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Pianist Tommy Turpin writes Harlem Rag, the first known ragtime composition.
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Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag is published and sells over 100,000 copies.
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A cutting contest (a colloquial term for music competition) for ragtime pianists is held at New York's Tammany Hall.
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Charles Booth's performance of J. Bodewalt Lange's Creole Blues is recorded for the new Victor label. This is the first acoustic recording of ragtime to be made commercially available.
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Louis Armstrong is born.
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Lincoln Park is opened in New Orleans as a center for ragtime and early jazz performances.
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Pianist Jellyin Ne Roll Morton claims to have invented jazz in this year in New Orleans.
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The U.S. Marine band records Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag.
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The classic era of ragtime ends.
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The pianist and composer Scott Joplin dies.