1898
Centuries: 18th century - 19th century - 20th century
Decades: 1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s - 1890s - 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s
Years: 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 - 1898 - 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903
Events
- January 13 - Emile Zola's J'accuse exposes the Dreyfus affair.
- February 7 - Emile Zola is brought to trial for libel for publishing J'Accuse
- February 15 - Spanish-American War: The USS Maine explodes and sinks in Havana Harbor, Cuba for then unknown reasons killing more than 260. This event helped lead the United States to declare war on Spain.
- February 23 - Emile Zola is imprisoned in France after writing "J'accuse" which was a letter accusing the French government of anti-Semitism and wrongfully placing Alfred Dreyfus in jail.
- Fashoda incident -- diplomatic dispute between France and the United Kingdom
- The Treaty of Peace ending the Spanish-American War is signed in Paris on December 10, 1898.
Births
- January 7 - Rudolf Fernau, actor (+ 1985)
- January 16 - Margaret Booth, film editor
- January 23 - Sergei Eisenstein, director
- February 10 - Bertolt Brecht - playwright, writer and poet
- February 14 - Fritz Zwicky, physicist and astronomer (+ 1974)
- February 18 - Enzo Ferrari, auto racer, manufacturer (+ 1988)
- March 6 - Therese Giehse, actress (+ 1975)
- March 11 - Dorothy Gish, actress (+ 1968)
- May 3 - Golda Meir - Israeli Prime Minister
- May 31 - Dr. Norman Vincent Peale (clergyman)
- June 17 - M. C. Escher - Dutch graphic artist
- July 30 - Henry Moore - sculptor
- August 26 - Peggy Guggenheim, art collector
- November 18 - Joris Ivens, director
- September 26 - George Gershwin - composer
- November 8 - Marie Prevost, actress (+ 1937)
- November 21 - Rene Magritte - surrealist artist
- November 29 - C. S. Lewis - British author
Deaths
- January 14 - Lewis Carroll, writer, mathematician
- July 30 - Otto von Bismarck - German Statesman
- October 24 - Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, painter