| 1845–1958 | Germany [earth sciences] | German naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt lays the basis of modern geography with the publication of Kosmos/Cosmos, in which he arranges geographic knowledge in a systematic fashion. |
| 1891 | UK [fiction] | The Scottish writer Arthur Conan Doyle publishes the first of his Sherlock Holmes stories in Strand Magazine. |
| 1891 | England [fiction] | The English writer Thomas Hardy publishes his novel Tess of the D'Urbervilles. |
| 1891 | Ireland [fiction] | The Irish writer Oscar Wilde publishes his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray and Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories. |
| 1891 | France [motor vehicles] | French inventors René Panhard and Emile Levassar create a car to a design which becomes the basis for modern cars, by putting the engine at the front (which improves traction for the front wheels) and by replacing the typical leather drive-belt with a transmission, gear shift, and clutch. It is the first vehicle to be designed as an automobile rather than a modified ‘horseless’ carriage. |
| 1891 | UK, France [telephone services] | A telephone link is established between London, England, and Paris, France. |
| 1891 | USA [consumer products] | US inventor Whitcomb L Judson patents the zip fastener under the name of ‘Clasp Locker or Unlocker’. It is initially designed for use on shoes and boots, and is not called the ‘zipper’ until 1926. |
| 1891 | World [astronomy] | The ‘blink’ comparator is invented. It permits the discovery of objects in the Solar System by comparison of two photographs, taken a few hours apart, of the same region of the sky. Stars remain fixed, while planets and asteroids move or ‘blink’. |
| 1891 | Canada, USA [basketball] | The Canadian educationalist James Naismith, an instructor at the Springfield, Massachusetts, YMCA Training School, invents the game of basketball, attaching two peach baskets to the tops of ladders at opposite ends of a gymnasium floor. |
| 1891 | USA [cinema and film] | US electrical engineer Thomas Edison, with his assistant William Dickson, develops the Kinetoscope, the first commercial motion picture film process. |
| 1891 | USA [cinema and film] | US inventors Thomas Edison and William Dickson patent the ‘Kinetoscope’, a predecessor of the motion-picture film projector. It consists of a strip of film, viewed through a peephole in a box while being wound from one reel to another, producing the illusion of persons and objects in motion. Edison sees it as a toy and fails to consider projection of the images. |
| 1891 | USA [civic and commercial buildings] | The Wainwright Building in St Louis, Missouri, designed by the US architect Louis Sullivan, is completed. Combining recent technological developments in building – particularly the use of a steel framework – the Wainwright Building is one of the first masterpieces in the development of the skyscraper. |
| 1891 | Germany [technology] | The world's first long-distance high-voltage line for transmitting electricity is established between Lauffen and Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Over 8,000 volts are carried over a distance of 177 km/120 mi. |
| 4 April 1891 | Germany [colonization] | The Pan-German League is founded, a popular association dedicated to agitating for German expansionism. |
| 11 April 1891 | Russia [births and deaths] | Sergey Sergeyevich Prokofiev, Russian composer, born in Sontsovka, Ukraine, Russia (–1953). |
| 16 June 1891 | Canada [administration] | John Abbot becomes premier of Canada following the death of Sir John Macdonald, premier since 1878 and the force behind making Canada a dominion. |
| 27 August 1891 | France, Russian Empire [treaties] | A Franco-Russian entente is made as a result of friendlier relations following the break between Germany and Russia. |
| 19 September 1891 | Chile [administration] | The dictator José Balmaceda is driven from office in Chile following civil war with the congress. |
| 28 September 1891 | USA [births and deaths] | Herman Melville, US novelist, short-story writer, and poet who wrote Moby Dick, dies in New York City (72). |
| 6 October 1891 | England, Ireland [births and deaths] | Charles Stewart Parnell, Irish nationalist who led the movement for Irish home rule, dies in Brighton, Sussex, England (45). |
| 23 November 1891 | Brazil [revolution] | The autocratic president of Brazil Deodoroda Fonseca is driven from office by a naval revolt and is succeeded by Florians Peixoto, who also governs dictatorially. |
| 26 December 1891 | USA [births and deaths] | Henry Miller, US novelist, born in New York City (–1980). |
