WORLD HISTORY · 20TH CENTURY 日本語
Events of the 1900s1900–1909
What happened in the 1900s?
In the 1900s (1900–1909), the Russo-Japanese War began, and after the peace settlement Japan extended its power onto the Asian mainland. Einstein published his special theory of relativity, the Russian tsar signed the October Manifesto, and Gandhi organized nonviolent resistance in South Africa.
- Queen Victoria diesEurope
- Japan's first city streetcar opens in OsakaAsia
- Russo-Japanese War beginsAsia
- Natsume Soseki serializes I Am a CatAsia
- Einstein publishes special relativityEurope
- Tsar signs the October ManifestoEurope
- Gandhi organizes nonviolent resistanceAfrica
- Korean Empire's army disbanded under new treatyAsia
Summaries are written by the site editors.
The 1900s in AP history courses
| AP World History | Unit 7 (Global Conflict) |
|---|---|
| AP U.S. History | Period 7 |
Events of the 1900s (timeline · 469)
Tip: the PC view is best for studying
On a computer, each region has its own vertical line, so you can follow the flow of events and see what was happening in different parts of the world at the same time.
Nigeria becomes a British protectorate with Frederick Lugard as high commissioner.
American statesman and diplomat John Hay announces the Open Door Policy to promote trade with China.
Irish nationalist leader John Edward Redmond calls for revolt against British rule.
Second Boer War: Having already besieged the fortress at Ladysmith, Boer forces attack it, but are driven back by British defenders.
To combat Czech nationalism, Emperor Franz Joseph decrees German will be language of the Austro-Hungarian Armed Forces.
The United States Senate accepts the Anglo-German treaty of 1899 in which the United Kingdom renounces its claims to the Samoan islands.
Second Boer War: The Battle of Spion Kop between the forces of the South African Republic and the Orange Free State and British forces ends in a British defeat.
Second Boer War: Boers stop a British attempt to break the Siege of Ladysmith in the Battle of Spion Kop.
Datu Muhammad Salleh is killed in Kampung Teboh, Tambunan, ending the Mat Salleh Rebellion.
Great Britain, defeated by Boers in key battles, names Lord Roberts commander of British forces in South Africa.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration, an international arbitration court at The Hague, is created when the Senate of the Netherlands ratifies an 1899 peace conference decree.
Second Boer War: British troops fail in their third attempt to lift the Siege of Ladysmith.
A Chinese immigrant in San Francisco falls ill to bubonic plague in the first plague epidemic in the continental United States.
The British Army begins the Battle of the Tugela Heights in an effort to lift the Siege of Ladysmith.
The Southern Cross expedition led by Carsten Borchgrevink achieves a new Farthest South of 78° 50'S, making the first landing at the Great Ice Barrier.
Second Boer War: Imperial forces suffer their worst single-day loss of life on Bloody Sunday, the first day of the Battle of Paardeberg.
Second Boer War: During the Battle of the Tugela Heights, the first British attempt to take Hart's Hill fails.
Second Boer War: In South Africa, British military leaders receive an unconditional notice of surrender from Boer General Piet Cronjé at the Battle of Paardeberg.
British forces occupy Bloemfontein, Orange Free State, during the Second Boer War.
The Gold Standard Act is ratified, placing the United States currency on the gold standard.
Carnegie Steel Company is formed in New Jersey; its capitalization of $160 million is the largest to date.
Mayor of New York City Robert Anderson Van Wyck breaks ground for a new underground "Rapid Transit Railroad" that would link Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Archaeologists in Knossos, Crete, discover the first clay tablet with hieroglyphic writing in a script later called Linear B.
British suffer a sharp defeat by the Boers south of Brandfort. Six hundred British troops are killed and wounded and 800 taken prisoner.
One day after its enactment by the Congress, President William McKinley signs the Foraker Act into law, giving Puerto Rico limited self-rule.
Philippine–American War: Filipino guerrillas launch a surprise attack on U.S. infantry and begin a four-day siege of Catubig, Philippines.
Fires destroy Canadian cities Ottawa and Hull, reducing them to ashes in 12 hours. Twelve thousand people are left without a home.
Hawaii becomes a territory of the United States, with Sanford B. Dole as governor.
The Scofield Mine disaster kills over 200 men in Scofield, Utah in what is to date the fifth-worst mining accident in United States history.
Opening of World Amateur championship at the Paris Exposition Universelle, also known as Olympic Games.
The children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, is first published in the United States. The first copy is given to the author's sister.
American Civil War: Sergeant William Harvey Carney is awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism in the Assault on the Battery Wagner in 1863.
Thousand Days' War: The Colombian Conservative Party turns the tide of war in their favor with victory against the Colombian Liberal Party in the Battle of Palonegro.
The Reichstag approves new legislation continuing Germany's naval expansion program, providing for construction of 38 battleships over a 20-year period. Germany's fleet would be the largest in the world.
The second German Naval Law calls for the Imperial German Navy to be doubled in size, resulting in an Anglo-German naval arms race.
Boxer Rebellion: Western Allied and Japanese forces capture the Taku Forts in Tianjin, China.
Baron Eduard Toll, leader of the Russian Polar Expedition of 1900, departs Saint Petersburg in Russia on the explorer ship Zarya, never to return.
Boxer Rebellion: The Imperial Chinese Army begins a 55-day siege of the Legation Quarter in Beijing, China.
Boxer Rebellion: China formally declares war on the United States, Britain, Germany, France and Japan, as an edict issued from the Empress Dowager Cixi.
The Taoist monk Wang Yuanlu discovers the Dunhuang manuscripts, a cache of ancient texts that are of great historical and religious significance, in the Mogao Caves of Dunhuang, China.
A savage fire wrecked three steamships docked at a pier in Hoboken, New Jersey. Over 200 crew members and passengers are killed, and hundreds injured.
The luxury racing yacht Idler capsizes and sinks on Lake Erie during a storm, drowning six of its seven passengers (all members of the family of Cleveland businessman James C. Corrigan).
The Governor of Shanxi province in North China orders the execution of 45 foreign Christian missionaries and local church members, including children.
Armies of the Eight-Nation Alliance capture Tientsin during the Boxer Rebellion.
Pressed by expanding immigration, Canada closes its doors to paupers and criminals.
Kaiser Wilhelm II makes a speech comparing Germans to Huns; for years afterwards, "Hun" would be a disparaging name for Germans.
In Italy, King Umberto I of Italy is assassinated by the anarchist Gaetano Bresci. His son, Victor Emmanuel III, 31 years old, succeeds to the throne.
The steamer Deutschland of Hamburg America Lines sets a new record for the eastward passage when it docks in Plymouth, England, five days, 11 hours and 45 minutes after sailing from New York, breaking by three hours, six minutes its previous mark in its maiden voyage in July.
Battle of Peking: The Eight-Nation Alliance occupies Beijing, China, in a campaign to end the bloody Boxer Rebellion in China.
The Battle of Elands River during the Second Boer War ends after a 13-day siege is lifted by the British. The battle had begun when a force of between 2,000 and 3,000 Boers had surrounded a force of 500 Australians, Rhodesians, Canadians and British soldiers at a supply dump at Brakfontein Drift.
Galveston hurricane: A powerful hurricane hits Galveston, Texas killing about 8,000 people.
Filipino insurgents defeat a small American column in the Battle of Pulang Lupa, during the Philippine–American War.
Philippine–American War: Filipinos under Juan Cailles defeat Americans under Colonel Benjamin F. Cheatham Jr. at Mabitac.
Peace congress in Paris condemns British policy in South Africa and asserts Boer Republic's right to self-determination.
President William McKinley is re-elected, along with his vice-presidential running mate, Governor Theodore Roosevelt of New York.
Second Boer War: The Battle of Leliefontein takes place, during which the Royal Canadian Dragoons win three Victoria Crosses.
Russian invasion of Manchuria: Russia completes its occupation of Manchuria with 100,000 troops.
The French actress Sarah Bernhardt receives the press at the Savoy Hotel in New York at the outset of her first visit since 1896. She talked about her impending tour with a troupe of more than 50 performers and her plans to play the title role in Hamlet.
Nicaragua sells canal rights to U.S. for $5 million. The canal agreement fails in March 1901. Great Britain rejects the amended treaty.
Quantum mechanics: Max Planck presents a theoretical derivation of his black-body radiation law (quantum theory) at the Physic Society in Berlin.
French parliament votes amnesty for all involved in scandalous army treason trial known as Dreyfus affair.
Hopetoun Blunder: The first Governor-General of Australia John Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun, appoints Sir William Lyne premier of the new state of New South Wales, but he is unable to persuade other colonial politicians to join his government and is forced to resign.
The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of Australia; Edmund Barton is appointed the first Prime Minister.
The first great Texas oil gusher is discovered at Spindletop in Beaumont, Texas.
Queen Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom, is stricken with paralysis. She dies three days later at the age of 81.
Edward VII is proclaimed King of the United Kingdom after the death of his mother, Queen Victoria.
J. P. Morgan incorporates U.S. Steel in the state of New Jersey, although the company would not start doing business until February 25 and the assets of Andrew Carnegie's Carnegie Steel Company, Elbert H. Gary's Federal Steel Company, and William Henry Moore's National Steel Company were not acquired until April 1.
United States Steel Corporation is founded as a result of a merger between Carnegie Steel Company and Federal Steel Company which became the first corporation in the world with a market capital over $1 billion.
The U.S. Congress passes the Platt Amendment limiting the autonomy of Cuba, as a condition of the withdrawal of American troops.
William McKinley is inaugurated President of the United States for the second time; Theodore Roosevelt is vice president.
Utah governor Heber Manning Wells vetoes a bill that would have eased restrictions on polygamy.
Emilio Aguinaldo, only President of the First Philippine Republic, is captured at Palanan, Isabela by the forces of American General Frederick Funston.
Philippine–American War: Emilio Aguinaldo, leader of the First Philippine Republic, is captured by the Americans.
The first issue of Gorkhapatra, the oldest still running state-owned Nepali newspaper, is published.
The boundaries of the Colony of New Zealand are extended by the UK to include the Cook Islands.
The College Board introduces its first standardized test, the forerunner to the SAT.
The French government enacts its anti-clerical legislation Law of Association prohibiting the formation of new monastic orders without governmental approval.
O. Henry is released from prison in Columbus, Ohio, after serving three years for embezzlement from a bank.
Peter O'Connor sets the first World Athletics recognised long jump world record of 24 ft 11.75 in (7.6137 m), a record that would stand for 20 years.
Kiowa land in Oklahoma is opened for white settlement, effectively dissolving the contiguous reservation.
The U.S. Steel recognition strike by the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers begins.
Six hundred American school teachers, Thomasites, arrived in Manila on the USAT Thomas.
Silliman University is founded in the Philippines. It is the first American private school in the country.
Vice President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt utters the famous phrase, "Speak softly and carry a big stick" at the Minnesota State Fair.
Leon Czolgosz, an unemployed anarchist, shoots and fatally wounds US president William McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.
The Boxer Rebellion in Qing dynasty (modern-day China) officially ends with the signing of the Boxer Protocol.
U.S. president William McKinley dies after being mortally wounded on September 6 by anarchist Leon Czolgosz and is succeeded by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt.
Second Boer War: A Boer column defeats a British force at the Battle of Blood River Poort.
Second Boer War: Boers capture a squadron of the 17th Lancers at the Battle of Elands River.
Philippine–American War: Filipino guerrillas kill more than forty American soldiers while losing 28 of their own.
President Theodore Roosevelt officially renames the "Executive Mansion" to the White House.
Annie Edson Taylor becomes the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel.
Gospel riots: Bloody clashes take place in Athens following the translation of the Gospels into demotic Greek.
Prince George, Duke of Cornwall (later George V of the United Kingdom), becomes Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester.
Britain and the United States sign the Hay–Pauncefote Treaty, which nullifies the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty and withdraws British objections to an American-controlled canal in Panama.
In a State of the Union message, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt delivers a 20,000-word report to the House of Representatives asking Congress to curb the power of trusts "within reasonable limits". The speech was not delivered in person.
The first Nobel Prize ceremony is held in Stockholm on the fifth anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death.
Guglielmo Marconi transmits the first transatlantic radio signal from Poldhu, Cornwall, England to St. John's, Newfoundland.
Guglielmo Marconi receives the first transatlantic radio signal (the letter "S" [•••] in Morse Code), at Signal Hill in St John's, Newfoundland.
The first American college football bowl game, the Rose Bowl between Michigan and Stanford, is held in Pasadena, California.
The Carnegie Institution of Washington is founded in Washington, D.C., with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie.
Second Boer War: Australian soldiers Harry "Breaker" Morant and Peter Handcock are executed in Pretoria after being convicted of war crimes.
Second Boer War: Boers, led by Koos de la Rey, defeat the British at the Battle of Tweebosch.
A stand box collapses at Ibrox Park (now Ibrox Stadium) in Glasgow, Scotland, which led to the deaths of 25 and injuries to more than 500 supporters during an international association football match between Scotland and England.
The 7.5 Mw Guatemala earthquake shakes Guatemala with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), killing between 800 and 2,000.
In Martinique, Mount Pelée erupts, destroying the town of Saint-Pierre and killing over 30,000 people. Only a handful of residents survive the blast.
Greek archaeologist Valerios Stais discovers the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient mechanical analog computer.
Cuba gains independence from the United States. Tomás Estrada Palma becomes the country's first President.
Second Boer War: The Treaty of Vereeniging ends the war and ensures British control of South Africa.
The U.S. Congress passes the Spooner Act, authorizing President Theodore Roosevelt to acquire rights from Colombia for the Panama Canal.
Peruvian explorer and farmer Agustín Lizárraga discovers Machu Picchu, the "Lost City of the Incas".
The Campanile in St Mark's Square, Venice collapses, also demolishing the loggetta.
Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark are crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first President of the United States to make a public appearance in an automobile.
At least 6,000 people are killed by the magnitude 7.7 Kashgar earthquake in the Tien Shan mountains.
A stampede at Shiloh Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, leads to the death of 115 attendees.
Guatemala's Santa María volcano begins to erupt, becoming the third-largest eruption of the 20th century.
The Philadelphia Football Athletics defeat the Kanaweola Athletic Club of Elmira, New York, 39–0, in the first-ever professional American football night game.
The Commercial Pacific Cable Company lays the first Pacific telegraph cable, from San Francisco to Honolulu.
The Syracuse Athletic Club defeat the New York Philadelphians, 5–0, in the first indoor professional football game, which was held at Madison Square Garden.
The Discovery Expedition under Robert Falcon Scott attains a Farthest South at 82°17′S in Antarctica.
Topsy, an elephant, is electrocuted by the owners of Luna Park, Coney Island. The Edison film company records the film Electrocuting an Elephant of Topsy's death.
Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson, son of the poet Alfred Tennyson, becomes the second Governor-General of Australia.
El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico becomes part of the United States National Forest System as the Luquillo Forest Reserve.
Anton Bruckner's 9th Symphony receives its first performance in Vienna, Austria.
The United States Department of Commerce and Labor is established (later split into the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor).
In New York City the Martha Washington Hotel opens, becoming the first hotel exclusively for women.
Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, the first national wildlife refuge in the US, is established by President Theodore Roosevelt.
The first of a series of auctions of sheep farming land in southern Patagonia takes place impacting established settlers.
The Kishinev pogrom in Kishinev (Bessarabia) begins, forcing tens of thousands of Jews to later seek refuge in Palestine and the Western world.
Românul de la Pind, the longest-running newspaper by and about Aromanians until World War II, is founded.
In the May Coup, Alexander I, King of Serbia, and Queen Draga, are assassinated in Belgrade by the Black Hand (Crna Ruka) organization.
A group of Serbian officers storms the royal palace and assassinates King Alexander I of Serbia and his wife, Queen Draga.
Roald Amundsen leaves Oslo, Norway, to commence the first east–west navigation of the Northwest Passage.
Benito Mussolini, at the time a radical Socialist, is arrested by Bern police for advocating a violent general strike.
Macedonian rebels in Kruševo proclaim the Kruševo Republic, which exists for only ten days before Ottoman Turks lay waste to the town.
German engineer Karl Jatho allegedly flies his self-made, motored gliding airplane four months before the first flight of the Wright brothers.
The Transfiguration Uprising breaks out in East Thrace, resulting in the establishment of the Strandzha Commune.
The Ottoman Empire launches a counter-offensive against the Strandzha Commune, which dissolves.
The first race at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisconsin is held. It is the oldest major speedway in the world.
"Wreck of the Old 97": an American rail disaster, in which 11 people are killed; it later becomes the subject of a popular ballad.
Baseball: The Boston Americans play the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first game of the modern World Series.
The Women's Social and Political Union is founded in support of the enfranchisement of British women.
The Boston Red Sox win the first modern World Series, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates in the eighth game.
The Purdue Wreck, a railroad train collision in Indianapolis, kills 17 people, including 14 players of the Purdue University football team.
The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party splits into two groups: The Bolsheviks (Russian for "majority") and Mensheviks (Russian for "minority").
The Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty is signed by the United States and Panama, giving the United States exclusive rights over the Panama Canal Zone.
The Wright brothers make their first attempt to fly with the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
Italian American food cart vendor Italo Marchiony receives a U.S. patent for inventing a machine that makes ice cream cones.
The Wright brothers make the first controlled powered, heavier-than-air flight in the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
The distress signal "CQD" is established only to be replaced two years later by "SOS".
Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard receives its premiere performance at the Moscow Art Theatre.
Ålesund Fire: The Norwegian coastal town Ålesund is devastated by fire, leaving 10,000 people homeless and one person dead. Kaiser Wilhelm II funds the rebuilding of the town in Jugendstil style.
The Great Baltimore Fire begins in Baltimore, Maryland; it destroys over 1,500 buildings in 30 hours.
Japanese forces launch a surprise attack against Russian-controlled Port Arthur, marking the start of the Russo-Japanese war.
The Dutch Colonial Army's Marechaussee regiment led by General G.C.E. van Daalen launch a military campaign in the Dutch East Indies' Northern Sumatra region, leading to the deaths of thousands of civilians.
The United Kingdom sells a meteorological station on the South Orkney Islands to Argentina; the islands are subsequently claimed by the United Kingdom in 1908.
Scottish National Antarctic Expedition: Led by William Speirs Bruce, the Antarctic region of Coats Land is discovered from the Scotia.
Two Ms ~7.1 earthquakes, among the largest in Europe, strike Bulgaria, killing over 200 people and causing destruction.
The French Third Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland sign the Entente cordiale.
Pitching against the Philadelphia Athletics at the Huntington Avenue Grounds, Cy Young of the Boston Americans throws the first perfect game in the modern era of baseball.
The Horch & Cir. Motorwagenwerke AG is founded. It would eventually become the Audi company.
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is founded in Paris.
A fire aboard the steamboat SS General Slocum in New York City's East River kills 1,000.
Irish author James Joyce begins a relationship with Nora Barnacle and subsequently uses the date to set the actions for his novel Ulysses; this date is now traditionally called "Bloomsday".
The SS Norge runs aground on Hasselwood Rock in the North Atlantic 430 kilometres (270 mi) northwest of Ireland. More than 635 people die during the sinking.
Louis Rigolly, a Frenchman, becomes the first man to break the 100 mph (161 km/h) barrier on land. He drove a 15-liter Gobron-Brillié in Ostend, Belgium.
Russo-Japanese War: Battle of Hsimucheng: Units of the Imperial Japanese Army defeat units of the Imperial Russian Army in a strategic confrontation.
Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of the Yellow Sea between the Russian and Japanese battleship fleets takes place.
Chile and Bolivia sign the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, delimiting the border between the two countries.
English engineer John Ambrose Fleming receives a patent for the thermionic valve (vacuum tube).
The Jovian moon Himalia is discovered by Charles Dillon Perrine at California's Lick Observatory.
Theodore Roosevelt articulated his "Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, stating that the U.S. would intervene in the Western Hemisphere should Latin American governments prove incapable or unstable.
Comparative fuel trials begin between warships HMS Spiteful and HMS Peterel: Spiteful was the first warship powered solely by fuel oil, and the trials led to the obsolescence of coal in ships of the Royal Navy.
The world's largest diamond ever, the Cullinan, which weighs 3,106.75 carats (0.621350 kg), is found at the Premier Mine near Pretoria in South Africa.
In Mexico, the General Hospital of Mexico is inaugurated, initially with four basic specialties.
Russian Revolution of 1905: Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia is assassinated in the Moscow Kremlin by Socialist Revolutionary Ivan Kalyayev.
The U.S. Supreme Court upholds the constitutionality of Massachusetts's mandatory smallpox vaccination program in Jacobson v. Massachusetts.
Chicago attorney Paul Harris and three other businessmen meet for lunch to form the Rotary Club, the world's first service club.
Eleftherios Venizelos calls for Crete's union with Greece, and begins what is to be known as the Theriso revolt.
Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany declares his support for Moroccan independence in Tangier, beginning the First Moroccan Crisis.
In India, an earthquake hits the Kangra Valley, killing 20,000, and destroying most buildings in Kangra, McLeod Ganj and Dharamshala.
The Supreme Court of the United States decides Lochner v. New York, which holds that the "right to free contract" is implicit in the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
The trial in the Stratton Brothers case begins in London, England; it marks the first time that fingerprint evidence is used to gain a conviction for murder.
The Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Abdul Hamid II establishes the Ullah millet for the Aromanians of the empire. For this reason, the Aromanian National Day is sometimes celebrated on this day, although most do so on May 23 instead, which is when this event was publicly announced.
Abdul Hamid II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, publicly announces the creation of the Ullah millet for the Aromanians of the empire, which had been established one day earlier. For this reason, the Aromanian National Day is usually celebrated on May 23, although some do so on May 22 instead.
Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of Tsushima ends with the destruction of the Russian Baltic Fleet by Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō and the Imperial Japanese Navy.
Norway's parliament dissolves its union with Sweden. The vote was confirmed by a national plebiscite on August 13 of that year.
During the Russo-Japanese War, sailors start a mutiny aboard the Russian battleship Potemkin.
Albert Einstein sends the article On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies, in which he introduces special relativity, for publication in Annalen der Physik.
Sun Yat-sen, Song Jiaoren, and others establish the Tongmenghui, a Republican, anti-Qing revolutionary organisation, in Tokyo, Japan.
Russo-Japanese War: In New Hampshire, United States, the Treaty of Portsmouth, mediated by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, ends the war.
The 7.2 Mw Calabria earthquake shakes southern Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing between 557 and 2,500 people.
Norway and Sweden sign the Karlstad Treaty, peacefully dissolving the Union between the two countries.
Albert Einstein publishes the third of his Annus Mirabilis papers, introducing the special theory of relativity.
The Wright brothers pilot the Wright Flyer III in a new world record flight of 24 miles in 39 minutes.
King Oscar II recognizes the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden.
Tsar Nicholas II issues the October Manifesto, nominally granting the Russian peoples basic civil liberties and the right to form a duma. (October 17 in the Julian calendar)
Lahti, a city in Finland, is granted city rights by Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, the last Grand Duke of Finland.
Norway holds a referendum resulting in popular approval of the Storting's decision to authorise the government to make the offer of the throne of the newly independent country.
Albert Einstein's paper that leads to the mass–energy equivalence formula, E = mc², is published in the journal Annalen der Physik.
Irish nationalist Arthur Griffith founds Sinn Féin as a political party with the main aim of establishing a dual monarchy in Ireland.
A workers' uprising occurs in Kyiv, Ukraine (then part of the Russian Empire), and establishes the Shuliavka Republic.
The Pushkin House is established in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to preserve the cultural heritage of Alexander Pushkin.
In rugby union, the "Match of the Century" is played between Wales and New Zealand at Cardiff Arms Park.
The Tampere conference, where Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin meet for the first time, is held in Tampere, Finland.
Former Idaho governor Frank Steunenberg is assassinated at the front gate of his home in Caldwell.
SS Valencia runs aground on rocks on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, killing more than 130.
HMS Dreadnought, the first of a revolutionary new breed of battleships, is christened.
Moro Rebellion: United States Army troops bring overwhelming force against the native Moros in the First Battle of Bud Dajo, leaving only six survivors.
The Courrières mine disaster, Europe's worst ever, kills 1099 miners in northern France.
The first England vs France rugby union match is played at Parc des Princes in Paris.
The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (later the National Collegiate Athletic Association) is established to set rules for college sports in the United States.
The first meeting of the Azusa Street Revival, which will launch Pentecostalism as a worldwide movement, is held in Los Angeles.
The 7.9 Mwearthquake and fire destroy much of San Francisco, California, killing more than 3,000 people, making one of the worst natural disasters in American history.
The Russian Constitution of 1906 is adopted (on April 23 by the Julian calendar).
The Wright brothers are granted U.S. patent number 821,393 for their "Flying-Machine".
The attempted regicide of Spanish King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenie on their wedding day instead kills 24.
Cunard Line's RMS Lusitania is launched from the John Brown Shipyard, Glasgow (Clydebank), Scotland.
Theodore Roosevelt signs the Antiquities Act into law, authorizing the President to restrict the use of certain parcels of public land with historical or conservation value.
Sultan Abdelaziz of Morocco ratifies the agreement reached in the Algeciras Conference in a personal decree.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania millionaire Harry Thaw shoots and kills prominent architect Stanford White.
The United States Congress passes the Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act.
Murder of Grace Brown by Chester Gillette in the United States, inspiration for Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy.
In Finland, a new electoral law is ratified, guaranteeing the country the first and equal right to vote in the world. Finnish women are the first in Europe to receive the right to vote.
The Amsden Building collapse in Framingham, Massachusetts, U.S., claims 12 lives.
Persian Constitutional Revolution: Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar, King of Iran, agrees to convert the government to a constitutional monarchy.
The all black infantrymen of the U.S. Army's 25th Infantry Regiment are accused of killing a white bartender and wounding a white police officer in Brownsville, Texas, despite exculpatory evidence; all are later dishonorably discharged. (Their records were later restored to reflect honorable discharges but there were no financial settlements.)
Alberto Santos-Dumont flies his 14-bis aircraft at Bagatelle, France successfully for the first time.
The Newport Transporter Bridge is opened in Newport, South Wales by Viscount Tredegar.
The Santos-Dumont 14-bis makes a short hop, the first flight of a fixed-wing aircraft in Europe.
Racial tensions exacerbated by rumors lead to the Atlanta Race Riot, further increasing racial segregation.
U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt proclaims Devils Tower in Wyoming as the nation's first National Monument.
Leonardo Torres Quevedo demonstrates the Telekino in the Bilbao Abra (Spain), guiding an electric boat from the shore with people on board, which was controlled at a distance over 2 km (1.2 mi), in what is considered to be the origin of modern wireless remote-control operation principles.
The Royal Galician Academy, the Galician language's biggest linguistic authority, is established in La Coruña, Spain.
San Francisco sparks a diplomatic crisis between the United States and Japan by ordering segregated schools for Japanese students.
Alberto Santos-Dumont flies an airplane in the first heavier-than-air flight in Europe.
Theodore Roosevelt is the first sitting President of the United States to make an official trip outside the country, doing so to inspect progress on the Panama Canal.
A 13–6 victory by the Massillon Tigers over their rivals, the Canton Bulldogs, for the "Ohio League" Championship, leads to accusations that the championship series was fixed and results in the first major scandal in professional American football.
Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek lettered fraternity for African-Americans, was founded at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the mediation of the Russo-Japanese War, becoming the first American to win a Nobel Prize in any field.
Reginald Fessenden transmits the first radio broadcast; consisting of a poetry reading, a violin solo, and a speech.
The All-India Muslim League is founded in Dacca, East Bengal, British India (later Dhaka, Bangladesh).
Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland announces the creation of Bakelite, the world's first synthetic plastic.
The Mud March is the first large procession organised by the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS).
The first parliamentary elections of Finland (at the time the Grand Duchy of Finland) are held.
The Ellis Island immigration center processes 11,747 people, more than on any other day.
The Workers' Federation of Chile declares a general strike in solidarity with a rail workers' strike.
The National Association for Women's Suffrage succeeds in getting Norwegian women the right to vote in parliamentary elections.
Most resistance societies in Santiago return to work, bringing an end to the 1907 Chilean general strike.
Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. staged his first Follies on the roof of the New York Theater in New York City.
The passenger steamer SS Columbia sinks after colliding with the steam schooner San Pedro off Shelter Cove, California, killing 88 people.
Sir Robert Baden-Powell sets up the Brownsea Island Scout camp in Poole Harbour on the south coast of England. The camp runs from August 1 to August 9 and is regarded as the foundation of the Scouting movement.
The start of the first Scout camp on Brownsea Island, the origin of the worldwide Scouting movement.
Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis fines Standard Oil of Indiana a record $29.4 million for illegal rebating to freight carriers; the conviction and fine are later reversed on appeal.
Ordination in Constantinople of Fr. Raphael Morgan, the first African-American Orthodox priest, "Priest-Apostolic" to America and the West Indies.
Pike Place Market, one of the oldest continuously operated public farmers' markets in the U.S. and a popular tourist attraction, opens in Seattle, Washington.
Russia and the United Kingdom sign the Anglo-Russian Convention, by which the UK recognizes Russian preeminence in northern Persia, while Russia recognizes British preeminence in southeastern Persia and Afghanistan. Both powers pledge not to interfere in Tibet.
Cunard Line's RMS Lusitania sets sail on her maiden voyage from Liverpool, England, to New York City.
Four months after the 1907 Imperial Conference, New Zealand and Newfoundland are promoted from colonies to dominions within the British Empire.
The cornerstone is laid at the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (better known as Washington National Cathedral) in Washington, D.C.
The McKinley National Memorial, the final resting place of assassinated U.S. President William McKinley and his family, is dedicated in Canton, Ohio.
The 1907 Qaratog earthquake hits the borders of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, killing between 12,000 and 15,000 people.
A run on the stock of the Knickerbocker Trust Company sets events in motion that will spark the Panic of 1907.
Fifteen people are killed in Hungary when gendarmes opened fire on a crowd gathered at a church consecration.
The Parliament of Finland approved the Prohibition Act, but the law was not implemented because it was not ratified by Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.
Jesús García saves the entire town of Nacozari de García by driving a burning train full of dynamite six kilometres (3.7 miles) away before it can explode.
Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory join to form Oklahoma, which is admitted as the 46th U.S. state.
The worst night of the Brown Dog riots in London, when 1,000 medical students, protesting against the existence of a memorial for animals that have been vivisected, clash with 400 police officers.
The Thomas W. Lawson, the largest ever ship without a heat engine, runs aground and founders near the Hellweather's Reef within the Isles of Scilly in a gale. The pilot and 15 seamen die.
Two hundred thirty-nine coal miners die in the Darr Mine Disaster in Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania.
The Chilean Army commits a massacre of at least 2,000 striking saltpeter miners in Iquique, Chile.
The Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority becomes the first Greek-letter organization founded and established by African American college women.
New York City passes the Sullivan Ordinance, making it illegal for women to smoke in public, only to have the measure vetoed by the mayor.
Members of the Portuguese Republican Party fail in their attempted coup d'état against the administrative dictatorship of Prime Minister João Franco.
Indian pacifist and leader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is released from prison by Jan C. Smuts after being tried and sentenced to two months in jail earlier in the month.
Lisbon Regicide: King Carlos I of Portugal and Infante Luis Filipe are shot dead in Lisbon.
James Madison University is founded at Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States as The State Normal and Industrial School for Women by the Virginia General Assembly.
Inter Milan is founded on Football Club Internazionale, following a schism from A.C. Milan.
The Territorial Force (renamed Territorial Army in 1920) is formed as a volunteer reserve component of the British Army.
SMS Blücher, the last armored cruiser to be built by the Imperial German Navy, is launched.
Hauser Dam, a steel dam on the Missouri River in Montana, fails, sending a surge of water 25 to 30 feet (7.6 to 9.1 m) high downstream.
Mother's Day is observed for the first time in the United States, in Grafton, West Virginia.
The first major commercial oil strike in the Middle East is made at Masjed Soleyman in southwest Persia. The rights to the resource were quickly acquired by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.
Japanese immigration to Brazil begins when 781 people arrive in Santos aboard the ship Kasato-Maru.
The Persian Cossack Brigade bombards the building of the National Consultative Assembly of Iran (Majles), killing hundreds of civilians.
The Tunguska Event, the largest impact event on Earth in human recorded history, resulting in a massive explosion over Eastern Siberia.
Start of the Young Turk Revolution in the Ottoman Empire, forcing Sultan Abdul Hamid II leads to restore the Constitution of 1876 and reconvene the parliament.
Ajinomoto is founded. Kikunae Ikeda of the Tokyo Imperial University discovers that a key ingredient in kombu soup stock is monosodium glutamate (MSG), and patents a process for manufacturing it.
United States Attorney General Charles Joseph Bonaparte issues an order to immediately staff the Office of the Chief Examiner (later renamed the Federal Bureau of Investigation).
Wilbur Wright makes the Wright Brothers' first public flight, at a racecourse at Le Mans, France.
The Qing dynasty promulgates the Qinding Xianfa Dagang, the first constitutional document in the history of China, transforming the Qing empire into a constitutional monarchy.
The Wright Flyer flown by Orville Wright, with Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge as passenger, crashes, killing Selfridge, who becomes the first airplane fatality.
Production of the Model T automobile begins at the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant in Detroit.
The Bosnian crisis erupts when Austria-Hungary formally annexes Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Margaret Travers Symons bursts into the UK parliament and becomes the first woman to speak there.
The Chicago Cubs defeat the Detroit Tigers, 2–0, clinching the 1908 World Series; this would be their last until winning the 2016 World Series.
A fire breaks out on SS Sardinia as it leaves Malta's Grand Harbour, resulting in the ship's grounding and the deaths of at least 118 people.
A mine explosion in Marianna, Pennsylvania, kills 154 men, leaving only one survivor.
The 7.1 Mw Messina earthquake shakes Southern Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing between about 80,000.
Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes.
Ernest Shackleton, leading the Nimrod Expedition to the South Pole, plants the British flag 97 nautical miles (180 km; 112 mi) from the South Pole, the farthest anyone had ever reached at that time.
Newly formed automaker General Motors (GM) buys into the Oakland Motor Car Company, which later becomes GM's long-running Pontiac division.
RMS Republic, a passenger ship of the White Star Line, becomes the first ship to use the CQD distress signal after colliding with another ship, the SS Florida, off the Massachusetts coastline, an event that kills six people. The Republic sinks the next day.
Richard Strauss's opera Elektra receives its debut performance at the Dresden State Opera.
United States troops leave Cuba, with the exception of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, after being there since the Spanish–American War.
The Paris Film Congress opens, an attempt by European producers to form an equivalent to the MPPC cartel in the United States.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded.
New Zealand's worst maritime disaster of the 20th century happens when the SS Penguin, an inter-island ferry, sinks and explodes at the entrance to Wellington Harbour.
The sixteen battleships of the Great White Fleet, led by USS Connecticut, return to the United States after a voyage around the world.
The AEA Silver Dart makes the first powered flight in Canada and the British Empire.
Kinemacolor, the first successful color motion picture process, is first shown to the general public at the Palace Theatre in London.
U.S. President William Howard Taft uses what became known as a Saxbe fix, a mechanism to avoid the restriction of the U.S. Constitution's Ineligibility Clause, to appoint Philander C. Knox as U.S. Secretary of State.
By signing the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909, Thailand relinquishes its sovereignty over the Malay states of Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis and Terengganu, which become British protectorates.
Theodore Roosevelt leaves New York for a post-presidency safari in Africa. The trip is sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society.
Serbia formally withdraws its opposition to Austro-Hungarian actions in the Bosnian Crisis.
Robert Peary and Matthew Henson become the first people to reach the North Pole; Peary's claim has been disputed because of failings in his navigational ability.
In Portugal, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake strikes near Lisbon, killing at least 60 people and injuring 75.
Sultan of Ottoman Empire Abdul Hamid II is overthrown, and is succeeded by his brother, Mehmed V.
The first edition of the Giro d'Italia, a long-distance multiple-stage bicycle race, begins in Milan; the Italian cyclist Luigi Ganna was the eventual winner.
The National Negro Committee, forerunner to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), convenes for the first time.
Persian Constitutional Revolution: Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar is forced out as Shah of Persia and is replaced by his son Ahmad Shah Qajar.
Begin of the Tragic Week in Barcelona in response to troop mobilisations for the Rif War.
Louis Blériot makes the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air machine from Calais to Dover, England, United Kingdom in 37 minutes.
End of the Tragic Week in Barcelona, a series of antiwar and antigovernment protests in Spain and especially in Barcelona.
Alice Huyler Ramsey and three friends become the first women to complete a transcontinental auto trip, taking 59 days to travel from New York, New York to San Francisco, California.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway opens for automobile racing. William Bourque and his mechanic are killed during the first day's events.
A group of mid-level Greek Army officers launches the Goudi coup, seeking wide-ranging reforms.
Eugène Lefebvre crashes a new French-built Wright biplane during a test flight at Port-Aviation (often called "Juvisy Airfield") at Viry-Châtillon, south of Paris, becoming the first aviator in the world to lose his life piloting a powered heavier-than-air craft.
The Cunard Line's RMS Mauretania makes a record-breaking westbound crossing of the Atlantic, that will not be bettered for 20 years.
William Howard Taft and Porfirio Díaz hold the first summit between a U.S. and a Mexican president. They narrowly escape assassination.
Japanese occupation of Korea: An Jung-geun assassinates Japan's Resident-General of Korea.
Two United States warships are sent to Nicaragua after 500 revolutionaries (including two Americans) are executed by order of José Santos Zelaya.
In Canadian football, the First Grey Cup game is played. The University of Toronto Varsity Blues defeat the Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club, 26–6.
The Montreal Canadiens ice hockey club, the oldest surviving professional hockey franchise in the world, is founded as a charter member of the National Hockey Association.
Selma Lagerlöf becomes the first female writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.
New South Wales Premier Charles Wade signs the Seat of Government Surrender Act 1909, formally completing the transfer of State land to the Commonwealth to create the Australian Capital Territory.
Source: Wikipedia date pages ("January 1" … "December 31") / CC BY-SA 4.0. Regions are assigned by the site editors.
Dates and events are based on Wikipedia and other references. Summaries and regions are written by the site editors.