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As articulated by U.S. Secretary of State John Hay in his Open Door Note of September 6, 1899, and circulated between representatives of Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and Russia, the Open Door Policy proposed that all countries should maintain free and equal access to all of China's coastal ports of -
The Hay–Pauncefote Treaty is a treaty signed by the United States and Great Britain on 18 November 1901, as a legal preliminary to the U.S. building of the Panama Canal. -
Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse became the first liner to have a commercial wireless telegraphy system when the Marconi Company installed one in February 1900. -
15th April: Philippine–American War: Filipinos Filipino guerrillas launch a surprise attack on U.S. infantry and begin a
Siege of Catubig four-day siege of Catubig, Northern Samar Catubig, Philippines. -
24th May: Second Boer War: The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State. -
Following the Boxer Rebellion in China and the Boer War, a second navy bill was passed on 14 June 1900. This approximately doubled the allocated number of ships to 38 battleships, 20 armoured cruisers, 38 light cruisers. Significantly, the bill set no overall cost limit for the building program. -
Siege of the International Legations, (20 June–14 August 1900), engagement of the Boxer Rebellion in China. Placed under siege by Chinese soldiers, the foreign legations in Peking (Beijing, China) held out for fifty-five days until relieved by an international expeditionary force. -
Assassination. On the evening of 29 July 1900, Italian-American anarchist Gaetano Bresci assassinated Umberto in Monza by shooting him four times. Bresci claimed he wanted to avenge the people killed in Milan during the suppression of the riots of May 1898. -
On February 4, 1899 at about eight o'clock in the evening, Private William Walter Grayson fired and killed a Filipino soldier along the now Sociego Street in Santa Mesa, Manila. This triggered firing between both sides, which spread to Paco and Sta. Ana. The start of the Philippine-American war. -
Three members of the Royal Canadian Dragoons, including Sergeant Holland, Lieutenant Turner, and Lieutenant Cockburn were awarded the Victoria Cross for their actions at Leliefontein. The Royal Canadian Dragoons remains the only Canadian unit where three of its members were awarded the Victoria Cross in a single day. -
Australia became a nation on 1 January 1901 when six British colonies—New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania—united to form the Commonwealth of Australia. This process is known as Federation. Watch this video to learn how Australians joined together to form a new nation. -
January 22: Edward VII becomes King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India upon the
death of Queen Victoria. -
The Platt Amendment, an amendment to a U.S. army appropriations bill, established the terms under which the United States would end its military occupation of Cuba (which had begun in 1898 during the Spanish-American War) and "leave the government and control of the island of Cuba to its people. -
Vice President Theodore Roosevelt assumes the presidency. A funeral train carrying McKinley's casket travels from Buffalo to the Capitol in Washington, DC, and finally to Ohio, where McKinley is buried. Czolgosz's trial begins. Three days later, the jury finds him guilty and sentences him to death. -
The Qing dynasty was greatly weakened as a result of the Boxer Rebellion. Despite subsequently implementing liberal economic and political reforms, the dynasty was overthrown in 1911. The Republic of China was established the following year, bringing an end to more than 2,000 years of imperial dynastic rule. -
At Signal Hill on December 12, 1901, Guglielmo Marconi and his assistant, George Kemp, confirmed the reception of the first transatlantic radio signals. With a telephone receiver and a wire antenna kept aloft by a kite, they heard Morse code for the letter "S" transmitted from Poldhu, Cornwall. -
From 1927 to 1932, Ibn Saud administered the two main portions of his realm, Nejd and the Hejaz, as separate units. On 23 September 1932, Ibn Saud proclaimed the union of his dominions into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. -
From 1927 to 1932, Ibn Saud administered the two main portions of his realm, Nejd and the Hejaz, as separate units. On 23 September 1932, Ibn Saud proclaimed the union of his dominions into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. -
By 1902, the British had crushed the Boer resistance, and on May 31 of that year, the Peace of Vereeniging was signed, ending hostilities. The treaty recognized the British military administration over Transvaal and the Orange Free State, and authorized a general amnesty for Boer forces. -
After Salisbury's retirement, Balfour served as prime minister from July 12, 1902, to December 4, 1905. He sponsored and secured passage of the Education Act (Balfour Act; 1902), which reorganized the local administration of elementary and secondary schools. -
On July 17, 1902, Willis Carrier solved one of mankind's most elusive challenges by controlling the indoor environment through modern air conditioning. His invention enabled countless industries while promoting global productivity, health and personal comfort. -
The teddy bear was named after President Theodore Roosevelt, the stuffed bear was first sold by Morris Michtom, a Brooklyn, New York, resident who owned a candy shop, the website for the National Parks Service. In 1902 Richard Steiff, Margarete's nephew, designed a toy bear made of mohair called Bear 55PB. Inspired by American President Theodore Roosevelt, the initially nameless bear received its name Teddy, which is still known today. -
Alexander I reigned as the king of Serbia from 1889 to 1903 when he and his wife, Draga Mašin, were assassinated by a group of Royal Serbian Army officers, led by Captain Dragutin Dimitrijević. Early in the morning of June 11th, 1903, King Alexander Obrenovic of Serbia and his Queen were brutally murdered by a group of insurgent officers, who ransacked the royal palace of Belgrade in a fervour of inebriated patriotism. -
The first Tour de France was held in 1903 – with the aim of selling more newspapers… It was set up and sponsored by French sports paper L'Auto, which hoped a tough new endurance race around the country would capture the public's attention and boost its declining sales figures. It was right. -
On August 4, 1903, the College of Cardinals in Vatican City elects Cardinal Giuseppe Sarto as the new Pope after the lengthy illness and death of Pope Leo XIII. He chooses the name Pius X, and leads the Catholic Church until his death in 1914. -
President Theodore Roosevelt therefore supported the cause of Panamanian independence with the Canal in mind. His support paid off, and on November 18, 1903, the United States signed the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, establishing permanent U.S. rights to a Panama Canal Zone that stretched across the isthmus. -
After several unsuccessful attempts, on December 17, 1903, at Kill Devil Hills near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville Wright completed the first powered flight of a heavier-than-air aircraft known as the Wright Flyer. The flight lasted just 12 seconds, traveled 120 feet, and reached a top speed of 6.8 miles per hour. -
8, 1904. President Theodore Roosevelt. Armed conflict between Russia and Japan began on this day in 1904 when the Japanese navy launched a surprise attack on Port Arthur and blockaded the Russian Far East fleet in what is now northeast China. -
Entente Cordiale, (April 8, 1904), Anglo-French agreement that, by settling a number of controversial matters, ended antagonisms between Great Britain and France and paved the way for their diplomatic cooperation against German pressures in the decade preceding World War I (1914–18). -
The world's longest railway was completed on 21 July 1904. The world's longest single railway journey, 5,772 miles (9289 km) from Moscow to Vladivostok by way of Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, Omsk, Novosibirsk and Irkutsk, nowadays takes about a week. -
The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, began on 22 January 1905. A wave of mass political and social unrest then began to spread across the vast areas of the Russian Empire. The unrest was directed primarily against the Tsar, the nobility, and the ruling class. -
On 7 June 1905 the Storting passed a resolution unilaterally dissolving the union. -
Under the terms of the treaty, which was signed by both parties on September 5, 1905, Russia turned over Port Arthur to the Japanese, while retaining the northern half of Sakhalin Island, which lies off its Pacific coast (they would gain control of the southern half in the aftermath of World War II). -
Special relativity is an explanation of how speed affects mass, time and space. The theory includes a way for the speed of light to define the relationship between energy and matter — small amounts of mass (m) can be interchangeable with enormous amounts of energy (E), as defined by the classic equation E = mc^2. -
The Partition of Bengal was a controversial administrative decision by the British government in India, announced on October 16, 1905, which divided the province of Bengal into two separate entities - East Bengal and Assam, and West Bengal. -
On this day, 5th December 1905, Henry Campbell-Bannerman, the Member of Parliament for Stirling Burghs and leader of the Liberal Party began a two and a half year term as United Kingdom's first 'Prime Minister', one of the most recognised titles in modern world politics. -
San Francisco earthquake of 1906, major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9 that occurred on April 18, 1906, at 5:12 am off the northern California coast. -
In 1906, Dreyfus was exonerated. After being reinstated as a major in the French Army, he served during the whole of World War I, ending his service with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He died in 1935. -
Chile earthquake of 1960 | Causes, Effects, & Facts | Britannica
Chile earthquake of 1960, the largest earthquake recorded in the 20th century. Originating off the coast of southern Chile on May 22, 1960, the temblor caused substantial damage and loss of life both in that country and—as a result of the tsunamis that it generated—in distant Pacific coastal areas -
The U.S. intervention in Cuba in 1906, commonly referred to as the Second Intervention, began on September 28, 1906 with the resignation of the Cuban president and his cabinet and ended on January 28, 1909 when the U.S. relinquished control of the state to its newly elected president. -
While some remained skeptical of the reported achievements of the Wright Brothers, which were conducted in secrecy away from the public eye, the success of the flamboyant Santos-Dumont was plain for all to see on October 23, 1906, when his 14-bis biplane flew about 200 feet at a height of around 15 feet before a large -
Nawab Sir Khwaja Salimullah Bahadur KCSI GCIE (7 June 1871 – 16 January 1915) was the fourth Nawab of Dhaka and one of the leading Muslim politicians during the British rule in India. On 30 December 1906, the All-India Muslim League was officially founded at the educational conference held in Dhaka. -
Parliamentary elections were held in the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland on 15 and 16 March 1907. They were the first parliamentary election in which members were elected to the new Parliament of Finland by universal suffrage and the first in the world in which female members were elected. -
Negotiations were concluded on July 24, 1907. The treaty provided that Korea should act under the guidance of a Japanese resident general. The effect of the treaty's provisions was that the administration of internal affairs was turned over to Japan. -
Early in April 1908 Campbell-Bannerman resigned and died some days later. Asquith, generally regarded as his inevitable successor, became prime minister and was to hold the office for nearly nine years. He appointed David Lloyd George to the Exchequer and made Winston Churchill president of the Board of Trade. -
The discovery at the Masjid Sulaiman oil field represents the first oil discovery for the middle east (Sorkhabi, 2011). With the discovery of the first oil in the middle east, Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC, later British Petroleum) started their business. -
Tunguska event, enormous explosion that is estimated to have occurred at 7:14 am plus or minus one minute on June 30, 1908, at an altitude of 5–10 km (15,000–30,000 feet), flattening some 2,000 square km (500,000 acres) and charring more than 100 square km of pine forest near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in central -
The constitutional revolution that took place in the Ottoman Empire in July 1908, often called the 'Young Turk' revolution, was one of a series of revolutions that rocked old-established empires in the decade before the outbreak of the First World War: the Russian revolution of 1905, the Persian revolution of 1906, the -
On July 26, 1908, Bonaparte ordered DOJ attorneys to refer most investigative matters to the Chief Examiner, Stanley W. Finch, who would determine if there were special agents under his direction available to investigate the case. -
On October 1, 1908, the first production Model T Ford is completed at the company's Piquette Avenue plant in Detroit. Between 1908 and 1927, Ford would build some 15 million Model T cars. It was the longest production run of any automobile model in history until the Volkswagen Beetle surpassed it in 1972. -
Bulgaria proclaimed its full independence from the Ottoman Empire on September 22 (October 5), 1908. That same day Horace G. Knowles, U.S. Minister to Romania and Serbia and Diplomatic Agent in Bulgaria, sent a telegram to the Secretary of State informing him that Bulgaria had proclaimed her independence. -
Puyi's father, Prince Chun, became Prince Regent (攝政王). During Puyi's coronation in the Hall of Supreme Harmony on 2 December 1908, the young emperor was carried onto the Dragon Throne by his father. Puyi was frightened by the scene before him and the deafening sounds of ceremonial drums and music, and started crying. -
The earthquake almost levelled Messina. At least 91% of structures in Messina were destroyed or irreparably damaged and 75,000 people were killed in the city and suburbs. Reggio Calabria and other locations in Calabria also suffered heavy damage, with some 25,000 people killed. -
His presidency ended with his defeat in the 1912 election by Democrat Woodrow Wilson. Taft sought to lower tariffs—a tax on imports—then a major source of governmental income. -
Bangkok Treaty signed on March 10, 1909, with ratifications exchanged in London on July 9, 1909. (Great Britain, Foreign Office, Treaty Series 1909, No. 19, Command 4703, London.) The Treaty formally ceded the four southern Malay states under Siamese suzerainty to the protection of Great Britain. -
The Indian Councils Act of 1861 transformed the viceroy's Executive Council into a miniature cabinet run on the portfolio system, and each of the five ordinary members was placed in charge of a distinct department of Calcutta's government—home, revenue, military, finance, and law. -
Peary's claim to have reached the North Pole was widely debated along with a competing claim made by Frederick Cook, but eventually won widespread acceptance. In 1989, British explorer Wally Herbert concluded Peary did not reach the pole, although he may have come within 60 mi (97 km). -
The failure of the counter-coup allowed the Committee of Union and Progress to regain power and form a new government. As a result of this incident, the position of the Grand Vizier changed, with Ahmet Tevfik Pasha assuming the role. -
On 16 July 1909, the parliament voted to place Mohammad Ali Shah's 11-year-old son, Ahmad Shah on the throne. Mohammad Ali Shah abdicated following the new Constitutional Revolution and he has since been remembered as a symbol of dictatorship. -
On February 8, 1910, the Boy Scouts of America was incorporated under the laws of the District of Columbia. From that day forth, Scouts have celebrated February 8 as the birthday of Scouting in the United States. -
On Victoria's death in 1901, George's father ascended the throne as Edward VII, and George was created Prince of Wales. He became king-emperor on his father's death in 1910. -
On May 31, 1910, four colonies were joined together to create the Union of South Africa, a self-governing Dominion in the British Empire. While the new nation was sovereign when it came to its domestic affairs, the United Kingdom maintained control over its relations with the wider world. -
Following the dissolution of the Federation of Yugoslavia in 1989, Montenegro had been part of Yugoslavia's successor state (named the State Union of Serbia & Montenegro in 2003) until declaring independence on June 3, 2006. -
On 22 August 1910, Japan effectively annexed Korea with the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910 signed by Ye Wanyong, Prime Minister of Korea, and Terauchi Masatake, who became the first Japanese Governor-General of Korea. The treaty became effective the same day and was published one week later.
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The 5 October 1910 revolution was the overthrow of the centuries-old Portuguese monarchy and its replacement by the First Portuguese Republic. It was the result of a coup d'état organized by the Portuguese Republican Party. -
The Plan declared the 1910 election illegal, and declared Madero provisional president pending new elections. It called for the people to rise up in arms on Sunday, 20 November 1910, at 6:00 pm and revolt against Diaz and overthrow his government. Few initially heeded the call. -
Ely piloting his Curtiss Model D biplane for an imminent landing on platform constructed (note sandbags on either side of platform) on the stern of US Navy ship USS Pennsylvania (Armored Cruiser # 4, later CA-4), anchored in San Francisco Bay, California on January 18, 1911. -
Workers in the factory, many of whom were young women recently arrived from Europe, had little time or opportunity to escape. The rapidly spreading fire killed 146 workers. The building had only one fire escape, which collapsed during the rescue effort. Long tables and bulky machines trapped many of the victims. -
Nine days later, the Italian ambassador in Istanbul gave an ultimatum to the Ottoman government: Libya had to be ceded to the Kingdom of Italy in 24 hours. The Turks did not respond in time to the ultimatum and on 29 September 1911, the war began. -
The Wuchang Uprising was an armed rebellion against the ruling Qing dynasty that took place in Wuchang (now Wuchang District of Wuhan), Hubei, China on 10 October 1911, beginning the Xinhai Revolution that successfully overthrew China's last imperial dynasty. -
The Chevrolet Motor Company was established on November 3, 1911, in Detroit, Michigan, by Louis Chevrolet, a Swiss-born race car driver, his brother and fellow racer Arthur Chevrolet, and William C. Durant, the co-founder of General Motors. -
On 12th December, 1911, at the historic Delhi Durbar, the George V, the Emperor of the British Empire proclaimed the shifting of the capital of India from Calcutta to Delhi. After announcement of Delhi as the Capital of India, the preparation for the building a new city started with majesty, pomp and show. -
On December 14, 1911, Norwegian Roald Amundsen becomes the first explorer to reach the South Pole, beating his British rival, Robert Falcon Scott. Amundsen, born in Borge, near Oslo, in 1872, was one of the great figures in polar exploration -
Founded on 8 January 1912 in Bloemfontein as the South African Native National Congress, the organisation was formed to agitate for the rights of black South Africans. -
On February 12, 1912, Hsian-T'ung, the last emperor of China, is forced to abdicate following Sun Yat-sen's republican revolution. A provisional government was established in his place, ending 267 years of Manchu rule in China and 2,000 years of imperial rule. -
For both New Mexico and Arizona, the road to statehood was protracted and contentious. However, after much effort, on January 6, 1912 New Mexico became the 47th state and on February 14, 1912 Arizona became the 48th state in the Union. -
Crisis (March 30, 1912-August 18, 1955): France established a protectorate over Morocco as a result of the signing of the Treaty of Fez on March 30, 1912. Prior to 1912, Morocco had been an independent kingdom for several centuries. -
Her name was Elizabeth Gladys 'Millvina' Dean, and she was just two months old when she boarded the Titanic with her family. The Dean family actually never had plans to board the Titanic, but were transferred onto the ship as a result of coal strikes. -
Japan had developed within less than 30 years from a feudal country into the preeminent Asian power. On July 30 of 1912, Emperor Meiji died. His son Yoshihito followed his father to the throne. With him the Meiji era ended officially and the Taisho era began. -
On 25 August 1912, the Nationalist Party was established at the Huguang Guild Hall in Beijing, where the Tongmenghui and five smaller pro-revolution parties merged to contest the first national elections. Sun was chosen as the party chairman with Huang Xing as his deputy. -
In a regional military alliance known as the Balkan League, the countries of Serbia, Montenegro, Greece and Bulgaria joined forces and declared war on the Ottoman Empire in October 1912. -
The 1913 Ottoman coup d'état (January 23, 1913), also known as the Raid on the Sublime Porte (Turkish: Bâb-ı Âlî Baskını), was a coup d'état carried out in the Ottoman Empire by a number of Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) members led by Ismail Enver Bey and Mehmed Talaat Bey, in which the group made a surprise ... -
"La Decena Tragica" was a period of ten days, which began on February 9 with a coup against President Francisco I. Madero and ended with his imprisonment on February 18, 1913. The balance of this outbreak was the murder of Madero and José María Pino Suárez. -
The first inauguration of Woodrow Wilson as the 28th president of the United States was held on Tuesday, March 4, 1913, at the East Portico of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. This was the 32nd inauguration and marked the commencement of the first four-year term of Woodrow Wilson as president and Thomas R. -
Treaty of Bucharest, settlement, signed on Aug. 10, 1913, that ended the Second Balkan War (1913), in which Bulgaria was defeated by the combined forces of Serbia, Greece, and Romania. -
On October 7, 1913, the chassis also went on the moving assembly line, so that all the major components of the Model T were being assembled using this technique. Ford rapidly improved its assembly lines, and by 1916 the price of the Model T had fallen to $360 and sales were more than triple their 1912 level. -
It took many months and nearly straight party-line voting, but on December 23, 1913, the Senate passed and President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act.