Modern Era
Kodak Camera (1888): 'You Press the Button, We Do the Rest'
The Kodak made photography simple and affordable for amateurs, created the snapshot and turned Eastman's company into a world leader in film.
Region
Americas
Modern Era
Great Blizzard of 1888: The Storm That Buried the Northeast
More than 400 people died, New York was cut off for days, and the city accelerated plans to bury its wires and build an underground railway.
Modern Era
Johnstown Flood (1889): The South Fork Dam Disaster
The dam collapsed and a flood wave destroyed much of Johnstown, killing 2,209 people; the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club was never held legally liable.
Modern Era
Wounded Knee Massacre (1890): Tragedy at Pine Ridge
US 7th Cavalry troops killed an estimated 250-300 Lakota, many of them women and children, ending the Ghost Dance crisis and the last major armed conflict of the Plains wars.
Modern Era
Cuban War of Independence (1895-1898) and José Martí
Cuban insurgents fought Spain to a costly stalemate until US intervention in 1898 ended Spanish rule; Cuba then passed under US military occupation until 1902.
Modern Era
Niagara Falls Power Plant (1895): Tesla's AC Harnesses the Falls
The plant proved that large-scale alternating-current generation and long-distance transmission were practical, shaping electric power systems worldwide.
Modern Era
Klondike Gold Rush (1896-1899): The Stampede to the Yukon
An estimated 100,000 people set out for the Klondike, around 30,000-40,000 reached Dawson City, and Canada created the Yukon Territory in 1898 before the rush faded in 1899.
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.
Prehistory
Dippy the Diplodocus: Andrew Carnegie's Dinosaur and Its Casts
The skeleton was named Diplodocus carnegii, and Carnegie's plaster casts made it the most widely displayed dinosaur in the world.
Modern Era
Galveston Hurricane of 1900: Deadliest Disaster in US History
The storm surge destroyed much of Galveston and killed an estimated 6,000 to 12,000 people; the city built a seawall and raised its ground level.
Modern Era
Marconi's Transatlantic Radio (1901): Signals Across the Ocean
Marconi reported receiving a wireless signal across the Atlantic, a claim confirmed in principle by shipboard tests in 1902; regular transatlantic wireless service began in 1907.
Prehistory
Tyrannosaurus rex Discovery: Barnum Brown and the 1902 Find
Brown's partial skeleton became the type specimen of Tyrannosaurus rex, named by Osborn in 1905, and later finds made it the world's most famous dinosaur.