1900
1900 (
MCM) was an
exceptional common year starting on Monday.
January
*
January 1 -
Nigeria becomes a
British Protectorate*
January 2 - The first
Electric bus becomes operational in
New York City*
January 2 -
John Hay announces the
Open Door Policy to promote trade with
China.
*
January 2 -
Chicago Canal opens.
*
January 3 - British Royal Yacht,
Victoria and Albert capsizes as it leaves port
*
January 4 - Strikes in
Belgium and
Germany lead to mining riots
*
January 5 -
Irish leader
John Edward Redmond calls for a revolt against
British rule.
*
January 5 - Dr Henry A. Rowland of John Hopkins University discovers the cause of the
Earth's
magnetism*
January 6 - It is reported that millions are starving in
India.
*
January 6 -
Boers attack
Ladysmith - over 1000 people were killed.
*
January 8 -
United States President William McKinley places
Alaska under military rule.
*
January 9 - The First through
train runs from
Cairo to
Khartoum*
January 9 -
Influenza strikes
London*
January 10 -
Lord Roberts become Army chief in the
Boer War*
January 12 - In India, three and a quarter million people are receiving
famine relief.
*
January 13 -
Kaiser of Germany declares that German is the command language in the German army
*
January 14 - Premier presentation of opera
Tosca in Rome - actors have received death threats and nameless letters.
*
January 15 - The Hippodrome theatre opens in the Charing Cross Roads in
London*
January 16 - The
United States Senate accepts the
Anglo-
German treaty of
1899 in which the
United Kingdom renounced its claims to the
Samoan islands.
*
January 17 -
Brigham H. Roberts is refused a seat in the
House of Representatives because of his
Polygamy*
January 23 - 5000
Austrian miners go on strike
*
January 24 -
Battle of Spion Kop in
Second Boer War.
*
January 24 - The governments in London and
Pretoria begin negotiations to end the Second Boer War.
*
January 27 -
Boxer Rebellion: Foreign diplomats in
Peking China demand that the Boxer rebels be disciplined.
*
January 29 - The
American League of Professional Baseball Clubs is organized in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with 8 founding teams.
*
January 30 -
United Kingdom forces fighting
Boers in
South Africa ask for reinforcements.
February
*
February 2 - First performance of
Gustave Charpentier's opera,
Louise*
February 3 -
Gubernatorial candidate
William Goebel is assassinated in
Frankfort, Kentucky. Former
Secretary of State Caleb Powers was later found guilty in a conspiracy to kill Goebel.
*
February 3 - Strikers in
Aachen,
Vienna and
Brussels demand an 8 hour working day and higher wages.
*
February 5 -
Britain and the
USA sign a treaty for the building of a Central American shipping canal through
Nicaragua*
February 6 - The
House of Commons vote of censure over the
Britain's handling of the
Second Boer War is defeated by a majority of 213
*
February 6 - The international arbitration court at
The Hague is created when the
Netherlands' Senate ratifies an
1899 peace conference decree.
*
February 8 -
British troops are defeated by
Boers at
Ladysmith,
South Africa.
*
February 9 -
Dwight Davis creates the
Davis Cup tennis tournament
*
February 9 -
Richard Wigginton Thompson, U.S. congressman, dies.
*
February 11 - Second Boer War: Colonel Hannay begins invasion of
Orange Free State with march from
Orange River to
Ramdam *
February 12 - Meeting held in
Mile End,
London to protest against the
Second Boer War ends in uproar
*
February 14 -
Russia responds to international pressure to free
Finland by tightening imperial control over the country.
*
February 14 - Second Boer War: In
South Africa, 20,000
British troops invade the Orange Free State.
*
February 16 - Appearance of "Savrola (A Tale of Revolution in Laurania)", the first
novel of
Winston Spencer Churchill*
February 17 -
Battle of Paardeberg in the Second Boer War.
*
February 18 -
Harry Vardon becomes world
golf champion
*
February 18 - A man claims that
X-rays have cured his cancer.
*
February 19 -
Alfred von Tirpitz says the German fleet "must be strong enough to ensure its mastery of the
North Sea*
February 22 -
Hawaii officially becomes a territory of the
United States.
*
February 23 - Second Boer War:
Battle of Hart's Hill - In
South Africa the
Boers and
British troops battle.
*
February 26 - The
Grand Theatre,
Islington is destroyed by fire.
*
February 27 - The
British Labour Party is formed.
*
February 27 - Boer War: In
South Africa,
British military leaders receive an unconditional notice of surrender from Boer
General Piet Cronje.
*
February 27 -
Ramsay MacDonald appointed secretary of newly formed
British Labour Party.
March
*
March 2 -
Pope condemns
Boer War*
March 3 - Mining strike ends in Germany.
*
March 5 - Two
U.S. cruisers are sent to
Central America to protect US interests in a dispute between
Nicaragua and
Costa Rica*
March 6 - 'Baby-farmer'
Ada Williams is hanged at
Newgate priosn for murdering a 19-month old girl
*
March 6 - A
coal mine explosion in
West Virginia traps 50 coal miners.
*
March 7 - Fire at
Buckingham Palace destroys part of the roof.
*
March 8 - Rejoicing in
London as
Queen Victoria makes one of her rare visits.
*
March 9 - Women in Germany demand right to participate in university entrance exams
*
March 11 - Second Boer War:
Boer leader
Paul Kruger's peace overtures are rejected by
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Lord Salisbury.
*
March 13 - Second Boer War:
British forces occupy
Bloemfontein,
Orange Free State.
*
March 13 - In France, length of a workday for women and children is limited to 11 hours by law.
*
March 14 - Botanist
Hugo de Vries rediscovers
Mendel's laws of heredity*
March 14 - The
Gold Standard Act is ratified placing
United States currency on the
gold standard.
*
March 15 -
Prime Minister Lord Salisbury of the
United Kingdom rejects
U.S. President McKinley's offer to mediate in the
Boer War*
March 16 - Sir
Arthur Evans purchases the land on which the ruins of
Knossos on
Crete reside, for further excavation.
*
March 19 - In
London, public subscription for new Government
Boer War loan is £335m - 11 times the amount asked.
*
March 24 -
New York City Mayor Van Wyck breaks ground for a new underground "Rapid Transit Railroad" that would link
Manhattan and
Brooklyn.
*
March 27 - Arrival of a Russian fleet in
Korea causes concern to
Japanese governmentApril
*
April 1 - Every French policeman is assigned to carry a gun.
*
April 1 -
Irish Guards formed by Queen
Victoria*
April 1 -
King George of Greece becomes absolute monarch of
Crete*
April 4 - Anarchist shoots at the
Prince of Wales during his visit to
Belgium in the birthday celebrations of the king of Belgium.
*
April 14 -
Paris World Exhibition opens.
*
April 22 - French forces defeat and kill
Rabih az-Zubayr in the
battle of Kousséri, thus guaranteeing French domination of
Chad.
May
*
May 1 - Explosion of blasting powder in
coal mine in
Scofield, Utah kills 200
*
May 2 -
Oscar II, King of Sweden, declares support for
Britain at the time of the Second Boer War.
*
May 17 - Second Boer War:
British troops relieve
Mafeking*
May 17 -
Boxers destroy three villages near Peking and kill 60 Chinese Christians
*
May 18 -
Boer delegation travels to USA to ask for assistance
*
May 18 - The
United Kingdom proclaims a
protectorate over
Tonga.
*
May 21 -
Russia invades
Manchuria*
May 23 - Sergeant
William Harvey Carney becomes the first
African American to be awarded the
Medal of Honor (awarded for heroism in the
Battle of Fort Wagner during the
American Civil War).
*
May 24 - Second Boer War: British annex
Orange Free State as
Orange River Colony.
*
May 25 - Boer soldiers vote for the continuance of the war
*
May 28 - Boxers attack Belgian personnel in the Fengtai railway station
*
May 29 - Chinese government condemns Boxers
*
May 30 - Boxers occupy
Tientsin*
May 31 - Peacekeepers from various European countries arrive in China
*
May 31 - British under Lord Robert occupy
JohannesburgJune
*
June 1 -
Carrie Nation demolishes 25 saloons in
Medicine Lodge*
June 5 - Boer War:
British soldiers take
Pretoria,
South Africa.
*
June 14 - The
Reichstag approves a second law that allows the expansion of the
German navy.
* June 14 -
Hawaii officially becomes a
U.S. territory.
*
June 20 - The
Boxers gather about 20,000 people near
Peking and kill hundreds of European citizens, including the German ambassador.
*
June 30 - Piers of North German Lloyd Steamship line burned in
Hoboken, New Jersey - 326 dead
July
 |
Australia, founded July 9, 1900 |
*
July 2 - First
zeppelin flight on
Lake Constance near
Friedrichshafen,
Germany*
July 5 -
Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act passes British Parliament
*
July 9 -
Queen Victoria gives royal assent to
Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act*
July 13 -
Boxer Rebellion: In
China,
Tientsin is retaken by European Allies from the rebelling
Boxers*
July 19 - The
first line of the
Métro is inaugurated in
Paris.
*
July 29 - In
Italy, King
Umberto I of Italy is assassinated by
Italian-born anarchist
Gaetano Bresci.
*
July 30 - The Duke of Albany becomes Duke of
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as
Carl Eduard following the death of his uncle,
Duke AlfredAugust
*
August 14 - An international contingent of troops, under British command, invades
Peking and frees the Europeans taken hostage.
*
August 27 - British defeat Boer commandos at
BergendalSeptember
*
September 8 -
Galveston Hurricane of 1900: a powerful
hurricane hits
Galveston, Texas killing about 8,000 people.
*
September 13 -
Philippine-American War: Filipino resistance fighters defeat a larger American column in the
Battle of Pulang Lupa.
*
September 17 - Philippine-American War: Filipinos under
Juan Cailles defeat Americans under Colonel Benjamin F. Cheatham at
Mabitac.
October
* October - The Norwegian inventor
Johann Vaaler demands a patent for his invention, the
paperclip.
November
*
November 3 - the first automobile show in the
United States opened at New York's Madison Square Garden under the auspices of the Automobile Club of America.
*
November 3 - Panama's separation from Colombia.
*
November 6 -
U.S. presidential election, 1900:
Republican incumbent
William McKinley is reelected by defeating
Democrat challenger
William Jennings Bryan.
December
*
December 18 - The Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook
Narrow-gauge (2
ft 6
in or 762
mm) Railway (now the
Puffing Billy Railway) in
Victoria,
Australia opened for traffic.
January
*
January 1 -
Mildred Davis, American actress (d.
1969)
*
January 2 -
William Haines, American actor (d.
1973)
*
January 5 -
Yves Tanguy, French painter (d.
1955)
*
January 15 -
Aristotle Onassis, Greek businessman (d.
1975)
*
January 25 -
Theodosius Dobzhansky, Geneticist, evolutionary biologist (d.
1975)
*
January 23 -
William Ifor Jones, Welsh conductor and organist (d.
1988)
*
January 26 -
Karl Ristenpart, German conductor (d.
1967)
*
January 27 -
Hyman Rickover, American admiral (d.
1986)
*
January 30 -
Martita Hunt, actress (d.
1969)
February
*
February 4 -
Jacques Prévert, French lyricist and author (d.
1977)
*
February 5 -
Adlai Stevenson, American politician (d.
1965)
*
February 11 -
Hans-Georg Gadamer, German philosopher (d.
2002)
*
February 12 -
Roger J. Traynor, American judge (d.
1983)
*
February 19 -
Giorgos Seferis, Greek writer,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1971)
*
February 22 -
Luis Buñuel, Spanish film director (d.
1983)
*
February 28 -
Wolfram Hirth, German pilot and aircraft designer (d.
1959)
March
*
March 4 -
Herbert Biberman, Jewish American screenwriter and film director (d.
1971)
*
March 9 -
Howard Aiken, American computing pioneer (d.
1973)
*
March 19 -
Frédéric Joliot, French physicist, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Chemistry (d.
1958)
*
March 23 -
Erich Fromm, German-born psychologist and philosopher (d.
1980)
*
March 29 -
John McEwen, eighteenth
Prime Minister of Australia (d.
1980)
*
March 31 -
Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (d.
1974)
April
*
April 2 -
Roberto Arlt, Argentine writer (d.
1942)
*
April 5 -
Spencer Tracy, American actor (d.
1967)
*
April 25 -
Wolfgang Ernst Pauli, Austrian-born physicist,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1958)
*
April 26 -
Charles Richter, American geophysicist and inventor (d.
1985)
*
April 27 â€"
August Koern, Estonian statesman and diplomat (d. 1989)
*
April 30 -
Cecily Lefort, English World War II heroine (executed) (d.
1945)
May
*
May 1 -
Ignazio Silone, Italian author (d.
1978)
*
May 12 -
Helene Weigel, Austrian actress (d.
1971)
*
May 15 -
Zheng Ji, Chinese nutritionist and biochemist
*
May 17 -
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of Iraq (d.
1989)
*
May 28 -
Tommy Ladnier, American jazz trumpeter (heart attack) (d.
1939)
June
*
June 3 -
Rolland Fisher, American temperance activist (d.
1982)
*
June 5 -
Dennis Gabor, Hungarian physicist,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1979)
*
June 15 -
Paul Mares, American jazz trumpeter (d.
1949)
*
June 29 -
Antoine de Saint-Exupery, French pilot and writer (d.
1944)
July
*
July 4 -
Robert Desnos, French poet (d.
1945)
*
July 6 -
Frederica Sagor Maas, American playwright, essayist and author
*
July 13 -
George Lewis, American jazz clarinetist (d.
1969)
*
July 29 -
Eyvind Johnson, Swedish writer,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1976)
August
*
August 3 -
Ernie Pyle, American journalist (d.
1945)
*
August 4 -
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, queen of
George VI of the United Kingdom (d.
2002)
*
August 6 -
Cecil H. Green, British-born geophysicist and businessman (d.
2003)
*
August 10 -
Arthur Espie Porritt, New Zealand politician and athlete (d.
1994)
*
August 11 -
Philip Phillips, American archaeologist (d.
1994)
*
August 18 -
Glenn Albert Black, American archaeologist (d.
1964)
*
August 19 -
Colleen Moore, American actress (d.
1988)
*
August 22 -
Sergei Ozhegov, Russian lexicographer (d.
1964)
*
August 25 - Sir
Hans Adolf Krebs, German physician and biochemist, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d.
1981)
*
August 26 -
Hellmuth Walter, German engineer and inventor (d.
1980)
September
*
September 3 -
Urho Kekkonen,
President of Finland (d.
1986)
*
September 6 -
W.A.C. Bennett, Canadian politician (d.
1979)
*
September 22 -
Paul H. Emmett, American chemical engineer (d.
1985)
*
September 23 -
Louise Nevelson, Ukrainian-born American sculptor (d.
1988)
October
*
October 1 -
Tom Goddard, English cricketer (d.
1966)
*
October 6 -
Stan Nichols, English cricketer (d.
1961)
*
October 7 -
Heinrich Himmler, Nazi official (d.
1945)
*
October 30 -
Ragnar Granit, Finnish neuroscientist, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d.
1991)
November
*
November 5 -
Martin Dies, Jr., American politician (d.
1972)
*
November 5 -
Natalie Schafer, American actress (d.
1991)
*
November 8 -
Charlie Paddock, American athlete (d.
1943)
*
November 8 -
Margaret Mitchell, American writer (d.
1949)
*
November 11 -
Halina Konopacka, Polish athlete (d.
1989)
*
November 13 -
David Marshall Williams American inventor (d.
1975)
*
November 14 -
Aaron Copland, American composer (d.
1990)
December
*
December 3 -
Ulrich Inderbinen, Swiss mountain guide (d.
2004)
*
December 3 -
Richard Kuhn, Austrian chemist,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1967)
*
December 4 -
John Axon, British railwayman (d.
1957)
*
December 12 -
Sammy Davis, Sr., American dancer (d.
1988)
*
January 20 -
John Ruskin, English writer and social critic (b.
1819)
*
January 31 -
John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry, Scottish nobleman and boxer (b.
1844)
*
March 6 -
Gottlieb Daimler, German inventor and automotive pioneer (b.
1834)
*
April 5 -
Joseph Louis François Bertrand, French mathematician (b.
1822)
*
April 19 -
James Dawson, Aboriginal Guardian (b.
1806)
*
April 24 -
George Douglas Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll, British politician (b.
1823)
*
April 30 -
Casey Jones, American railway engineer (b.
1864)
*
May 18 -
Jean Gaspard Felix Ravaisson-Mollien, French philosopher (b.
1813)
*
June 3 -
Mary Kingsley, English explorer and writer (b.
1862)
*
June 5 -
Stephen Crane, American author (b.
1871)
*
June 11 -
Belle Boyd, American Confederate spy and actress (b.
1843)
*
July 29 -
Umberto I,
King of Italy (assassinated) (b.
1844)
*
July 30 -
Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (b.
1844)
*
August 10 -
Charles Russell, Baron Russell of Killowen,
Lord Chief Justice of England (b.
1832)
*
August 12 -
Wilhelm Steinitz, Austrian-born chess player (b.
1836)
*
August 16 -
José Maria Eça de Queiroz, Portuguese writer (b.
1845)
*
August 25 -
Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher and writer (b.
1844)
*
August 25 -
Kuroda Kiyotaka,
Prime Minister of Japan (b.
1840)
*
September 23 -
William Marsh Rice, American philanthropist and university founder (murdered) (b.
1816)
*
September 29 -
Samuel Fenton Cary, American politician (b.
1814)
*
October 15 -
Zdeněk Fibich, Czech composer (b.
1850)
*
October 22 -
John Sherman, American politician (b.
1823)
*
November 22 -
Sir Arthur Sullivan. English composer (b.
1842)
*
November 30 -
Oscar Wilde, Irish writer (b.
1854)
Month/day unknown
*
Henry D. Cogswell, American philanthropist (b.
1820)
* 1900 is
not a
leap year even though the number is divisible by 4. It is one of the dropped leap years of the
Gregorian Calendar.
