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PART I: William McKinley
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1901
History and Politics:
- September 5: (POD) Leon F. Czolgosz is arrested by the Buffalo (NY) Police Department for public drunkenness. By the time Czolgosz is released from jail, President William McKinley has long since returned to Washington, DC.
- The Boxer Rebellion in China officially ends with the signing of the Peking Protocol.
- The Royal Navy launches its first submersible at Barrow.
- Leon Czolgosz commits suicide by hurling himself over Niagara Falls, plummeting to his death.
- Prince George (V), the Duke of Cornwall, becomes the Prince of Wales and the Earl of Chester.
- McKinley quietly expresses his interest in cracking down on trusts, especially Northern Securities.
Arts and Sciences:
- Eastman Kodak introduces the 120 film.
- Guglielmo Marconi transmits the first trans-Atlantic radio signal, from Cornwall to Newfoundland.
1902
History and Politics:
- The Carnegie Institution is founded in Washington, DC, with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie.
- Circuit Court ruling effectively ends Thomas Edison’s monopoly on motion picture technology.
- British suffer their last major defeat of the Boer War, with the capture of a British general and 200 men.
- Alphonso XIII of Spain formally begins his reign.
- Cuba is granted independence by the United States.
- The Second Boer War ends with the Peace of Roodepoort.
- Lord Salisbury retires from the post of Prime Minister after nearly fourteen years. He is replaced by Arthur Balfour.
- Edward VII is crowned the King of the United Kingdom.
- When negotiations with industry officials fail, McKinley allows the owners to deal with a five-month coal strike by Pinkerton agents. This (in)action by the McKinley government hurts his public image. On the other hand, his Vice President, Theodore Roosevelt, speaks out against McKinley and his popularity soars.
- President McKinley orders the prosecution of the Northern Securities Company for violating the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, enhancing his popularity after the strike.
Arts and Sciences:
- The first motion picture theater opens in the United States in Los Angeles, California.
- Lyman Gilmore (CA) reportedly flies a steam-powered glider.
- “Heart of Darkness†by Joseph Conrad.
1903
History and Politics:
- Edward VII of the United Kingdom is proclaimed the Emperor of India.
- Cuba leases the area around Guantanamo Bay to the United States “in perpetuity.â€
- The Hay-Herran Treaty, granting the United States the right to build the Panama Canal, is ratified by the United States Senate. The Colombian Senate, later, rejects the treaty. McKinley backs away, wanting neither to harm Central American relations nor to come into conflict with Colombia.
- Serbian conspirators overthrow Aleksandar Obrenović, replacing him with Peter Karadjordjevic, who rules as Peter I.
- Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto is elected Pope Pius X.
- President McKinley successfully convinces the German Empire to settle its claims against Venezuela in the Hague Tribunal, thereby ensuring the continuation of the Monroe Doctrine as United States policy.
- The Russian Social Democratic Labor Party splits into two groups; the Bolsheviks (Russian for "majority") and Mensheviks (Russian for "minority"). (NOTE: Later the Mensheviks became the majority party, meaning that the Mensheviks became the bolsheviks and the Bolsheviks mensheviks).
- McKinley decides to take part in a tribunal to arbitrate the dispute over the Alaskan border and appointed Henry Cabot Lodge as the United States representative. After two months of arguments, the tribunal rules in favor of the United States.
Arts and Sciences:
- Ford Motor Company sells their first production model, the Model A.
- The Wright Brothers make four flights in their Flyer I in Kill Devil Hills outside of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. These are generally accepted as the first powered, piloted flights. After years of dedicated research and development, the brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright fly 300 yards in the first practical aeroplane. This may be the first controlled powered heavier-than-air flight and the first photographed powered heavier-than-air flight.
- Thomas Hunt Morgan discovers that chromosomes contain genes.
- “The Great Train Robbery†becomes the first motion picture to relate a fictional story.
- “The Call of the Wild†by Jack London.
1904
History and Politics:
- A Japanese surprise attack on Port Arthur (on the Liaodong Peninsula) starts Russo-Japanese War.
- Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany becomes the first person to make a political recording of a document, using Thomas Edison's cylinder.
- Russo-Japanese War: Russian troops in Korea retreat toward Manchuria followed by 100,000 Japanese troops.
- The Entente Cordiale is signed between the United Kingdom and France.
- The Trans-Siberian railway is completed.
- The Republican Party decline to nominate extremely popular Vice President Theodore Roosevelt as the Presidential candidate, fearing that he is too progressive. In his stead, they nominate Attorney General Philander C. Knox, a conservative Republican (Elihu Root was the first pick but he initially declined as he had retired two months earlier.
- Vice President Roosevelt, outraged, decides to run as a third party candidate. The progressive wing of the Republican Party (the so-called Liberal Republican Party) nominates Roosevelt as their candidate.
- The Democratic Party nominates newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst for President and James “Champ†Clark for Vice President.
- Russo-Japanese War: Japanese infantry charge fails to take Port Arthur.
- William Randolph Hearst defeats Theodore Roosevelt and Philander Knox in the US Presidential election.
Arts and Sciences:
- The first Rolls-Royce manufactured.
- The first New York subway line opens. The New York subway system will become the largest in the United States and one of the biggest in the world.
- The first successful caterpillar track is made (it would later revolutionize construction vehicles and land warfare).
- John Ambrose Fleming invents the first vacuum tube.
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END: PART I
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PART I: William McKinley
-----
1901
History and Politics:
- September 5: (POD) Leon F. Czolgosz is arrested by the Buffalo (NY) Police Department for public drunkenness. By the time Czolgosz is released from jail, President William McKinley has long since returned to Washington, DC.
- The Boxer Rebellion in China officially ends with the signing of the Peking Protocol.
- The Royal Navy launches its first submersible at Barrow.
- Leon Czolgosz commits suicide by hurling himself over Niagara Falls, plummeting to his death.
- Prince George (V), the Duke of Cornwall, becomes the Prince of Wales and the Earl of Chester.
- McKinley quietly expresses his interest in cracking down on trusts, especially Northern Securities.
Arts and Sciences:
- Eastman Kodak introduces the 120 film.
- Guglielmo Marconi transmits the first trans-Atlantic radio signal, from Cornwall to Newfoundland.
1902
History and Politics:
- The Carnegie Institution is founded in Washington, DC, with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie.
- Circuit Court ruling effectively ends Thomas Edison’s monopoly on motion picture technology.
- British suffer their last major defeat of the Boer War, with the capture of a British general and 200 men.
- Alphonso XIII of Spain formally begins his reign.
- Cuba is granted independence by the United States.
- The Second Boer War ends with the Peace of Roodepoort.
- Lord Salisbury retires from the post of Prime Minister after nearly fourteen years. He is replaced by Arthur Balfour.
- Edward VII is crowned the King of the United Kingdom.
- When negotiations with industry officials fail, McKinley allows the owners to deal with a five-month coal strike by Pinkerton agents. This (in)action by the McKinley government hurts his public image. On the other hand, his Vice President, Theodore Roosevelt, speaks out against McKinley and his popularity soars.
- President McKinley orders the prosecution of the Northern Securities Company for violating the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, enhancing his popularity after the strike.
Arts and Sciences:
- The first motion picture theater opens in the United States in Los Angeles, California.
- Lyman Gilmore (CA) reportedly flies a steam-powered glider.
- “Heart of Darkness†by Joseph Conrad.
1903
History and Politics:
- Edward VII of the United Kingdom is proclaimed the Emperor of India.
- Cuba leases the area around Guantanamo Bay to the United States “in perpetuity.â€
- The Hay-Herran Treaty, granting the United States the right to build the Panama Canal, is ratified by the United States Senate. The Colombian Senate, later, rejects the treaty. McKinley backs away, wanting neither to harm Central American relations nor to come into conflict with Colombia.
- Serbian conspirators overthrow Aleksandar Obrenović, replacing him with Peter Karadjordjevic, who rules as Peter I.
- Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto is elected Pope Pius X.
- President McKinley successfully convinces the German Empire to settle its claims against Venezuela in the Hague Tribunal, thereby ensuring the continuation of the Monroe Doctrine as United States policy.
- The Russian Social Democratic Labor Party splits into two groups; the Bolsheviks (Russian for "majority") and Mensheviks (Russian for "minority"). (NOTE: Later the Mensheviks became the majority party, meaning that the Mensheviks became the bolsheviks and the Bolsheviks mensheviks).
- McKinley decides to take part in a tribunal to arbitrate the dispute over the Alaskan border and appointed Henry Cabot Lodge as the United States representative. After two months of arguments, the tribunal rules in favor of the United States.
Arts and Sciences:
- Ford Motor Company sells their first production model, the Model A.
- The Wright Brothers make four flights in their Flyer I in Kill Devil Hills outside of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. These are generally accepted as the first powered, piloted flights. After years of dedicated research and development, the brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright fly 300 yards in the first practical aeroplane. This may be the first controlled powered heavier-than-air flight and the first photographed powered heavier-than-air flight.
- Thomas Hunt Morgan discovers that chromosomes contain genes.
- “The Great Train Robbery†becomes the first motion picture to relate a fictional story.
- “The Call of the Wild†by Jack London.
1904
History and Politics:
- A Japanese surprise attack on Port Arthur (on the Liaodong Peninsula) starts Russo-Japanese War.
- Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany becomes the first person to make a political recording of a document, using Thomas Edison's cylinder.
- Russo-Japanese War: Russian troops in Korea retreat toward Manchuria followed by 100,000 Japanese troops.
- The Entente Cordiale is signed between the United Kingdom and France.
- The Trans-Siberian railway is completed.
- The Republican Party decline to nominate extremely popular Vice President Theodore Roosevelt as the Presidential candidate, fearing that he is too progressive. In his stead, they nominate Attorney General Philander C. Knox, a conservative Republican (Elihu Root was the first pick but he initially declined as he had retired two months earlier.
- Vice President Roosevelt, outraged, decides to run as a third party candidate. The progressive wing of the Republican Party (the so-called Liberal Republican Party) nominates Roosevelt as their candidate.
- The Democratic Party nominates newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst for President and James “Champ†Clark for Vice President.
- Russo-Japanese War: Japanese infantry charge fails to take Port Arthur.
- William Randolph Hearst defeats Theodore Roosevelt and Philander Knox in the US Presidential election.
Arts and Sciences:
- The first Rolls-Royce manufactured.
- The first New York subway line opens. The New York subway system will become the largest in the United States and one of the biggest in the world.
- The first successful caterpillar track is made (it would later revolutionize construction vehicles and land warfare).
- John Ambrose Fleming invents the first vacuum tube.
-----
END: PART I
-----