1906 CE

The 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fires devastate the city, killing thousands and displacing many more; The Courrières mine disaster in France kills over 1,000 miners, one of Europe’s worst industrial tragedies; The 1906 Atlanta race massacre leaves dozens dead amid racial tensions; The Algeciras Conference attempts to resolve European disputes over Morocco; The Denshawai incident in Egypt sparks nationalist outrage after harsh British reprisals; The Bambatha Rebellion in Natal sees Zulu resistance crushed by colonial forces.

In the 1900s, the 20th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, and establish a national assembly, the Majlis.source
  • February 8 – Sidney Sonnino forms a new Cabinet, representing the Historical Right. Giolitti does not openly oppose Sonnino, but his followers of the Historical Left do.Italysource
  • 1 March: In the presidential election, Afonso Pena of the Mineiro Republican Party receives 97.9% of the vote.Brazilsource
  • April 23 – In the Russian Empire, the Fundamental Laws are announced at the first state Duma.source
  • April 27 - Chinese representative Tang Shaoyi and the British Ambassador to China, Ernest Mason Satow, formally signed the Convention Between Great Britain and China Respecting Tibet. Britain agreed not to occupy Tibet and not to interfere in Tibetan politics.Chinasource
  • May 2 – Lord Alfred Milner, British colonial secretary and the High Commissioner for Southern Africa, returns to Britain.South Africasource
  • May 27 – The first inmates are moved to the Culion leper colony by the American Insular Government of the Philippine Islands.source
  • May 29 – Karl Staaff steps down as Prime Minister of Sweden over the issue of expanded voting rights. He is replaced by right-wing naval officer and public official Arvid Lindman.source
  • July 6 – The Second Geneva Convention meets.source
  • July 12 – Alfred Dreyfus is exonerated. He is reinstalled in the French Army on July 21, thus ending the Dreyfus affair.source
  • July 20 – In the Grand Duchy of Finland, a new electoral law is ratified, guaranteeing full women's suffrage, the first in modern Europe. Women can also stand in national elections.source
  • 6 August: Joseph Ward is sworn in as prime minister, taking over from acting prime minister William Hall-Jones.New Zealandsource
  • 19 August – Portuguese legislative election, August 1906.Portugalsource
  • October 6 – The National Consultative Assembly (Majlis) of Iran convenes for the first time.source
  • December 6 – The Transvaal Colony is granted responsible self-government by Britain.source
  • December 13 – The United Kingdom, France and Italy sign an agreement to preserve, in Ethiopia, the integrity of the ancient empire of Abyssinia.source
  • 1906 Persian legislative election.Iransource
  • 1906 Russian legislative electionRussiasource

Conflict & Security

  • 10 April – Chief of the General Staff reports to Minister of War on confidential conversations held earlier in the year with the British military attaché regarding the landing of a British expeditionary force in the event of a German invasion.Belgiumsource
  • 14 April – Ole Irgens, politician (born 1829)Norwaysource
  • 30 May – Royal Navy battleship HMS Montagu runs aground on the island of Lundy and becomes a loss.United Kingdomsource
  • August 23 – Unable to control a rebellion, Cuban President Tomás Estrada Palma requests United States intervention. This leads to the Second Occupation of Cuba, which lasts until 1909.source
  • September 22 – Atlanta race riot: Race riots in Atlanta, Georgia result in 27 people killed and the Black-owned business district severely damaged.United Statessource
  • 6 November – Poseidon wins the Melbourne Cup.Australiasource
  • 1 December - Wales lose 11–0 to South Africa in the first encounter between the two countries.Walessource
  • Albert Marquet - Le Sergent de la colonialeFrancesource
  • Ranfurly Shield – Auckland successfully defend the shield all season, with wins against Canterbury (29–6), Taranaki (18–5), Southland (48–12) and Wellington (11–5).New Zealandsource

Exploration & Expansion

  • April 28 – The Milan International world's fair opens in Milan. It would receive 4,012,776 visits and covered 250 acres.Italysource
  • 4 September - The Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen completed a three-year voyage through the Northwest Passage in the converted herring boat Gjøa, after being trapped in ice for three winters.Norwaysource
  • November 1 – International Exhibition opens in Christchurch, New Zealand.source
  • 27 December – Transvaal – Pretoria North to Rustenburg, 60 mi 34 ch.South Africasource
  • The Revillon Frères trading post opens at Fort Saint John, British Columbia, as competition against the Hudson's Bay CompanyCanadasource
  • Þorvaldur Thoroddsen published a map of Iceland based on his own research.Icelandsource
  • George, Prince of Wales, and Princess Mary tour India, 1905-06Indiasource
  • New Zealand Trotting Cup: Belmont M.New Zealandsource
  • Yarrow Shipbuilders begin their move from London to Scotstoun.Scotlandsource

Religion & Belief

  • January 16–April 7 – The Algeciras Conference convenes, to resolve the First Moroccan Crisis between France and Germany.source
  • 16 January - Algeciras Conference begins, to mediate the First Moroccan Crisis between France and Germany.Francesource
  • 30 January – The proclamation of Frederick VIII as King of Denmark.Denmarksource
  • February 11 – Pope Pius X publishes the encyclical Vehementer Nos, denouncing the 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State.source
  • April 14 – The Azusa Street Revival, the primary catalyst for the revival of Pentecostalism this century, opens in Los Angeles.source
  • 22 June – Haakon VII and Maud of Wales are crowned monarch and consort of Norway in the Nidaros Cathedral.Norwaysource
  • 1 August – The Catholic Hierarchy ruled out any scheme for mixed religious education at Trinity College Dublin.Irelandsource
  • Construction begins on the modern-day Great Mosque of Djenné.source
  • 15 to 19 August – Seventeenth International Eucharistic Congress held in Tournai.Belgiumsource
  • Monarch – Victor Emmanuel III (1900–1946)Italysource
  • Middleweight – A. Nash (Christchurch)New Zealandsource
  • David Vaughan Thomas - The Knight's BurialWalessource

Economy & Finance

  • February 2 – Prime Minister Alessandro Fortis resigns.Italysource
  • April 18 – Xerox, the global digital office machine brand, is founded in Rochester, New York as the Haloid Photographic Company.source
  • May 29 – Giovanni Giolitti forms a new Cabinet. Giolitti's third government (until December 1909) was known as the "long ministry" (lungo ministero). The strong economic performance and the careful budget management of this government led to currency stability; this was also caused by a mass emigration and especially on remittances that Italian migrants sent to their relatives back home. The 1906–1909 triennium is remembered as the time when "the lira was premium on gold".Italysource
  • 27 June - Coop Norge is established.Norwaysource
  • July 14 – Gary, Indiana is founded by the United States Steel Corporation.United Statessource
  • October 28 – The Union Minière du Haut Katanga, a mining trust, is created in the Belgian Congo.source
  • 28 October – Union Minière du Haut Katanga incorporatedBelgiumsource
  • 6 November – Ole Olsen founds Nordisk Film in Valby, Copenhagen, making it the oldest continuously operating film studio in the world.Denmarksource
  • 13 December – Trade Disputes Act legalises picketing.United Kingdomsource
  • The Simplo Filler Pen Company is founded, later to become the Montblanc Company in Germany.source
  • Swedish Commercial Employees' Union is founded.Swedensource

Technology & Infrastructure

  • January 1 – Canada's first movie theatre Ouimetoscope opens in MontrealCanadasource
  • January 12 – Sogi Electronic Company, as predecessor of Asahi Kasei was founded in Isa region, Kagoshima Prefecture.Japansource
  • March 18 – In France, Romanian inventor Traian Vuia becomes the first person to achieve an unassisted takeoff in a heavier-than-air powered monoplane, but it is incapable of sustained flight.source
  • 1 April – Cape Midland – Port Elizabeth to Humewood Road (Narrow gauge), 75 ch.South Africasource
  • 5 May – The first electric trams begin running in Melbourne from St Kilda to Brighton.Australiasource
  • May 19 – The Simplon railway tunnel, connecting Brig, Switzerland and Domodossola, Italy, through the Alps, is inaugurated by the Italian king Victor Emmanuel III and the president of the Swiss Confederation (presiding the Federal Council of Switzerland for that year) Ludwig Forrer. Work on the first tube of tunnel commenced in 1898.Italysource
  • June 26 – The first autombile racing Grand Prix is the 1906 French Grand Prix held at Le Mans.source
  • August 4 – The first Imperial German Navy submarine, U-1, is launched.source
  • 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.source
  • 23 October: 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.Brazilsource
  • November 3 – SOS becomes adopted internationally as a distress signal (originally for ship-to-shore wireless telegraphy) on inclusion in the service regulations of the first International Radiotelegraph Convention signed in Berlin and coming into effect on 1 July 1908.source
  • December 15 – The London Underground's Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway opens.source
  • December 24 – Reginald Fessenden makes the first radio broadcast: a poetry reading, a violin solo, and a speech, from Brant Rock, Massachusetts.source
  • A submarine telegraph cable was laid by the Great Northern Telegraph Co. from Scotland through the Faroe Islands to Iceland, where it came ashore on the east coast at Seyðisfjörður. In conjunction a telegraph and telephone line, was laid from the landing point to the capital city Reykjavík. This established Síminn (originally Landssími Íslands).Icelandsource
  • First fertilizer factory in India (Ranipet, Tamil Nadu)Indiasource

Science & Discovery

  • February 7 – HMS Dreadnought is launched, sparking a naval race between Britain and Germany.source
  • 6 April – Alexander Kielland, novelist (born 1849)Norwaysource
  • June 7 – Cunard liner RMS Lusitania is launched in Glasgow, as the world's largest ship.source
  • 7 June – Cunard liner RMS Lusitania is launched at John Brown & Company's shipyard at Clydebank as the world's largest ship.Scotlandsource
  • June 8 – Theodore Roosevelt signs the Antiquities Act into law, authorizing the president to restrict the use of certain parcels of public land with historical or conservation value.United Statessource
  • 12 September – The inventor and aviation pioneer Jacob Christian Ellehammer makes a sustained but tethered flight in his self-built Ellehammer semi-biplane on the small Lindholm Island outside Copenhagen, three years after the world’s first historical flight by the Wright brothers in 1903. The flight distance is 42 meters at an altitude of over 50 centimeters.Denmarksource
  • September 20 – The RMS Mauretania is launched on the River Tyne, becoming the world's largest ship.source
  • 23 October - Santos-Dumont 14-bis aircraft performs the first publicly witnessed European unaided take-off by a heavier-than-air aircraft, in Bagatelle.Francesource
  • 10 December – J. J. Thomson wins the Nobel Prize in Physics "in recognition of the great merits of his theoretical and experimental investigations on the conduction of electricity by gases."United Kingdomsource
  • Heavyweight – E. Pearson (Wellington)New Zealandsource
  • Ernest Rhys becomes editor of Everyman's Library.Walessource

Health & Medicine

  • 15 May – Our Dumb Friends League opens its first animal hospital, in Victoria, London.United Kingdomsource
  • Tuberculosis reaches epidemic proportions in South Africa.South Africasource
  • 21 August – the Education of Defective Children (Scotland) Act, a permissive act allowing local school boards, either alone or in combination, to make special provision for the education and medical inspection of 'epileptic, crippled or defective' children between the ages of 5 and 16.Scotlandsource
  • August - Evan Roberts suffers a breakdown, signalling the end of the 1904-1905 Welsh Revival.Walessource
  • 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 (it is resolved by next year).source
  • October 11 – The San Francisco public school board sparks a United States diplomatic crisis with Japan, by ordering Japanese students to be taught in racially segregated schools.United Statessource
  • The BCG vaccine for tuberculosis is first developed.source
  • Arnould Galopin - Doctor OmegaFrancesource
  • The Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast was completed, laying claim to being the first air conditioned building in the world.Irelandsource
  • The muffuletta sandwich is invented in New Orleans, Louisiana.United Statessource

Crime & Justice

  • February 23 – Tommy Burns becomes the First Canadian to be Boxing's Heavyweight champion by defeating Marvin HartCanadasource
  • April 25 – Georgian Socialist-Federalist Revolutionary Party under the leadership of Leo Kereselidze successfully robs the Dusheti treasury of the Russian Empire, one of the largest expropriations of the time.source
  • 29 April – Belgium national football team play against Netherlands national football team at Antwerp, winning 5–0. Robert De Veen scored a hat-trick in the second half.Belgiumsource
  • June 6 – Murder of Gennaro Cuocolo and his wife, Maria Cutinelli, suspected of being police informers, and opposing the leadership of the Camorra. The murder case would develop into one of the most complicated legal cases of the early twentieth century in Italy against the Camorra.Italysource
  • July 11 – Murder of Grace Brown, a factory worker whose killing causes a nationwide sensation.United Statessource
  • 22 September – Carlton wins the VFL grand final, beating Fitzroy 15.4 (94) to 6.9 (45).Australiasource
  • October 16 – Imposter Wilhelm Voigt impersonates a Prussian officer and takes over the city hall in Köpenick for a short time.source
  • 5 November – Frits Thaulow, painter (born 1847)Norwaysource
  • Bantamweight – B. Tracy (Wellington)New Zealandsource
  • Arthur Machen – The House of SoulsWalessource

Disasters & Accidents

  • 21 January: The Brazilian battleship Aquidabã sinks, after its powder magazines explode near the Jacuacanga strait, in Angra dos Reis bay. A total of 212 people are killed, including three admirals and most of the ship's officers; 98 survive.Brazilsource
  • January 22 – The SS Valencia strikes a reef off Vancouver Island, Canada, killing over 100 (officially 136) in the ensuing disaster.source
  • January 22 – The SS Valencia strikes a reef off Vancouver Island, killing over 100 (officially 136) in the ensuing disaster.Canadasource
  • 1 March - The steamship "Thor" sinks near Lyngholmen in Sveio Municipality, 39 people perish.Norwaysource
  • March 10 – Courrières mine disaster: An explosion in a coal mine in France kills 1,060.source
  • 10 March - Courrières mine disaster: Explosion in coal mine in Courrières kills 1099.Francesource
  • 19 July – 1906 Dundee fire: a major fire breaks out in a bonded warehouse.Scotlandsource
  • 29 July - Tour de France ends, won by René Pottier.Francesource
  • October 28 – A train falls off a drawbridge in New Jersey, drowning 53 people, and results in what is widely considered the first ever press release.source
  • November 18 – The steamboat Dix sinks en route from Seattle to Port Blakely claiming the lives of approximately 50 passengers and crew.source
  • 13 December – Workmen's Compensation Act entitles workers to compensation for industrial injuries or disease.United Kingdomsource

Climate & Environment

  • 27 January – A cyclone damages Cairns and Innisfail in Queensland.Australiasource
  • January 31 – The Ecuador–Colombia earthquake (8.8 on the Moment magnitude scale), and associated tsunami, cause at least 500 deaths.source
  • March 4 – Native American tribal governments are terminated in Indian Territory, a prerequisite for creating the U.S. state of Oklahoma in 1907.United Statessource
  • 8 March - 19 people perish in an avalanche close to the fishing village Steine in Lofoten.Norwaysource
  • 17 March – The 6.8 Ms Meishan earthquake affected the southwestern portion of the island with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), causing at least 1,258 deaths and several thousand injuries.Taiwansource
  • April 5 – Mount Vesuvius in Campania erupts, killing over 100 people and ejecting the most lava ever recorded from a Vesuvian eruption. Italian authorities were preparing to hold the 1908 Summer Olympics when Mount Vesuvius erupted, devastating the province of Naples. Funds were diverted to the reconstruction of Naples, requiring a new location for the Olympics to be found.Italysource
  • April 18 – The San Francisco Earthquake (estimated magnitude 7.8) on the San Andreas Fault destroys much of San Francisco, California, killing at least 3,000, with 225,000–300,000 left homeless, and $350 million in damages.source
  • April 18 – The 1906 San Francisco earthquake (estimated magnitude 7.8) on the San Andreas Fault destroys much of San Francisco, California, killing at least 3,000 people, with 225,000–300,000 left homeless, and $350,000,000 in damages.United Statessource
  • 27 June – Swansea earthquake causes considerable damage.United Kingdomsource
  • 27 June - One of the strongest earthquakes recorded in the UK strikes Swansea with a strength of 5.2 on the Richter Scale, damaging several buildings.Walessource
  • August 16 – 1906 Aleutian Islands earthquake: An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 8.35 occurs off the Rat Islands in Alaska.source
  • August 16 – 1906 Valparaíso earthquake: A magnitude 8.2 earthquake in Valparaíso, Chile leaves nearly 4,000 dead and approximately 20,000 injured.source
  • 16 August – 1906 Valparaíso earthquakeChilesource
  • September 18 – A typhoon and tsunami kill an estimated 10,000 in Hong Kong.source
  • December 22 – The Mw 7.9 1906 Manasi earthquake in Xinjiang, China, kills nearly 300 people.source

Culture & Society

  • April 1 – A sports goods brand Mizuno, as predecessor name was Mizuno Sports Goods was founded.Japansource
  • May 6 – The first Targa Florio, an open road endurance automobile race, starts in the mountains of Sicily near Palermo. The race was initiated by Vincenzo Florio and is considered to be the oldest sports car racing event.Italysource
  • May 27 – Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 6 receives its premiere at the Saalbau Essen in Germany conducted by the composer.source
  • May 31 – Morral affair: The attempted regicide of Spanish King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenie on their wedding day instead kills 24 bystanders.source
  • The first issue of the Annals of the Natal Government Museum (currently African Invertebrates) is published by Natal Museum in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.South Africasource
  • 4 September – The Order of Merit (Chile) is created.Chilesource
  • September 11 – Mahatma Gandhi coins the term Satyagraha, to characterize the nonviolence movement in South Africa.source
  • 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.source
  • 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.source
  • 1 November: The International Exhibition begins in Hagley Park, Christchurch.New Zealandsource
  • 9 November: The Brazilian Flag Anthem ("Hino à Bandeira Nacional"), with lyrics by Olavo Bilac and music by Francisco Braga, is performed for the first time.Brazilsource
  • December 4 – Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity forms at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York; it is the first Black Greek-lettered collegiate order of its kind.source
  • December 26 – The world's first feature film, The Story of the Kelly Gang, is first shown, at the Melbourne Athenaeum in Australia.source
  • 26 December – The national premiere of The Story of the Kelly Gang, generally regarded as the world's first feature length film, takes place at the Athenaeum Hall in Melbourne.Australiasource
  • December 30 – The All-India Muslim League is founded as a political party in Dhaka in the British Raj; it becomes a driving force for the creation of an independent Pakistan.source
  • HaRishon Le Zion-Yafo Association is officially founded as a sports club in Palestine, predecessor of Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel).source
  • Sporting Clube de Portugal foundedPortugalsource

Births

Deaths

  • January 25 – Joseph Wheeler, American general, politician (born 1836)source
  • January 29 – King Christian IX of Denmark (born 1818)source
  • February 11 – Two British members of a poll tax collecting expedition are killed near Richmond, Natal, sparking the Bambatha Rebellion.source
  • March 4 – John Schofield, American general (born 1831)source
  • March 13 – Susan B. Anthony, American civil rights, women's suffrage activist (born 1820)source
  • April 19 – Pierre Curie, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate, in road accident (born 1859)source
  • May 14 – Carl Schurz, German revolutionary, American statesman (born 1829)source
  • May 23 – Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian playwright (born 1828)source
  • June 10 – Richard Seddon, 15th Prime Minister of New Zealand (born 1845)source
  • June 23 - Juan Manuel Sánchez, Duke of Almodóvar del Río.Spainsource
  • July 17 – Carlos Pellegrini, 11th President of Argentina (born 1846)source
  • July 23 – Kodama Gentarō, general and politician (born 1852)Japansource
  • September 1 – Giuseppe Giacosa, Italian poet and librettist (born 1847)Italysource
  • September 5 – Ludwig Boltzmann, Austrian physicist (born 1854)source
  • 7 October - Domingos Olímpio, novelist (born 1851)Brazilsource
  • October 16 – Varina Davis, First Lady of the Confederate States of America (born 1826)source
  • October 22 – Paul Cézanne, French painter (born 1839)source
  • December 30 – Josephine Butler, British feminist, social reformer (born 1828)source