This period of time was a critical prelude to the events of the 1920s in the United States. Alaska is placed under military rule and Hawaii becomes an official U.S. territory. Transportation by air has its roots with the experiments of the Wright Brothers. The United States Supreme Court makes some decisions on monopolies. There are more origins of labor unions. Car ownership begins. We get crayons and Coca Cola takes the cocaine out of its product. Subways become a thing. California experiences serious earthquakes. The number of people coming into the U.S. as immigrants sets new records. Major companies are formed. Fire causes many deaths in many locales. We get oreo cookies the same month we get the Girl Scouts. 30 years before the tragic attack at Pearl Harbor, we get a very nice gift of trees from a mayor of Tokyo, Japan – How did a friend become an enemy in that time? We get to pay more taxes with the introduction of the Federal Income tax. We reject positive overtures from Germany, Germany gets us mad, and we get involved in World War I. We try to end drinking of alcohol with Prohibition and give women the right to vote. It was a period of change.
1900: President is William McKinley
1/3: U.S. Census estimates population is 70 million
1/8: Alaska placed under military rule by President McKinley
1/29: baseball’s American League is founded by 8 teams
2/5: Britain and U.S. sign treaty for building of shipping canal through Nicaragua
3/6: West Virginia coal mine explosion kills 50 miners
3/15: U.S. currency on gold standard via ratification of Gold Standard Act
4/30: Hawaii becomes an official U.S. territory
5/1: explosion kills at least 200 in Scofield, Utah Mine disaster
6/30: Hoboken Docks Fire kills 326 people
9/8: Galveston Texas Hurricane kills 6,000 to 12,000 people
10/3: Wright Brothers begin first manned glider experimental flights at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina
11/3: first auto show in U.S. opens at New York City’s Madison Square Garden
11/6: William McKinley reelected defeating William Jennings Bryan
More about 1900 from wikipedia (printable pdf)
1901: President is William McKinley
9/14: Due to death of McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt becomes President.
1/5: Typhoid fever breaks out in a Seattle jail
1/10: Oil discovered at Spindletop in Beaumont, Texas
2/20: Hawaii Territory Legislature convenes for the first time
2/25: J.P. Morgan incorporates U.S. Steel
3/2: U.S. Congress passes Platt Amendment which limits the autonomy of Cuba as a condition for the withdrawal of American troops.
4/25: New York State becomes first to require automobile license plates
5/17: U.S. stock market crashes for the first time
5/27: Edison Storage Battery Company founded in New Jersey
6/12: Cuba becomes a U.S. protectorate
6/22 to 7/31: Worst heat wave in U.S. history is estimated to have killed over 9,500 people
9/2: “Speak softly and carry a big stick” uttered by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt at the Minnesota State Fair
9/6: President McKinley shot at Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York and dies 8 days later
9/14: Vice President Theodore Roosevelt becomes the 26th President
10/16: American South reacts angrily to the visit of African American leader Booker T. Washington to the White House who meets with President Theodore Roosevelt
More about 1901 from wikipedia (printable pdf)
1902: President is Theodore Roosevelt
2/9: Fire destroys 26 city blocks of Jersey City, New Jersey
2/18: U.S. President Roosevelt prosecutes the Northern Securities Company for violation of the Sherman Act
2/27: author John Steinbeck born
3/10: Thomas Edison’s monopoly on 35 mm movie film technology is ended by Circuit Court decision
3/24: Thomas E. Dewey born. He will be the Republican presidential nominee in 1948
5/20: Cuba becomes independent from the United States
6/24: Target Dept. store chain is founded
7/10: Rolling Mine Disaster kill 112 miners in Johnstown, PA
7/17: Air conditioning developed by Willis Carrier in New York City
8/22: Theodore Roosevelt becomes first American President to ride in an automobile
9/19: 115 people killed during a stampede at Shiloh Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama
More about 1902 from wikipedia (printable pdf)
1903: President is Theodore Roosevelt
2/11: Oxnard Strike of 1903 first time in U.S. history that labor union is formed from members of different races
2/23: Cuba leases Guantanamo Bay to the United States in perpetuity.
3/14: Hay-Herran Treaty granting U.S. right to build Panama Canal is ratified by United States Senate
5/3: birth of future entertainer Bing Crosby
6/14: flash flood nearly destroys town of Heppner Oregon – caused by a cloudburst
7/23: first owner of Ford Model A is Dr. Ernst Pfenning of Chicago
11/4: Panama proclaims itself independent from Columbia after encouragement of U.S.
11/13: U.S. recognizes independence of Panama
11/18: Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty signed by U.S. and Panama giving U.S. exclusive rights over Panama Canal Zone
12/17: Orville Wright flies an aircraft with a petrol engine at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina
12/30: Tragic fire kills 600 at Iroquois Theater in Chicago
Interesting sometime this year:
- First box of Crayola crayons is made and sold for 5 cents containing the 8 colors of brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, and black
- Coca-Cola removes cocaine as a key ingredient from their formula. Up to this time it had contained about nine milligrams of cocaine per glass.
More about 1903 from wikipedia (printable pdf)
1904: President is Theodore Roosevelt
1/12: Henry Ford sets automobile land speed record of over 91 miles per hour
2/7: 1,500 buildings in 30 hours destroyed in fire in Baltimore Maryland
2/23: U.S. gets control of the Panama Canal Zone for $10 million
3/1: future bandleader Glenn Miller is born
4/22: Physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer is born
6/15: Fire aboard steamboat General Slocum kills 1,021 in New York City’s East River
7/1: Third modern Olympic games opens in St. Louis, Missouri as part of World’s Fair
7/23: Ice cream cone is invented in St. Louis Missouri
10/27: First underground line of the New York City subway opens
11/8: Theodore Roosevelt wins reelection against Alton B. Parker
12/31: first New Year’s celebration is held in Times Square
More about 1904 from wikipedia (printable pdf)
1905: President is Theodore Roosevelt
3/20: Boiler explosion kills 58 at Grover Shoe in Brockton, MA
4/6 to 7/19: 21 people are killed and 416 injured in the violence of Chicago Teamsters’ strike
5/10: 97 killed by tornado destroying much of Snyder, Oklahoma
5/15: Las Vegas, Nevada founded
9/5: U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt mediates a treaty between Russia and Japan. Japan had won the Russo-Japanese War and Russia gives up the island of Sakhalin and port and rail rights in Manchuria to Japan
9/11: Ninth Avenue Elevated train derails in Manhattan, killing 19 and seriously injuring 48
10/11: Fred Trump, father of future President Donald Trump is born
12/24: Howard Hughes is born
More about 1905 from wikipedia (printable pdf)
1906: President is Theodore Roosevelt
1/8: Landslide in Haverstraw, New York kills 21
4/18: San Francisco Earthquake (estimated magnitude 7.8) destroys much of San Francisco, CA with 3,000 deaths, up to 300 thousand people displaced and 350 million in damages
6/30: Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act is passed by U.S. Congress
8/23: Cuban Republic President Tomas Estrada requests U.S. help to control a rebellion
9/22: Race riots in Atlanta, Georgia cause 27 deaths
11/9: first trip outside U.S. for a President is Roosevelt’s to inspect construction progress of Panama Canal in Panama
12/10: U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt is awarded Nobel Peace Prize for role in negotiating peace in the Russo-Japanese War the year before.
More about 1906 from wikipedia (printable pdf)
1907: President is Theodore Roosevelt
1/1: Daniel J. Robin begins first of 45 yeas at president of the Teamsters Union
4/7: Hersheypark opens in Hershey, Pennsylvania
4/17: busiest day of immigration at Ellis Island. Total of 1.1 million immigrants arrive in the year 1907
8/28: UPS founded in Seattle, Washington
10/24: Bank panic of 1907 ends and ultimately leads to Federal Reserve System
11/16: Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory become Oklahoma, admitted as 46th U.S. state
12/6: Coal mine explosion kills 362 workers in Monongah, West Virginia
12/19: Coal mine explosion kills 239 in Jacobs Creek, PA
12/31: first electric ball dropsin Time Square, New York City
More about 1907 from wikipedia (printable pdf)
1908: President is Theodore Roosevelt
1/13: Fire kills 170 at Rhoads Opera House in Boyertown, PA. Said to be catalyst for stricter fire safety laws nationwide
2/18: Japanese immigration to U.S. restricted under Gentlemen’s Agreement of 1907
3/4: Fire kills 174 at Collinwood School near Cleveland, Ohio
4/8: Harvard Business School established at Harvard
4/24: 143 killed and 770 injured from tornado striking towns in Louisiana and Mississippi
4/25: Journalist Edward R. Murrow is born
5/10: Mother’s Day observed for first time at Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia
7/26: U.S. Attorney General Charles Joseph Bonaparte issues order to staff Office of the Chief Examiner (later called the F.B.I.)
8/27: future President Lyndon B. Johnson is born
9/16: Company which eventually becomes General Motors is founded by William C. Durant
9/17: first person Thomas Selfridge dies in airplane crash while pilot Orville Wright recovers after severe injuries
9/27: Henry Ford produces first Model T car
10/1: launch price of Ford Model T set at $850
10/15: Metz Township, Michigan fire kills 37 people and leaves 700 people homeless
11/3: William Howard Taft defeats William Jennings Bryan to be elected President
11/24: first credit union in U.S. begins operation in Manchester, NH
More about 1908 from wikipedia (printable pdf)
1909: Theodore Roosevelt is President
3/4: William Howard Taft becomes President
1/28: U.S. troops leave Cuba, have been there since Spanish-American War
2/12: NAACP is founded on 100th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth
6/22: Construction begins on Cape Cod Canal
8/2: first military plane, the Wright Military flyer bought from the Wright Brothers
9/27: 5.1 earthquake shakes Western Indiana causing light damage
11/11: U.S. Navy founds navy base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
11/18: Execution of 500 revolutionaries including 2 Americans by order of Nicaraguan dictator Jose Santos Zelaya results in U.S. sending two United States Navy ships
1910: President is William Howard Taft
3/19: Republicans reduce the powers of the Speaker of the House of Representatives to influence committee membership
6/19: first unofficial Father’s Day is observed
8/20 to 8/21: Fire burns about 3 million acres in northeast Washington, northern Idaho, and western Montana killing 86 people
10/1: 21 are killed when bomb explodes at Los Angeles Times
More about 1910 from wikipedia (printable pdf)
1911: William Howard Taft is President
2/6: Ronald Reagan born
3/25: Fire kills 146 at Triangle Shirtwaist Factory
4/30: downtown Bangor, Maine destroyed in part by fire
5/15: U.S. Supreme Court dissolves Standard Oil
6/16: IBM incorporated
8/8: law sets number of reps in U.S. House of Reps at 435
9/30: Austin, PA wiped out when Austin Dam breaks
11/3: Chevrolet enters automobile market
11/11: Great Blue Norther of 11/11/11 – record cold snap hits U.S. Midwest
More about 1911 from wikipedia (printable pdf)
1912: William Howard Taft is President
1/6: New Mexico admitted as 47th state
2/14: Arizona is admitted as 48th state
3/6: Oreo cookies introduced
3/12: Girl Scouts founded
3/27: Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo, Japan gives 3,000 cherry blossom trees to be planted in Washington, D.C. to symbolize friendship between U.S. and Japan
4/14 – 4/15: Sinking of RMS Titanic with loss of over 1500 lives
5/11: Alaska is constituted as a territory of U.S.
7/19: Meteorite with mass of about 190 kg explodes over Holbrook, Arizona with debris raining down on the town.
8/4: U.S. Marines land in Nicaragua to support conservative government
10/16: Boston Red Sox will World Series against New York Giants
11/5: Woodrow Wilson defeats William Howard Taft in Presidential election
More about 1912 from wikipedia (printable pdf)
1913: President is William Howard Taft
3/4: Woodrow Wilson becomes President
1/9: Richard Nixon born
2/3: 16th Amendment ratified, authorizing Federal government to impose and collect income taxes
2/4: Rosa Parks born
3/25: 360 killed and 20,000 homes destroyed in Great Dayton Flood
4/8: 17th Amendment ratified, dictating direction election of U.S. Senators
7/14: Gerald Ford born
10/3: United States Revenue Act of 1913 re-imposes federal income tax and lowers basic tariff rates from 40% to 25%
11/7 to 11/11: Great Lakes Storm kills more than 250
12/23: Federal Reserve is created
More about 1913 from wikipedia (printable pdf)
1914: President is Woodrow Wilson
1/5: Ford Motor Company announces 8 hour workday and minimum wage of $5 for a day’s labor
4/21: United States occupies Veracruz,, Mexico. Mexico ends diplomatic relations with U.S. on 4/22
5 /14: Woodrow Wilson signs Mother’s Day proclamation
8/4: German troops invade neutral Belgium and Britain declares war on Germany, U.S. declares neutrality
9/26: Federal Trade Commission established
More about 1914 from wikipedia (printable pdf)
1915: President is Woodrow Wilson
3/3: NACA, which later becomes NASA is founded
5/7: RMS Lusitania is sunk on passage from New York to Britain by a German U-boat, killing 1198
5/22: Lassen Peak erupts in Northern California
7/24: 844 killed as steamer capsizes in central Chicago
7/28: U.S. occupation of Haiti begins (ends in 1934)
More about 1915 from wikipedia (printable pdf)
1916: President is Woodrow Wilson
1/24: U.S. Supreme Court upholds national income tax
5/5: U.S. occupies Dominican Republic
7/22: bomb explodes on Market Street, San Francisco, CA killing 10 and injuring 40
7/30: German agents cause Black Tom explosion in Jersey City, New Jersey, destroying ammunition depot and killing seven people
8/25: National Park Service created
8/29: United States passes Philiplpine Autonomy Act
11/7: Woodrow Wilson defeats Charles E. Hughes in U.S. Presidential election
11/21: U.S. rejects German offer of 10,000 pounds per American lost in the sinking of RMS Lusitania
More about 1916 from wikipedia (printable pdf)
1917: President is Woodrow Wilson
1/10: Silent Sentinels protest in favor of women’s suffrage in front of the White House
1/11: German saboteurs set of Kingsland Explosion at Kingsland, New Jersey one of the events leading to U.S. involvement in World War I
1/22: President Woodrow Wilson calls for “peace without victory” in Europe.
1/25: U.S. buys Danish West Indies for $30 million
1/30: Pershing’s troops in Mexico begin withdrawing back to the United States, reaching Columbus New Mexico by February 5
2/3: United States breaks off diplomatic relations with Germany
2/5: Congress and Senate override President Wilson’s veto and reinstate the Immigration Act of 1917 which restricts more immigration to U.S. and bans most people from Asia
2/24: U.S. ambassador to UK is shown intercepted Zimmermann Telegram in which Germany offers to give the American Southwest back to Mexico if Mexico declares war on the United States
3/2: Jones Act grants Puerto Rican United States citizenship
3/8: U.S. Senate adopts cloture rule to limit filibusters.
3/31: U.S. takes possession of of Danish West Indies for $25 from Denmark and renames them US Virgin Islands
4/2: President Wilson asks U.S. Congress for a declaration of war on Germany
5/26: 101 killed when tornado strikes Mattoon, Illinois
5/29: John F. Kennedy born
6/5: Conscription begins in United States
6/15: U.S. enacts Espionage Act
11/7: Women win the right to vote in New York state
11/24: 9 members of Milwaukee Police Department are killed by a bomb
12/26: President Wilson uses Federal Possession and Control Act to place most U.S. railroads under United States Railroad Administration with goal of transporting troops and materials more efficiently for war effort
More about 1917 from wikipedia (printable pdf)
1918: President is Woodrow Wilson
3/19: U.S. Congress establishes time zones and approves daylight savings time
4/21: San Jacinto earthquake shakes southern California with a 6.7
5/2: General Motors acquires Chevrolet Motor Company
5/16: Sedition Act of 1918 approved by U.S. Congress
5/20: small town of Codell, Kansas hit third year in a row by tornado (was hit on same date in 1916 and 1917)
7/9: train wreck kills 101 in Nashville, Tennessee
10/12: 453 killed in fires in and around Cloquet, Minnesota
11/7: Billy Graham is born
11/11: World War I ends
12/4: President Woodrow Wilson sails for Paris Peace Conference
More about 1918 from wikipedia (printable pdf)
1919: President is Woodrow Wilson
1/16: 18th Amendment authorizing Prohibition goes into effect
2/25: Oregon places a 1 cent per gallon tax on gasoline, becoming the first U.S. state to do so
6/4: United States Congress approves 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote if ratified by the states
9/10 to 9/15: 600 killed in Florida Keys Hurriane in Gulf of Mexico, Florida, and Texas
10/2: President Woodrow Wilson suffers massive stroke and is partially paralyzed
10/28: Prohibition begins when Volstead Act is passed over President Wilson’s veto?
11/19: Treaty of Versailles fails ratification vote in U.S. Senate