What happened in 1900

21 entries recorded for 1900, listed by date. That was 126 years ago.

1900 at a glance

January 14
Giacomo Puccini
Historical event
Giacomo Puccini's opera Tosca (poster pictured), based on the play La Tosca by French dramatist Victorien Sardou, premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome.
January 31
Mat Salleh Rebellion
Historical event
Datu Muhammad Salleh, leader of a series of major disturbances in North Borneo, was shot dead in Tambunan, but his followers did not give up for five more years.

February 7
Bubonic plague
Historical event
A Chinese immigrant in San Francisco fell ill with the bubonic plague in the first epidemic of the disease in the continental United States.
February 7
Second Boer War
Historical event
Second Boer War: British troops made a third unsuccessful attempt to lift the siege of Ladysmith in the Battle of Vaal Krantz.
February 15
Second Boer War
Historical event
Second Boer War: British cavalry led by John French defeated Boer forces to end a 124-day siege of Kimberley in present-day South Africa.
February 16
Southern Cross Expedition
Historical event
The Southern Cross Expedition led by Carsten Borchgrevink (pictured) achieved a new Farthest South of 78° 50'S, making the first landing at the Great Ice Barrier.
February 27
FC Bayern Munich
Historical event
FC Bayern Munich, Germany's most successful football club, was founded.

March 7
Ocean liner
Historical event
The German ocean liner SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse became the first ship to send a wireless telegraph message to an onshore receiver.
March 24
Robert Anderson Van Wyck
Historical event
Robert Anderson Van Wyck, mayor of New York City, broke ground for a new underground Rapid Transit Railroad that would link Manhattan and Brooklyn.

May 1
Dust explosion
Historical event
A dust explosion at a coal mine near Scofield, Utah, U.S., killed at least 200 miners.
May 17
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Historical event
The first copies of the children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum were printed.
May 17
Second Boer War
Historical event
Second Boer War: The Siege of Mafeking in South Africa was lifted after 217 days, a decisive victory for the British against the Boers.
May 29
N'Djamena
Historical event
N'Djamena, now the capital of Chad, was founded as Fort-Lamy by French commander Émile Gentil.

June 7
Temperance movement in the United States
Historical event
American temperance activist Carrie Nation entered a saloon in Kiowa, Kansas, and destroyed its stock of alcoholic beverages with rocks.
June 14
German Naval Laws
Historical event
The second of the German Naval Laws was passed, authorising the doubling in size of the Imperial German Navy.
June 17
Boxer Rebellion
Historical event
Boxer Rebellion: Allied naval forces captured the Taku Forts from Qing China after a brief but bloody battle.
June 20
Boxer Rebellion
Historical event
Boxer Rebellion: The Imperial Chinese Army began a 55-day siege of the Legation Quarter in Peking.

July 29
Gaetano Bresci
Historical event
Italian anarchist Gaetano Bresci (pictured) assassinated King Umberto I of Italy in Monza.

August 16
Second Boer War
Historical event
Second Boer War: A 10,000-strong column of soldiers led by Lord Kitchener broke a 13-day siege of a small garrison.

September 8
1900 Galveston hurricane
Historical event
The Great Galveston hurricane, the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history, struck Galveston, Texas, with estimated winds of 135 miles per hour (215 km/h) at landfall, killing at least 6,000 people.

November 6
William McKinley
Historical event
President William McKinley is re-elected, along with his vice-presidential running mate, Governor Theodore Roosevelt of New York.

This site records 21 entries for 1900, including Giacomo Puccini on January 14. They are listed below by date.

126 years ago, counting from 2026. Anyone born in 1900 turns 126 this year.

1900 falls in the 19th century, in the 1900s.

Lost Generation (1883–1900). Came of age during the First World War.

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