Year by year · 20th century

1900

1900 in world history: 26 events, 12 births, 13 deaths, 1 work, 7 states founded and 3 that came to an end. 842 recorded states existed that year.

Events

  1. 2 January

    John Hay promotes the Open Door Policy towards China

    US Secretary of State John Hay pressed the great powers to grant equal trading rights in China and respect its territorial integrity. The Open Door became a cornerstone of American policy in East Asia.

  2. 29 January

    The American League of baseball is organised

    Ban Johnson reorganised a minor league as the American League, with eight teams. It declared itself a major league in 1901 and met the National League in the first World Series in 1903.

  3. 5 February

    Britain and the United States sign the first Hay-Pauncefote Treaty

    The agreement gave the United States the right to build a canal across Central America. Rejected by the Senate, it was renegotiated in 1901, opening the way for the Panama Canal.

    United States

  4. 27 February

    Labour Representation Committee founded in London

    Trade unionists and socialist societies formed a committee to elect working-class MPs. Renamed the Labour Party in 1906, it formed governments from 1924 and created the NHS in 1948.

    London

  5. 14 March

    Gold Standard Act puts the dollar on gold

    President McKinley signed the act fixing the dollar's value in gold and ending the long political fight over free silver. The US left the gold standard domestically in 1933.

  6. 2 July

    First Zeppelin airship flies over Lake Constance

    Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin's LZ 1 made its maiden flight from a floating hangar on Lake Constance. It was the first flight of a rigid airship, beginning an era that ended with the Hindenburg disaster of 1937.

  7. 29 July

    King Umberto I of Italy is assassinated at Monza

    The anarchist Gaetano Bresci shot Umberto I to avenge the killing of protesters in Milan in 1898. It was one of a wave of anarchist assassinations that also claimed US President McKinley in 1901.

    Milan

  8. 14 August

    International forces relieve the besieged legations in Beijing

    Troops of the Eight-Nation Alliance entered Beijing and lifted the 55-day siege of the foreign legations by Boxers and Qing troops. China was forced to pay a crushing indemnity.

    Beijing

  9. 14 December

    Max Planck presents the quantum hypothesis

    Before the German Physical Society in Berlin, Max Planck proposed that energy is emitted in discrete packets, or quanta. The idea, introduced to solve a problem in heat radiation, became the basis of quantum physics.

  10. Treaty

    Buganda Agreement

    The Buganda Agreement was signed on 10 March 1900 between Britain, represented by Sir Harry Johnston, and the regents of the young kabaka Daudi Chwa of Buganda, led by the chief minister Apolo Kagwa.

  11. Battle

    Battle of Kousséri

    The Battle of Kousséri was fought on 22 April 1900 near Kousséri, in present-day northern Cameroon, between French forces under Commandant Amédée-François Lamy and the army of the warlord Rabih az-Zubayr, ruler of Bornu.

  12. Event

    Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900

    The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 is the British act, given royal assent on 9 July 1900, that united the six Australian colonies as the Commonwealth of Australia from 1 January 1901.

  13. Revolt · War

    War of the Golden Stool

    The War of the Golden Stool was an Ashanti uprising against British rule in 1900, also known as the Yaa Asantewaa War.

  14. Battle

    Battle of Paardeberg

    The Battle of Paardeberg was fought from 18 to 27 February 1900 on the Modder River, in the Second Boer War.

  15. Campaign

    French conquest of Bornu

    The French conquest of Bornu in 1900 followed the defeat and death of the warlord Rabih az-Zubayr, who had seized Bornu in 1893.

  16. Event

    Foraker Act

    The Foraker Act was a United States law of April 1900 that set up civil government in Puerto Rico after the Spanish–American War.

  17. Event

    Toro Agreement

    The Toro Agreement of 1900 was concluded between the British commissioner Sir Harry Johnston and the king and chiefs of Toro.

  18. Battle

    Battle of Sanna's Post

    The Battle of Sanna's Post was fought on 31 March 1900 at the waterworks east of Bloemfontein, in the Second Boer War.

ProfileState750 states with a known seat in 1900Open the atlas at 1900 →

In the profiles

  • Ashanti EmpireYaa Asantewaa leads the War of the Golden Stool against British rule
  • Kanem-Bornu EmpireFrench forces kill Rabih at Kousseri; Britain, France and Germany partition the territory
  • Sokoto CaliphateFrederick Lugard proclaims the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria
  • Kingdom of BugandaThe Buganda Agreement makes the kingdom a privileged part of the Uganda Protectorate
  • Orange Free StateBloemfontein falls to Lord Roberts and Britain annexes the state as the Orange River Colony
  • Kingdom of TongaA Treaty of Friendship makes Tonga a British protected state

Wars and longer events

Born in 1900 12

Died in 1900 13

Works 1

States founded 7

States that came to an end 3

All years → The 20th century →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). 1900. In The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1900
MLA
“1900.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1900. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “1900.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1900.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘1900’, The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1900 (Accessed: ).