are held in Athens, Greece. April 9 – The National Farm School (later Delaware Valley College) is chartered in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. May 8 – Cricket: Against Warwickshire, Yorkshire sets a still-standing County Championship record, when they accumulate an innings total of 887. May 13 – The Franchise Bill is passed by the Colony of Natal's Legislative Assembly, disfranchising natives of other countries. May 18 – Plessy v. Ferguson: The U.S. Supreme Court introduces the separate but equal doctrine, and upholds racial segregation. May 26 – Eleven years after its foundation, a group of 12 purely industrial stocks were chosen to form the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The index is composed entirely of industrial shares for the first time. May 27 – St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado: The costliest and third deadliest tornado in U.S. history levels a mile wide swath of downtown St. Louis, Missouri, incurring US$2.9 billion (1997 USD) in normalized damages, killing more than 255 and injuring over 1,000 people. June 4 – The Ford Quadricycle, the first vehicle Henry Ford developed, is completed, eventually leading Ford to build the empire that "put America on wheels". June 7 – Mahdist War – Battle of Ferkeh: British and Egyptian troops are victorious. June 12 – J.T. Hearne sets a record for the earliest date of taking 100 wickets in cricket (it is equalled by Charlie Parker in 1931). June 15 – The 8.5 Sanriku earthquake and tsunami kills 22,000 in northeastern Japan. June 18 – The New York Telephone Company is formed, succeeding the Metropolitan Telephone and Telegraph Company, to control telephone service within New York City. June 23 – Liberal leader Wilfrid Laurier defeats Charles Tupper during Canadian federal elections for the 8th Canadian Parliament, to become the first Francophone Prime Minister of Canada. June 28 – Twin Shaft disaster: An explosion in the Newton Coal Company's Twin Shaft Mine in Pittston, Pennsylvania results in a massive cave-in that kills 58 miners. July–September July 9 – William Jennings Bryan delivers his Cross of Gold speech at the Democratic National Convention, which nominates him for president of the United States. July 11 – Wilfrid Laurier becomes Canada's seventh prime minister, and the first French-speaker to hold that office. July 21 – In Washington, D.C., in response to a "call to confer" issued by Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin to all women of color, the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs