1899

1899 was a Common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar).

Events

February 2 - The Australian Premiers' Conference held in Melbourne agrees Australia's capital (Canberra) should be located between Sydney and Melbourne.
February 4 - Philippine-American War begins as hostilities break out in Manila.
February 6 - Spanish-American War: A peace treaty between the United States and Spain is ratified by the United States Senate.
February 14 - Voting machines are approved by the U.S. Congress for use in federal elections.

March 1 - in Afghanistan Capt. George Roos-Keppel makes a sudden attack on a predatory band of Chamkannis that have been raiding in the Kurram Valley and captures 100 prisoners with 3,000 head of cattle.
March 2 - In Washington State, USA, Mount Rainier National Park is established.
March 4 - Cyclone Mahina sweeps in north of Cooktown, Queensland, with a 12 m wave that reaches up to 5 km inland - over 300 dead
March 6 - Felix Hoffman patents Aspirin
March 6 - Bayer registers Aspirin as a trademark.
March 20 - At Sing Sing, Martha M. Place becomes the first woman executed in an Electric chair.

June 22-June 27 - the highest ever recorded cricket score, 628 not out, is made by A. E. J. Collins.
June 25 - Three Denver, Colorado newspapers publish a story that the Chinese government under the Guangxu Emperor is going to demolish the Great Wall of China - later proved to be a fabrication.
June 27 The paperclip was invented by English entrepreneur Roger Malcolm Taylor.

July 17 - NEC Corporation is organized as the first Japanese joint venture with foreign capital.
July 19 - The Newsboys of New York, USA go on strike (strike lasts until August 2). more info
July 29 - The First Peace Conference ends with the signing of the Hague Convention.

December 2 - Philippine-American War: The Battle of Tirad Pass, termed "The Filipino Thermopylae", is fought.
December 26 ? Battle of Mafeking begins.
David Hilbert creates the modern concept of Geometry with the publication of his book Grundlagen der geometrie.
Gordon Douglas is ordained as a Buddhist monk in Myanmar. He is the first westerner to be ordained in the Theravada tradition.

January 7 - Francis Poulenc, French composer (d. 1963)
January 11 - Eva LeGallienne, English actress (d. 1991)
January 12 - Paul Hermann Müller, Swiss chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1965)
January 15 - Goodman Ace, American actor, comedian, and writer (d. 1982)
January 17 - Al Capone, American gangster (d. 1947)
January 17 - Nevil Shute, English author (d. 1960)
February 3 - Doris Speed, English actress (d. 1994)
February 3 - Lao She, Chinese author (d. 1966)
February 6 - Ramon Novarro, Mexican actor (d. 1968)
February 15 - Georges Auric, French composer (d. 1983)
February 22 - George O'Hara, American actor (d. 1966)
February 22 - Dechko Uzunov, Bulgarian painter (d. 1986)
February 23 - Erich Kästner, German writer (d. 1974)
February 27 - Charles Best, Canadian medical scientist (d. 1978)
March 11 - King Frederick IX of Denmark (d. 1972)
March 13 - John Hasbrouck van Vleck, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1980)
March 18 - Jean Goldkette, Greek-born musician (d. 1962)
March 28 - Harold B. Lee, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1973)

January 23 - Romualdo Pacheco, Governor of California (b. 1831)
February 25 - Paul Julius Reuter, German-born news agency founder (b. 1816)
June 3 - Johann Strauss, Jr., Austrian composer (b. 1825)
June 10 - Ernest Chausson, French composer (b. 1855)
July 21 - Robert G. Ingersoll, American politician (b. 1833)
August 16 - Robert Wilhelm Bunsen, German chemist (b. 1811)
September 12 - Cornelius Vanderbilt II, American railway magnate (b. 1843)
November 21 - Garret A. Hobart, 24th Vice President of the United States (d.1844)
November 24 - Abdallahi ibn Muhammad, Sudanese political and religious leader (killed in battle) (b. 1846)
December 22 - Dwight L. Moody, American evangelist (b. 1837)
William Henry Webb, American industrialist and philanthropist (b. 1816)