1901

## Events

- On January 1, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia, and Tasmania form the Commonwealth of Australia. John Hope, 1st Marquess of Linlithgow becomes the first Governor-General and Edmund Barton becomes the 1st Prime Minister of Australia. The first Australian parliament meets in Melbourne on May 9.
- In the United Kingdom, on January 22, Queen Victoria dies at the age of 81, having reigned for 63 years, 7 months and 2 days, longer than any British monarch before her. In the United Kingdom and the British Empire, her death marks the end of the Victorian era. Her 59-year-old son succeeds her as King Edward VII of the United Kingdom.
- In China, the Boxer Rebellion is crushed and China is forced to accept Peace terms decided by Western Powers, Japan and Russia.
- 25th President of the United States, William McKinley, is shot by Leon Czolgosz at the Pan-American exposition in Buffalo, New York and dies 8 days later. Theodore Roosevelt succeeds him as president.
- The first Nobel Prizes are given in Stockholm on December 10, the 5th anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death. Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen wins the Prize in Physics for the discovery of X-rays, and the Nobel Peace Prize is shared between Frederic Passy and Jean-Henri Dunant, founder of the International Red Cross.

### January - June

- January 1  First day of the 20th century.
- January 1  Australia becomes a country, as New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania form the Commonwealth of Australia.
- January 1  Nigeria becomes a British Protectorate.
- January 5  A typhoid outbreak occurs in a Seattle jail.
- January 10  China accepts Peace terms by Western Powers, Japan and Russia, as the Boxer Rebellion is crushed.
- January 22  Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom dies on the Isle of Wight at the age of 81. Her son, Edward VII of the United Kingdom, succeeds her.
- January 28  Baseball's American League declares itself a Major League.
- February 2  The funeral of Queen Victoria takes place.
- February 6  The first public telephones are installed at railway stations in Paris.
- February 14  Edward VII of the United Kingdom opens his first parliament.
- February 22  A Pacific Mail Steamer sinks in the Golden Gate Harbor, killing 128 people.
- February 23  The United Kingdom and Germany agree on the border between German East Africa (present-day Tanzania) and the British colony of Nyasaland (present-day Malawi).
- March 4  William McKinley starts his second term as President of the United States. Theodore Roosevelt becomes Vice President of the United States.
- March 6  Wilhelm II of Germany survives an assassination attempt in Bremen.
- March 17  The showing of 71 Vincent van Gogh paintings in Paris creates a sensation.
- March 31  The United Kingdom's 1901 census is held.
- April 25  The State of New York becomes the first to require automobile license plates.
- April 29  Hirohito is born. He later becomes the longest-reigning Japanese Emperor, dying in 1989.
- May 3  Jacksonville, Florida is destroyed by fire, as 10,000 people are made homeless.
- May 9  Australia opens its first Parliament in Melbourne.
- May 17  The US Stock Market crashes.
- May 24  78 miners die in the Caerphilly pit disaster in South Wales.
- May 25  River Plate football club, in Buenos Aires, is founded.
- June 2  Katsura Taro becomes Prime Minister of Japan.
- June 12  Cuba becomes a US protectorate.

### July - December

- July 4  The Covered Bridge at Hartland, New Brunswick, Canada, is opened. At 390 metres long, it is the longest covered bridge in the world.
- July 4  William Taft becomes Governor-General of the Philippines.
- August 6  Robert Falcon Scott, on board the _RRS Discovery_, sets sail on his expedition to the Ross Sea in Antarctica.
- August 11  Under Erich von Drygalski, Germany's first Antarctic expedition begins.
- August 30  Hubert Cecil Booth patents an electric vacuum cleaner.
- September 6  Assassination of William McKinley: US President William McKinley is shot by Leon Czolgosz at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.
- September 7  The Boxer Rebellion officially ends in China.
- September 14  William McKinley, 8 days after being shot, dies of his injuries. Theodore Roosevelt becomes the 26th President of the United States.
- October 2  The first Royal Navy submarine is launched.
- October 24  Michigan school teacher Annie Taylor goes down Niagara Falls in a barrel, and survives.
- October 29  Leon Czolgosz is executed at Auburn State Prison, New York, for the assassination of William McKinley.
- November 9  Future King George V of the United Kingdom is made Prince of Wales.
- November 25  Auguste Deter is first examined by Alois Alzheimer in Germany. She becomes the first-known sufferer of what is later called Alzheimer's disease.
- December 10  The first Nobel Prizes are given in Stockholm on the 5th anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death.
- December 12  Guglielmo Marconi receives the first Trans-Atlantic radio signal, sent from Poldhu, England to Newfoundland, Canada.
- December 13  Modern 32-bit computers will incorrectly set their clocks to this time on January 19, 2038
- December 20  The final spike is driven into the Mombasa-Victoria-Uganda railway in what is now Kisumu, Kenya.

### Other Events

- Boer War (1899 - 1902)
- Norway allows women to vote in local elections.
- Pablo Picasso creates the first paintings of his Blue Period.
- Rudyard Kipling's ''Kim (book) published.

### January

- January 3  Ngo Dinh Diem, 1st President of South Vietnam (d. 1963)
- January 9  Chic Young, American cartoonist (d. 1973)
- January 9  Ishman Bracey, American blues singer and guitarist (d. 1970)
- January 10  Toshio Irie, Japanese politician and bureaucrat (d. 1972)
- January 14  Bebe Daniels, American actress (d. 1971)
- January 14  Alfred Tarski, Polish logician and mathematician (d. 1983)
- January 16  Frank Zamboni, American inventor (d. 1988)
- January 16  Fulgencio Batista, Cuban leader (d. 1973)
- January 21  Ricardo Zamora, Spanish footballer (d. 1979)
- January 24  A. M. Cassandre, Ukrainian-born artist, designer and teacher (d. 1968)
- January 29  Arcady Aris, Russian Chuvash writer and literary critic (d. 1941)
- January 30  Rudolf Caracciola, German racing driver (d. 1959)

### February

- February 1  Clark Gable, American actor (d. 1960)
- February 1  Frank Buckles, last-surviving American World War I veteran (d. 2011)
- February 10  Stella Adler, American actress (d. 1992)
- February 17  Philotheus Boehner, German monk and medieval scholar (d. 1955)
- February 19  Florence Green, British supercentenarian and last-surviving World War I service veteran (d. 2012)
- February 20  Mohamed Naguib, President of Egypt (d. 1984)
- February 22  Ken G. Hall, Australian movie director (d. 1994)
- February 25  Zeppo Marx, American comedian (d. 1979)
- February 28  Linus Pauling, American chemist (d. 1994)

### March

- March 3  Claude Choules, British-Australian supercentenarian and last-surviving World War I combat veteran (d. 2011)
- March 3  Gino Cervi, Italian movie actor (d. 1974)
- March 7  Beatrice Roberts, American actress (d. 1970)
- March 18  Helmut Fink, German World War I veteran (d. 2009)
- March 18  Manly Hall, Canadian writer (d. 1990)
- March 21  Karl Arnold, German politician (d. 1958)
- March 24  Ub Iwerks, American cartoonist (d. 1971)
- March 25  Ed Begley, American actor (d. 1970)
- March 27  Carl Barks, American cartoonist (d. 2000)
- March 27  Erich Ollenhauer, German politician (d. 1963)
- March 27  Eisaku Satō, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1975)
- March 27  Kenneth Slessor, Australian poet (d. 1971)
- March 28  Martha of Sweden, mother of King Harald V of Norway (d. 1954)

### April

- April 1  Francisco Ascaso, Spanish anarcho-syndicalist (d. 1936)
- April 13  Jacques Lacan, French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist (d. 1981)
- April 18  Elene Akhvlediani, Georgian painter (d. 1975)
- April 18  Al Lewis, American songwriter (d. 1967)
- April 23  E.B. Ford, British ecological geneticist (d. 1988)
- April 29  Hirohito, Emperor of Japan (d. 1989)
- April 30  Simon Kuznets, Ukrainian-born economist (d. 1985)

### May

- May 5  Blind Willie McTell, American musician (d. 1959)
- May 7  Gary Cooper, American actor (d. 1961)
- May 9  Fuzzy Knight, American actor (d. 1976)
- May 17  Werner Egk, German composer (d. 1983)
- May 18  Vincent du Vigneaud, American chemist (d. 1978)
- May 20  Max Euwe, Dutch chess player (d. 1981)
- May 21  Manfred Aschner, German-born Israeli microbiologist and entomologist (d. 1989)
- May 21  Sam Jaffe, American movie producer (d. 2000)
- May 21  Suzanne Lilar, Belgian writer (d. 1992)
- May 24  Jose Nasazzi, Uruguayan footballer (d. 1968)

### June

- June 6  Sukarno, 1st President of Indonesia (d. 1970)
- June 8  Salustiano Sánchez, The world's oldest living man (d. 2013)
- June 10  Frederick Loewe, German-born composer (d. 1988)
- June 13  Tage Erlander, Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 1985)
- June 16  Henri Lefebvre, French sociologist and philosopher (d. 1991)
- June 18  Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia (d. 1918)
- June 19  Piero Gobetti, Italian publicist and political activist (d. 1926)
- June 24  Harry Partch, American composer (d. 1974)

### July

- July 9  Barbara Cartland, British novelist (d. 2000)
- July 28  Rudy Vallee, American singer, actor, bandleader and entertainer (d. 1986)

### August

- August 4  Louis Armstrong, American jazz musician (d. 1971)
- August 5  Thomas Ryan, American naval officer (d. 1970)
- August 8  Ernest Lawrence, American physicist (d. 1958)
- August 10  Franco Dino Rasetti, Italian scientist (d. 2001)
- August 18  Jean Guitton, French writer and philosopher (d. 1999)
- August 20  Salvatore Quasimodo, Italian writer (d. 1968)
- August 26  Chen Yi, Chinese military commander and politician (d. 1972)

### September

- September 2  Adolph Rupp, college basketball coach (d. 1977)
- September 9  Agostinho Fortes Filho, Brazilian footballer (d. 1966)
- September 9  Hendrik Verwoerd, South African politician (d. 1966)
- September 17  Francis Chichester, British adventurer (d. 1979)
- September 22  Charles B. Huggins, Canadian cancer researcher and Nobel Prize winner (d. 1997)
- September 23  Jaroslav Seifert, Czech politician (d. 1986)
- September 28  Ed Sullivan, American television personality (d. 1974)
- September 28  William S. Paley, American businessman (d. 1990)
- September 29  Enrico Fermi, Italian physicist (d. 1954)

### October

- October 1  Jose Leandro Andrade, Uruguayan footballer (d. 1957)
- October 6  Aslak Brekke, Norwegian singer (d. 1978)
- October 7  Souvanna Phouma, Laotian leader (d. 1984)
- October 7  Frank Boucher, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1977)
- October 10  Alberto Giacometti, Swiss sculptor (d. 1966)
- October 24  Gilda Gray, Polish-born dancer and actress (d. 1959)

### November

- November 3  Leopold III of Belgium (d. 1983)
- November 4  Masako Nashimoto, Crown Princess of Korea (d. 1989)
- November 4  Max Wagner, Mexican-born American actor (d. 1975)
- November 9  Marvel Rea, American actress (d. 1937)
- November 11  Magda Goebbels, wife of Joseph Goebbels (d. 1945)
- November 15  Bunny Roser, American baseball player (d. 1979)
- November 16  Ernest Nagel, Czech-born philosopher (d. 1985)
- November 17  Lee Strasberg, Austrian-American actor (d. 1982)
- November 18  George Gallup, American statistician and opinion pollster (d. 1984)
- November 22  Joaquin Rodrigo, Spanish composer (d. 1999)
- November 29  Mildred Harris, American actress (d. 1944)

### December

- December 2  Raimundo Orsi, Argentine-Italian footballer (d. 1986)
- December 5  Walt Disney, American animator and movie producer (d. 1966)
- December 5  Werner Heisenberg, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1976)
- December 9  Odon von Horvath, Austro-Hungarian writer (d. 1938)
- December 14  King Paul of Greece (d. 1964)
- December 16  Margaret Mead, American anthropologist (d. 1978)
- December 19  Rudolf Hell, German inventor (d. 2002)
- December 25  Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, British royal (d. 2004)
- December 27  Marlene Dietrich, German actress (d. 1992)
- December 31  Karl-August Fagerholm, Prime Minister of Finland (d. 1984)

### January - June

- January 11  Vasily Kalinnikov, Russian composer (b. 1866)
- January 14  Victor Balaguer, Spanish politician and writer (b. 1824)
- January 17  Frederic William Henry Myers, English scholar, poet, philosopher and psychologist (b. 1843)
- January 20  Zenobe Gramme, Belgian electrical engineer (b. 1826)
- January 21  Elisha Gray, American inventor (b. 1835)
- January 22  Queen Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India (b. 1819)
- January 27  Giuseppe Verdi, Italian composer (b. 1813)
- February 11  Milan I of Serbia (b. 1854)
- February 17  Ethelbert Nevin, American pianist and composer (b. 1862)
- March 13  Benjamin Harrison, 23rd President of the United States (b. 1833)
- April 3  Richard D'Oyly Carte, English impresario (b. 1844)
- April 4  George T. Anderson, American Confederate general (b. 1824)
- May 1  Lewis Waterman, American inventor and businessman (b. 1837)
- May 5  Mariano Ignacio Prado, former President of Peru (b. 1826)
- May 13  Leopoldo Alas, Spanish writer (b. 1851)
- May 22  Gaetano Bresci, Italian anarchist (b. 1869)
- May 24  Charlotte Mary Yonge, English novelist (b. 1823)
- June 15  Max Weber, German-American general (b. 1824)

### July - December

- July 6  Prince Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfuerst, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1819)
- July 7  Johanna Spyri, Swiss writer (b. 1827)
- August 5  Victoria, Princess Royal (b. 1840)
- August 12  Francesco Crispi, former Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1819)
- August 12  Adolf Erik Nordenskiold, Swedish explorer (b. 1832)
- September 9  Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, French painter (b. 1864)
- September 14  William McKinley, 25th President of the United States (assassinated) (b. 1843)
- October 1  Abdor Rahman Khan, Emir of Afghanistan (b. 1844)
- October 10  Lorenzo Snow, American Mormon leader (b. 1814)
- October 29  Leon Czolgosz, Polish-American assassin (b. 1873)
- November 6  Kate Greenaway, English writer (b. 1846)
- November 30  Edward John Eyre, English explorer of Australia and colonial Governor of Jamaica (b. 1815)
- December 12  Nawab Muhammad Hayat Khan, British Indian administrator (b. 1833)
- December 16  William Gregory, American politician (b. 1849)
- December 17  Josep Manyanet i Vives, Catalan Saint and priest (b. 1833)
- December 24  Lev Ivanov, Russian ballet dancer and choreographer (b. 1834)

## Nobel Prizes

- Physics  Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen
- Chemistry  Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff
- Physiology or Medicine  Emil Adolf von Behring
- Literature  Sully Prudhomme
- Peace  Jean-Henri Dunant and Frederic Passy