January–February
January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: a nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah to grant a constitution and establish a national assembly, the Majlis.
January 16–April 7 – Algeciras Conference to resolve the First Moroccan Crisis between France and Germany.
January 22 – The SS Valencia strikes a reef off Vancouver Island, Canada, killing over 100 (officially 136) in the ensuing disaster.
January 31 – Ecuador–Colombia earthquake (8.8 on the Moment magnitude scale) and associated tsunami.
February 10 – HMS Dreadnought is launched and sparks the naval race between Britain and Germany.
February 11 – Pope Pius X publishes the encyclical Vehementer Nos.
January 31: Ecuador earthquake (8.6).
March–April
March 10 – Courrières mine disaster: an explosion in a coal mine in France kills 1,060.
March 18 – Traian Vuia makes a short flight in a self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft.
April 7 – Mount Vesuvius erupts and devastates Naples.
April 14 – The Azusa Street Revival, the primary catalyst for the revival of Pentecostalism this century, opens in Los Angeles.
April 18 – San Francisco earthquake (estimated magnitude 7.8) on the San Andreas Fault destroys much of San Francisco, California, USA, killing at least 3,000, with 225,000–300,000 left homeless, and $350 million in damages.
April 23 – In Tsarist Russia, the Fundamental Laws are announced at the first state Duma.
The ruins of San Francisco following the April 18 earthquake and later fires
May–June
May – Jack London's novel White Fang is serialized in The Outing Magazine.
June 7 – The RMS Lusitania is launched in Glasgow. It is the world's largest ship.
July–August
July 6 – The Second Geneva Convention meets.
July 12 – Alfred Dreyfus is exonerated. He is reinstalled in the French Army on July 21, thus ending the Dreyfus affair.
August 4 – The first Imperial German Navy submarine, U-1, is launched.
August 16 – A magnitude 8.2 earthquake in Valparaíso, Chile leaves approximately 20,000 dead.
August 22 – The first Victor Victrola, a phonographic record player, is manufactured.
August 23 – Unable to control a rebellion Cuban President Tomás Estrada Palma requests United States intervention. The subsequent provisional occupation administration lasts until 1909.[citation needed]
September–October
September 11 – Mahatma Gandhi coins the term Satyagraha to characterize the Non-Violence movement in South Africa.
September 18 – A typhoon and tsunami kill an estimated 10,000 in Hong Kong.[1]
September 30 – The first Gordon Bennett Cup in ballooning is held, starting in Paris. The winning team, piloting the balloon United States, lands in Fylingdales, Yorkshire, England.
October 1 – The Grand Duchy of Finland becomes the first nation to include the right of women to stand as candidates when it adopts universal suffrage.
October 6 – The Majlis of Iran convenes for the first time.
October 11 – A United States diplomatic crisis with Japan arises when the San Francisco public school board orders Japanese students to be taught in racially segregated schools.
October 16 – Imposter Wilhelm Voigt impersonates a Prussian officer and takes over the city hall in Köpenick for a short time.
October 23 – An aeroplane of Alberto Santos-Dumont takes off at Bagatelle in France and flies 60 meters (200 feet). This is the first officially recorded powered flight in Europe.
October 28 – The Union Minière du Haut Katanga, a Belgian mining trust, is created in the Congo.
November–December
November 3 – SOS becomes an international distress signal.
November 22 – Russian Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin introduces agrarian reforms aimed at creating a large class of land-owning peasants.
December 24 – Reginald Fessenden makes the first radio broadcast: a poetry reading, a violin solo, and a speech.
December 26 – The world's first feature film, The Story of the Kelly Gang, is released.
January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: a nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah to grant a constitution and establish a national assembly, the Majlis.
January 16–April 7 – Algeciras Conference to resolve the First Moroccan Crisis between France and Germany.
January 22 – The SS Valencia strikes a reef off Vancouver Island, Canada, killing over 100 (officially 136) in the ensuing disaster.
January 31 – Ecuador–Colombia earthquake (8.8 on the Moment magnitude scale) and associated tsunami.
February 10 – HMS Dreadnought is launched and sparks the naval race between Britain and Germany.
February 11 – Pope Pius X publishes the encyclical Vehementer Nos.
January 31: Ecuador earthquake (8.6).
March–April
March 10 – Courrières mine disaster: an explosion in a coal mine in France kills 1,060.
March 18 – Traian Vuia makes a short flight in a self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft.
April 7 – Mount Vesuvius erupts and devastates Naples.
April 14 – The Azusa Street Revival, the primary catalyst for the revival of Pentecostalism this century, opens in Los Angeles.
April 18 – San Francisco earthquake (estimated magnitude 7.8) on the San Andreas Fault destroys much of San Francisco, California, USA, killing at least 3,000, with 225,000–300,000 left homeless, and $350 million in damages.
April 23 – In Tsarist Russia, the Fundamental Laws are announced at the first state Duma.
The ruins of San Francisco following the April 18 earthquake and later fires
May–June
May – Jack London's novel White Fang is serialized in The Outing Magazine.
June 7 – The RMS Lusitania is launched in Glasgow. It is the world's largest ship.
July–August
July 6 – The Second Geneva Convention meets.
July 12 – Alfred Dreyfus is exonerated. He is reinstalled in the French Army on July 21, thus ending the Dreyfus affair.
August 4 – The first Imperial German Navy submarine, U-1, is launched.
August 16 – A magnitude 8.2 earthquake in Valparaíso, Chile leaves approximately 20,000 dead.
August 22 – The first Victor Victrola, a phonographic record player, is manufactured.
August 23 – Unable to control a rebellion Cuban President Tomás Estrada Palma requests United States intervention. The subsequent provisional occupation administration lasts until 1909.[citation needed]
September–October
September 11 – Mahatma Gandhi coins the term Satyagraha to characterize the Non-Violence movement in South Africa.
September 18 – A typhoon and tsunami kill an estimated 10,000 in Hong Kong.[1]
September 30 – The first Gordon Bennett Cup in ballooning is held, starting in Paris. The winning team, piloting the balloon United States, lands in Fylingdales, Yorkshire, England.
October 1 – The Grand Duchy of Finland becomes the first nation to include the right of women to stand as candidates when it adopts universal suffrage.
October 6 – The Majlis of Iran convenes for the first time.
October 11 – A United States diplomatic crisis with Japan arises when the San Francisco public school board orders Japanese students to be taught in racially segregated schools.
October 16 – Imposter Wilhelm Voigt impersonates a Prussian officer and takes over the city hall in Köpenick for a short time.
October 23 – An aeroplane of Alberto Santos-Dumont takes off at Bagatelle in France and flies 60 meters (200 feet). This is the first officially recorded powered flight in Europe.
October 28 – The Union Minière du Haut Katanga, a Belgian mining trust, is created in the Congo.
November–December
November 3 – SOS becomes an international distress signal.
November 22 – Russian Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin introduces agrarian reforms aimed at creating a large class of land-owning peasants.
December 24 – Reginald Fessenden makes the first radio broadcast: a poetry reading, a violin solo, and a speech.
December 26 – The world's first feature film, The Story of the Kelly Gang, is released.