Events January–March January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Staten Island. January 13 – Novelist Émile Zola's open letter to the President of the French Republic on the Dreyfus affair, J'Accuse…!, is published on the front page of the Paris daily newspaper L'Aurore, accusing the government of wrongfully imprisoning Alfred Dreyfus and of antisemitism. February 12 – The automobile belonging to Henry Lindfield of Brighton rolls out of control down a hill in Purley, London, England, and hits a tree; thus he becomes the world's first fatality from an automobile accident on a public highway. February 15 – Spanish–American War: The USS Maine explodes and sinks in Havana Harbor, Cuba, for reasons never fully established, killing 266 men. The event precipitates the United States' declaration of war on Spain, two months later. February 23 – Émile Zola is imprisoned in France, after writing J'Accuse…!. March 1 – Vladimir Lenin creates the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. March 14 – Association football and sports club BSC Young Boys is established in Bern, Switzerland, as the Fussballclub Young Boys. March 16 – In Melbourne the representatives of five colonies adopt a constitution, which will become the basis of the Commonwealth of Australia. March 24 – Robert Allison of Port Carbon, Pennsylvania becomes the first person to buy an American-built automobile, when he buys a Winton automobile that has been advertised in Scientific American. March 26 – The Sabie Game Reserve in South Africa is created, as the first officially designated game reserve. April–June April 5 – Annie Oakley promotes the service of women in combat situations, with the United States military. On this day, she writes a letter to President McKinley "offering the government the services of a company of 50 'lady sharpshooters' who would provide their own arms and ammunition should war break out with Spain." In the history of women in the military, there are records of female U.S. Revolutionary and Civil War soldiers who enlisted using male pseudonyms, but Oakley's letter represents possibly the earliest political move towards women's rights for combat service, in the United States military. April 22 – Spanish–American War: The United States Navy begins a blockade of Cuban ports and the USS Nashville captures a