4th January » Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state.
5th January » An Austrian newspaper reports that Wilhelm Röntgen has discovered a type of electromagnetic radiation known as radiation later known as X-rays.
16th January » Defeat of Cymru Fydd at South Wales Liberal Federation Annual general meeting called AGM, Newport, Monmouthshire.
28th January » Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent becomes the first person to be convicted of speed limit speeding. He was fined 1 shilling (British coin) shilling, plus costs, for speeding at convert 8 mph km/h abbr=on, thus exceeding the contemporary speed limit of c
1st March » Battle of Adowa: an Ethiopian army defeats an outnumbered Kingdom of Italy known as Italian force, ending the First Italo-Ethiopian War.
1st March » Henri Becquerel discovers radioactivity.
9th March » Prime Minister Francesco Crispi resigns following the Italian defeat at the Battle of Adowa.
24th March » Alexander Stepanovich Popov named A. S. Popov makes the first radio signal transmission in history.
6th April » In Athens, the opening of the 1896 Summer Olympics e.g first modern Olympic Games is celebrated, 1,500 years after the original games are banned by Roman Emperor Theodosius I.
15th April » Closing ceremony of the 1896 Summer Olympics called Games of the I Olympiad in Athens, Greece.
18th May » The United States Supreme Court rules in 'Plessy v. Ferguson' that the "separate but equal" doctrine is constitutional.
18th May » Khodynka Tragedy: A mass panic on Khodynka Field in Moscow during the festivities of the coronation of Nicholas II of Russia known as Russian Tsar Nicholas II results in the deaths of 1,389 people.
20th May » The six ton chandelier of the Palais Garnier falls on the crowd below resulting in the death of one and the injury of many others.
26th May » Nicholas II of Russia e.g Nicholas II becomes the last Tsar of Russian Empire e.g Imperial Russia.
26th May » Charles Dow publishes the first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
27th May » The Fujita scale or F4-strength St. Louis-East St. Louis Tornado hits in St. Louis, Missouri, and East Saint Louis, Illinois, killing at least 255 people and causing $2.9 billion in damage (1997 United States dollar e.g USD).
2nd June » Guglielmo Marconi applies for a patent for his newest invention, the radio.
4th June » Henry Ford completes the Ford Quadricycle, his first gasoline-powered automobile, and gives it a successful test run.
9th July » William Jennings Bryan delivers his Cross of Gold speech advocating bimetallism at the 1896 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
17th July » Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, the Indian people or Indian sage, at age 16, spontaneously initiates a process of self-enquiry that culminates within a few minutes in his own permanent enlightenment (spiritual) named awakening.
28th July » The city of Miami called Miami, Florida is incorporated.
16th August » Keish known as Skookum Jim Mason, George Carmack and Dawson Charlie discover gold in a tributary of the Klondike River in Canada, setting off the Klondike Gold Rush.
23rd August » Officially recognised date of the Cry of Pugad Lawin, the start of the Philippine Revolution is made in Pugad Lawin (Quezon City), in the province of Manila (actual date and location is disputed).
27th August » Anglo-Zanzibar War: The shortest war in world history (09:00 to 09:45), between the United Kingdom and Zanzibar.
30th August » Philippine Revolution: After Spanish victory in the Battle of San Juan del Monte, eight provinces in the Philippines are declared under martial law by the Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines known as Governor-General Ramón Blanco y Erenas.
21st September » British force under Horatio Kitchener takes Dongola in the Sudan.
22nd September » Queen Victoria surpasses her grandfather King George III of the United Kingdom or George III as the longest reigning monarch in British history.
1st November » A picture showing the bare breasts of a woman appears in 'National Geographic (magazine) known as National Geographic' magazine for the first time.
14th December » The Glasgow Subway known as Glasgow Underground Railway is opened by the Glasgow District Subway Company.
30th December » Filipino patriot and reform advocate José Rizal is Capital punishment or executed by a Spanish Execution by firing squad named firing squad in Manila, Philippines.
30th December » Canadian ice hockey player Ernie McLea scores the first hat-trick in Stanley Cup play, and the Cup-winning goal as the Montreal Victorias defeat the Winnipeg Victorias 6–5.