Events of 1900

January

January 1

Hawaii asks for a delegate at the U.S. Republican national convention.
Nigeria becomes a British electorate.

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 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.
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 1000.
January 8 - United States President William McKinley places Alaska under military rule.
January 9

The first through train runs from Cairo to Khartoum.
Influenza strikes London.

January 14

Première of opera Tosca in Rome - actors have received death threats and nameless letters.
The United States Senate accepts the Anglo-German treaty of 1899 in which the United Kingdom renounces its claims to the Samoan islands.
George Griffin is the first Australian to be killed in the Boer War.

January 17

Brigham H. Roberts is refused a seat in the United States House of Representatives because of his polygamy.
The U.S. takes Wake Island, an important cable link between Hawaii and Manila.
Yaqui Indians in Texas proclaim independence from Mexico.

January 23 - 5000 Austrian miners go on strike.
January 24 - Second Boer War: The Battle of Spion Kop.
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 eight founding teams.

February

February 1 - Western Australia refuses to join the Federation unless given 5 years of fiscal freedom.
February 3

U.S. gubernatorial candidate William Goebel is assassinated in Frankfort, Kentucky. 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 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 - Second Boer War: British troops are defeated by 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: 20,000 British troops invade the Orange Free State in the Battle of Paardeberg.

February 15 - Second Boer War: Siege of Kimberley lifted.
February 17 - Second Boer War: Battle of Paardeberg.
February 27

The British Labour Party is formed.
Second Boer War: British military leaders receive an 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 US 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 traps 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 - The 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 three days later.
March 24 - New York City Mayor Van Wyck breaks ground for a new underground "Rapid Transit Railroad" that would 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

Arrival of a Russian fleet in Korea causes concern to Japanese government.
India is in crisis as millions starve. The country turns to the Colonial Government for help as food supplies run out.

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

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 - French forces defeat and kill Rabih az-Zubayr in the battle of Kousséri, thus guaranteeing French domination of Chad.
April 26 - The Great Lumber Fire of Ottawa-Hull. 7 are killed and 15,000 made 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 Mafeking.
Boxer Rebellion: Boxers destroy three 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 becomes the first African American to be awarded the Medal of Honor.
May 24 - Second Boer War: British annex Orange Free State as Orange River Colony.
May 28 - Boxer Rebellion: 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 demolishes 25 saloons in Medicine Lodge, Kansas.
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 - Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act passes British Parliament.
July 9 - Queen Victoria gives royal assent to Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act.
July 12 - German Cruise liner, 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.
Panama separates from Colombia.

November 6 - U.S. presidential election, 1900: Republican incumbent William McKinley is reelected by defeating Democrat challenger William Jennings Bryan.

December

December 7 - Max Planck discovers the law of black body emission.

Undated

U.S. New Haven, CT Louis Lassen of Louis' Lunch makes the first modern-day hamburger sandwich.
Sokoto Caliphate has 1 million free people and maybe 2.5 million slaves.
Civil service consists of fewer than 3,500 top officials for a population of 300 million in India.
4 out of every 1,000 residents of British India die of cholera each year.
Japan participates with the European powers in occupying Beijing to suppress the Boxer Rebellion.