Born
25 June: George Orwell (born Eric Arthur Blair), British novelist
25 September: Mark Rothko, US artist

Died
25 February: Richard Gatling, US inventor of the rapid-fire gun
8 May: Paul Gauguin, French Painter
20 July: Pope Leo XIII
12 November: Camille Pissarro, French artist
8 December: Herbert Spencer, British philosopher

Linked
New York City and London are linked by a news service using Marconi wireless on 29 March.

Published
Jack London, The Call of the Wild. Kate Doulas Wiggin, Rebeca of Sunnybrook Farm.

In Business
23 July, Detroit: Ford Motor Company sells its first motor car. The Ford Model A costs $850 and can reach a speed of 48 km/h (30mph).

16 June, USA: Pepsi Cola Company registers trade name "Pepsi Cola".

New Words
clone n:genetic material that has been isolated and reproduced by laboratory manipulation.
deja vu n: the experiance of perceiving a new situation as if it had occurred before.

At 10.35, on the morning of 17 December, the "Flyer" a contraption of wood, wire and fabric rose from the sand dunes of Kitty Hawk in North Carolina and flew for 12 seconds, piloted by Orville Wright. It covered a distance of 36 metres (120 ft) -- the first controlled, powered flight in history.

Orville and his brother Wilbur, both bicycle makers from Dayton, Ohio, have spent four autumns experimenting with flying machines at Kitty Hawk. The Wright's methodical approach and firm grasp of aeronautical theory sets them apart from many other would-be aviators. In their workshop they ahve carefully analysed their rivals' experiments and tested their own theories before conducting further trials on the beach.

On 17 December, the brothers made four successful trials, culminating in a 59-second flight before a gust of wind caught the machine and damaged it.

View Milestones: Science & Discovery

Troops of the Ottoman Empire have killed an estimated 50,000 Bulgarian rebels in an attempt to crush a planned uprising against Turkish rule in Macedonia. Bulgarians fled for their lives as Turkish soldiers destroyed every village around the town of Monastir. Some victims hid in the countryside but were shot after being forced into the open by fires.

Turkish authority in the Balkans has been in danger of dissolving altogether. Bulgarian s in the Monastir area were the agressors in April, destroying a Muslim village and killing 165 people. The Turks, hearing of plans for an August revolt, sent 300,000 men to Macedonia. The brutal show of force only preceeds further rebellion.

The French scientists Pierre and Marie Curie were awarded the Nobel Prize for physics for their investigations into radioactivity. The prize was shared with Henri Becquerel, who discovered the ability of uranium rays to fog photographic plates.

Inspired by Becquerel's discovery, the Curies set out to discover the cause of what Curie termed "radioactivity". She was sure that uranium was not the only radioactive element, and together with Pierre set out to prove her theory. In their primitive laboratory in Sorbonne the Curies had to purify several tons of the uranium-bearing ore pitchblende in order to isolate two new elements: polonium (named after Marie's country of birth) and radium.

Last year they ran out of money. The Nobel Prize, which was first given out in 1901, is worth 70,000 francs, not only making them famous but also solving their financial crisis.