1900 Year in Review

Paris - La Belle Époque

January

• January 2 – U.S. Secretary of State John Hay announces the Open Door Policy, to promote American trade with China.

• January 5 – Dr. Henry A. Rowland of Johns Hopkins University announces a theory about the cause of the Earth's magnetism.

• January 6 – Second Boer War: Boers attempt to end the Siege of Ladysmith, which leads to the Battle of Platrand.

• January 9 – S.S. Lazio, an Italian professional sports club, is founded in Rome.

• January 14

• Puccini's opera Tosca premieres in Rome, Italy.

• The U.S. Senate accepts the British-German Treaty of 1899, in which the United Kingdom renounces its claims to the American Samoa portion of the Samoan Islands.

• January 24 – Second Boer War – Battle of Spion Kop: Boer troops defeat the British Army.

• January 27 – Boxer Rebellion: Foreign diplomats in Peking, Qing Dynasty China, demand that the Boxer rebels be disciplined.

• January 31 – Datu Muhammad Salleh, leader of the Mat Salleh Rebellion in North Borneo, is shot dead in Tambunan.

February

• February 5 – The United Kingdom and the United States sign a treaty for the building of a Central American shipping canal, across Central America in Nicaragua.

• 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 14 – 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

• FC Bayern, Germany's most successful football club, is founded in Munich.

• Second Boer War: British military leaders accept the unconditional notice of surrender, from Boer General Piet Cronjé.

• The British Labour Party is officially established, at a meeting in the Congregational Memorial Hall in London.

• February 5 – The United Kingdom and the United States sign a treaty for the building of a Central American shipping canal, across Central America in Nicaragua.
• 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 14 – 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
  • FC Bayern, Germany's most successful football club, is founded in Munich.
  • Second Boer War: British military leaders accept the unconditional notice of surrender, from Boer General Piet Cronjé.
  • The British Labour Party is officially established, at a meeting in the Congregational Memorial Hall in London.

March

• March 5 – Two U.S. Navy cruisers are sent to Central America to protect American interests, in a dispute between Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
• March 6 – A coal mine explosion in West Virginia, U.S.A. kills 50 miners.
• March 14
  • Botanist Hugo de Vries rediscovers Mendel's Laws of Heredity.
  • The Gold Standard Act is ratified, placing the 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 stand. He begins to unearth some of the palace three days later.
• March 18 – AFC Ajax, a successful football club in Netherlands, is founded in Amsterdam.
• March 27 – The arrival of a Russian naval fleet in Korea causes concern to the Imperial Japanese government.

April

• April 14 – The Exposition Universelle, a world's fair, opens in Paris.
• April 22 – Battle of Kousséri: French forces secure their domination of Chad. Warlord Rabih az-Zubayr is defeated and killed.

May

• May 1 – Scofield Mine disaster: An explosion of blasting powder in a 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: The British Army relieves the Siege of Mafeking.
  • Boxer Rebellion: Boxers destroy three villages near Peking, and kill 60 Chinese Christians.
  • L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is published in Chicago, the first of Baum's Oz books, chronicling the fictional Land of Oz for children.
• May 18 – The United Kingdom proclaims a protectorate over Tonga.
• May 21 – Russia invades Manchuria.
• May 24 – Second Boer War: The British annex the Orange Free State, as the Orange River Colony.
• May 28 – Boxer Rebellion: The Boxers attack Belgians, in the Fengtai railway station.
• May 29 – N'Djamena, the capital city of Chad, is founded as Fort-Lamy, by French commander Émile Gentil.
• May 31 – Boxer Rebellion: Peacekeepers from various European countries arrive in China, where they join with Japanese forces.