Modern Era
Becquerel Discovers Radioactivity (1896): Uranium's Rays
Becquerel showed that uranium gives off penetrating radiation on its own, the first observation of what Marie Curie would name radioactivity.
Era · c. 1800 – 1945
Modern Era
Industry, science and global conflict: the century and a half that built the modern world.
Modern Era
Anglo-Zanzibar War (1896): The Shortest War in Recorded History
British victory within about 40 minutes; Khalid fled and the pro-British Hamud bin Muhammed became sultan.
Modern Era
Execution of José Rizal (1896): Martyr of the Philippines
Rizal was shot by a firing squad; his death made him the foremost martyr of the Philippine nationalist cause.
Modern Era
Philippine Revolution (1896-1898): The Katipunan Against Spain
Spanish rule collapsed in 1898, but the Philippines passed to the United States under the Treaty of Paris, leading to the Philippine-American War.
Modern Era
Battle of Adwa (1896): Ethiopia's Victory Over Italian Invasion
Decisive Ethiopian victory; Italy recognised Ethiopia's full independence in the Treaty of Addis Ababa (October 1896).
Modern Era
Discovery of the Electron (1897): J.J. Thomson's Cathode Rays
Thomson showed that cathode rays consist of negatively charged particles far smaller than atoms, identifying the first subatomic particle, the electron.
Modern Era
Benin Expedition of 1897: The Sack of Benin City and Its Bronzes
Benin City was captured and burned, the Oba was exiled, the kingdom was annexed and thousands of royal artworks were taken to Europe.
Modern Era
Spanish-American War (1898): The US Becomes an Overseas Power
The United States defeated Spain in under four months; Cuba was freed from Spanish rule and the US acquired Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines.
Modern Era
Marie and Pierre Curie Discover Radium and Polonium (1898)
The Curies announced two new radioactive elements, polonium in July and radium in December 1898, establishing radioactivity as a property of atoms.
Modern Era
Fashoda Incident (1898): Britain and France Clash on the Nile
France withdrew from Fashoda; the 1899 Anglo-French convention left the Nile basin to Britain and paved the way for the Entente Cordiale.
Modern Era
Battle of Omdurman (1898): Kitchener's Conquest of the Sudan
Decisive Anglo-Egyptian victory; the Mahdist state collapsed and Sudan came under joint British and Egyptian rule.
Modern Era
Hundred Days' Reform (1898): China's Failed Modernisation Drive
The reforms were halted by Cixi's coup of 21 September 1898; the emperor was confined and six reformers were executed.