1889
Eiffel Tower Opens
For the Paris Exposition marking the centenary of the Revolution, Gustave Eiffel erected a thousand-foot iron tower on the Champ de Mars - the tallest man-made structure in the world. Parisian writers called it a monstrosity; visitors loved it. Designed to stand twenty years, it became the signature of Paris by accident and then by right.
Brazilian Republic Proclaimed
A military coup led by Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca bloodlessly deposed Emperor Dom Pedro II, who was put on a boat for Lisbon. The old emperor, a gentle constitutional monarch beloved for his learning, had alienated the army and the planters. Brazil became a republic by rumor, almost - the Rio crowds were reportedly bewildered by the change.
Johnstown Flood
A neglected dam above Johnstown, Pennsylvania, burst after heavy rain and sent twenty million tons of water down the valley at forty miles an hour. The wave scoured the steel town and killed over two thousand people. It was the worst civil disaster in American history to that date and launched a new era of disaster relief.
Second International Founded
In Paris, socialist and labor parties from twenty countries founded the Second International, uniting European social democracy. They set May Day as international workers' day, in memory of the Haymarket martyrs, and committed themselves - on paper - to opposing imperialist war. The commitment would evaporate in August 1914. When war came, socialist parties in every belligerent nation voted for war credits, and the International collapsed into national loyalties.
Mayerling Tragedy
The heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Crown Prince Rudolf, was found dead at his hunting lodge alongside his seventeen-year-old mistress. Murder-suicide, almost certainly. The succession fell to Rudolf's cousin Franz Ferdinand - who, twenty-five years later, would be shot in Sarajevo and light a world war. The tragedy haunted the Habsburg court and robbed the dual monarchy of its most reform-minded heir at the worst possible moment.
Hull House Opens
Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr rented a decaying mansion in a Chicago immigrant neighborhood and began offering classes, childcare, and services to the largely Italian and Greek residents. Hull House became the model for the American settlement movement - and a training ground for a generation of female social reformers, including Florence Kelley.