The year in history
1900
Someone born in 1900 turns 126 in 2026
1900 (MCM) was a century common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar, the 1900th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 900th year of the 2nd millennium, the 100th and last year of the 19th century, and the 1st year of the 1900s decade. As of the start of 1900, the Gregorian calendar was 12 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923. As of March 1 (O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day farther behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 (O.S. February 15), 2100.
What happened in 1900
U.S. Secretary of State John Hay announces the Open Door Policy to promote American trade with China.
Boxer Rebellion: Foreign diplomats in Peking, Qing dynasty China, demand that the Boxer rebels (who oppose foreign interests in the country) be disciplined.
The British-sponsored Southern Cross Expedition led by Carsten Borchgrevink achieves a new Farthest South of 78° 50'S, making the first landing at the Great Ice Barrier.
A coal mine explosion in West Virginia, United States, kills 50 miners.
Battle of Kousséri: French forces secure their domination of Chad. Warlord Rabih az-Zubayr is defeated and killed.
Boxer Rebellion: Boxers destroy three villages near Peking and kill 60 Chinese Christians.
N'Djamena, the capital city of Chad, is founded as Fort-Lamy by French commander Émile Gentil.
Boxer Rebellion: Boxers gather about 20,000 people near Peking, and kill hundreds of European citizens, including the German ambassador.
The new German cruise liner SS Deutschland breaks the record for the Blue Riband on her maiden transatlantic voyage with an average speed of 22.4 knots (41.5 km/h).
Admiral Fredrik von Otter becomes Prime Minister of Sweden.
The United Kingdom annexes the Transvaal.
The German training frigate Gneisenau, with 450 naval cadets on board, sinks in a storm during exercises off of the Spanish coast at Málaga, drowning 136.
Famous people born in 1900
Xavier Cugat
Spanish-born Cuban bandleader (d. 1990)
January 1 →
Maria of Yugoslavia
queen consort (d. 1961)
January 6 →
Karl Ristenpart
German conductor (d. 1967)
January 26 →
Ellen Broe
Danish nurse, pioneer in nursing education (d. 1994)
February 11 →
Luis Buñuel
Spanish film director (d. 1983)
February 22 →
Fritz London
German physicist (d. 1954)
March 7 →
Frédéric Joliot-Curie
French physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (d. 1958)
March 19 →
Heinrich Besseler
German musicologist (d. 1969)
April 2 →
Hans Fritzsche
German Nazi official (d. 1953)
April 21 →
A. W. Lawrence
British archaeologist (d. 1991)
May 2 →
Cai Chang
Chinese politician, women's rights activist (d. 1990)
May 14 →
Frederick Terman
American electrical engineer, professor (d. 1982)
June 7 →
Louis Mountbatten
1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, English naval officer and last Viceroy of India (assassinated) (d. 1979)
June 25 →
Frederica Sagor Maas
American playwright, essayist and author (d. 2012)
July 6 →
Teresa Noce
Italian labor leader, activist and journalist (d. 1980)
July 29 →
Alexander Mosolov
Russian composer (d. 1973)
August 11 →
Gilbert Ryle
British philosopher (d. 1976)
August 19 →
J. Willard Marriott
American entrepreneur, founder of Marriott International (d. 1985)
September 17 →
Heinrich Himmler
German Nazi official, SS head (d. 1945)
October 7 →
Ismail al-Azhari
2nd Prime Minister of Sudan, 3rd President of Sudan (d. 1969)
October 20 →
Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu
Romanian communist activist, sociologist (d. 1954)
November 4 →
Nikolai Pogodin
Soviet playwright (d. 1962)
November 16 →
Richard Kuhn
Austrian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1967)
December 3 →
Alan Bush
British composer, pianist and conductor (d. 1995)
December 22 →