What Happened in 1896 — Events, Births & Deaths

Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state.

An X-ray generating machine is exhibited for the first time by H. L. Smith.

Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent, becomes the first person to be convicted of speeding. He was fined one shilling, plus costs, for speeding at 8 mph (13 km/h), thereby exceeding the contemporary speed limit of 2 mph (3.2 km/h).

La bohème premieres in Turin at the Teatro Regio (Turin), conducted by the young Arturo Toscanini.

An Englishman raised in Australia, Bob Fitzsimmons, fights an Irishman, Peter Maher, in an American promoted event which technically takes place in Mexico, winning the 1896 World Heavyweight Championship in boxing.

With the approval of Emperor Guangxu, the Qing dynasty post office is opened, marking the beginning of a postal service in China.

An explosion at the Brunner Mine near Greymouth, New Zealand, kills 65 coal miners in the country's worst industrial accident.

Summer Olympics: The Olympic marathon is run ending with the victory of Greek athlete Spyridon Louis.

Closing ceremony of the Games of the I Olympiad in Athens, Greece.

While on a pilgrimage of Shah Abdol-Azim Shrine in Ray, Tehran, Naser al-Din Shah of Qajar Persia, was assassinated by Mirza Reza Kermani.

The United States Supreme Court rules in Plessy v. Ferguson that the "separate but equal" doctrine is constitutional.

Khodynka Tragedy: A mass panic on Khodynka Field in Moscow during the festivities of the coronation of Russian Tsar Nicholas II results in the deaths of 1,389 people.

Nicholas II is crowned as the last Tsar of Imperial Russia.

Charles Dow publishes the first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The F4-strength St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado hits in St. Louis, Missouri, and East St. Louis, Illinois, killing at least 255 people and causing over $10 million in damage.

Guglielmo Marconi applies for a patent for his wireless telegraph.

Henry Ford completes the Ford Quadricycle, his first gasoline-powered automobile, and also gives it a successful test run.

One of the deadliest tsunamis in Japan's history kills more than 22,000 people.

An explosion in the Newton Coal Company's Twin Shaft Mine in Pittston, Pennsylvania results in a massive cave-in that kills 58 miners.

William Jennings Bryan delivers his Cross of Gold speech advocating bimetallism at the 1896 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

The city of Miami is incorporated.

Anglo-Zanzibar War: The shortest war in world history (09:02 to 09:40) occurs, between the United Kingdom and Zanzibar.

Philippine Revolution: After Spanish victory in the Battle of San Juan del Monte, eight provinces in the Philippines are declared under martial law by the Spanish Governor-General Ramón Blanco y Erenas.

Queen Victoria surpasses her grandfather King George III as the longest reigning monarch in British history (later surpassed by her great-great-granddaughter Elizabeth II on 9 September 2015).

The Western Pennsylvania Hockey League, which later became the first ice hockey league to openly trade and hire players, began play at Pittsburgh's Schenley Park Casino.

Also sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss is first performed.

Alfred Jarry's Ubu Roi premieres in Paris. A riot breaks out at the end of the performance.

Filipino patriot and reform advocate José Rizal is executed by a Spanish firing squad in Manila.

Canadian ice hockey player Ernie McLea scores the first hat-trick in Stanley Cup play, and the Cup-winning goal as the Montreal Victorias defeat the Winnipeg Victorias 6–5.