November 1900 Explained
The following events occurred in November 1900:
November 1, 1900 (Thursday)
- Tsar Nicholas became seriously ill with typhoid fever, precipitating a crisis in the Russian Empire during the entire month. When it appeared that the Tsar's death was imminent, his advisors argued over whether he should be succeeded by his brother, Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich, or, since he had no sons, by his young daughter Olga. Future Prime Minister Sergei Witte would relate later that a revision of the succession law came from the crisis, that would have allowed women to succeed to the throne. Nicholas began recovering on November 28, and would reign until being deposed during the October Revolution in 1917. Nicholas, Michael, Olga, and the rest of the royal family would be murdered in 1918.[1]
- Pope Leo issued the encyclical Tametsi Futura Prospicientibus.[2]
November 2, 1900 (Friday)
November 3, 1900 (Saturday)
- The first auto show in the United States was held at Madison Square Garden in New York City, sponsored by the Automobile Club of America. More than 70 manufacturers put on exhibits and more than 7,000 spectators appeared on the first day of what detractors called "the horseless horse show".[4]
- The first "ground control" station was set up at Ostend, Belgium, allowing constant contact between the station and Belgian ships sailing the route between Ostend and Dover. The Princess Clementine stayed in communication with the shore during its entire journey.[5]
- Born: Adolf "Adi" Dassler, founder of the Adidas shoe company; in Herzogenaurach (d. 1978)
November 4, 1900 (Sunday)
November 5, 1900 (Monday)
- Chemist Jōkichi Takamine applied for a patent on the first chemical synthesis of a human hormone, epinephrine, which he named "adrenalin" based on the adrenal gland from which the compound is produced. The patent, granted on April 16, 1901, would make a millionaire of the Japanese-born scientist.[7]
- At the Martí Theatre in Havana, Cuba's American Governor, Leonard Wood, opened a convention to decide on a constitution for Cuba. The convention called to order on the day before the American presidential election, would adopt a republican system of government, similar to that of the United States, on February 21, 1901.[8]
- Born:
November 6, 1900 (Tuesday)
- William McKinley was re-elected as President of the United States, with 292 electoral votes over 155 for Democratic challenger William Jennings Bryan. The Republican Party increased its lead in the Senate to 57–33, and to 202–155 in the House.[9] The popular vote was 7,219,530 for McKinley, and 6,358,071 for Bryan.[10]
- In Denver, Colorado, a riot broke out at a polling station. As police tried to push a crowd back across the limit line, gunfire from the crowd killed Denver Police Department Special Officer Stuart K. Harvey and wounded Patrolman Samuel Charles Carpenter in the leg and lower hip. The police fired back, killing one civilian and injuring four. Carpenter would die of his injuries on January 17, 1910.[11] [12]
November 7, 1900 (Wednesday)
- The day after voting in the United States, elections were held in Canada for the House of Commons. The Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, increased its majority, with 128 of the 213 seats. Charles Tupper, former Prime Minister and leader of the Conservatives, lost re-election as representative from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.[13]
- With U.S. President William McKinley re-elected, Spain sold the Sulu Islands to the United States for $100,000.[14]
- The flag and the coat of arms for Ecuador were formally adopted, after being proposed on October 31. The coat of arms, on a yellow, blue and red tricolor, depicts a condor and Mount Chimborazo.[15] [16]
- The People's Party was founded in Cuba.
November 8, 1900 (Thursday)
- The Doubleday, Page & Company published Theodore Dreiser's novel Sister Carrie over the protests of company president Frank Nelson Doubleday, who had been on a business trip when Dreiser was offered, and accepted, a contract. Doubleday considered the novel to be immoral because its heroine was a "fallen woman". Dreiser refused to call off the deal, and Doubleday's lawyer advised the company that it had no choice but to publish. The Doubleday company did not promote the novel, and it would be the edition printed by the British Heniemann publishing firm that would gain Dreiser's fame.[17] [18]
- Born:
- Died: Sir Rajinder Singh, the Maharaja of Patiala and recipient of the Order of the Star of India, died after a short illness at the young age of 28. Educated at the University of Cambridge, he was a reform-minded ruler and was called "the best polo player in India" and "the first reigning Prince to blend the elements of the English gentleman and Indian potentate".[19] He was succeeded by his nine-year-old son, Bhupinder, who ruled until 1938.
November 9, 1900 (Friday)
- At Mukden, Manchuria, Admiral Yevgeni Ivanovich Alekseyev signed an agreement with the Military Governor of Manchuria, Tseng-sh'i, giving Russia control of the area.[20]
- Benjamin Holt applied for the patent for the Track-Type Tractor, the continuous track or the "caterpillar track", used for heavy machinery including tanks and bulldozers. Because the tracks distribute a vehicle's weight over a larger surface than wheels can, tracked vehicles are less prone to sink or get stuck.[21]
November 10, 1900 (Saturday)
November 11, 1900 (Sunday)
November 12, 1900 (Monday)
November 13, 1900 (Tuesday)
- The former auxiliary cruiser USS Yosemite was blown from her anchorage at the harbor of San Luis d'Apra, Guam by a particularly violent typhoon—first ashore and then out to sea. A steam launch from Yosemite foundered in the harbor, drowning five men: Coal Passer Joseph Anderson, Seaman George Aubel, Fireman 1 class William Davis, Apprentice 1 class Jacob L. Mehaffey and Coxswain Frank Swanson.[27] For two days, Yosemites crew fought heroically to save their ship, but she shipped water badly and, due to a damaged screw, made only two knots headway even after the storm passed. Finally, after the weather abated completely, her crew was taken off by the collier USS Justin, and Yosemite was scuttled.
- Arthur Jenner, Britain's Sub-Commissioner assigned to the Jubaland province in the colony of British Somaliland, was murdered on orders of two of the Chiefs of the Ogaden, Hassan and Hassan Odel. had been arrested earlier on Jenner's orders as part of a murder investigation.[28]
- Valdemar Poulsen of Denmark was awarded U.S. Patent No. 661,619 for the first sound recording device, which he called the "telegraphone".[29] In the summer of 1898, Poulsen found that a telephone, connected to an electromagnet (which, in turn moved along a piece of piano wire) could electronically store the sound of his voice; and that the sound could be "played back" to a telephone receiver by moving the magnet back over the wire.[30]
- Born: David "Carbine" Williams, American inventor who designed the M1 carbine rifle; in Cumberland County, North Carolina (d. 1975)
November 14, 1900 (Wednesday)
November 15, 1900 (Thursday)
- Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon University) had its genesis with the donation of one million dollars by Andrew Carnegie to the city of Pittsburgh, to build a college on land provided by the city. The buildings of the Carnegie Technical Schools would be constructed at Schenley Park over the next several years, and on October 16, 1905, the first 120 engineering students would be admitted.[32]
November 16, 1900 (Friday)
- The Philadelphia Orchestra gave its first public concert, conducted by Fritz Scheel. From 1912 to 1938, the orchestra would be conducted by Leopold Stokowski.[33]
- In a gruesome lynching, 16-year-old Preston Porter, Jr., was burned at the stake in Limon, Colorado, a week after he had killed 11-year-old Louise Frost at the same location. At, a mob of 300 citizens stopped a train transporting Porter to the county jail and removed Porter from the train, with an intent to hang him. Richard W. Frost, the girl's father, was given a choice for the method of execution, and at, he set fire to a kerosene soaked pile of wood as the mob, and reporters, watched. Porter took 20 minutes to die.[34]
- During a parade in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław), Poland), a woman threw a hatchet at the open carriage of Kaiser Wilhelm. Selma Schnapke, later ruled to be insane, threw well enough that the "hand chopper" struck the imperial carriage, and was arrested.[35]
November 17, 1900 (Saturday)
- British Field Marshal Herbert Kitchener announced plans to "depopulate the towns in the Transvaal".[36] In accordance with the order, the burning of farms would be discontinued, and civilians would be relocated to what became described by British MP John Ellis as "concentration camps", a term coined from "reconcentrado" camps that Spain had set up in Cuba. By October 1901, the camps would house 111,619 white and 43,780 black citizens, and have a death rate of 34 percent.[37]
- Dr. Ernest Reynolds discovered the cause of an outbreak of alcoholic neuritis and revealed what would turn out to be one of the United Kingdom's worst scandals involving food contamination. Suspecting arsenic poisoning, Dr. Reynolds analyzed a sample of a particular brand of beer that many of the patients at the Manchester Workhouse Hospital had been drinking, and found that "it contained an appreciable amount of arsenic".[38] Three days later, Dr. Sheridan Delepine of Owens College analyzed samples of beer from 14 Manchester breweries and found similar arsenic levels. The problem would be traced to a manufacturer of contaminated glucose used in the brewing process, and then to impure sulfuric acid used in processing the glucose. The acid manufacturer had, for eight months, been using a different system in producing the acid. In February, a royal commission would be appointed to investigate and would conclude that 6,000 poisonings, including 70 deaths, had resulted from the contaminated beer[38] and that from November 25 to January 10, 36 of those deaths were in Manchester.[39]
- Tests were completed at the Indian Head Proving Ground in Maryland of the most advanced American weapon up to that time. The twelve-inch 40-caliber naval gun was designed to fire shells that "would pierce any armor ever made". Forty of the guns were scheduled to be placed on new battleships and armored cruisers.[40]
November 18, 1900 (Sunday)
- Herbert Hoover, "an American mining engineer who was present at the siege of Tien-Tsin", was interviewed by The New York Times and predicted that "Unless our government adopts a more forcible policy, we will have a calamity in China that has not been equaled in the history of the world." The 26-year-old engineer, destined to become the 31st President of the United States, went on to say, "Our whole policy has been to pat a rattlesnake on the head."[41]
November 19, 1900 (Monday)
November 20, 1900 (Tuesday)
November 21, 1900 (Wednesday)
November 22, 1900 (Thursday)
- The first Mercedes automobile was tested, and delivered to Emil Jellinek on December 22, 1900.
- Born: Tom Macdonald, Welsh journalist and writer; in Llandre, Dyfed, Wales (d. 1980)
- Died: Sir Arthur Sullivan, 58, English composer, known for his comic operas such as The Pirates of Penzance, recipient of the Royal Victorian Order, died of a heart attack before he could complete the musical score for The Emerald Isle (b. 1842)
November 23, 1900 (Friday)
November 24, 1900 (Saturday)
- The "War of the Golden Stool", fifth and last of the Anglo-Ashanti wars in what is now Ghana, ended as British troops brought in 31 captured kings and chiefs as prisoners of war.[47]
- At New Haven, Connecticut, college football's two remaining undefeated and untied teams, Yale (11–0–0) and Harvard (10–0–0), met to close the 1900 season. Yale won the unofficial national championship, 28–0.[48]
- Night Watchman Reuben J. Chappell of the Pierce City, Missouri Police Department, a Confederate Civil War veteran, was shot while trying to arrest a man who had fired a gun in public. He would die of his wound on December 3. Chappell's death aggravated racial tensions in Pierce City due to suspicions that he was murdered by an African-American gang, one of the causes leading to the August 1901 lynchings and expulsion of Pierce City's African-American population.[49]
November 25, 1900 (Sunday)
November 26, 1900 (Monday)
- Russian Admiral Yevgeni Ivanovich Alekseyev signed an agreement with Tseng Ch'i, the Chinese Governor-General of Mukden, effectively giving the Russians freedom to control Manchuria for as long as necessary.[51]
- There is no "Allis, Wisconsin", but on this date, the Edward P. Allis Company moved to the community of North Greenfield, Wisconsin, and became its largest employer. Two years later, the town would be incorporated as West Allis, Wisconsin.[52]
November 27, 1900 (Tuesday)
November 28, 1900 (Wednesday)
- Anton Chekhov's play The Wedding was given its first performance, making its debut at the Moscow Hunt Club.[57]
- Died: Halcyon Skinner, eulogized as "the man who revolutionized the carpet making industry", was killed when he accidentally stepped in front of a train near his home in Yonkers, New York. In 1849, Skinner had invented various looms that lowered the costs for manufacturing carpets.[58]
November 29, 1900 (Thursday)
November 30, 1900 (Friday)
- The ten-member Isthmian Canal Commission, chaired by Rear Admiral John G. Walker of the United States Navy, voted unanimously to recommend to U.S. President William McKinley and to the United States Congress that the proposed canal between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans be built across Nicaragua rather than the Colombian Departamento del Istmo, also known by the name of its departmental capital, Panamá.[61]
- In the Philippines, 1,200 Filipino fighters surrendered to American forces at Vigan on the island of Luzon.[62]
- Died: Oscar Wilde, 46, Irish playwright, poet and novelist, died of cerebral meningitis in room 16 of the Hotel d'Alsace at 13 Rue des Beaux Arts in Paris.[63] His death came at 1:45 in the afternoon.[64]
Notes and References
- Book: Witte, Sergei . Sergei Witte . The Memoirs of Count Witte . Sidney . Harcave . Sidney Harcave . . 1990 . 296–297.
- Book: Louismet, Savinien . The Mystery of Jesus . . 1922 . 54.
- "Manitoba Morning Free Press", November 3, 1900, p. 5
- "Motor Show is Opened", New York Times, November 4, 1900, p. 10; Gregory Votolato, American Design in the Twentieth Century: Personality and Performance (Manchester University Press, 1998), p. 11
- W.J. Baker, A history of the Marconi Company (Routledge, 1970), p. 60
- Richard Brent Turner, Islam in the African-American Experience (Indiana University Press, 2003) pp. 113–114
- Richard L. Myers, The 100 Most Important Chemical Compounds: A Reference Guide (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007), pp. 108–109; Horace W. Davenport, "Epinephrin(e)" in The Physiologist (April 1982) http://www.the-aps.org/publications/tphys/legacy/1982/issue2/76.pdf
- Albert G. Robinson, "The Work of the Cuban Convention", The Forum (June 1901), p. 401
- News: M'Kinley Re-Elected . The New York Times . November 7, 1900 . 1.
- Book: Gorton . Carruth . etal . The Encyclopedia of American Facts and Dates . . 1962 . 390.
- Web site: Special Officer Stuart K. Harvey, Denver Police Department, Colorado . . 8 September 2021.
- Web site: Patrolman Samuel Charles Carpenter, Denver Police Department, Colorado . The Officer Down Memorial Page, Inc . 8 September 2021.
- News: The Laurier Government Is Sustained and Tupper is Trounced . . November 8, 1900 . 1.
- Book: Malcolm, George A. . The Government of the Philippine Islands: Its Development and Fundamentals . Lawyers Co-operative Publishing . 1916.
- Book: Smith, Whitney . Flag Lore of All Nations . . 2001 . 33.
- http://pastorjon.typepad.com/pastor_jon_weblog/2009/02/coat-of-arms-of-ecuador.html
- Book: Pizer, Donald . Donald Pizer . The Novels of Theodore Dreiser: A Critical Study . . 42–44.
- Web site: Biography of Theodore Dreiser. www.library.upenn.edu . https://web.archive.org/web/20100710050524/http://www.library.upenn.edu/collections/rbm/dreiser/tdbio.html . 2010-07-10.
- News: Famous Maharajah Dead . The New York Times . November 11, 1900 . 7.
- Book: Paine, S. C. M. . Sarah C. Paine . Imperial Rivals: China, Russia, and Their Disputed Frontier . . 1996 . 271.
- 3103113 . Benjamin Holt and the Invention of the Track-Type Tractor . . 20 . 1 . 90–107 . Wik . Reynold M . 10.2307/3103113 . 1979.
- News: Steamer Founders; 31 Lives Are Lost . The New York Times . November 11, 1900 . 1.
- George R. Matthews, America's First Olympics: The St. Louis Games of 1904 (University of Missouri Press, 1904), p. 8
- Glenn Litton, Musical Comedy in America: From the Black Crook Through Sweeny Todd (Routledge, 1981), pp. 77–78
- "Paris Exposition Closes Its Gates", New York Times, November 13, 1900, p. 7
- "To Withdraw Troops Now In Porto Rico", New York Times, November 13, 1900, p. 8
- Web site: Casualties: US Navy and Marine Corps Personnel Killed and Injured in Selected Accidents and Other Incidents Not Directly the Result of Enemy Action . 3 November 2020 . . 19 December 2023.
- House of Commons Sessional Papers, 1901, Vol 12: Colonies and British Possessions, Africa, pp. 13–14
- Book: Camras, Marvin . Marvin Camras . Magnetic Recording Handbook . Springer . 1988 . 651.
- Book: Mark H. . Clark . Henry . Nielsen . The Telegraphone . Magnetic Recording: The First 100 Years . . 1999 . 15–16.
- Russell Schneider, The Cleveland Indians Encyclopedia (Sports Publishing LLC, 2005) p. 11
- Book: Official Guide to the Carnegie Institute of Technology . 1915 . 9–10.
- "Philadelphia Orchestra", Dictionary of American History (Rowman & Littlefield, 1978), p. 491
- "Boy Burned At The Stake In Colorado ", New York Times, November 17, 1900, p. 1
- "Attempt to Kill Emperor William", New York Times, November 17, 1900, p. 7
- News: To Depopulate the Transavaal . The New York Times . November 18, 1900.
- Book: Pakenham, Thomas . Thomas Pakenham (historian) . The Scramble for Africa: White Man's Conquest of the Dark Continent from 1876 to 1912 . The Scramble for Africa (book) . 577–79.
- Book: Lenihan, John . The Crumbs of Creation: Trace Elements in History, Medicine, Industry, Crime and Folklore . . 1988 . 112–113.
- News: Arsenical Beer . . . February 13, 1901 . 9.
- News: Twelve-Inch Gun a Wonder . The New York Times . November 16, 1900 . 1.
- News: Predicts a Great Uprising . The New York Times . November 19, 1900 . 7.
- News: The Seizure of the Taboga . The New York Times . November 21, 1900 . 1.
- "Over Fifty Dead in Tennessee Tornado", New York Times, November 22, 1900, p1; http://www.weather.com/blog/weather/8_7988.html .
- Web site: Tornadoes, with Special Reference to Those That Have Occurred in Tennessee . 2009-03-17 . 2009-05-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090510071549/http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bna/research/tornadoes.htm . dead .
- Book: Catholic Builders of the Nation . Continental Press . 1923 . 381.
- Book: Schroeder, Gertrude G. . The Growth of Major Steel Companies, 1900–1950 . . 1953 . 62.
- Encyclopedia: Ashanti War (1900) . The Victorians at War, 1815–1914: An Encyclopedia of British Military History . . 2004 . 32–33.
- News: Yale Football Champions of 1900 . The New York Times . November 25, 1900 . 1.
- Web site: Night Watchman Reuben J. Chappell, Pierce City Police Department, Missouri . The Officer Down Memorial Page, Inc . 8 September 2021.
- Brian Feeney, Sinn Feín: A Hundred Turbulent Years (University of Wisconsin Press, 2003) pp. 29–30
- John Albert White, Diplomacy of the Russo-Japanese War (Princeton University Press, 2015) p. 7
- Web site: City of West Allis :: Around West Allis :: History of West Allis. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20051112092905/http://www.ci.west-allis.wi.us/about/about_history.htm. 2005-11-12.
- Book: Stuhler, Barbara . Ten Men of Minnesota and American Foreign Policy, 1898–1968 . . 1973 . 19.
- News: Senator Davis Very Ill . The New York Times . November 5, 1900 . 1.
- Stuhler, p. 30.
- News: Cushman K. Davis of Minnesota Dead . The New York Times . November 28, 1900 . 1.
- Laurence Senelick, translator, The Complete Plays: Anton Chekhov (W. W. Norton & Company, 2007), pp. 563–564
- News: Halcyon Skinner Killed . The New York Times . November 29, 1900 . 1.
- News: Killed at Football Game . The New York Times . November 30, 1900 . 1.
- Encyclopedia: ((Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia)) . Mildred Gillars . . 21 June 2022 . 15 November 2022.
- Book: DuVal, Miles P. Jr. . Cadiz to Cathay: The Story of the Long Struggle for a Waterway Across the American Isthmus . . 1940 . 148.
- Book: The Statistician and Economist (1901–1902) . L.P. McCarty . 1902 . 381.
- Book: Letcher, Piers . Eccentric France: The Bradt Guide to Mad, Magical and Marvellous France . . 2003 . 176–177.
- Book: Brandreth, Gyles Daubeney . Gyles Brandreth . Oscar Wilde and a Death of No Importance: A Mystery . . 2008 . 341–342.