The British four-masted sailing ship Andelanacapsizes during a storm in Commencement Bay off the coast of the U.S. state of Washington, with the loss of all 17 of her crew.[3]
January 27–Camille Jenatzy of France becomes the first man to drive an automobile more than 80 kilometers per hour, when he reaches a speed of 80.35 kph in his CGA Dogcart racecar. Jenatzy's speed is more than 20% faster than the previous record.
January 28– The League of Peja, organized by Haxhi Zeka to lobby for a Kosovar Albanian state within the Ottoman Empire, attracts 450 delegates to its first convention, held at the city of Peja.[5]
Ranavalona III, who had been the Queen of Madagascar until being deposed on February 28, 1897, is sent into exile by English colonial authorities, along with the rest of the royal family.[6]
The Suntory whisky distiller and worldwide alcoholic and soft drink brand of Japan is established by Shinjiro Torii in Osaka as a store selling imported wines.[7]
February 2– The participants in the Australian Premiers' Conference agree that Australia's capital (Canberra) should be located between Sydney and Melbourne.
February 10– U.S. Army troops, supported by bombardment from the warships Charleston and Monadnock, defeat Filipino forces in the Battle of Caloocan and get control of the Manila to Dagupan railway.
February 18– The National Assembly of France elects a new President to serve the remainder of the late President Faure's term. Senate president Émile Loubet wins the vote against prime ministerJules Méline.[9]
February 19– In Venezuela, the former Minister of War, Major General Ramón Guerra, angry with the reforms of President Ignacio Andrade, proclaims the state of Guárico as an independent territory. Andrade orders General Augusto Lutowsky to crush the rebellion. Guerra flees to Colombia but later comes back as Minister of War.[10]
February 20– Discussions among members of a joint Anglo-American commission, set up by U.S. President William McKinley and Canadian Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier to resolve the Alaska boundary dispute, end abruptly after it is clear that the U.S. will not make any concessions. In response, Laurier makes clear that there will be no further concessions with the U.S. in trade.[11]
The British freighter SS Jumna is last seen passing Rathlin Island off Northern Ireland. Bound from Scotland to deliver a shipment of coal to Uruguay with minimal crew, it never arrives and is never seen again.[12]
February 25– In an accident at Grove Hill, Harrow, London, England, Edwin Sewell becomes the world's first driver of a petrol-driven vehicle to be killed; his passenger, Major James Richer, dies of injuries three days later.[13]
February 27– Japanese immigration to South America, primarily Peru, begins as the ship Sakura Maru departs from Yokohama with 790 men employed by the Morioka-shokai Sugar Company. The group arrives in Callao on April 3.[14]
March 3–Guglielmo Marconi conducts radio beacon experiments on Salisbury Plain and notices that radio waves are being reflected back to the transmitter by objects they encounter, one of the early steps in the development of radar.[15]
The world's first wireless distress signal is sent by wireless telegraphy (in Morse code) to the East Goodwin light vessel when German cargo-carrying barquentine Elbe runs aground in fog in the English Channel.[17]
March 18–Phoebe, the ninth-known moon of the planet Saturn is discovered by U.S. astronomer William Pickering from analysis of photographic plates made by a Peruvian observatory, the first discovery of a satellite photographically.
March 21– The Eden Theatre in La Ciotat, a commune in France near Marseilles, lays a claim to being the first cinema as brothers Auguste Lumière and Louis Lumière present their short film, L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat ("The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station") to 250 surprised spectators.[20]
March 24– The U.S. Ambassador to Argentina, acting as arbitrator of a boundary dispute between Argentina and Chile, awards the disputed territory to Chile.[21]
April 4– Cuba's General Assembly votes to disband the Cuban army and to dissolve to accept U.S. sovereignty.[21]
April 5– A team of sets out from Northern Rhodesia to explore the minerals of central Africa for the British company Tanganyika Concessions (TCL). Discovering that the most valuable copper deposits are in the Congo Free State, TCL makes an unsuccessful attempt to purchase full rights from King Leopold of Belgium.
April 7– The Shootout at Wilson Ranch, the last major gunfight of the Wild West era in the U.S., takes place in Tombstone, Arizona. Brothers William Halderman and Thomas Halderman, kill two lawmen. They will be hanged on November 16, 1900.
In Uganda, King Chwa II Kabalega of the Bunyoro kingdom, a leader of the fight against British colonial occupation, is taken prisoner after being shot in a battle near Hoima. Kabalega is exiled to the Seychelles and remains there until 1923.
The Greek ship Maria sinks after a collision in the Mediterranean and 45 people drown.[21]
The Battle of Santa Cruz begins in the Philippines between U.S. Army troops and nationalists of the First Philippine Republic. After a two day battle, 93 Filipino fighters and one American soldier are dead.
April 11– U.S. President William McKinley declares the Spanish-American War to be at an end as the Treaty of Paris between the U.S. and Spain goes into effect. Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Guam are ceded to the U.S. and Cuba becomes an American protectorate.[21]
April 22– In aid of the Royal Niger Company, the British Army begins an invasion of Esanland, in Nigeria, to halt the resistance of the Esan chiefs to European rule. After Benin's King Ologbosere is overcome, the British attack the kingdom at Ekpoma.
April 23– The steamship General Whitney sinks off the coast of St. Augustine, Florida. While everyone on board escapes in lifeboats, one of the boats capsizes, drowning the captain and 16 other crew.
April 28– The United Kingdom and the Russian Empire sign the Anglo-Russian Agreement formalizing their spheres of influence in China, essentially agreeing that Britain will not seek railway concessions north of the Great Wall of China, and Russia will avoid doing the same in the Yangtze River valley in southern China.[23]
April 29–Camille Jenatzy of Belgium becomes the first person to drive faster than 100 kilometers per hour, powering his electric racecar at 105.88 kilometres per hour (65.79mph) at a track at Achères.
May 4– German inventor John Matthias Stroh applies for the patent for his new invention, the "Stroh violin". A British patent is granted on March 24, 1900.
France's Court of Cassation orders a reopening of the 1894 conviction for treason of French Army Captain Alfred Dreyfus after evidence of a wrongful conviction is made public, and directs that Dreyfus be returned to France after five years of imprisonment on Devil's Island.[27]
The United States and Spain resume diplomatic relations, as U.S. President McKinley receives the Duke of Arcos as the new Minister for Spain.[27]
June 10– Under the terms of the Samoa Tripartite Convention, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States form a colonial government to administer a protectorate over the islands of Samoa. The government lasts less than nine months, and Germany annexes the western part of Samoa on March 1, 1900, leaving the U.S. to control what is now American Samoa.
Sweden's Department of Foreign Affairs hosts a conference for delegates from Germany, Denmark, Norway, the UK, the Netherlands, Russia and Sweden to make agreements on fishing in the Arctic Ocean, the Baltic Sea and the North Sea.[30]
The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan is created, to be a territory to be administered jointly by Egypt and the United Kingdom, through an Egyptian governor-general appointed with consent of the UK, although in practice it becomes administered as part of the British Empire.
A. E. J. Collins, a 13-year-old schoolboy, makes the highest-ever recorded individual score in cricket, 628 not out. His record will stand for 117 years.
June 28– In Nigeria, British authorities publicly hang King Ologbosere Irabor outside of the courthouse at Benin City, after he was convicted of ordering the massacre of a party dispatched by the British consul.[36]
June 30– 'Mile-a-Minute Murphy' earns his nickname after he becomes the first man to ride a bicycle for one-mile (1.6km) in under a minute, on Long Island. Murphy pedals his bike one mile in 57.8 seconds for an average speed of 62.28 miles per hour.[33]
July 4– The most famous skeleton of a dinosaur ever found intact, a Diplodicus, is discovered at the Sheep Creek Quarry near Medicine Bow, Wyoming. The expedition team, financed by Andrew Carnegie for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and led by William Harlow Reed, bestows the name "Dippy" on the Diplodicus carnegii. It becomes well known after Carnegie has plaster cast replicas made for donation to museums all over the world. [38]
July 5– The 1895 Trade and Navigation agreement between the Japanese and Russian empires goes into effect, with each country was given "a full freedom of ship and cargo entrance to all places, ports, and rivers on the other country's territory."[39]
July 10– British colonial authorities in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan give control of the Red Sea port of Suakin to Sudan, after having agreed that Egypt would have the right to administer commerce there.
July 24– In the first trade treaty signed by the U.S. after the passage of the Dingley Act, France and the United States sign an agreement for a 20% reduction of France's existing tariffs on 635 items, in return for the U.S. reduction between 5% and 20% of duty fees on 126 items.[41]
August 4– Japan rescinds its policy of extraterritoriality privileges to western nations that had operated consular courts to try cases against western nationals under western law.[44]
August 17– Emperor Gojong of Korea issues the 9-article International Declaration declaring that, as "the great emperor of Korea", he has "infinite military authority" as well as absolute power to enact laws.[53]
August 20– The Kiram–Bates Treaty is signed in the Philippines, with U.S. forces recognizing the autonomy of local governments in the Sulu Archipelago (within the Mindanao island group) in return for the Sultan's assistance in suppressing attacks on U.S. forces.
August 23– The first ship-to-shore test of a wireless radio transmission is made from the U.S. lightship LV 70, with the sending of Morse code signals to a receiving station near San Francisco.[55]
September 5– General Horacio Vasquez, leader of a revolution against the Dominican Republic's President Wenceslao Figuereo, arrives at the capital, Santo Domingo and forms a provisional government.
September 9– In the retrial of his court-martial, Alfred Dreyfus is again found guilty of treason and sentenced to serve the remaining 10 years of his prison sentence on Devils Island.[60]
Alfred Dreyfus is pardoned in France by the Ministry of War.[60] He will be released from prison at Rennes the following day[60] but not fully exonerated until 1906.
A special session of the Orange Free State's parliament meets at Bloemfontein to discuss war with the British Empire. At the same time, three British transports depart from Bombay with troops to the Cape Colony.[64]
The Dominion Line steamer Scotsman sinks in the Strait of Belle Isle, killing 15 women and children.
September 25– A Serbian court sentences 30 people convicted for conspiracy to attempt to assassinate the former King Milan, with the two leaders being sentenced to death.[64]
September 28– Austrian auto designer Ferdinand Porsche attracts worldwide attention when his first car, the Porsche P1, wins the Berlin Road Race 18 minutes ahead of the second-place finisher.
September 30– The 1899 Ceram earthquake kills 3,864 people on Seram Island, through a tsunami after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake. The villages of Paulohy-Samasuru and Mani, with a combined population of 2,400 people, are swept away by a 29 foot (8.8m) wave.[66]
October
October 1– Possession of the Mariana Islands is formally transferred from Spain to Germany, which purchased the archipelago (with the exception of Guam) from Spain for 837,500 German gold marks and become part of German New Guinea.[67]
October 3– The boundary dispute between Venezuela and British Guiana is resolved by a binding award from the International Tribunal of Arbitration of five neutral jurists agreed upon by the United Kingdom and the United Venezuelan States.[68]
October 8– The South African Republic telegraphs a three-day ultimatum to the U.K., demanding an arbitration of issues and a pullback of troops from the borders between the Republic and the adjoining Cape Colony, Natal and Bechuanaland by October 11.[69]
October 10– The French Sudan is divided into two smaller administrative units, Middle Niger (which later becomes the nations of Niger and Gambia) and Upper Senegal (which becomes the nations of Senegal and Mali)
Robert H. Goddard receives his inspiration to develop the first rocket capable of reaching outer space, after viewing his yard from high in a tree and imagining "how wonderful it would be to make some device which had even the possibility of ascending to Mars, and how it would look on a small scale, if sent up from the meadow at my feet."[71]
Boer troops commanded by Johannes Kock capture the railway station in Elandslaagte and cut the telegraph line between the British Army headquarters at Ladysmith and its station at Dundee.
October 21– The Battle of Elandslaagte is fought in Natal, as the British Army recaptures the railway station from Boers, then proceeds toward the fortress of Ladysmith. South African General Jan Kock is fatally wounded in the battle and dies 10 days later.[72]
Indirect fire is used for the first time in battle.[74] British gunners in the Second Boer War fire a cannon on a high trajectory toward the Boer Army, with the objective of having the shell come down on the enemy.
The foundering of the British steamer Zurich off of the coast of Norway kills 16 of the 17 crew aboard, with only the captain surviving.[72]
October 30– The Battle of Ladysmith begins as British troops at the Ladysmith fort attempt to make a preemptive strike against a larger force of South African Republic and Orange Free State troops that is gradually surrounding the fort. After sustaining 400 casualties and having 800 men captured, the British retreat back to the fort where a 118-day siege begins on November 2.
November
November 2– The siege of Ladysmith begins as armies of the two Boer republics cut telegraph lines connecting Ladysmith to the British colony, and try over the next 118 days to starve out the British force.[72] The British defenders will hold the fort without surrendering, until the siege is broken on February 28, 1900 by a force led by Redvers Buller.
The U.S. Army wins the battle to capture the Philippine Republic's capital at Angeles City, after nearly three months of fighting. It also captures the Philippine stronghold of Magalang.
Representatives of the U.S., the UK and Germany sign a treaty for arbitration of Samoa's claims for damages, with King Oscar of Sweden and Norway agreeing to become the neutral arbitrator.[72]
November 30– The first women to serve, in uniform, in the armed forces of any nation begins service as part of the Canadian Militia Expeditionary Force to Cape Town to serve in the Boer War. Georgina Fane Pope and three other women are enlisted as army nurses. [79]
Battle of Colenso: Britain's General Buller loses 1,097 officers and men in Natal, the third serious British reverse in South Africa in this "Black Week".[77]
December 18– The British War Office sends Lord Roberts to South Africa to become the commander of British forces, with Lord Kitchener to be second in command, with 100,000 additional men.[77]
July 2– General Horatio Wright, 79, American engineer, U.S. Army officer in the American Civil War, Chief of Engineers for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (b. 1820)
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