The '1890s' were sometimes referred to as the "
Mauve Decade," because
William Henry Perkin's
aniline dye allowed the widespread use of
that colour in fashion, and also as the "
Gay Nineties", under the then-current usage of the word "gay" which referred simply to merriment and frivolity, with no connotation of
homosexuality as in present-day usage. The phrase, "The Gay Nineties," was not coined until 1926.
Events and trends
★
Pullman Strike of 1894, in
Illinois.
Commerce
★ the
Panic of 1893 sets off a widespread
economic depression in the United States that lasts until
1896. The 1896 election was a realigning election where the Republican Party took control of the
White House.
Technology
★ Early commercial production of
automobiles.
Science
★
Henri Becquerel discovers
radioactivity
★ Discovery of
x-rays by
Wilhelm Röntgen
★ Swedish scientist
Svante Arrhenius and US geologist
Thomas Crowder Chamberlain independently come to the conclusion that burning
fossil fuels might cause
global warming due to
carbon dioxide emissions
★
Albert Einstein begins his revolution of science
War, peace and politics
★
Second Boer War
★
First Sino-Japanese War
★
Spanish-American War
★ Split in
Irish nationalism over Irish leader
Charles Stewart Parnell's affair with a fellow MP's wife,
Kitty O'Shea
★ The
New Imperialism
Culture, religion
★
Motion pictures
★
Ragtime music
★ Accession of Tsar
Nicholas II of Russia in the world's first ever filmed coronation.
★
Lynchings of
African Americans in the
United States averaged 150 per year.
★
H. G. Wells creates modern science fiction with his book ''
The War of the Worlds''.
★
Hale Johnson is a major leader of the
temperance movement.
★
Department of Scientific Temperance Instruction, under
Mary Hunt, achieves ''de facto'' control over all alcohol education in the USA.
★ "The"
Fin de Siècle (primarily in
Paris and
Brussels).
★ Increasing importance of
Art Nouveau style.
★
Dreyfus Affair (
France)
Literature and arts
★
Thomas Hardy publishes ''
Tess of the d'Urbervilles''.
★
Anton Chekhov publishes ''
Uncle Vanya''.
★
A. E. Housman publishes ''
A Shropshire Lad''.
★
Rudyard Kipling publishes ''
Barrack-Room Ballads''.
★
H. G. Wells publishes ''
The Time Machine'', ''
The Island of Dr. Moreau'', and ''
The War of the Worlds''.
★
Bram Stoker publishes ''
Dracula''.
★
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle publishes the first ''
Sherlock Holmes'' in Strand Magazine.
Others
People
World leaders
★ Prime Minister
John Sparrow David Thompson (
Canada)
★ Prime Minister Sir
Wilfrid Laurier (
Canada)
★ Emperor
Franz Josef (
Austria-Hungary)
★ Kaiser
Wilhelm II (
German Empire)
★ Chancellor
Leo von Caprivi (
German Empire)
★ King
Umberto I (
Italy)
★
Pope Leo XIII
★ Czar
Alexander III (
Russia)
★ Czar
Nicholas II (
Russia)
★ Queen
Victoria (
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland)
★ Prime Minister
Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland)
★ Prime Minister
William Ewart Gladstone (
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland)
★ Prime Minister
Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery (
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland)
★ President
Benjamin Harrison (
United States)
★ President
Grover Cleveland (
United States)
★ President
William McKinley (
United States)
★
Shahs of
Persia (
Qajar dynasty)
#
Nasser-al-Din Shah, 1848-1896
#
Mozzafar-al-Din Shah, 1896-1907
Important people
★
Thomas A. Edison
★
Nikola Tesla
Entertainers
★
Adelina Patti
★
George W. Johnson
★
Justin Smith
★
Jonathan Booth
Sports
★
Bob Fitzsimmons
Books about the 1890s
★ ''
The Mauve Decade'', by
Thomas Beer (
1926)
See also
Gay Nineties
External links
★
Quiz: Victorian Etiquette — Educational Game, In the style of the Monty Pythons
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