Important Historical Events of the year 1898, Year 1898 in History
List of 1898 Major News Events in History, Most Important Historical Events in 1898
What happened in the year 1898?
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| January 1, 1898 | New York, New York 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 25 by Staten Island to create the modern city of five boroughs. |
| January 13, 1898 | Émile Zola's J'accuse…! exposes the Dreyfus affair. |
| February 7, 1898 | Dreyfus affair: Émile Zola is brought to trial for libel for publishing J'Accuse…! |
| February 15, 1898 | The battleship USS Maine explodes and sinks in Havana harbor in Cuba, killing about 274 of the ship's roughly 354 crew.[12] The disaster pushes the United States to declare war on Spain. |
| February 23, 1898 | Émile Zola is imprisoned in France after writing J'Accuse…!, a letter accusing the French government of antisemitism and wrongfully imprisoning Captain Alfred Dreyfus. |
| February 27, 1898 | King George I of Greece survives an assassination attempt. |
| March 16, 1898 | In Melbourne, the representatives of five colonies adopt a constitution, which would become the basis of the Commonwealth of Australia.[5] |
| April 20, 1898 | U.S. President William McKinley signs a joint resolution to Congress for declaration of war against Spain, beginning the Spanish–American War. |
| April 21, 1898 | Spanish–American War: The United States Navy begins a blockade of Cuban ports. When the U.S. Congress issued a declaration of war on April 25, it declared that a state of war had existed from this date. |
| April 22, 1898 | Spanish–American War: President William McKinley calls for 125,000 volunteers to join the National Guard and fight in Cuba, while Congress more than doubles regular Army forces to 65,000. |
| April 25, 1898 | Spanish–American War: The United States Congress declares that a state of war between the U.S. and Spain has existed since April 21, when an American naval blockade of the Spanish colony of Cuba began. |
| May 1, 1898 | Spanish–American War: Battle of Manila Bay: The Asiatic Squadron of the United States Navy destroys the Pacific Squadron of the Spanish Navy after a seven-hour battle. Spain loses all seven of its ships, and 381 Spanish sailors die. There are no American vessel losses or combat deaths. |
| May 8, 1898 | The first games of the Italian football league system are played. |
| June 10, 1898 | Spanish–American War: In the Battle of Guantánamo Bay, U.S. Marines begin the American invasion of Spanish-held Cuba. |
| June 11, 1898 | The Hundred Days' Reform, a planned movement to reform social, political, and educational institutions in China, is started by the Guangxu Emperor, but is suspended by Empress Dowager Cixi after 104 days. (The failed reform led to the abolition of the Imperial examination in 1905.) |
| June 12, 1898 | Philippine Declaration of Independence: General Emilio Aguinaldo declares the Philippines' independence from Spain. |
| June 13, 1898 | Yukon Territory is formed, with Dawson chosen as its capital. |
| June 17, 1898 | The United States Navy Hospital Corps is established. |
| June 21, 1898 | The United States captures Guam from Spain. The few warning shots fired by the U.S. naval vessels are misinterpreted as salutes by the Spanish garrison, which was unaware that the two nations were at war. |
| June 22, 1898 | Spanish–American War: In a chaotic operation, 6,000 men of the U.S. Fifth Army Corps begins landing at Daiquirí, Cuba, about 16 miles (26 km) east of Santiago de Cuba. Lt. Gen. Arsenio Linares y Pombo of the Spanish Army outnumbers them two-to-one, but does not oppose the landings. |
| June 27, 1898 | The first solo circumnavigation of the globe is completed by Joshua Slocum from Briar Island, Nova Scotia. |
| July 1, 1898 | Spanish–American War: The Battle of San Juan Hill is fought in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. |
| July 3, 1898 | A Spanish squadron, led by Pascual Cervera y Topete, is defeated by an American squadron under William T. Sampson in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba. |
| July 4, 1898 | En route from New York to Le Havre, the SS La Bourgogne collides with another ship and sinks off the coast of Sable Island, with the loss of 549 lives. |
| July 7, 1898 | US President William McKinley signs the Newlands Resolution annexing Hawaii as a territory of the United States. |
| July 8, 1898 | The death of crime boss Soapy Smith, killed in the Shootout on Juneau Wharf, releases Skagway, Alaska from his iron grip. |
| July 25, 1898 | Spanish–American War: The American invasion of Spanish-held Puerto Rico begins, as United States Army troops under General Nelson A. Miles land and secure the port at Guánica. |
| August 11, 1898 | Spanish–American War: American troops enter the city of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. |
| August 12, 1898 | The Hawaiian flag is lowered from ʻIolani Palace in an elaborate annexation ceremony and replaced with the flag of the United States to signify the transfer of sovereignty from the Republic of Hawaii to the United States. |
| August 13, 1898 | Spanish–American War: Spanish and American forces engage in a mock battle for Manila, after which the Spanish commander surrendered in order to keep the city out of Filipino rebel hands. |
| August 13, 1898 | Carl Gustav Witt discovers 433 Eros, the first near-Earth asteroid to be found. |
| August 23, 1898 | The Southern Cross Expedition, the first British venture of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, departs from London. |
| August 24, 1898 | Count Muravyov, Foreign Minister of Russia presents a rescript that convoked the First Hague Peace Conference. |
| August 25, 1898 | Seven hundred Greek civilians, 17 British guards and the British Consul of Crete are killed by a Turkish mob in Heraklion, Greece. |
| August 28, 1898 | Caleb Bradham's beverage "Brad's Drink" is renamed "Pepsi-Cola". |
| August 29, 1898 | The Goodyear tire company is founded. |
| September 2, 1898 | Battle of Omdurman: British and Egyptian troops defeat Sudanese tribesmen and establish British dominance in Sudan. |
| September 10, 1898 | Empress Elisabeth of Austria is assassinated by Luigi Lucheni. |
| September 13, 1898 | Hannibal Goodwin patents celluloid photographic film. |
| September 18, 1898 | The Fashoda Incident, a territorial dispute between Britain and France, triggers a war scare. |
| September 21, 1898 | Empress Dowager Cixi seizes power and ends the Hundred Days' Reform in China. |
| October 1, 1898 | The Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration is founded under the name k.u.k. Exportakademie. |
| October 6, 1898 | Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the largest American music fraternity, is founded at the New England Conservatory of Music. |
| October 14, 1898 | The steam ship SS Mohegan sinks near the Lizard peninsula, Cornwall, killing 106. |
| October 18, 1898 | The United States takes possession of Puerto Rico from Spain. |
| November 3, 1898 | France withdraws its troops from Fashoda (now in Sudan), ending the Fashoda Incident. |
| November 5, 1898 | Negrese nationalists revolt against Spanish rule and establish the short-lived Republic of Negros. |
| November 10, 1898 | Beginning of the Wilmington insurrection of 1898, the only instance of a municipal government being overthrown in United States history. |
| December 3, 1898 | The Duquesne Country and Athletic Club defeats an all-star collection of early football players 16–0, in what is considered to be the very first all-star game for professional American football. |
| December 10, 1898 | Spanish–American War: The Treaty of Paris is signed, officially ending the conflict. Spain cedes administration of Cuba to the United States, and the United States agrees to pay Spain $20 million for the Philippines. |
| December 18, 1898 | Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat sets the first officially recognized land speed record of 63.159 km/h (39.245 mph) in a Jeantaud electric car. |
| December 26, 1898 | Marie and Pierre Curie announce the isolation of radium. |