1889 in the United States

1889 in the United States
Years:	1886 1887 1888 – 1889 – 1890 1891 1892
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Timeline of United States history History of the United States (1865–1918)

Events from the year 1889 in the United States. Four states—North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington—are added to the nation this year, more than any other year since 1788.

Incumbents

Federal Government

• President: Grover Cleveland (D-New York) (until March 4), Benjamin Harrison (R-Indiana) (starting March 4)
• Vice President: vacant (until March 4), Levi P. Morton (R-New York) (starting March 4)
• Chief Justice: Melville Fuller (originally now residing in from of the U.S. state of Illinois)
• Speaker of the House of Representatives: John G. Carlisle (D-Kentucky) (until March 4), Thomas Brackett Reed (R-Maine) (starting December 2)
• Congress: 50th (until March 4), 51st (starting March 4)

Governors and Lieutenant Governors
Governors 2 Lieutenant Governors 2

Events

January–March

March 4: Benjamin Harrison becomes President

• January 1 – A total solar eclipse is seen over parts of California and Nevada.
• January 4 – An Act to Regulate Appointments in the Marine Hospital Service of the United States is signed by President Grover Cleveland. It establishes a Commissioned Corps of officers as a predecessor to the current U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.
• January 15 – The Coca-Cola Company, then known as the Pemberton Medicine Company, is incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia.
• January 22 – Columbia Phonograph is formed in Washington, DC.
• February 15 – The Secretary of Agriculture is raised to a Cabinet-level position.
• February 22 – President Grover Cleveland signs the Enabling Act admitting North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington as U.S. states.
• March – A German naval force shells a village in Samoa, destroying some American property; three American warships enter the Samoan harbor and prepare to fire on the three German warships found there. Before guns are fired, a hurricane blows in and sinks all the ships, American and German. A compulsory armistice is called because of the lack of warships.
• March 2 – Congress proclaims the entire Bering Sea, an important seal breeding area, to be under US control.
• March 4 – Grover Cleveland, 22nd President of the United States (1885 – 1889) is succeeded by Benjamin Harrison (1889–1893).
• March 11
  • The North Carolina Legislature issues a charter for the creation of Elon College.
  • Orange County, California is created.

April–June

• April 22 – At high noon in Oklahoma Territory, thousands rush to claim land in the Land Run of 1889. Within hours the cities of Oklahoma City and Guthrie are formed, with populations of at least 10,000.
• May 15 – In Samoa, 3 U.S. and 3 German ships sink in a typhoon because the captains refuse to leave before the others; almost 200 drown. The British steamer Calliope saves itself by pushing into the wind with full speed.
• May 31 – Johnstown Flood: The South Fork Dam collapses in western Pennsylvania, killing more than 2,200 people in and around Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
• June 3 – The first long distance electric power transmission line in the United States is completed, running 14 miles between a generator at Willamette Falls and downtown Portland, Oregon.
• June 6 – The Great Seattle Fire ravages through the downtown area without any fatalities.

July–September

• July 7 – Great Bakersfield Fire of 1889 devastates Bakersfield, California, destroying 196 buildings and killing one person.
• July 8
  • The first issue of The Wall Street Journal is published in New York City.
  • The last official bare-knuckle boxing title fight ever held as Heavyweight Champion John L. Sullivan, the "Boston Strong Boy", defeats Jake Kilrain in a world championship bout lasting 75 rounds in Mississippi.

October–December

• October 2 – In Washington, DC, the first International Conference of American States begins.
• November 2 – North Dakota and South Dakota become the 39th and 40th states, respectively (see History of North Dakota) and (see History of South Dakota).
• November 8 – Montana becomes the 41st state (see History of Montana).
• November 11 – Washington becomes the 42nd state (see History of Washington (state)).
• November 14 – Inspired by Jules Verne, pioneer woman journalist Nellie Bly (Elizabeth Cochrane) begins an attempt to beat travel around the world in less than 80 days (Bly finishes the journey in 72 days, 6 hours and 11 minutes).
• November 23 – The first jukebox goes into operation at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco.
• November 27 – Clemson University is founded in Clemson, South Carolina.
• December 14 – Wofford and Furman play the first intercollegiate American football game in the state of South Carolina.
• December 1–31 – With 15.80 inches (401.3 mm) of rainfall, Los Angeles has its wettest calendar month since records began in 1877.

Undated

• The first West Virginia tornado is recorded.
• The New Hampshire Legislature issues a charter for Saint Anselm College.
• Brook trout is introduced into the upper Firehole River, Yellowstone National Park.
• Riverside Elementary School (Wichita, Kansas)

Ongoing

• Gilded Age (1869–c. 1896)

Births

• February 25 – Homer S. Ferguson, U.S. Senator from Michigan from 1943 to 1955 (died 1982)
• March 4 – Oren E. Long, U.S. Senator from Hawaii from 1959 to 1963 (died 1965)
• March 21 – Frederick Osborn, philanthropist and eugenicist (died 1981)
• June 18 – Prentiss M. Brown, U.S. Senator from Michigan from 1936 to 1943 (died 1973)
• July 29 – Vladimir Kosma Zworykin, Russian-American physicist (died 1982)
• November 19 – Clifton Webb, actor, dancer and singer (died 1966)
• November 20 – Edwin Hubble, astronomer (died 1953)

Deaths

• March 14 – Adonijah Welch, United States Senator from Florida from 1868 to 1869. (born 1821)
• April 30 – William Henry Barnum, United States Senator from Connecticut from 1876 to 1879. (born 1818)
• May 9 – William S. Harney, American general (b. 1800)
• June 26 – Simon Cameron, journalist, editor and 26th United States Secretary of War from 1861 to 1862. (born 1799)
• July 10 – Joseph Projectus Machebeuf, French-American Catholic missionary and the first Bishop of Denver (born 1812)
• December 6 – Jefferson Davis, the only President of the Confederate States of America from 1861 to 1865 and United States Senator from Mississippi from 1847 to 1851 and from 1857 to 1861. (born 1808)

External links

• Media related to at Wikimedia Commons