Decades: 1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s - 1890s - 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s
Years: 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 - 1898 - 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903
Events January 13 - Emile Zola's J'accuse exposes the Dreyfus affair. February 7 - Emile Zola is brought to trial for libel for publishing J'Accuse February 12 - Henry Lindfield, dies in England. Lindfield was the first fatality from an automobile accident. February 15 - Spanish-American War: The USS Maine explodes and sinks in Havana Harbor, Cuba for then unknown reasons killing more than 260. This event helped lead the United States to declare war on Spain. February 23 - Emile Zola is imprisoned in France after writing "J'accuse" which was a letter accusing the French government of anti-Semitism and wrongfully placing Alfred Dreyfus in jail. March 24 - Robert Allison of Port Carbon, Pennsylvania becomes the first person to buy an American-built automobile when he buys a Winton automobile that was advertised in Scientific American. April 22 - Spanish-American War: The United States Navy begins a blockade of Cuban ports and the USS Nashville captures a Spanish merchant ship. April 25 - Spanish-American War: The United States declares war on Spain; the United States Congress announces that a state of war has existed since April 21. June 12 - Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo declares Philippines' independence from Spain. July 7 - The United States annexes the Hawaiian Islands. July 17 - Spanish-American War: Battle of Santiago Bay - Troops under United States General William R. Shafter take the city of Santiago de Cuba from the Spanish. July 25 - Spanish-American War: The United States invasion of Puerto Rico begins with a landing at Guánica Bay. September 2 - Battle of Omdurman - British and Egyptian troops led by Horatio Kitchener defeat Sudanese tribesmen led by Khalifa Abdullah al-Taashi, thus establishing British dominance in the Sudan. December 10 - The Treaty of Peace ending the Spanish-American War is signed in Paris. Fashoda incident -- diplomatic dispute between France and the United Kingdom. Births January 7 - Rudolf Fernau, actor (+ 1985) January 16 - Margaret Booth, film editor January 23 - Sergei Eisenstein, director February 3 - Alvar Aalto, Finnish architect († 1976) February 10 - Bertolt Brecht - playwright, writer and poet February 14 - Fritz Zwicky, physicist and astronomer (+ 1974) February 14 - George Steed, businessman, philanthropist (+ 1988) February 18 - Enzo Ferrari, auto racer, manufacturer (+ 1988) February 24 - Kurt Tank, aeronautical engineer (+ 1983) March 6 - Therese Giehse, actress (+ 1975) March 11 - Dorothy Gish, actress (+ 1968) April 3 - George Jessel, comedian (+ 1981) May 3 - Golda Meir - Israeli Prime Minister May 15 - Arletty, model, actress (+ 1992) May 17 - Alfred Joseph Casson painter (+ 1992) May 21 - Armand Hammer, entrepreneur, art collector May 23 - Scott O'Dell, author (+ 1989) May 31 - Dr. Norman Vincent Peale (clergyman) June 4 - Harry Crosby, publisher, poet (+ 1929) July 6 - Hanns Eisler, composer (+ 1962) June 17 - M. C. Escher - Dutch graphic artist July 22 - Erich Maria Remarque, a German writer (+ 1970) July 30 - Henry Moore - sculptor August 26 - Peggy Guggenheim, art collector August 29 - Preston Sturges, director and writer September 26 - George Gershwin, composer September 30 - Renee Adoree, french actress September 30 - Princess Charlotte of Monaco October 10 - Lilly Daché, milliner (+ 1989) November 8 - Marie Prevost, actress (+ 1937) November 18 - Joris Ivens, director November 21 - Rene Magritte, surrealist artist November 29 - C. S. Lewis, British author Deaths January 14 - Lewis Carroll, writer, mathematician March 16 - Aubrey Beardsley, British artist May 19 - William Ewart Gladstone, British prime minister July 30 - Otto von Bismarck - German Statesman October 24 - Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, painter