October 18 - Charles Gounod, French composer (b. 1818)
November 6 - Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer (b. 1840)
Events
January 1 - Japan begins using the Gregorian calendar.
January 2 - Webb C. Ball of the General Railroad Timepiece Standards in North America introduces railroad chronometers.
January 6 - The Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress. The charter is signed by President Benjamin Harrison.
January 13 - The Independent Labour Party of the UK has its first meeting.
January 13 - U.S. Marines land in Honolulu from the U.S.S. Boston to prevent the queen from abrogating the Bayonet Constitution.
January 17 - The Citizen's Committee of Public Safety, led by Lorrin A. Thurston overthrows the government of Queen Liliuokalani of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
January 19 - Henrik Ibsen's play The Master Builder premieres in Berlin.
January 21 - The Tati Concessions Land, formerly part of Matabeleland, was formally annexed to the Bechuanaland Protectorate which is now Botswana.
February 1 - Thomas A. Edison finishes construction of the first motion picture studio, the Black Maria in West Orange, New Jersey.
February 21 - Thomas Edison receives two U.S. patents for a "Cut Out for Incandescent Electric Lamps" and for a "Stop Device"
February 24 - The American University is chartered by an act of the Congress of the United States of America.
March 4 - Congo Free State: The army of Francis, Baron Dhanis attacks the Lualaba, enabling him to transport his troops across the Upper Congo and, capture Nyangwe almost without an effort.
March 18 - Former Governor General Lord Stanley pledges to donate a silver challenge cup, later named after him, as an award for the best hockey team in Canada; originally presented to amateur champions, the Stanley Cup has been awarded to the top pro team since 1910, and since 1926, only to National Hockey League teams.
April 6 - Salt Lake Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is dedicated by Wilford Woodruff.
April 8 - The first recorded college basketball game occurs in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.
May 1 - The World's Columbian Exposition opens in Chicago.
May 10 - The Supreme Court of the United States rules in Nix v. Hedden that a tomato is a vegetable, not a fruit, under the Tariff Act of 1883.
June 7 - Gandhi's first act of civil disobedience.
June 13 - Grover Cleveland undergoes secret, successful surgery to remove a large, cancerous portion of his jaw; operation not revealed to US public until 1917, nine years after the president's death.
June 20 - Lizzie Borden is acquitted for the murders of her father and stepmother.
July 6 - The small town of Pomeroy, Iowa, is nearly destroyed by a tornado that kills 71 people and injures 200.
July 11 - The first cultured pearl is obtained by Kokichi Mikimoto.
July 11 - A revolution led by the liberal general and politician, José Santos Zelaya, takes over state power in Nicaragua.
August 14 - France introduces motor vehicle registration.
September 7 - The Genoa Cricket & Athletic Club, to become the first Italian football club, is established by British expats.
September 11 - First conference of the World Parliament of Religions is held.
September 16 - Settlers race in Oklahoma for prime land in the Cherokee Strip.
September 19 - Women's suffrage: in New Zealand, the Electoral Act of 1893 is consented to by the governor giving all women in New Zealand the right to vote.
September 22 - The first American-made automobile, built by the Duryea Brothers, is displayed.
October 28 - Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Pathétique, receives its premiere performance in St. Petersburg, only nine days before the composer's death.
November 7 - Women in the U.S. state of Colorado are granted the right to vote.
November 12 - The treaty of the Durand Line is signed between present day Pakistan and Afghanistan
November 28 - Women vote in a national election for the first time: the New Zealand general election.
November 29 - Ziqiang Institute, today known as Wuhan University, is founded by Zhang Zhidong, governor of Hubei and Hunan Provinces in late Qing Dynasty of China after his memorial to the throne is approved by the Qing Government.
