1896 — The Supreme Court, in Plessy v. Ferguson, rules that “separate but equal” facilities for black and white Americans are constitutional.

Elsewhere:

• New York World publishes “The Yellow Kid,” the forerunner of modern comic strips. The words are printed on the boy’s bright yellow shirt instead of outside the frame as in earlier cartoons.
• Rural free mail delivery is established.
• The first moving picture on a public screen is shown at Koster and Bial’s Music Hall in New York City.
• An earthquake and tidal wave kill about 27,000 people in Japan.