Charles Fort: A Fortean Chronology, 1890.

The year 1890 (MDCCCXC) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar.

January

• January 1: The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony in northeast Africa.
• January 2: Alice Sanger becomes the first female staffer in the White House.
• January 25: The United Mine Workers of America is founded.
• January 25: Nellie Bly completes her round-the-world journey in 72 days.
• January 31: During a storm in Switzerland incalculable numbers of larvae fell, some black and some yellow. (Books97)

February

• February 6: A shower of fishes over Montgomery County, California. (Books546)
• February 17: The British steamship Duburg wrecks in the China Seas; 400 lives are lost.

March

• March 1: The British steamship Quetia founders in the Lorres Straits; 124 lives are lost.
• March 4: The longest bridge in Britain, the Forth Bridge (8,296 ft) in Scotland, is opened.
• March 16: In the sky over Ashland, Ohio, was seen a mirage of a large, unknown, city (Books459) 
• March 27: A tornado strikes Louisville, Kentucky, killing 76 people and injuring 200.
• March 28: Washington State University is founded in Pullman, Washington.

May

• May 12: The first ever official County Championship cricket match begins in Bristol; Yorkshire beats Gloucestershire by 8 wickets.
• May 15: At Messignadi, Calabria, someting the colour of fresh blood fell. (Books304) 
• May 31: The 5-story skylight Arcade opens in Cleveland, Ohio.

June

• June 1: The United States Census Bureau begins using Herman Hollerith's tabulating machine to count census returns.
• June 6: A fall of limestone pebbles during a hailstorm at Pel-et-Der, France. (Books68) 
• June 12: In Michigan, the wooden steamer Ryan is lost near Thunder Bay Island.
• June 20: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde published by Philadelphia based Lippincott's Monthly magazine.

July

• July 2: The Sherman Antitrust Act and Sherman Silver Purchase Act become United States law.
• July 3: Idaho is admitted as the 43rd U.S. state.
• July 10: Wyoming is admitted as the 44th U.S. state.
• July 13: In Minnesota, storms result in the Sea Wing disaster on Lake Pepin killing 98.
• July 27: Vincent van Gogh shoots himself in the stomach and dies two days later.

August

• August 6: At Auburn Prison in New York, William Kemmler becomes the first person to be executed in the electric chair.
• September 19: The Turkish frigate Ertogrul founders off Japan; 540 lives are lost.

October

• October 8: The first brief, partially-controlled flight of Clément Ader's airplane "Eole" takes place in Satory, France.
• October 11: In Washington, D.C., the Daughters of the American Revolution is founded.
• October 13: The Delta Chi Fraternity is founded by 11 law students at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

November

• Scotland Yard, headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service, moves to a building on London's Victoria Embankment, as the New Scotland Yard.
• November 23: King William III of the Netherlands dies without a male heir, and his daughter Princess Wilhelmina becomes Queen, causing Luxembourg (who required a male heir) to declare independence.
• November 29: The Meiji Constitution goes into effect in Japan and the first Diet convenes.
• November 29: In West Point, New York, the United States Navy defeats the United States Army 24-0 in the first Army–Navy Game.

December

• December 27: The British steamship Shanghai burns in the China Seas; 101 lives are lost.
• December 29: Wounded Knee Massacre: At Wounded Knee, South Dakota the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment tries to disarm a Native American camp & shooting starts. 153 Lakota Sioux and 25 troops are killed; about 150 flee the scene.