2 May – Signing of the
Treaty of Wuchale between the
Ethiopian Empire and the
Kingdom of Italy after the
Italian occupation of Eritrea in the small Ethiopian town of
Wuchale. King
Menelik II had just won the imperial crown with the aid of Italian money and weapons.[1] The purpose of the treaty was to promote friendship and trade among the two countries.[2] Article 17 of the treaty was translated and interpreted differently by Ethiopia and Italy. Italy claimed the article imposed a
protectorate over Ethiopia.[1][3]
June
In June 1889 inspections of the
Banca Romana by a government commission revealed serious irregularities in its administration and accounts and that 91 percent of the assets of the bank were illiquid. Prime Minister
Francesco Crispi and his Treasury Minister
Giovanni Giolitti knew of the 1889 government inspection report, but feared that exposure might undermine public confidence and suppressed the report.[4]
9 June – The
Monument to Giordano Bruno, created by
Ettore Ferrari, was erected at
Campo de' Fiori square in Rome, Italy, to commemorate the italian philosopher
Giordano Bruno, who was burned there in 1600 after being tried for
heresy by the
Roman Inquisition on charges of denial of several core Catholic doctrines. Since its inception the idea of a monument dedicated to the executed heretic located in Rome, once the capital of the Papal States, has generated controversy between anti-clerical and those more aligned with the Roman Catholic church.
11 June – According to popular contemporary legend the archetypal
pizza Margherita was invented by the Neapolitan pizzaiolo ("pizza maker")
Raffaele Esposito to create a pizza in honor of the visiting
Queen Margherita. The Queen strongly preferred a pizza swathed in the colors of the
Italian flag — red (tomato), green (basil), and white (mozzarella).
30 June – The Italian Penal Code of 1889, known as the
Zanardelli Code because it was named after
Giuseppe Zanardelli, then
Minister of Justice, was unanimously approved by both Chambers of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy.[5] It unified penal legislation in Italy, abolished
capital punishment and recognised the right to strike.[6] It came into force on 1 January 1890.
^Seton-Watson, Italy from liberalism to fascism, pp. 154–56
^Lacche, Luigi. "A Criminal Code for the Unification of Italy: the Zanardelli Code (1889) – The genesis, The debate, The legal project". Sequência. 2014, n.68. pp. 37–57.
^Seton-Watson, Italy from liberalism to fascism, p. 131