1889 Was A Fascinating Year, Not Just For Montana

What happened in history in 1889? An awful lot, that's what. Montana and three other states entered the union, but so many other interesting pieces of history came together too. History buffs, prepare for The Year Montana Became a State.

We thought we'd take a look at all sorts of things that happened in 1889. Births, deaths, world leaders, celebrations, inventions, battles, or anything else that sheds some perspective on what the world was like the year Montana joined the United States. (It was November 8th, 1889, to be specific.)

Clemson University is founded in Clemson, South Carolina on November 27th, 1889. Clemson is one of the country's most selective public research universities according to the Princeton Review.

Throughout 1889, Brook trout were introduced into the upper Firehole River, in Yellowstone National Park. I guess we can chalk this up to one of the earliest instances of us messing with ecosystems around Montana.

On August 4th, 1889, The Great Fire of Spokane, Washington broke out.  This massive fire destroyed approximately 32 blocks of the city, and a massive rebuilding effort began soon after.

The Eiffel Tower is inaugurated in Paris on March 31st, 1889. It actually opened later that year on May 6th, 1889. It became the tallest structure in the world at the time, with a height of 300 meters.

The first issue of The Wall Street Journal is published in New York City on July 8th, 1889. It was founded in by financial heavyweights at the time, Charles Dow, Edward Jones and Charles Bergstresser.

The Savoy Hotel in London opens on August 6th, 1889. The Savoy was "the first purpose-built deluxe hotel in London". Famous folks such as Al Jolson, Cary Grant along with Virginia, the first of several wives, Tallulah Bankhead, John Wayne, Ava Gardner, Frank Sinatra, and Vivien Leigh have stayed there.

The Coca-Cola Company is born as the Pemberton Medicine Company in Atlanta, Georgia on January 15th, 1889. Dr. John Pemberton had invented the original syrup in 1886.

The first jukebox goes into operation, at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco on November 23rd, 1889. It was invented by Louis Glass and William S. Arnold. It wasn't called a jukebox at the time - they called it a "nickel-in-the-slot phonograph".

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At high noon on April 22nd, 1889, in Oklahoma Territory, thousands rush to claim land in the Land Rush. "Some who made the run sought to beat others to choice homesteads by entering early and hiding out until the legal time of entry. These people came to be known as 'Sooners.'"

James Prescott Joule, an English physicist, died on October 11th, 1889. He "established that the various forms of energy—mechanical, electrical, and heat—are basically the same and can be changed one into another." He was born in 1818.

The building of the Panama Canal is interrupted by an outbreak of Yellow Fever sometime in 1889. The specific date of the illness is unknown, but work halted on the project until the illness could be brought under control.

Sometime in November of 1889, the first free elections are held in Costa Rica. Costa Rica had been a colony of Spain for 300 years.

On October 6th, 1889, Mount Kilimanjaro's is summited by German geologist Hans Meyer along with Austrian mountaineer Ludwig Purtscheller.