all but nine homes in the small U.S. town of Carrabelle, Florida August 2 – The first attack on an offshore oil installation in the United States takes place off the coast of Santa Barbara, California near Montecito, when a mob of outraged citizens demolishes an oil rig. August 3 – The John Marshall Law School is founded in Chicago. August 4 – Japan rescinds its policy of extraterritoriality privileges to western nations that had operated consular courts to try cases against western nationals under western law. The British Court for Japan closes at the end of the year. August 5 – Automotive mechanic Henry Ford, with the help of 12 investors, incorporates the Detroit Automobile Company. While the company will fail after 17 months, it establishes Detroit, Michigan, as the site for U.S. car manufacturing and the mistakes learned help Ford have more success with the Ford Motor Company. August 6 – Near Stratford, Connecticut, 36 people are killed when a trolley falls off of a trestle and lands upside down in a pond 40 feet below. On the same day, the collapse of a ferry dock in Mount Desert Island, Maine, drowns 20-people. August 7 – The retrial of French Army Captain Alfred Dreyfus opens at Rennes. Governance of the island of Guam, under the administration of the United States Department of the Navy, begins with Admiral Richard P. Leary as the first U.S. Naval Governor. August 8 – The San Ciriaco hurricane strikes Puerto Rico, recently annexed by the United States, and leaves 250,000 people homeless. The official death toll is later listed as 3,369 people. August 9 – The Seats for Shop Assistants Act 1899 is given royal assent in the United Kingdom, providing, for the first time, a respite for workers required to remain standing for long periods of time. August 10 – Marshall "Major" Taylor wins the world professional cycling championship in Montreal, securing his place as the first African American world champion in any sport. August 11 – The "Black Heavyweight Championship" of boxing is won by Frank Childs in a six-round win over Klondike Haynes. August 12 – South African Republic General Jan Smuts makes a final initiative to avert the outbreak of what will become the Second Boer War with Britain, meeting in Pretoria with the British charge d'affaires, Conyngham Greene. August 13 – The battle for the Philippine city of