be identified.
  • Flooding along the Mississippi River caused significant damage to farming communities in the lower Mississippi Valley during the spring season.
  • John Muir continued his advocacy for wilderness preservation, lobbying Congress to protect forests and mountains in the western United States.
  • Urban air pollution from coal smoke became a growing concern in industrial cities such as London, Pittsburgh, and Manchester, prompting early calls for smoke abatement measures.

Culture & Society

  • Lena Rice won the Wimbledon ladies' singles championship, defeating May Jacks in the All-Comers final before the defending champion withdrew.
  • The first issue of the Daily Graphic, one of the earliest illustrated daily newspapers, popularized photographic reproduction in British journalism.
  • Henrik Ibsen published Hedda Gabler, a play exploring themes of gender, autonomy, and societal expectation that became a landmark of modern drama.
  • The Daughters of the American Revolution was founded on October 11 in Washington, D.C., as a lineage-based patriotic organization for women.
  • The United Mine Workers of America was founded on January 25, uniting coal miners across the United States in one of the country's largest labor unions.
  • Oscar Wilde published The Picture of Dorian Gray in its initial magazine serialization in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, provoking both admiration and moral outrage.
  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky premiered his opera The Queen of Spades in Saint Petersburg on December 19, adding to his reputation as Russia's foremost composer.
  • The census recorded the total U.S. population at approximately 62.9 million, reflecting rapid growth driven by immigration and westward expansion.
  • James George Frazer published the first edition of The Golden Bough, a comparative study of mythology and religion that influenced anthropology and literary criticism.
  • The world population was approximately 1.606 billion.