French composer Claude Debussy composes Pelleas et Melisande.

Joseph Conrad publishes "Heart of Darkness."

The Times Literary Supplement of London is founded.

In separate experiments, English physicist Oliver Heaviside and British American electrical engineer Arthur Kennelly discover the existence of an electrified layer of the earth's atmosphere, which, by reflecting radio waves, makes radio transmissions across long distances possible.

26 Mar.

Cecil John Rhodes, architect of British colonial rule in Africa and wealthy diamond miner, dies. Part of his fortune is used to establish the Rhodes scholarships. Apr. Under the terms of the Russo-Japanese Convention, Russia agrees to remove its forces from Manchuria.

15 Apr.

A peasant uprising in Russia is suppressed by forces of the czar.

20 Apr.

At an exhibition of La Societe Nationale des Beaux Arts in Paris, the Art Nouveau style, whose influence will be felt in everything from painting to interior design to the subway entrances of...