Addis Ababa, whose name means new flower in Amharic, was founded by Emperor Menelik II and his wife, Empress Taytu Betul. They had moved their court down from the Entoto hills, where firewood was running short, to a site with hot springs that Taytu favoured. The settlement became the permanent capital of Ethiopia in the 1890s, after Menelik's victory over Italy at Adwa in 1896 secured the country's independence. It grew as a diplomatic and trading centre, with the arrival of the railway from Djibouti. Italy occupied it from 1936 to 1941, and the city is now home to the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
Before and after
- 1886Identification of Hirschsprung's disease
- from 1886 to 1905Rise of Post-impressionism
- 1886Discovery of dysprosium
- 1886Publication of Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
- 1886Founding of Addis Ababa
- 1886Discovery of germanium
- 1886Statue of Liberty
- 1886Founding of Arsenal F.C.
- 29 January 1886Benz Patent-Motorwagen
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- 7 August 1908Discovery of Venus of Willendorf
- 24 July 1911Hiram Bingham reaches Machu Picchu
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 19th century.