- 8 October. Empress Myeongseong is assassinated by Japanese agents under Miura Goro.
- 1893March. The Korean Imperial Naval Academy is established. The academy produces approximately 160 officers before its close during and after the First Sino-Japanese War.
- 1894First Sino-Japanese War
- 1894Battle of Pyongyang
- 1894Battle of Pungdo
- 1894동학농민운동 일어남, 갑오개혁 청일 전쟁 발발
- 1894June. The Gabo Reform is initiated. The reform ends in February the next year.
- 1896January. Joseon begins to use the Gregorian calendar.
- 1896Independence Club
- 1896April. Tongnip sinmun, the first private modern Korean newspaper, is founded.
- 1896February. Gojong's internal exile to the Russian legation.
- 189611 February. King Gojong flees to the Russian legation in Seoul.
- 1897대한제국 고종이 제위에 등극하고, 대한제국을 수립해 연호를 광무로 고침
- 1897October. King Gojong proclaims the Korean Empire and is crowned at the religious shrine Hwangudan in Seoul.
- 1897February. King Gojong established the Board of Marshals. All military power was henceforth centralized to the Emperor.
- 1897November. John McLeavy Brown constructs Pagoda Park.
- 1897September. The Donghwa Pharmacy opened in Seoul, Korea. The established corporation, now known as the Dong Wha Pharmacy Corporation., Limited (동화약품(주), 同和藥品(株)). The company, now the oldest pharmacy-based corporation in Korea, has products that are nationally famous, with its 'folding fan' trademark.
- 189720 February. King Gojong returned to the palace after 1 year of refuge at the Russian legation.
| - Battle of Weihaiwei
- Battle of Yingkou
- Battle of Chiatung
- Battle of Chiayi
- Battle of Changhsing
- April — First Sino-Japanese War: The Qing cede the Penghu islands and Taiwan to Japan in the Treaty of Shimonoseki
- April — First Sino-Japanese War: The Qing dynasty signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki, under which it recognized the independence of Joseon, granted Japan MFN status and ceded to it Penghu, Taiwan and the Liaodong Peninsula.
- 1894August — First Sino-Japanese War: War was officially declared between Japan and the Qing dynasty.
- 1894Port Arthur massacre
- 1894中日甲午战争始。日军在旅顺进行大屠杀，超过两万人遇害。唐景崧任台湾省巡抚。興中會（中國國民黨前身）成立。
| - 1895 Japanese invasion of Taiwan
- 랴오둥반도 반환 조약
- April — The First Sino-Japanese War is won by the Japanese, resulting in the Treaty of Shimonoseki. It was the first major conflict between Japan and an overseas military power in modern times. For the first time, regional dominance in East Asia shifted from China to Japan. Korea became a vassal state of Japan.
- May — Japanese invasion of Taiwan (1895)
- 1894Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Commerce and Navigation
- 18941894 Shōnai earthquake
- 1894August — First Sino-Japanese War starts.
- 18961896 Sanriku earthquake
- 1896June — Sanriku earthquake kills 22,066 people.
- 1897貨幣法が公布され、金本位制が確立する。
| - William Randolph Hearst purchases the New York Morning Journal
- Lee Shelton shoots Billy Lyons, spawning countless ballads.
- Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. strikes down part of Wilson-Gorman Tariff
- 1893Panic of 1893
- 1893Sherman Silver Purchase Act
- 1893Columbian Exposition opens in Chicago
- 1894Pullman Strike
- 18941894 San Juan earthquake
- 1894Sunset Limited service opened on the second transcontinental route by Southern Pacific Railroad
- 1894Coxey's Army
- 1894Wilson–Gorman Tariff Act
- 1896Gold discovered in the Yukon's Klondike
- 1896Utah becomes a state
- 1896Henry Ford builds his first automobile
- 1896Plessy v. Ferguson 163 US 537 1896 affirms the idea of "separate but equal"
- 1896U.S. presidential election, 1896: William McKinley elected president and Garret A. Hobart vice president
- 1896William Jennings Bryan delivers his Cross of Gold speech
- 1896March 4, 1897 – McKinley becomes the 25th president; and Hobart becomes the 24th vice president
- 1897Lattimer massacre
- 1897Intentona de Yauco
- 1897Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition
- 1897Dingley tariff
- 1897Boston subway completed
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