1898
- Photograph of the Menzies children in Jeparit, taken by a travelling photographer. Isobel Alice 'Belle' (born 1893) has her arm around James Leslie (born 1890), Frank Gladstone (born 1892) is on the left, and Robert is sitting at the front.(Younger brother Sydney Keith is born in 1904.
- January 20 - March 17: The third session of the Federal Convention takes place in Melbourne and completes the draft Constitution.
- June 3-4: The first Referendum to approve the Federal Constitution is defeated even though it was passed with substantial majorities in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania; the small majority in New South Wales did not reach the statutory minimum.
The Macquarie Book of Events, 1983 p 342.
- Marie and Pierre Curie discover radium. Together, they demonstrated in a major discovery that radioactivity was not the result of a chemical reaction but a property of the element or, more specifically, of the atom. In 1903 they share the Nobel Prize for Physics with Henri Becquerel.
- Boxer Rebellion in China begins.
- The United States and Spain at war over Cuba: Treaty of Paris - Cuba becomes independent, Spain cedes Puerto Rico, Guam and Philippines to USA.
- USA annexes Hawaii, Wake and Midway Islands.
- First flashlight photograph is taken.
- Oscar Wilde writes The Ballad of Reading Gaol.
- Alexander Graham Bell co-founds the National Geographic magazine.
Photograph of the Menzies children in Jeparit, taken by a travelling photographer. Isobel Alice 'Belle' (born 1893) has her arm around James Leslie (born 1890), Frank Gladstone (born 1892) is on the left, and Robert is sitting at the front.(Younger brother Sydney Keith is born in 1904.
