Historical Events
- May 6 Exposition Universelle (World's Fair) in Paris opens with the recently completed Eiffel Tower serving as the entrance arch
- Sep 23 Nintendo Koppai (Later Nintendo Company, Limited) founded by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce and market the playing card game Hanafuda
- More Historical Events
1889 in Film & TV
- Apr 6 George Eastman begins selling his Kodak flexible rolled film for the first time
1889 in Sport
- Dec 24 Daniel Stover & William Hance patent bicycle with back pedal brake
Did You Know?
The first General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) defines the length of a meter as the distance between two lines on a standard bar of an alloy of platinum with ten percent iridium, measured at the melting point of ice
On September 28, 1889
Famous People in 1889
World Leaders in 1889
Would You Believe?
Louisa Woosley first women to be ordained as a minister in any Presbyterian denomination (US Cumberland Presbyterian Church).
On November 5, 1889
Famous Weddings
- May 31 Polish pianist, and politician Ignacy Jan Paderewski (38) weds Polish baroness, social activist, and humanitaran Helena Maria von Rosen (32) in Warsaw
- Jun 1 Architect Frank Lloyd Wright (21) weds socialite Catherine Tobin
- Sep 6 Explorer Fridtjof Nansen (27) weds mezzo-soprano singer Eva Nansen (30)
More Weddings & Divorces
1889 in Pictures
Lovesick Prince in Suicide Pact
Two lovers, a pact, then tragedy. But what really happened at Mayerling in 1889 remains a mystery despite 130 years of rumour, speculation – and three movies.January 30Nature Blows Gunboat Diplomacy Out of the Water
The world's superpowers were prepared to use the power of their warships to control the Samoan Islands in the 1880s. But nature had other ideas.March 15Eiffel Tower Opens
The Eiffel Tower on opening day in ParisMarch 31