Remembering 1896: 16 Pop Culture Highlights From A Glorious Year

THROWBACK: 16 Reasons We Wish It Were Still 1896

Everyone loves beards, burlesque and "La Boheme." Welcome to 1896, where the dream of the (18)90s is in full swing:

1.) F. Scott Fitzgerald is born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, presumably in formal wear.
f scott


2.) Lyricist Ira Gershwin is born and forced to fathom life without his little brother and musical partner George.


3.) The first issue of "Der Eigene," the first gay journal in the world, is published by Adolf Brand.
der eigene


4.) Loie Fuller performs the Serpentine Dance in this early film by the Lumière brothers and magic happens.


5.) Symbolist poet and scarf inspiration Paul Verlaine dies at 51 years old.
paul verlaine


6.) Illustrator Charles Dana Gibson coins the term "Gibson Girl," combining various tropes of American feminine beauty into one ideal type.
gibson


7.) The first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens, Greece. Dreamy weightlifter Launceston Elliot was a hit with the crowd.
eliot


8.) Alfred Nobel, inventor of dynamite and the Nobel Prize, passes away at 63 years old.
nobel


9.) Paranoid painter Edvard Munch moves to Paris... and paints this, entitled "Inheritance."
edvard munch


10.) Anton Chekhov's drama "The Seagull" premieres in Russia and is booed by the audience.
gulls


11.) John and Mary are the most popular names in the U.S.
baby


12.) John Everett Millais, the Pre-Raphaelite painter of "Ophelia," dies at 67.
ophelia


13.) Giacomo Puccini's "La Bohème" premieres in Italy, immortalizing the tragic life of the bohemian artist.
boheme


14.) People dress like this.
cape


15.) André Breton, writer of the Surrealist Manifesto, is born in Normandy.
breton


16.) Leo Hirshfield debuts the scrumptious Tootsie Roll at his New York store, naming the treat after his five-year-old daughter Tootsie.
tootsie


In our new HuffPost Arts & Culture series, Throwback Thursday, we're revisiting the best in pop culture from the annals of history. Revisit the hottest movies, music videos, trends and forgotten lingo you never thought you missed... until now. Be sure to let us know which year you'd like to celebrate next in the comments.

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