What happened in 1890

17 entries recorded for 1890, listed by date. That was 136 years ago.

1890 at a glance

January 25
Nellie Bly
Historical event
American journalist Nellie Bly (pictured) completed a circumnavigation of the globe by land and sea in a then-record-breaking 72 days.

March 4
Forth Bridge
Historical event
The Forth Bridge, a railway bridge connecting Edinburgh to Fife over the Firth of Forth, opened, eventually becoming an internationally recognised Scottish landmark.
March 20
Wilhelm II
Historical event
Emperor Wilhelm II dismissed Otto von Bismarck as the chancellor of the German Empire.

May 17
Cavalleria rusticana
Historical event
The opera Cavalleria rusticana by Pietro Mascagni, premieres at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome, beginning the verismo period in Italian opera.

June 21
Rudyard Kipling
Historical event
Rudyard Kipling's poem Mandalay was published.

July 2
United States Congress
Historical event
The U.S. Congress passes the Sherman Antitrust Act.
July 3
Idaho
Historical event
Idaho is admitted as the 43rd U.S. state.

September 24
Wilford Woodruff
Historical event
Wilford Woodruff, the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, wrote the first draft of a manifesto that officially disavowed the future practice of plural marriage.
September 25
Sequoia National Park
Historical event
Sequoia National Park (pictured) was established to conserve giant sequoia trees in an area affected by logging in the southern Sierra Nevada in California.

October 1
John Muir
Historical event
At the encouragement of preservationist John Muir and writer Robert Underwood Johnson, the U.S. Congress established Yosemite National Park in California.
October 11
Washington, D.C.
Historical event
In Washington, D.C., the Daughters of the American Revolution was founded.
October 12
Uddevalla Suffrage Association
Historical event
The Uddevalla Suffrage Association was founded in Uddevalla, Sweden, with the purpose of bringing about universal suffrage.

November 4
City and South London Railway
Historical event
The City and South London Railway (carriage pictured), the first deep-level underground railway in the world, officially opened, running 3.2 mi (5.1 km) between the City of London and Stockwell.
November 29
National Diet
Historical event
The National Diet of Japan, a bicameral legislature modelled after both the German Reichstag and the British Westminster system, first met in Tokyo.

December 10
New York World Building
Historical event
The New York World Building, the then-tallest building in the United States at a height of 110 meters, was completed in New York City.
December 15
Sitting Bull
Historical event
Sitting Bull, a Hunkpapa Lakota leader, was killed on Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in South Dakota by U.S. Indian agency police.
December 29
Sioux Wars
Historical event
Sioux Wars: The United States Army killed 250 to 300 Lakota men, women and children at the Wounded Knee Massacre, beginning the Ghost Dance War.

This site records 17 entries for 1890, including Nellie Bly on January 25. They are listed below by date.

136 years ago, counting from 2026. Anyone born in 1890 turns 136 this year.

1890 falls in the 19th century, in the 1890s.

Lost Generation (1883–1900). Came of age during the First World War.

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