begins when the first successful prospectors arrive in Seattle July 25 – Writer Jack London sails to join the Klondike Gold Rush, where he will write his first successful stories. July 26–August 2 – Siege of Malakand: British troops are besieged by Pashtun tribesmen in Malakand, on the Northwest frontier of the British Raj (modern-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan). July 31 – Mount Saint Elias, the second highest peak in the United States and Canada, is first ascended. August 10 – At the Bayer pharmaceutical company, pharmacist Felix Hoffmann successfully synthesizes acetylsalicylic acid, after isolating a compound from a plant of the Spiraea family; the company markets it under the brand name "Aspirin". August 21 – The Olds Motor Vehicle Co. is founded in Lansing, Michigan, by Ransom E. Olds. August 29 – The First Zionist Congress convenes in Basel, Switzerland. August 31 – Thomas Edison is granted a patent for the Kinetoscope, a precursor of the movie projector. September 1 – The Tremont Street Subway in Boston opens, becoming the first underground metro in North America. September 10 – Lattimer massacre: A sheriff's posse kills 19 unarmed immigrant miners in Pennsylvania. September 11 – After months of searching, generals of Menelik II of Ethiopia capture Gaki Sherocho, the last king of Kaffa, bringing an end to that ancient kingdom. September 12 – Battle of Saragarhi: Twenty-one Sikhs of the 36th Sikhs regiment of the British Indian Army defend an army post to the death, against 10,000 Afghan and Orakzai tribesmen, in the Tirah Campaign on the Northwest frontier of the British Raj (modern-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan). September 20 – Greece and Turkey sign a peace treaty to end the Greco-Turkish War. September 21 – Francis P. Church responds to a letter to the editor that is known as the famous "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" letter. October–December October 2 – The first issue of the Australian radical paper Tocsin is published. October 2 – Bácskai Hírlap Hungarian language daily newspaper is published. October 5 – After a long siege, Brazilian government troops take Canudos in north Brazil, crushing Antônio Conselheiro and his followers. October 6 – Ethiopia adopts the tricolor flag: green is for the land, yellow for gold, and red is symbolic of strength and the blood shed. October 12 The Joseon Kingdom becomes the Korean Empire, ending the Joseon era which has existed since