1897

1897

The Great Consolidation! The City of Brooklyn becomes part of New York City. Obsolete buildings like the one above--the City of Brooklyn's Fire Department Headquarters--are repurposed. (That is now retail space.)

The murder trial of Elva Zona Heaster becomes (probably) the only criminal case in United States history to use testimony from a ghost to secure a conviction.

British Punitive Expedition burns the City of Benin to the ground.

Arctic Balloon Expedition! Everyone dies.

The Boston subway, the USA's first underground metro, opens.

First use of the word "computer" to mean an electronic calculation device.

born: William Faulkner, Douglas Sirk, Sidney Bechet, Frank Capra, Moe Howard.

died: Johannes Brahms

Claude Debussy - Trois Nocturnes