P.T. Barnum purchased the world-famous circus elephant Jumbo.
Source
New Zealand suffered its most fatal natural disaster in history during the Hawke's Bay Earthquake.
US President Woodrow Wilson announced that the nation would officially cut relations with Germany.
Harper Lee announced plans to publish a sequel to 'To Kill a Mockingbird.'
The temperature plunged to -81.4°F in Snag, Yukon, Canada, making it the coldest recorded temperature in North America.
Switzerland opened the world's first commercial cheese factory.