1863 Emancipation Proclamation (ending slavery) issued by Lincoln
1863 The first homestead under the Homestead Act claimed, near Beatrice NE
1871 Belgium disbands salt tax
1874 New York City annexes the Bronx
1877 England's Queen Victoria proclaimed empress of India
1880 Building of Panama Canal, begins
1881 Dr John H Watson is introduced to Sherlock Holmes
1882 William Cornelius Van Horne is appointed General Manager of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Van Horne succeeded in laying 480 miles of track across the Prairies in the summer of 1882.
1886 The first Tournament of Roses, Pasadena CA
1891 French troops occupy Nioro, West-Sudan, 3000 killed
1891 King Pakketvaart sails to Netherlands Indies
1892 Ellis Island becomes reception center for new immigrants
1892 The Ellis Island Immigrant Station in New York formally opens.
1893 Japan adopts the Gregorian calendar
1894 Denmark adopts Mid-European time
1894 Manchester Ship Canal in England opens to traffic
1895 Norway adopts Mid-European time
1896 Wilhelm Röntgen announces his discovery of x-rays
1897 Brooklyn merges with New York to form present City of New York
1898 Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island are consolidated into New York City.
1898 Lightship replaces whistling buoy at mouth of San Francisco Bay
1899 Cuba liberated from Spain by US
1900 British protectorates of Northern & Southern Nigeria established
1900 Compulsory education in Netherlands goes into effect
1901 Australia becomes a Commonwealth under British rule.
