1899

The timelines on this site are an attempt to highlight the major political and cultural events of the years 1895-1914. They are by no means definitive or canonical; aiming instead at a representative selection, gleaned from various texts.  Additions to the timeline are especially welcome: please leave suggestions in the comments box below.

Key Events

March – Marconi sends a radio signal across the Channel
March – The London Government Bill brought to Parliament
October – Start of the Second Boer War; the Seige of Mafeking

Deaths

Bernard Quaritch.
Henry Tate.

Literature

The Awkward Age – Henry James.
Stalky & Co – Rudyard Kipling.
Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad.
Kate Chopin – The Awakening.

Art & Architecture

May – The South Kensington Museum renamed the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Works:
Self-Portrait – Gwen John.
Augustus John – William Orpen.
The Doll’s House – William Rothenstein.
An Interior in Venice – John Singer Sargent.
A Pastoral Play – Henry Tonks.
Death Crowning Innonence – G F Watts.
Whitby Harbour, Night – Atkinson Grimshaw.
A Short Story All Too Long – James Hayllar.
Reverie – Marcus Stone.
Springtime – Kate Greenaway.
Cherubs – Edward Hornel.

Sculpture:
Mors Janua Vitae – Harry Bates.
Oliver Cromwell – Hamo Thornycroft.

Architecture:
Orchards, Godalming and Tigbourne Court – E L Lutyens.
John Rylands Library – Basil Champneys.

Theatre

The Only Way – Adaption of A Tale of Two Cities by Rev. Freeman Wills, Canon Frederick Langridge, John Martin Harvey and N. da Silva (premieres at the Lyceum, London, in February).
Caesar and Cleopatra – George Bernard Shaw (premieres Newcastle in March).

Music

June – Premiere of Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations.