1900

Years: 1897 1898 1899 - 1900 - 1901 1902 1903

Decades: 1870s 1880s 1890s - 1900s - 1910s 1920s 1930s

Events of 1900

January

• January 1
  • Hawaii asks for a delegate at the U.S. Republican National Convention.
• January 2
  • The first electric bus becomes operational in New York City.
  • John Hay announces the Open Door Policy to promote trade with China.
• January 3 – The United States Census estimates the country's population was 70 million.
• 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.
  • Dr. Henry A. Rowland of Johns Hopkins University discovers the cause of the Earth's magnetism.
• January 6 – Second Boer War: Boers attack Ladysmith, South Africa, killing over 1,000.
• January 8 – United States President William McKinley places Alaska under military rule.
• January 9
  • The first through train runs from Cairo to Khartoum.
• January 14
  • The opera Tosca premieres in Rome.
  • The United States Senate accepts the Anglo-German treaty of 1899, in which the United Kingdom renounces its claims to the Samoan islands.
• January 17
  • Brigham H. Roberts is refused a seat in the United States House of Representatives because of his polygamy.
  • Yaqui Indians in Texas proclaim independence from Mexico.
• January 23 – 5,000 Austrian miners go on strike.
• January 24 – Second Boer War – Battle of Spion Kop: Boer troops defeat the British.
• January 26 – The Labor League Conference opens in Sydney, Australia, with plans to form a Federal Labor Party.
• 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.

February

• February 1 – Western Australia refuses to join the Federation unless given 5 years of fiscal freedom.
• February 3
  • Kentucky Governor William Goebel dies of wounds after beig shot by assassins on January 30. Goebel, who had prevailed in an a dispute over the winner of the 1899 election, had been sworn in on his deathbed. Former Secretary of State Caleb Powers is later found guilty in a conspiracy to kill Goebel.
  • Strikers in Aachen, Vienna and Brussels demand an 8-hour working day and higher wages.
• February 5
  • Britain and the United States sign a treaty for the building of a Central American shipping canal through Nicaragua.
  • Second Boer War: The British House of Commons' vote of censure over the British government's handling of the war is defeated.
• February 6 – The international arbitration court at The Hague is created when the Netherlands' Senate ratifies an 1899 peace conference decree.
• February 8 – Second Boer War: British troops are defeated by the Boers at Ladysmith.
• February 9 – Dwight F. Davis creates the Davis Cup tennis tournament.
• February 14
  • Russia responds to international pressure to free Finland by tightening imperial control over the country.
  • Second Boer War – Battle of Paardeberg: 20,000 British troops invade the Orange Free State.
• February 15 – Second Boer War: The Siege of Kimberley is lifted.
• February 17 – Second Boer War: Battle of Paardeberg: British troops defeat the Boers.
• February 27
  • The British Labour Party is formed.
  • Second Boer War: British military leaders accept the unconditional notice of surrender from Boer General Piet Cronje.
  • Ramsay MacDonald is appointed secretary of the newly formed British Labour Party.

March

• March 2 – Groups of officials inspect towns around Australia in order to find the new Federal capital.
• March 5 – Two U.S. cruisers are sent to Central America to protect U.S. interests in a dispute between Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
• March 6
  • 'Baby-farmer' Ada Williams is hanged at Newgate Prison for murdering a 21-month old girl.
  • A coal mine explosion in West Virginia kills 50 miners.
• March 7 – Fire at Buckingham Palace destroys part of its roof.
• March 8 – Londoners celebrate as Queen Victoria makes a rare visit to the city.
• March 9 – Women in Germany demand the right to participate in university entrance exams.
• March 14 – Botanist Hugo de Vries rediscovers Mendel's laws of heredity.
• March 15 – The Gold Standard Act is ratified, placing United States currency on the gold standard.
• March 16 – British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans purchases the land on Crete on which the ruins of the palace of Knossos reside. He begins to unearth some of the palace 3 days later.
• March 24 – New York City Mayor Van Wyck breaks ground for a new underground "Rapid Transit Railroad" that will link Manhattan and Brooklyn.
• March 25 – The War of the Golden Stool erupts in the Ashanti Kingdom of West Africa between the Ashanti and British colonial forces.
• March 27
  • The arrival of a Russian fleet in Korea causes concern to the Japanese government.
  • India is in crisis as millions starve. The country turns to the Colonial Government for help as food supplies run out.^{[citation needed]}
• March 28 – Over 1,000 tonnes of filth are removed from demolished Sydney, Australia buildings in areas affected by the bubonic plague outbreak.
• March 31 – In France, the legal length of a workday for women and children is limited to 11 hours.

April

• April 1
  • The Irish Guards are formed by Queen Victoria.
  • King George of Greece becomes absolute monarch of Crete.
• April 4 – An anarchist shoots at the Prince of Wales during his visit to Belgium.
• April 14 – The Paris World Exhibition opens.
• April 22 – Battle of Kousséri: French forces secure their domination of Chad.
• April 26 – The Great Lumber Fire of Ottawa–Hull kills 7 and leaves 15,000 homeless.
• April 30 – Hawaii becomes an official U.S. territory.

May

• May 1 – An explosion of blasting powder in coal mine in Scofield, Utah kills 200.
• May 14 – The second Modern Olympic Games opens in Paris (as part of the Paris World Exhibition).
• May 17
  • Second Boer War: British troops relieve the Mafeking.
  • Boxer Rebellion: Boxers destroy 3 villages near Peking and kill 60 Chinese Christians.
• May 18 – The United Kingdom proclaims a protectorate over Tonga.
• May 21 – Russia invades Manchuria.
• May 23 – Sergeant William Harvey Carney is awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism in 1863, as the first African American to have earned the Medal. He was the 21st black recipient of the Medal.
• May 24 – Second Boer War: The British annex Orange Free State as Orange River Colony.
• May 28 – Boxer Rebellion: The Boxers attack Belgian personnel in the Fengtai railway station.
• May 31 – Boxer Rebellion: Peacekeepers from various European countries arrive in China.

June

• June 1 – Carrie Nation begins her crusade to demolish saloons.
• June 5 – Second Boer War: British soldiers take Pretoria.
• June 14 – The Reichstag approves a second law that allows the expansion of the German navy.
• June 20 – Boxer Rebellion: Boxers gather about 20,000 people near Peking and kill hundreds of European citizens, including the German ambassador.
• June 30 – Saale disaster: The German passenger ship Saale, owned by the North German Lloyd Steamship line, catches fire at the docks in Hoboken, New Jersey. The fire spreads to the adjacent piers and nearby ships, killing 326 people.

July

• July 2 – The first zeppelin flight occurs over Lake Constance near Friedrichshafen, Germany.
• July 5 – The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act passes the British Parliament.
• July 9 – Queen Victoria gives royal assent to the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act.
• July 12 – A German cruise liner, the SS Deutschland, breaks the Blue Riband record for the first time with an average speed of 22.42 knots.
• July 19 – The first line of the Métro is inaugurated in Paris.
• July 25 – The Robert Charles Riots occur in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.
• July 29 – 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 Alfred.

August

• August 14 – Boxer Rebellion: An international contingent of troops, under British command, invades Peking and frees the Europeans taken hostage.

September

• September 8 – A powerful hurricane hits Galveston, Texas killing about 8,000.
• September 13 – Philippine-American War: Filipino resistance fighters defeat a large 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.
• September 25 – In the British general election, the recently formed Labour Party gains two seats. Winston Churchill is elected to Parliament for the first time.

November

• November 3 – The first automobile show in the United States opens at New York City's Madison Square Garden.
• November 6 – U.S. presidential election, 1900: Republican incumbent William McKinley is reelected by defeating Democratic challenger William Jennings Bryan.

December

• December 7 – Max Planck announces his discovery of the law of black body emission, marking the birth of quantum physics..

Births

• March 7 - Gerald B. Winrod, minister and defendant in the Great Sedition Trial of 1944 (d. 1957)
• June 11 - Lawrence E. Spivak, American journalist (d. 1994)
• July 19 - Arno Breker, German sculptor (d. 1991)
• October 7 - Heinrich Himmler, German National Socialist leader (d. 1945)
• November 5 - Martin Dies, Jr., Texas congressman (d. 1972)

Deaths

• August 25 - Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher (b. 1844)
• 21 December - Leonhard Graf von Blumenthal, German Generalfeldmarschall (b. 1810)