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The 1893 World's Columbian Exposition took place in the midst of a time of radical cultural and societal change in the United States. While the overall mood of the nation was mixed as the country felt the real effects of intensified urbanism, industrial capitalism, and the higher profile of science and technology, the message of the Exposition was one of optimism and faith in progress. Here are some of the events that occurred that year:
January 6 — The Great Northern Railway connected Seattle with the East Coast.
January 17 — The U.S. Marines landed in Hawaii, resulting in the overthrow of the government of Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii.
February 1 — Thomas A. Edison finished construction of the first motion picture studio in West Orange, New Jersey.
February 23 — Rudolf Diesel received a patent for the diesel engine.
March 4 — U.S. President Benjamin Harrison was succeeded by Stephen Grover Cleveland.
April 6 — The Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah was dedicated.
May 1 — The 1893 World's Fair, also known as the World's Columbian Exposition, opened to the public in Chicago, Illinois.
May 5 — A crash on the New York Stock Exchange, later known as the Panic of 1893, started an economic depression.
June 7 — Gandhi committed his first act of civil disobedience in India.
June 21 — The first Ferris Wheel premiered at Chicago's Columbian Exposition.
June 27 — Stocks crashed on New York stock exchange.
July 6 — The small town of Pomeroy, Iowa was nearly destroyed by a tornado; 71 people were killed and 200 injured.
July 12 — Frederick Jackson Turner gave a lecture titled "The Signficance of the Frontier in American History" before the American Historical Association in Chicago.
July 22 — Katharine Lee Bates wrote "America the Beautiful" in Colorado.
August 27 — The Sea Islands Hurricane hit Savannah, Charleston, and the Sea Islands, killing 1,000-2,000.
September 11 — The World's Parliament of Religions in Chicago opened its first meeting. The event lasted until September 27. A standing ovation was given to Hindu Swami Vivekananda after the salutation for his address, "Sisters and Brothers of America... "
September 19 — New Zealand became the first country in the world to grant women the right to vote.
September 21 — Brothers Charles and Frank Duryea drove the first gasoline-powered motorcar in America on public roads in Springfield, Massachusetts.
September 23 — The Baha'i Faith was first publicly mentioned in the United States at the World's Parliament of Religions in Chicago.
October 1 — The third worst hurricane in United States history killed 1,800 in Mississippi.
October 28 — Carter Harrison, mayor of Chicago, was shot and killed by an assassin.
October 30 — The 1893 World's Fair, also known as the World's Columbian Exposition, closed.
November 7 — Colorado women were granted the right to vote.
December 20 — Georgia approved the first state anti-lynching statue.
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Last updated on Wednesday, October 26, 2011.
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