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1900

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As of March 1 (O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 (O.S. February 15), 2100.

Summary

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Political and military

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The year 1900 was the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. Two days into the new year, the U.S. Secretary of State John Hay announced the Open Door Policy regarding China, advocating for equal access for all nations to the Chinese market. The Galveston hurricane would become the deadliest natural disaster in United States history, killing between 6,000 and 12,000 people, mostly in and near Galveston, Texas, as well as leaving 10,000 people homeless, destroying 7,000 buildings of all kinds in Galveston. As of 2025, it remains the fourth deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record. An ongoing Boxer Rebellion in China escalates with multiple attacks by the Boxers on Chinese and European civilians, killing hundreds; the rebellion would progress with the Russian Empire's invasion of Manchuria and the Battle of Peking (1900). During the Scramble for Africa, the Battle of Kousséri would see French forces secure their domination of Chad, which would become a French colony. Britain would annex the South African Republic and the Orange Free State in Southern Africa, becoming the Orange River Colony until 1910.

For Britain, developments such as the Battle of Platrand, Battle of Spion Kop and the Battle of Paardeberg in the Second Boer War highlighted the harsh nature of Boer guerrilla tactics. The British Labour Party was founded in 1900, emerging out of the Labour movement and socialist parties of the 19th century; it would go on to become a major political force in Britain after the First World War. The Federation of Australia is enacted, marking the unification of its colonies into a single country.

Science

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Four main scientific discoveries were achieved in the year 1900:

  1. Max Planck formulates Planck's law of black-body radiation, marking the birth of modern quantum mechanics, which would revolutionize humanity's understanding of the universe, leading to groundbreaking discoveries in technology, energy, and the fabric of reality itself.
  2. Botanist Hugo de Vries would rediscover Mendel's laws of heredity, laying the foundation for the field of genetics.
  3. The ABO blood group system, which becomes fundamental in transfusion medicine is discovered by Karl Landsteiner, saving countless numbers of lives across the globe.
  4. Gamma Rays are discovered by French physicist Paul Villard, while studying uranium decay, unveiling the mystery of the universe's most powerful phenomena and marking an important advancement in nuclear physics.

Cultural and artistic

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Giacomo Puccini's opera Tosca premiers, one of the most frequently performed operas worldwide, a melodramatic piece set in Rome in June 1800, with the Kingdom of Naples's control of Rome threatened by Napoleon's invasion of Italy. It contains depictions of torture, murder, and suicide, as well as some of Puccini's best-known lyrical arias.Template:Year nav L. Frank Baum, an American author, publishes The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, a cornerstone of American children’s literature, marking the first book of the Oz series.

Miscellaneous

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The U.S. Senate accepts the British-German Treaty of 1899 on January 14. This formally ended U.S. claims to the Samoan Islands. The U.S.-UK Treaty for a Central American Canal would be signed on February 5. While the initial plan for a Nicaraguan canal did not materialize, this treaty laid the groundwork for the construction of the Panama Canal, a project of immense geopolitical and economic importance.

The year 1900 also marked the Year of the Rat on the Chinese calendar. Template:TOC limit

Events

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File:Flag Map of The World (1900).png
The world in the year 1900

January

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File:BoxerSoldiers.jpg
Boxer soldiers
File:Boers at Spion Kop, 1900 - Project Gutenberg eText 16462.jpg
Second Boer War: Boers at Spion Kop

February

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File:LabourPartyPlaque.jpg
Plaque recording the location of the formation of the British Labour Party in 1900.

March

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April

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File:Vue panoramique de l'exposition universelle de 1900.jpg
Exposition Universelle view in Paris

May

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June

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July

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File:First Zeppelin ascent.jpg
July 2: First successful rigid airship flight by Zeppelin LZ 1
File:Map of Australia.png
July 9: Federation of Australia enacted.

August

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  • August – The first Michelin Guide is published in France.<ref>"What's Observed in a Rating? Rankings as Orientation in the Face of Uncertainty", by Elena Esposito and David Stark, in The Performance Complex: Competition and Competitions in Social Life, ed. by David Stark (Oxford University Press, 2020) p. 124.</ref>
  • August 14Boxer Rebellion: An international contingent of troops, under British command, invades Peking and frees the European hostages.

September

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October

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November

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December

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Births

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January

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File:Sugihara b.jpg
Chiune Sugihara
File:Kraljica marija.jpg
Queen Maria of Yugoslavia
File:Hyman Rickover 1955.jpg
Hyman G. Rickover

February

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File:AdlaiEStevenson1900-1965.jpg
Adlai Stevenson II
File:Aubert jeanne.jpg
Jeanne Aubert

March

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File:Gral. Gustavo Rojas Pinilla.jpg
Gustavo Rojas Pinilla
File:Sir John McEwen.jpg
Sir John McEwen
File:Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester.jpg
Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester

April

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File:Spencer tracy state of the union.jpg
Spencer Tracy
File:Pauli.jpg
Wolfgang Pauli

May

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June

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File:Dennis Gabor 1971b.jpg
Dennis Gabor
File:11exupery-inline1-500.jpg
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

July

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File:Eyvind.JPG
Eyvind Johnson

August

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File:Arturo Umberto Illia 1965.jpg
Arturo Umberto Illia
File:Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother portrait.jpg
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother

September

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File:Urho-Kekkonen-1977-c.jpg
Urho Kekkonen

October

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File:Promotional photograph of Helen Hayes.jpg
Helen Hayes
File:Princess Mother Srinagarindra.jpg
Srinagarindra
File:Douglas Jardine.jpg
Douglas Jardine

November

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File:Margaret Mitchell NYWTS.jpg
Margaret Mitchell
File:Aaron Copland 1970.JPG
Aaron Copland

December

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File:Agnes Moorehead Bewitched 1969.JPG
Agnes Moorehead

Date unknown

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Deaths

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January–June

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File:John Ruskin 1863.jpg
John Ruskin
File:Gottliebdaimler1.jpg
Gottlieb Daimler
File:Mary Kingsley West African Studies.jpg
Mary Kingsley
File:Josephine Princess of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen.jpg
Princess Josephine of Baden

July–December

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File:Ritratto di Umberto I.jpg
King Umberto I
File:Nietzsche187a.jpg
Friedrich Nietzsche
File:Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan.jpg
Sir Arthur Sullivan
File:Oscar Wilde MET DP136272.jpg
Oscar Wilde

World population

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  • World population: 1,640,000,000
    • Africa: 133,000,000
    • Asia: 947,000,000
      • Japan: c. 45,000,000
    • Europe: 408,000,000
    • Latin America: 74,000,000
    • Northern America: 82,000,000
    • Oceania: 6,000,000

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References

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Further reading

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  • Appletons' annual cyclopaedia and register of important events...1900 (1901), vast compendium of data; global coverage online edition
  • Gilbert, Martin. A History of the Twentieth Century 1900–1933, Vol. 1 (1997) pp 7–35; global coverage of politics, diplomacy and warfare.
  • Herbert C. Fyfe, Pearson's Magazine, July 1900: "How Will The World End?"

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