Africa. October 7 – U.S. President William McKinley, Canada's Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier and Mexico's Foreign Minister Ignacio Mariscal are hosted at the U.S. city of Chicago for its Autumn Festival. October 8 – The South African Republic (ZAR) telegraphs a three-day ultimatum to the U.K., demanding an arbitration of issues and a pullback of troops from the borders between the ZAR and the adjoining Cape Colony, Natal and Bechuanaland by October 11. October 9 – The Hanover Congress of the Social Democratic Party of Germany begins in Hanover and lasts until October 14. October 10 – The French Sudan in west Africa is divided into two smaller administrative units, Middle Niger (which later becomes the nations of Niger and Gambia) and Upper Senegal (which becomes the nations of Senegal and Mali) October 11 – In South Africa, the Second Boer War between the United Kingdom and the Boers of the Transvaal and Orange Free State begins as the Boers invade the British colony of Natal. October 12 – The Sultan of Turkey issues a decree promising reforms to the persecution of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. October 13 – The Second Boer War extends into the British Bechuanaland Protectorate (now Botswana as the siege of Mafeking begins. October 14 – The Boer invasion of the Cape Colony begins with the siege of Kimberley. October 15 – French Army officer Ferdinand de Béhagle is put to death by Sudanese warlord Rabih az-Zubayr, prompting a French expedition to be led against Rabih. October 16 – A Chinese Honeymoon, the first musical to run for more than 1,000 performances, is performed for the first time, making its debut at the Theatre Royal in Hanley, Staffordshire before moving to London. October 17 – The Thousand Days' War (La Guerra de los Mil Días) begins in the South American nation in Colombia as Colombian Liberal Party soldiers led by General Rafael Uribe Uribe, with the support of aid from Venezuela, begin a fight against the government of National Party president Manuel Antonio Sanclemente. The war will continue for 1,130 days until November 21, 1902. October 18 – The Boxer Rebellion begins in China as the Battle of Senluo Temple is fought in China's Shandong province between more than 4,000 Imperial Chinese Army troops and at least 1,000 rebels from the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists. October 19 – In Worcester, Massachusetts, 17-year-old Robert