20th Century: An Event a Year Part 1

1900

A citizen led uprising against the abundance of foreign powers in China. The foreign powers forced China to execute its rebels.

1901

This British monarch dies after 63 years on the throne.

1902

This founder of the British South Africa Company and 'founder' of Rhodesia dies.

1903

578 die in a fire in the Iroquois theatre in this US city.

1904

This deaf and blind American graduates with honours from Radcliffe College, USA.

1905

Following a referendum, this Scandinavian country gets independence from Sweden.

1906

With James Keir Hardie as its leader, this new Socialist political party win 29 seats in the UK general election.

1907

This Indian lawyer announces that he intends to break a new law imposed by the government of Transvall which requires all Indians to be finger-printed and carry a special certificate.

1908

This two year old becomes Emperior of China, with his father Prince Chun acting as regent.

1909

This Apache chief dies. He had led the Apaches from New Mexico in their final uprising against the Americans from the east in 1882.

1910

This British monarch dies after a short reign to be succeeded by his son George V.

1911

On the edge of a steep cliff Dr Hiram Bingham, a Yale explorer, discovers this ancient city biult around 1500 AD.

1912

This unsinkable ship sinks.

1913

A race to the South Pole led by this explorer goes horribly wrong, causing the determined crew to die on their return journey.

1914

This Archduke is murdered by a Serbian nationalist, bringing in the inevitable World War I.

1915

This British writer of "The Soldier" dies blood-poisoning on board a French hospital ship.

1916

A Nationalist uprising is staged in this country after seeking support in the form of 20,000 German-supplied weapons. Sir Roger Casement is executed and a large number of Nationalists are interned in prison camps by the British.

1917

This Tsar steps down, effectively ending the House of Romanov.

1918

Fighting ceases on the Western front on this historic day.

1919

Woodrow Wilson is instrumental in drawing up the 14 points of this war settlement treaty with the intention of initating a League of Nations.

1920

This prohibition act takes effect this year, prohibiting the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages in the United States.

1921

Clergymen and doctors are in uproar as this female doctor opens the first brith control clinic in London.

1922

This leader, known otherwise as Il Duce, forms Italy's first National Fascist government this year.

1923

This economic phenomenon sees the value of the German Mark spiral uncontrollably, causing workers to be paid twice a day and a loaf of bread to cost what a house had been worth that same morning.

1924

This restless revolutionary dies this year, causing a scramble for power between Stalin and Trotsky.

1925

F. Scott Fitzgerald captures both the spirit and anomie of The Jazz Era in this novel.

1926

This painter of 'Water Lilies' dies this year.

1927

This 26 year old pilot wins $25,000 after achieving the first solo, non-stop flight across the Atlantic.

1928

This Quaker wins the US relection with an easy victory. He would inherit America's failing economy the following year.

1929

Prices on the American stock market suddenly fall, wiping out millions of dollars of investments at a stroke.

1930

Mohandas Gandhi is arrested after he launches this campaign of civil disobedience.

1931

The Japanese invade this region of China.

1932

This New Deal president wins by landslide.

1933

The new chancellor of Germany, Adolf Hitler, blames Marinus van der Lubbe, a communist for a blaze which burnt out this building. Rumours believed that the fire was started by the Nazis themselves in order to curtail personal and political liberties.

1934

90,000 troops of Mao Tse-tung's Communist Red Army break out of a Nationalist blokage and begin a trek in search of refuge through some of the least hospitable terrain in the world.

1935

A period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. 70,000 refugees flee.

1936

A Civil war breaks out in this country, to be won by Nationalists in 1939.

1937

This giant German airship explodes and bursts into blames on May 6th, claiming the lives of 33 people.

1938

Jewish shops and homes are ransacked and 35,000 Jews are arrested throughout the Reich in this famous pogrom.

1939

This port city was annexed by the Germans on the first day of World War II, ending the separation of East Prussia and the rest of Germany.

1940

The UK is devastated by the Luftwaffe, causing London to lose many famous landmarks.

1941

360 Japanese fighters bombers and torpedo planes are launched in a surprise attack on the American Pacific Fleet, sinking five battleships and 14 other ships.

1942

The largest (nearly 2.2 million personnel) and bloodiest (1.8–2 million killed, wounded or captured) battle in the history of warfare.

1943

The largest tank battle in history, involving some 6,000 tanks, 2,000,000 troops, and 4,000 aircraft. The decisive end of the German offensive capability on the Eastern Front

1944

Otherwise known as Operation Neptune; the largest seaborne invasion in history. The operation began the liberation of German-occupied France (and later Europe) from Nazi control

1945

This German city is devastated by 800 Bomber Command Lancasters, compounded by 400 American Flying Fortesses the following day. Up to 130,000 died. So it goes.

1946

This British philosopher and mathematician publishes his History of Western Philosophy.

1947

This Asian country achieves independence, making Lord Louis Mountbatten its last Viceroy.

1948

Thirty-one years after Britain's endorsement of a Jewish national home in Palestine, Ben-Guiron becomes the first prime minister of this country.

1949

This Chinese chairman resigns and calls for both an armistice and a ceasefire.

1950

The north and south of this country declare themselves independent republics, bringing in this war. The north were supported by China and the USSR and the south were largely supported by the USA and the United Nations.