The Humdinger Years 1900-1919: A Timeline

THE HUMDINGER YEARS

1900

July 29-King Umberto I of Italy survives an assassination attempt.

August 14-In the aftermath of the Boxer Rebellion, Emperor Guangxu is installed as a figurehead by the Eight Nation Alliance.

November 6-Incumbent President William McKinley defeats Democratic nominee William Jennings Bryan in the Presidential election.

1901

March 6-Wilhelm II of Germany is killed by an assassin.

April 19-The Philippine-American War ends with the formal surrender of Emilio Aguinaldo.

September 6-Anarchist Leon Czolgosz shoots President McKinley, but misses.

December 31-Tomas Estrada Palma is appointed Governor of the Territory of Cuba by President McKinley.

1902

October 23-The Anthracite Coal Strike fails to end despite intervention by J.P. Morgan...

November 1 1902-With winter approaching, Federal troops are sent to coal mines in Pennsylvania to ensure continued operation. The strike finally ends on November 5 with intervention by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt and attorney Clarence Darrow.

1903

November 1-The first flying competion is held between the Wright Brothers, Gustave Whitehead, and Otto Lillienthal.

1904

February 8-the Eight Nation Alliance ends when Japan launches a surprise attack on Russian troops in Port Arthur, starting the Chinese War.

October 21 1904-the Chinese War widens when the Russian Baltic Fleet fires on a British convoy sending “Humanitarian relief” to Japan.

November 8-Vice President Theodore Roosevelt defeats William Randolph Hearst in the 1904 Presidential election.

1905

March 10-Russian and British troops fight Japanase troops to a stalemate in Manchuria.

March 31-France announces that it is sending troops to China under the Entende Cordial. Germany protests by threatening to form an alliance with the Sultan of Morrocco and moving German troops to the French border. Austria-Hungary responds by sending its own troops to China in support of the Japanese.

September 5-The Chinese War ends with the Treaty of Portsmouth negotiated by President Roosevelt. The treaty gives the island of Sakhalin to Russia and nominally recognizes Manchuria’s independence while granting rail and port rights to Japan.

October 30-Czar Nicholas II resigns under pressure from the newly created Duma, which names Sergei Witte as Prime Minister.

1907

June 15-The League of Nations is founded at the Second Hague Peace Conference. President Taft announces that the United States will be a member, drawing protests from some quarters, notably Senator Theodore Roosevelt.

1908

June 30-Nikoli Tesla successfully tests the Wardenclyff tower, sending a brief energy transmission to Robert Peary at the South Pole.

July 3-The Ottoman Civil War begins between the Young Turk Movement and the monarchy...

November 3-President Roosevelt is reelected to a second term.

1909

April 27-The Ottoman Civil War ends with the overthrow of the Sultan, effectively ending the Empire.

November 18-Nicaraguan War begins with the deployment of U.S. Marines against Jose Santos Zelaya.

1910

May 18-The Eath passes through the tail of Halley’s Comet. Charles Taze Russell, head of the Jehova’s Witnesses, commits suicide after proclaiming the “Rapture.”

May 31-Emma Goldman is killed in an automobile accident, sending shockwaves through the labor community.

July 30-William Howard Taft is confirmed to the Supreme Court.

September 2-Korean Uprising begins against Japanese rule.

December 1-Nicaraguan War ends with the surrender and execution of former dictator Zelaya by American-backed rebels.

1911

July 15-Britain rejects German terms in the Agadir Crisis.

July 21-Britain formally declares war on Germany, followed by France. Germany declares war on France and Britain, joined by Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire.

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1912

January 31-Germany uses poison gas against Russian troops for the first time.

April 15-The RMS Titanic is sunk by a German U-boat in the North Atlantic.

October 8-Balkan Campaign begins between the Allied Ballkan League and the Ottoman Empire.

November 5-James Beaucamp Clark wins the 1912 Presidential election.

1913

July 1-November 18-Battle of the Somne.

1914

January 10-following Pancho Villa’s raid on Ojinaga, Ambrose Bierce returns to the United States from Mexico.

April 9-President Clark calls for Congress to authorize a declaration of war against Mexico, bringing America into the First World War.

April 21-U.S. troops are sent to Veracruz, Mexico. Germany officially announces its support of president Huerta.

June 23-Battle of Zecatecas. First major engagement of U.S. troops against Pancho Villa.

1915

June 16-Battle of El Paso.

August 27-Battle of Nogales.

1916

January 16-Mexican President Victoriano Huerta dies.

March 9- Battle of Columbus, New Mexico.

June 21-Battle of Carrizal results in an American victory, although the primary target, Pancho Villa, evades capture.

November 7-President James “Champ” Clark is defeated by Republican challenger and Supreme Court Chief Justice William Howard Taft.

November 11-Armistice Day: armistice signed between Germany and the Allies in France. Mexico, which is under American occupation, does not participate.

1917

January 18-Paris Peace Conference begins.

March 8-Russian Civil War begins with the February Uprising.

August 1-The so-called Corn Strike by Midwestern farmers protesting against postwar inflation and falling corn prices begins in Oklahoma and spreads to other corn-producing states such as Ohio and Kasas.

November 1-A Coal Strike by the United Mine Workers under John L. Lewis begins and lasts until December 10.

December 26-President Taft responds to a nationwide railway strike by placing most U.S. railroads under the control of the United States Railroad Administration.

1918

January 21-Paris Peace Conference ends with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, officially ending World War One.

August 30-Vladmir Lenin is shot and killed by Fanny Kaplan. Joseph Stalin accuses Trotsky and Kerensky of being involved in the plot and has both charged as collaborators; Kerensky manages to escape into exile but Trotsky is arrested and later executed.

1919

January 16-President Taft vetoes the 18th Amendment, delaying the enforcement of prohibition in the United States.

March 1-The Korean Revolution against Japanese colonial rule begins...

April 11-The Korean Revolution ends with Japan agreeing to recognize Korean independence; the terms of the independence are negotiated with the United States and Great Britain on behalf of the Koreans.

June 15-Pancho Villa is reported killed by American occupation troops during a raid on Ciudad Juaraz, Mexico.

November 19-The United States Senate narrowly ratifies the Treaty of Paris, angering many Irish Catholics and German-Americans, who stage protests in many cities.