1897

Centuries: 18th century - 19th century - 20th century

Decades: 1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s - 1890s - 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s

Years: 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 - 1897 - 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902

See also:

Table of contents

1 Events
2 Births
3 Deaths
4 Science
5 Heads of State

Events

January 1 - Brooklyn, New York merges with New York City.
January 4 - A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosheri, son-in-law of the Oba of Benin. This leads to a Punitive Expedition against Benin.
February 2 - The Pennsylvania state capitol is destroyed by fire.
February 18- Benin is put to the torch by the Punitive Expedition.
March 4 - William McKinley succeeds Grover Cleveland s President of the United States.
April 5 - "Ordinance of April 5," equalizing German and Czech in Bohemia, signed in Austria-Hungary (see Kasimir Felix Graf von Badeni).
April 27 - Grant's Tomb is dedicated.
May 19 - Oscar Wilde is released from prison.
July 17 - Klondike Gold Rush begins when first successful prospectors arrive in Seattle.
July 25 - Writer Jack London sails to join the Klondike Gold Rush where he will write his first successful stories.
August 29 - First Zionist Congress convenes in Basel, Switzerland.
September 1 - The Boston subway opens, becoming the first underground metro in North America.
December 28 - The play Cyrano de Bergerac, by Edmond Rostand, premieres in Paris.
December 30 - Natal annexes Zululand.
Queen Victoria celebrates her Diamond Jubilee.
France allows women to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts.

Births

January 3 - Pola Negri, actress (d. 1987)
January 3 - Marion Davies, actress (d. 1961)
January 23 - Margarete SchÃÂÃÂ¼tte-Lihotzky, architect (d. 2000)
February 4 - Ludwig Erhard, politician.
February 10 - John F. Enders, scientist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1985)
February 10 - Dame Judith Anderson, actress (d. 1992)
February 11 - Yves de La Casiniere, composer
March 4 - Lefty O'Doul, baseball star, restauranteur (d. 1969)
March 5 - Soong May-ling aka Madame Chiang Kai-Shek
March 15 - Jackson Scholz, American sprinter
March 24 - Wilhelm Reich, psychotherapist (d. 1957)
March 27 - Gloria Swanson, actress (d. 1983)
March 28 - Sepp Herberger, football coach (d. 1977)
April 7 - Walter Winchell, broadcaster, journalist (d. 1972)
April 9 - John B. Gambling, radio talk-show host (d. 1974)
April 26 - Olga Tschechowa, actress (d. 1980)
April 26 - Douglas Sirk, director (d. 1987)
April 26 - Eddie Eagan, US sportsman
April 27 - Mary, Princess Royal.
May 14 - Sidney Bechet, jazz musician (d. 1959)
May 18 - Frank Capra, producer, director, writer (d. 1991)
May 19 - Frank Luke, World War I fighter ace (d. 1918)
June 10 - Grand Duchess Tatiana of Russia (d. 1918)
June 13 - Paavo Nurmi, Finnish runner
July 11 - Blind Lemon Jefferson
July 24 - Amelia Earhart, aviator
August 2 - Max Weber, Swiss Federal Councilor (d. 1974)
August 28 - Charles Boyer, actor
September 8 - Jimmie Rodgers
September 12 - Irene Joliot-Curie, scientist
September 23 - Walter Pidgeon, actor (d. 1984)
September 25 - William Faulkner, novelist
September 26 - Pope Paul VI (d. 1978)
December 18 - Fletcher Henderson, jazz musician (d. 1952)

Deaths

April 3 - Johannes Brahms, composer
September 9 - Richard Holt Hutton, English writer and theologian
September 21 - Wilhelm Wattenbach, German historian
October 27- Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, mother of Queen Mary
October 29 - Henry George, economist
Antoine Thomson d'Abbadie - traveler

Science

Thomson discovers the electron.

Heads of State

China - GuāngxÃÂÃÂ¹ Emperor of China, Qing Dynasty (1875-1908)
Denmark - Christian IX, King of Denmark (1863-1906)
Germany - Wilhelm II, German Kaiser (1888-1918)
Holy See - Pope Leo XIII, Bishop of Rome (1878-1903)
Japan - Mutsuhito, Meiji Emperor (1867-1912)
Norway - Oscar II, King of Sweden and Norway (1872-1905)
Ottoman Empire - Abdul Hamid II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1876-1909)
Russia - Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia (1894-1917)
Spain - Alfonso XIII of Spain, King of Spain (1886-1931)
United States -
1. Grover Cleveland, President of the United States (1893-1897)
2. William McKinley, President of the United States (1897-1901)