What Happened in 1894 — Events, Births & Deaths

Thomas Edison makes a kinetoscopic film of someone sneezing. On the same day, his employee, William Kennedy Dickson, receives a patent for motion picture film.

The Cripple Creek miner's strike, led by the Western Federation of Miners, begins in Cripple Creek, Colorado, United States.

Café Terminus bombing by Émile Henry during the Ère des attentats (1892–1894). This is considered one of the first acts of modern terrorism.

20 February bombings by Désiré Pauwels during the Ère des attentats (1892-1894).

Madeleine bombing by Désiré Pauwels during the Ère des attentats.

Coxey's Army, the first significant American protest march, departs Massillon, Ohio for Washington, D.C.

The first ever commercial motion picture house opens in New York City, United States. It uses ten Kinetoscopes, devices for peep-show viewing of films.

Norway formally adopts the Krag–Jørgensen bolt-action rifle as the main arm of its armed forces, a weapon that would remain in service for almost 50 years.

Coxey's Army, the first significant American protest march, arrives in Washington, D.C.

Four thousand Pullman Palace Car Company workers go on a wildcat strike.

Governor Davis H. Waite orders the Colorado state militia to protect and support the miners engaged in the Cripple Creek miners' strike.

The International Olympic Committee is founded at the Sorbonne in Paris, at the initiative of Baron Pierre de Coubertin.

Assassination of the French President, Sadi Carnot by Sante Caserio during the Ère des attentats (1892–1894).

Labor Day becomes an official US holiday.

The first ever motor race is held in France between the cities of Paris and Rouen. The fastest finisher was the Comte Jules-Albert de Dion, but the "official" victory was awarded to Albert Lemaître driving his three-horsepower petrol engined Peugeot.

Mahatma Gandhi forms the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) in order to fight discrimination against Indian traders in Natal.

Over 400 people die in the Great Hinckley Fire, a forest fire in Hinckley, Minnesota.

First Sino-Japanese War: Japan defeats the Qing dynasty in the Battle of Pyongyang, causing the Qing army to withdraw to the Chinese border with Korea.

H. H. Holmes, one of the first modern serial killers, is arrested in Boston, Massachusetts.