NEWS: 1900

Snow falls in Baltimore and in much of the northeastern U.S.  A huge "nor'easter" hits Boston.  Many people are caught off-guard since the U. S. Weather Bureau does not provide adequate warnings because it is closed for the holidays.

U.S. manufacturers produce 4,192 automobiles in 1900.

In the U.S., 40 percent of automobiles are powered by steam, 38 percent by electricity, and 22 percent by gasoline.

As 1900 begins, William McKinley, a Republican, is President of the United States. Lloyd Lowndes, a Republican, is Governor of Maryland. Thomas G. Hayes, a Democrat, is Mayor of Baltimore. Louis E. McComas and George L. Wellington, both Republicans, are Maryland's two U.S. Senators.

In 1900, the size C flashlight battery is introduced to allow for smaller, lighter-weight flashlights than those powered by size D batteries (which were introduced in 1898).

Baltimore weather: Snow (1 inch); High temp. 24 F; Low temp. 15 F; Precip.: 0.10" (liquid).

William Haines is born Charles William Haines in Staunton, Virginia.  He becomes a movie actor, appearing in films from 1922 to 1935. He appears in such movies as "The Midnight Express" (1924), "Little Annie Rooney" (1926), "Navy Blues" (1929), "Way Out West" (1930), and "Fast Life" (1932).  He died at age 73 on December 26, 1973 in Santa Monica, California.

Workers reach a point in digging the 28-mile-long Chicago Drainage Canal (an extension of the Chicago River) to the Des Plaines River in Illinois so that the Chicago Canal reverses its flow and begins flowing toward the Mississippi River instead of toward Lake Michigan.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 29° F; Low temp. 14° F, Precip.: None.

Maurice Jaubert is born in Nice, France. He becomes a prolific music composer. He writes musical scores for some of the most important films of the early sound era in France, including Jean Vigo’s Zero for Conduct and L’Atalante, and René Clair’s Quatorze Juillet and Le Dernier Milliardaire. Maurice Jabert died at age 40 on June 19, 1940, in Azerailles, France.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 34° F; Low temp. 22° F, Precip.: None.

James Bond is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  He becomes an ornithologist and expert on the birds of the Caribbean, and writes the definitive book on the subject: Birds of the West Indies, first published in 1936. His name is appropriated by writer Ian Fleming for his fictional British spy of the same name. James Bond the ornithologist died at age 89 on February 14, 1989 in the city of his birth.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 36° F; Low temp. 22° F, Precip.: None.

Irish leader John Redmond calls for a revolt against British rule.

Yves Tanguy is born in Paris, France, as Raymond Georges Yves Tanguy. He becomes a surrealist painter. He died on January 15, 1955, in Woodbury, Connecticut.

Baltimore weather: Light rain; High temp. 50° F; Low temp. 26° F, Precip.: Trace.

The German steamship Herzog is seized by the British warship HMS Thetis outside of Delagoa Bay in East Africa, on suspicions that it is carrying supplies to Boer troops. The Portuguese colonial governor of Zambesia is among the passengers. After none were found, the ship and its crew were released on January 22, 1900.

In the Siege of Ladysmith, Boer troops under the command of General C.J. de Villiers attempt a raid against the British fortress in South Africa. Over 1,000 soldiers die in its defense. British Lieutenant-General Sir George White holds the defense until relief arrives on February 28, 1900. His command during the battle earned him the Order of St Michael and St George.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 51° F; Low temp. 35° F, Precip.: None.

Melville E. Ingalls, President of the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway, known commonly as the "Big Four", reports that William Kissam Vanderbilt had taken control of that line. Vanderbilt had also taken control of the Lake Erie and Western, and the Chesapeake and Ohio railroads. Ingalls is quoted as saying, "There is no doubt that the Vanderbilts now own the 'Big Four'. As a matter of fact, they have controlled it for some time, but the practical ownership has just been secured." (A meeting is held the following day, at Vanderbilt's office in Grand Central Station, of the directors of Big Four railroads.)

General A.W. Greely, polar explorer and Chief Signal Officer of the United States Army, is beaten unconscious at his home in Washington, D.C.

Nikola Tesla closes down his laboratory in Colorado Springs, Colorado, after seven months of experiments in the long-distance transmission of energy.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 51° F; Low temp. 30° F, Precip.: None.

U.S. President William McKinley adds a large section of land in the Arizona Territory to the existing Navajo Indian Reservation, extending the Navajo territory westward to the edge of the Colorado River. The area includes Tuba City, Arizona (Tó Naneesdizí) and Cameron, Arizona (Naʼníʼá Hasání). McKinley also places Alaska under military rule, creating the Department of Alaska within the War Department, citing increased migration to the territory. Colonel George M. Randall of the 8th U.S. Infantry is set to command the new department.

The first 27 immigrants from Okinawa arrive in Hawaii on the ship City of China, following transportation arranged by Kyuzo Toyama, and are set to begin work on a sugar plantation.

Marshal O. Waggoner, an attorney in Toledo, Ohio who had recently converted to Christianity, destroys his library of books "consisting of the writings of infidels." (It is reported that "Many of the volumes were exceedingly rare. There were a large number of manuscripts and first prints not to be found in any other library in America.")

Baltimore weather: High temp. 48° F; Low temp. 32° F, Precip.: None.

The home of New York World publisher (and future prize founder) Joseph Pulitzer is destroyed in a fire that kills a governess and a friend of the family. The fire breaks out at the home, located on 10 East 55th Street in New York City, at 7:30 in the morning.

Willard Crossroads is founded in the state of Virginia. (The land that contained this settlement is now part of Washington Dulles International Airport; nearly all traces of the settlement pre-1958 are gone, except for a stretch of Willard Road -- now Stonecroft Boulevard -- used as a service road, and three storage outbuildings between runways at the airport.)

Boxer Terry McGovern defeats George Dixon in a bout for the world featherweight championship, winning $10,000.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 32° F; Low temp. 24° F, Precip.: None.

United States Secretary of War Elihu Root announces in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that he will not accept the nomination to be William McKinley's running mate in 1900. (The spot became available after the death, in 1899, of Vice President Garret Hobart.)

Kentucky Governor William S. Taylor tells associates that he will not release his office, even if challenger William Goebel were to be ruled the winner of the recent state election.

Collector F.M. Davis of Chicago, Illinois, is arrested after bills representing $100,000 of Confederate money are found at his mail order business on Monroe Street.

The first through train from Cairo, Egypt, to Khartoum, Sudan, arrives in Khartoum.

The Deutschland, operated by the Hamburg America Line and promising to be the fastest passenger ship, is launched from the shipyards at Stettin, Germany (now Szczecin, Poland).

Baltimore weather: Light rain; High temp. 52° F; Low temp. 30° F, Precip.: Trace.

The New York Times reports that new cleaning machines have been placed in use at the Navy Department offices in Washington, D.C., with rubber tires and spreading brushes. The machines are operated by the women who formerly scrubbed the floor by hand.

The colonial government of British India extends the area for famine relief in the Central Provinces in response to reports of effects of a drought following the 1899 rainy season.

Baltimore weather: Rain; High temp. 41° F; Low temp. 30° F, Precip.: 0.85"

Henry Ford introduces his first commercial motor vehicle, a two-seat electric-powered delivery wagon, under the name of the five-month old Detroit Automobile Company (D.A.C.), which would produce eleven other models of cars before going bankrupt in November 1900, at the rate of two per day. "Every one of the 12 or so vehicles produced through late 1900 had its own unique set of problems," a biographer would write later, "causing rip ups, tear downs, and redos that resulted in extensive, and expensive, delays. Motor vehicles retailed to the public for $1,000 were in fact costing about $1,250 to build." (Rather than departing the business after the failure of the D.A.C., Ford would spend a year designing a new, gasoline-powered automobile, and launch the Ford Motor Company on November 30, 1901.)

Fuller Albright is born in Buffalo, New York. He becomes an endocrinologist who identifies two genetic illnesses, Albright's hereditary osteodystrophy and McCune–Albright syndrome. He made numerous contributions to his field, especially in the area of calcium metabolism. He died at age 69 on December 8, 1969 in Boston, Massacusetts.

Baltimore weather: Rain; High temp. 46° F; Low temp. 32° F, Precip.: 0.21"

The hospital at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore begins using a small square of adhesive plaster as a tag on a baby's back, between the shoulder blades, containing identifying information of the baby. "It holds on tightly until the time comes for the baby and its mother to leave the hospital, when the tag may be readily pulled off without causing the baby any pain" a spokesman says.

John Barrett, formerly the U.S. Ambassador to Siam (now Thailand), says in a speech at Lake Forest College in Lake Forest, Illinois, that the insurrection by Emilio Aguinaldo in the Philippines had been brought about by an anti-expansion speech made on January 9, 1899 by U.S. Senator George F. Hoar, a Republican from Massacusetts. The speech to the United States Senate had been cabled to Hong Kong at a cost of $4,000. "I was in the islands, and I know that many of the Filipinos were more friendly to the Americans than to Aguinaldo and his leaders until they were incited to war by such circulars as these" Barrett says. Senator Hoar denies the accusations.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 38° F; Low temp. 29° F, Precip.: None.

The opera Tosca, authored by Giacomo Puccini, is presented for the first time, premiering at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome, Italy. Soprano Hariclea Darclée sang in the role of Floria Tosca, and tenor Emilio De Marchi appeared as her lover, Mario Cavaradossi.

Baltimore weather: Light rain; High temp. 51° F; Low temp. 29° F, Precip.: Trace.

The two bids for the construction of the first New York City Subway are opened at the offices of the Rapid Transit Board at City Hall, and contractor John B. McDonald's bid of $35,000,000 is the winner, coming in at less than the $39,300,000 bid by Andrew Onderdonk.

June Ward Gayle is sworn in as a United States Representative from Kentucky. He had been elected to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Evan E. Settle, who had died two months earlier.

The gigantic London Hippodrome is opened by the Moss Empires theatrical production company at Leicester Square in London's West End, at Charing Cross Road, with a grand circus as its first feature.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 48° F; Low temp. 38° F, Precip.: None.

At the Capitol Hotel in Frankfort, Kentucky, former U.S. Congress member David Grant Colson shoots six people, killing three of them. Colson is arrested and charged with murder.

Edith Frank, the German-Dutch mother of Anne Frank, is born in Aachen, Germany. She died on January 6, 1945, at the Auschwitz concentration camp in Oswiecim, Poland.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 61° F; Low temp. 36° F, Precip.: None.

Brigham H. Roberts is refused a seat in the United States House of Representatives after an investigation showed that he had committed polygamy. He had married his first wife in 1878, a second wife in 1878, and a third in 1897. The vote of a committee was seven to two against seating him, with Congress members DeArmond and Littlefield arguing that he should be seated and then expelled. (On January 25, the full House votes 268–50 to remove Roberts from United States Congress.)

After Missouri Attorney General Edward Coke Crow had announced plans to seek an injunction against its completion, the Chicago Canal is opened in a hastily prepared ceremony. Governor John Riley Tanner of Illinois signs a permit at 10:15 am, and Colonel Isaac Taylor of the Canal Commission made a five-minute speech about the importance of connecting the Great Lakes with the Mississippi River. At 11:16 am, the dam between the canal and the Des Plaines River is lowered.

Jailer Alfred Henry of the Howell County, Missouri Sheriff's Office is beaten to death by two prisoners, who escape.

The superintendent of immigration in Toronto, Canada, reports that nearly 14,000 Americans, with a total worth of two million dollars, emigrated to Canada during 1899, and adds that "Kansas and Arkansas supplied the greater part of those who came."

Baltimore weather: Light rain; High temp. 39° F; Low temp. 32° F, Precip.: Trace.

The Delaware Supreme Court refuses to admit a prominent Philadelphia attorney, Carrie B. Kilgore, into the practice of law in that state. Although there is no direct ban against female attorneys in Delaware, Kilgore is indirectly barred by the state's provision that an attorney has to be "eligible to vote" in an election.

Author L. Frank Baum and illustrator W. W. Denslow joint copyright their new book, The Land of Oz, after receiving an advance of $500 apiece from the George M. Hill Company. The Hill company had rejected their original title, The Emerald City and (on November 17, 1899) had given the upcoming publication the working title of From Kansas to Fairyland, before allowing the creators to use the Oz name in the title. (The book is released on May 17, 1900, under the title The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.)

The Weyerhauser Timber Company is incorporated in Tacoma, Washington.

Baltimore weather: Light rain; High temp. 48° F; Low temp. 38° F, Precip.: 0.06"

In North Brookfield, Massachusetts, catcher Marty Bergen of the Boston Beaneaters baseball team murders his wife, his six-year-old daughter and his three-year-old son, with an axe, then kills himself by slitting his throat. Bergen had been one of the best catchers in the National League and had been a major factor in Boston's pennant wins in 1897 and 1898, but had suffered from emotional problems and had become increasingly erratic after the death of his son in April 1899; he apparently became violent after learning that he was going to be traded to the New York Giants during the offseason.

At Alaminos, Laguna in the Philippines, Filipino guerrillas capture a train carrying American soldiers.

William V. Houston is born in Mount Gilead, Ohio. He becomes a physicist, author of Principles of Quantum Mechanics (McGraw-Hill, 1951) and Principles of Mathematical Physics (McGraw-Hill, 1954), and the second President of Rice University in Houston, Texas, from 1946 to 1961. He died at age 68 on August 22, 1968 in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Baltimore weather: Light rain; High temp. 52° F; Low temp. 46° F, Precip.: 0.03"

George and Edward Meeks, murderers of Leopold Edlinger, are taken from Bates County Jail in Fort Scott, Kansas, and lynched by a mob of 500.

At the request of Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the director of the German Imperial Naval Office, Admiral Otto von Diederichs presents contingency plans for a naval blockade and an armed invasion of the United States. The recommendation of Diederichs is "Die Erwerbung werthvoller Küstenstadte der Neuenglandstaaten wäre das wirksamste mittel, den frieden zu erzwingen" ("The acquisition of valuable coastal towns of New England states would be the most effective medium to enforce peace.") He also advises that the German naval fleet would need to be doubled, to 38 line ships, 12 large cruisers and 32 small cruisers.

Baltimore weather: Rain; High temp. 60° F; Low temp. 45° F, Precip.: 0.45"

Willard Erastus Christianson, a/k/a Matt Warner, a former member of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch gang and a legendary gunfighter, is released from jail after being pardoned by Utah's Governor. After his release, he "dedicated the rest of his life to the straight and narrow" and would later be elected as a justice of the peace and would serve as a deputy sheriff in Carbon County, Utah.

Mrs. Annie Ellsworth Smith dies at age 73. She was the original operator on the Baltimore–Washington telegraph line. As press reports noted the next day, "It was Mrs. Smith who, on May 24, 1844, when she was a girl of seventeen, sent the famous first telegraphic message, 'What hath God wrought?' from the United States Supreme Courtroom in Washington, D.C., to Baltimore."

David Edward Hughes dies at age 68 in London, England. He was a British-American inventor who invented the first practical electric microphone in 1878. He was born on May 16, 1831, in England.

Baltimore weather: Rain; High temp. 48° F; Low temp. 35° F, Precip.: 0.14"

The U.S. Library of Congress officially opens its newspaper reading room, the largest in the world at this time.

Henry Allen Hazen, the chief forecaster for the United States Weather Bureau (now the National Weather Service), is fatally injured when his bicycle collides with a pedestrian at the corner of 16th and M streets in Washington, D.C. (He died the following day from a skull fracture. Hazen is credited with inventing the sling psychrometer, an improved thermometer shelter, detailed barometric tables, and doing extensive research on thunderstorms.)

Night Captain William C. Rooney of the Colorado Department of Corrections is stabbed to death during a prison escape. (The killer is subsequently lynched.)

Deputy Constable George W. McCammon, who had been deputized the previous day by a Pennsylvania State Constable in Washington County, Pennsylvania to guard a prisoner, is shot and killed while attempting to arrest a man who had threatened to free the prisoner.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 56° F; Low temp. 34° F, Precip.: None.

Henry Allen Hazen, the chief forecaster for the United States Weather Bureau, dies at age 51 in Washington, D.C., of a skull fracture suffered in a bicycle accident the previous day. He was born on January 12, 1849, in Sirur, India, of American parents who were serving as missionaries in India.

Thirty thousand Austrian miners go on strike, joining 40,000 who had already walked out. The miners seek guarantees of an eight-hour day and higher wages.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 62° F; Low temp. 36° F, Precip.: None.

During the Boer Wars in South Africa, at the Battle of Spion Kop, the 8,000 Boer troops under the command of General Louis Botha, defeat a 25,000 man British contingent, led by Sir Charles Warren. General Redvers Buller cables to London that "Gen. Warren's garrison, I am sorry to say, I find this morning, had in the night abandoned Spion Kop." Because the slope below Spion Kop is too steep, artillery could not be taken up the hill by either side, so the battle is waged entirely by riflemen. The British reportedly have 243 dead and 1,250 wounded, along with about 300 men captured by the Boers, but the Boers' victory comes at a cost of 335 total casualties, including 68 killed and 267 wounded.

At a closed session in Beijing, China, a council of "Grand Councillors, Grand Secretaries and Presidents of the Board" is convened, and agrees that the Guangxu Emperor should abdicate. P'u Ch'un, age 14, is announced as heir apparent to the throne.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 45° F; Low temp. 34° F, Precip.: None.

To combat an outbreak of bubonic plague, health authorities arrange the burning of a condemned home in Honolulu, Hawaii. The fire gets out of control and destroys a large portion of the city in its Chinatown section, leaving 6,000 people homeless.

Baltimore weather: Rain; High temp. 46° F; Low temp. 37° F, Precip.: 0.12"

German Admiral Hubert von Rebeur-Paschwitz sends a lengthy memorandum to Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz on the proposed German invasion of the United States, noting that "An occupation of the nominal capital, Washington, would accomplish nothing, since there is no important commerce nor industry there." He recommends instead that the German fleet invade the "Nordosten gelegenen Handels- und Industriecentren" ("the northeastern trade and industry centers") and recommended a "Stützpunkt" (base of operations) at Provincetown, Massachusetts.

Baltimore weather: Light rain; High temp. 40° F; Low temp. 19° F, Precip.: Trace.

Despite U.S. President William McKinley's executive order that the new American territory be called "Puerto Rico", a Senate Committee votes unanimously to refer to the island legally as "Porto Rico." In addition, the U.S. Treasurer is authorized to retire the Puerto Rican money in favor of U.S. coinage, at the rate of 60 cents per peso.

In Peiping (now Beijing), diplomats for the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Germany and Italy send notes to the Chinese Foreign Ministry (the Zongli Yamen) requesting an imperial decree to order the suppression of the Boxers and the Big Swords Society in Shandong and Zhili.

Hyman G. Rickover is born in Maków Mazowiecki, Congress Poland. He becomes an admiral in the U.S. Navy. He directed the original development of naval nuclear propulsion and controlled its operations for three decades as director of the U.S. Naval Reactors office. In addition, he oversaw the development of the Shippingport Atomic Power Station, the world's first commercial pressurized water reactor used for generating electricity. Rickover is also one of four people who have been awarded two Congressional Gold Medals. He died at age 86 on July 8, 1986 in Arlington, Virginia.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 33° F; Low temp. 19° F, Precip.: None.

In Baltimore, Police Marshal Samuel T. Hamilton enforces Maryland's 177-year-old blue law, Article XXVII, section 247, which provides that "No person shall work or do any bodily labor on the Lord's Day." As the day is a Sunday, every store in the city is ordered closed, including businesses that had earlier arranged with the city to be open on Sundays. The New York Times reports that "every cigar store, corner grocery, bakery and the like were closed up tight" and that the police were ordered to take the names of violators for future prosecution.

Baltimore weather:Snow (1.5"); High temp. 36° F; Low temp. 27° F, Precip.: 0.13" (Liquid).

The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs is organized in Philadelphia, PA, with representatives from Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee and St. Louis. An eighth club is expected to be placed in New York City.  (During its first season, it would build its playing rosters by acquiring the minor Western League, which would play in 1900 as the American League after moving its Saint Paul, Grand Rapids and Kansas City franchises to Chicago, Cleveland and Washington, D.C.

Baltimore weather: Snow (a trace) and light rain; High temp. 34° F; Low temp. 15° F, Precip.: 0.01" (liquid).

William Goebel, who had run for Governor of Kentucky against William S. Taylor and who had taken a court challenge over the results, is found to be the winner of the recent state election. As he and his bodyguards, Colonel Jack Chinn and Warden E. P. Lillard of the state penitentiary, walk to the Kentucky Senate chamber, he is hit by gunfire coming from the neighboring state office building. Goebel attempted to draw his own revolver but collapses on the pavement. Chinn said later that Goebel told him, "They have got me this time. I guess they have killed me." It is determined that the shots were from a .38 caliber rifle.

Deputy Sheriff William S. Wright of the Letcher County, Kentucky Sheriff's Office is shot and killed by two brothers whom he was attempting to arrest and whose family was involved in a feud with Wright's family. (Wright's son, also named William, would be shot and killed as a result of the same feud on April 11, 1901, also while serving with the Letcher County Sheriff's Office.)

Baltimore weather: High temp. 36° F; Low temp. 12° F, Precip.: None.

On his deathbed, William Goebel is sworn in as Governor of Kentucky at 8:55 pm. Chief Justice J.H. Hazelrigg also swears in J. C. W. Beckham as lieutenant governor. Meanwhile, William R. Taylor continues to assert that he is Governor, and issues an order moving the state legislature to meet in London, Kentucky.

John Sholto Douglas, the Marquess of Queensberry, dies at age 55 in London, England. He had successfully pushed for the 1867 adoption of rules for boxing that still apply and that bear his name, although they are actually authored by John Graham Chambers. He was born on July 20, 1844 in Florence, Italy.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 32° F; Low temp. 10° F, Precip.: None.

The total precipitation for January 1900 in Baltimore is 2.11 inches, including melted snow and ice.

The Eastman Kodak Company begins shipping its "Brownie" box camera to stores.  It costs $1.00 and brings photography to the average person.  Over the next 20 months, about 245,000 Brownie cameras are sold. (In October 1901, Eastman Kodak introduces its next version, the No. 1 Brownie.)

Baltimore weather: High temp. 19° F; Low temp. 8° F; Precip.: None.

A cabinet meeting is convened by U.S. President William McKinley about election violence in Kentucky. William S. Taylor, initially declared the winner of the recent state election, had petitioned the President to be recognized as the Governor of Kentucky. Meanwhile, Taylor's Democratic opponent, William Goebel, had been declared the winner of the election and had been administered the oath of office on his deathbed. United States Attorney General John W. Griggs and Secretary of War Elihu Root agree with McKinley that there is no legal basis for Washington, D.C. to become involved in the matter. A statement is issued that "The President has decided that no case has yet arisen to justify the intervention of the National Government in Kentucky, and has so informed the Governor."

Baltimore weather: High temp. 34° F; Low temp. 8° F; Precip.: None.

William Goebel, Governor of Kentucky since January 31, dies at 6:44 pm at the Capitol Hotel in Frankfort, Kentucky. He was 44 years of age. Lieutenant Governor J. C. W. Beckham is sworn in an hour later as the 35th Governor of Kentucky. At the same time, William S. Taylor continues to assert that he is the lawfully elected Governor of Kentucky as well. (William Goebel was born on January 4, 1856, in Sullivan County, PA.)

Brigham H. Roberts, would-be U.S. Representative from Utah, is arrested in Salt Lake City for unlawful cohabitation, and released on his own recognizance. The charge arises from Roberts' practice of polygamy.

Dumbell's Banking Company, holder of most of the cash deposits on the Isle of Man, fails, leaving most of the British island's businesses and residents without money.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 43° F; Low temp. 21° F; Precip.: None.

In Buenos Aires, Argentina, a heat wave continues into its second day. The New York Times reports that "There were 219 cases of sunstroke here [today], of which 124 cases were fatal. The thermometer [yesterday, February 3] registered 120 degrees [F] in the shade, with 93 of 120 cases fatal."

A fire in St. Louis, Missouri, causes losses of more than $1 million and kills fireman Charles Mebus (or Mappes), who dies after a wall falls upon him. The fire starts in the Penny & Gentles dry goods store on Broadway and Franklin, then spreads along both streets for three blocks.
   
Jacques Prévert, French poet and screenwriter, is born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France.  He was known for his screenplays including Children of Paradise and song lyrics including "Autumn Leaves." He died at age 77 on April 11, 1977, in Omonville-la-Petite, La Hague, France.

Baltimore weather: Rain; High temp. 48° F; Low temp. 30° F; Precip.: 0.53"

At the United States Department of State building in Washington, D.C., State Secretary John Hay and British Ambassador to the United States Lord Pauncefote sign a treaty to amend the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty of 1850, in order to permit construction of the proposed Nicaragua Canal. The amendment (not to be confused with the Hay–Pauncefote Treaty of 1901) is then transmitted by the President to the United States Senate. (A bill relating to the Nicaragua Canal would be approved by the House on May 2, 1900, but fail in the Senate.)

The United States Senate unanimously ratifies the 1899 convention that created the International Arbitration Convention at The Hague.

In New Orleans, Louisiana, the Republican state convention endorses William McKinley for president, Cornelius Newton Bliss for vice-president, and Eugene S. Reems for Governor of Louisiana. "The convention was unique in the history of the State", reports The New York Times, adding "A majority of the delegates were white men."

At a conference in the Galt House in Louisville, Kentucky, Republican and Democratic party leaders agree that Republican Governor William S. Taylor and Lieutenant Governor John Marshall would defer to the Kentucky Legislature to decide whether Taylor or J. C. W. Beckham, should be Governor of Kentucky. The "peace agreement" averts further violence following the state election.

Adlai Stevenson II is born in Los Angeles, California. He was a politician, Democratic candidate for the 1952 and 1956 presidential elections, 31st Governor of Illinois, and 5th U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. He died at age 65 on July 14, 1965 in London, England.

Baltimore weather: Rain; High temp. 44° F; Low temp. 34° F; Precip.: 0.59"

U.S. President William McKinley appoints Judge William Howard Taft of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to be the president of the newly created Philippine Commission. (Taft, who would sail for the Philippines on March 1, 1900, would oversee a transition from military government to a civil rule with himself as Governor-General. Taft's successor on the bench would be Judge Henry Franklin Severens.)

City Marshal Marion Thomas of the Empire City, Kansas Marshal's Office is shot and killed while attempting to arrest an intoxicated man.

Baltimore weather: Light rain; High temp. 52° F; Low temp. 32° F; Precip.: Trace.

After a 13-day special session, the California State Legislature votes for Thomas R. Bard to become United States Senator, filling the seat which had been vacant since March 4, 1899. After the term of Stephen M. White had expired, the California State Senate had failed to fill the seat during its regular 1899 session. During 1899, four states (California, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Utah) had only one United States Senator apiece.

The Empress Dowager Cixi of China issues an edict abolishing the teaching of the "new, depraved and erroneous subjects of the Western schools" and providing that teachers who violated the rule would be punished. In addition, examinations for official rank would be revised to remove Western influences and to return to the teachings of Confucius.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 47° F; Low temp. 36° F; Precip.: None.

In the Midwestern U.S., warm weather gives way to a blizzard in the space of less than a day. "From a weather standpoint Feb. 8 was one of the most remarkable in the history of the local meteorology office," wrote one observer. In Chicago, Illinois, the temperature was 62 degrees F at 7:00 am, and fell to 10 degrees F by 11:00 pm. The drop of 52 degrees during the day sets a new record.

By a vote of 26 to 15, the State of Jersey first permit the use of the English language in its parliamentary debates. Though the Jersey island, located off of the coast of Normandy, had been a British crown dependency since the 13th century, its local government continued to use the French language in all proceedings.

Baltimore weather: Rain; High temp. 52° F; Low temp. 39° F; Precip.: 0.33"

Dwight F. Davis, president of the United States National Lawn Tennis Association (USNLTA), announces in Boston, MA, that he would donate a silver bowl to the nation that won the international tennis championship. (The United Kingdom and the United States would compete in August for what has been known, ever since, as the Davis Cup. The trophy is manufactured by the William B. Durgin Company, and accepted by the USNLTA on February 21, 1900.)

The Hershey (chocolate) bar is introduced on this date, according to some sources.

Baltimore weather: Light rain; High temp. 55° F; Low temp. 36° F; Precip.: Trace.

The Baltimore Morning Herald newspaper publishes its first edition. (It publishes under that name until August 30, 1904.)

The New York Times reports that over 80,000 persons are preparing to move from Utah to the Bighorn Basin in northern Wyoming, where 200,000 acres have been set aside by the state under the Carey Act.

New York aristocrat Roland B. Molineux is convicted of the December 1899 murder, by mercury cyanide poison, of Mrs. Katherine J. Adams, and sentenced to death. A jury concludes that Molineux had anonymously mailed a poisoned bottle of Bromo Seltzer to an athletic club rival, Henry Cornish, on December 21, 1899. Cornish's aunt, Mrs. Katherine B. Adams, was poisoned instead and died on December 27. (The sentence would later be reversed by the New Yiork Court of Appeals, and Molineux would be acquitted in his 1902 trial. He died in 1917.)

Baltimore weather: High temp. 39° F; Low temp. 31° F; Precip.: None.

In Port Arthur, Texas, James Sweeney is lynched by a mob at 1:00 am, only hours after being acquitted of the bayonet murder of Charles Crumbach. Tried in Beaumont, Sweeney had returned by train to Port Arthur. "Word had been telegraphed ahead that he was coming, and a mob met him at the station, marched him up town, and strung him up to a telegraph pole without ceremony. In the first attempt the rope broke. The second attempt was made successful by tying Sweeney's legs so that his feet could not touch the ground, and drawing the rope taut."

After four years, Vladimir Lenin is released from his exile to the Siberian village of Shushenskoye. (He and his wife travel by horseback for 320 kilometers to Ufa and arrive there on February 18, 1900.)

Baltimore weather: High temp. 40° F; Low temp. 33° F; Precip.: None.

New York Governor Theodore Roosevelt releases a statement to the public. "In view of the continued statements in the press that I may be urged as a candidate for vice president, and in view of the many letters that reach me advising me for and against such a course, it is proper for me to state definitely that under no circumstances could I or would I accept the nomination for the vice presidency." He adds, "And I am happy to state that Senator Platt cordially acquiesces in my views in the matter." (Roosevelt later accepts the nomination to be U.S. President William McKinley's running mate in the upcoming presidential election, and becomes the 26th President of the United States upon McKinley's death the following year.)

Baltimore weather: Rain; High temp. 45° F; Low temp. 36° F; Precip.: 0.46"

In New York, NY, U.S. Representative Charles A. Chickering is killed after falling from his bedroom window on the fourth floor of the Grand Union Hotel at 41st Street and Park Avenue. "While it may have been an accident or the result of walking in his sleep, the facts gathered indicated that the Congressman plunged head first from a window on the fourth floor of the Grand Union Hotel and was instantly killed," noted The New York Times, adding that "The body was attired in a night robe, indicating that the congressman had retired."

Baltimore weather: Rain; High temp. 65° F; Low temp. 37° F; Precip.: 0.99"

U.S. Army General Frederick Funston is awarded the Medal of Honor for gallantry in 1899 at Luzon in the Philippines.

Policeman Lowell Pew of the Louisiana, Missouri Police Department is shot and killed by one of three tramps who were breaking into a railroad car. (Two of the suspects escape from jail on September 27, 1900, and mortally wound Patrolman Raphael A. Girard of the Hannibal, Missouri, Police Department on October 7, 1900.)

In a turning point for the Second Boer War, British troops invade the Orange Free State in Africa, crossing inside the Boer frontier for the first time since the war began. The invasion force consists of 40,000 infantry and 7,000 cavalry under the command of Lord Roberts.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 45° F; Low temp. 33° F; Precip.: None.

In the Second Boer War, the Siege of Kimberley (a city in southern Africa) is lifted, four months after the British inhabitants defended an attack by the Boers. (The attack had begun on October 12, 1899. General John French led troops to liberate the city.)

In Paris, France, Albert Decrais, the Minister of the Colonies receives a telegram from the Governor of the French Congo, reporting that Rabih az-Zubayr, the principal chieftain and warlord of central Sudan, had been defeated in battle. "He was formerly a slave of Zobohr Pasha ... but revolted and formed a kingdom of his own in Central Africa", noted The New York Times, adding "His career of victory gained for him the name of the 'African Napoleon'. The French have been fighting his power for years, and to-day's dispatch announces his overthrow." Rabih's fortress at Kouno was defended by 12,000 men with 2,500 rifles and 3 cannon. Forty-three Senegalese sharpshooters were killed and four Europeans, including Captain Robilor.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 58° F; Low temp. 37° F; Precip.: None.

In Washington, D.C., British Ambassador Lord Pauncefote and German Ambassador Baron Theodor von Holleben meet with Secretary John Hay at the State Department, and exchange ratifications of the Samoan treaty signed by all three nations. "Secretary Hay retained for the United States the copy of the treaty which was ratified by the United States Senate. He handed to Lord Pauncefote and to Herr von Holleben copies of the treaty bearing the signatures of the President and himself," reported The New York Times. Similar proceedings take place in London (England) and in Berlin (Germany) with the foreign ministers and ambassadors, completing the Tripartite Convention of 1899. Under the treaty, the Samoan Islands are divided between the United States (as American Samoa) and Germany (later German Samoa).

Chung Sai Yat Po (China Western Daily News), the first, and most popular, daily Chinese language newspaper in the United States, begins publication. It is based in San Francisco, California. and is founded by editor Ng Poon Chew. (It continues until 1951.)

Baltimore weather: Snow (4"); High temp. 40° F; Low temp. 24° F; Precip.: 0.10" (liquid).

U.S. Senator William A. Clark of Montana testifies for four hours before the Senate Committee on Elections. Clark, who had been elected by the Montana Senate, said that he had spent $115,000 but that none of it was used illegally. (Following an investigation, he is refused a seat in the United States Senate.)

Patrolman Newton Stewart of the El Paso Police Department in Texas, a United States Army veteran of the Spanish–American War, is shot and killed by a group of soldiers trying to break two other soldiers out of jail.

Agoli-agbo, the last nominal King of Dahomey (now Benin), is deposed after permission is given by the French government. The monarch is sent into exile and France annexes the African state.

Baltimore weather: Snow (6"); High temp. 26° F; Low temp. 20° F; Precip.: 0.26" (liquid).

In the Second Boer War, in a day remembered afterward as "Bloody Sunday," British imperial forces suffer their worst single day losses in the war. Lord Kitchener orders a charge downhill toward the Boer trenches at Paardeberg, Orange Free State, and there were 1,100 casualties, including 280 deaths.

At The Crystal Palace at Sydenham near London, England, two men are killed when a pair of elephants run amok during an afternoon circus. One elephant is captured on the property after causing great damage, while the other one runs through the suburb of Beckenham and is not recaptured until late evening.

Baltimore weather: Snow (2"); High temp. 24° F; Low temp. 13° F; Precip.: 0.04" (liquid).

The Samoan island of Tutuila, "and all other islands of the group east of one hundred and seventy-one degrees west of Greenwich" are placed under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of the Navy, by U.S. President William McKinley's General Order No. 540, establishing a naval station in the South Pacific. (Now American Samoa, the area remains a United States territory.)

The New York Times publishes the report of Dr. J. M. Selfridge of Oakland, California, who believes that a cancerous tumor on his face has been cured by X-ray radiation, and that other patients at the Fabiola Hospital had been successfully treated as well. A mask of thin sheets of lead was placed over the face except for an aperture over the cancer itself. "The beneficial results were noted at once, and since then the cancer began to dry up. Now it is entirely healed, only a scar remaining to show where the sore was."

Deputy Sheriff Sam Payne of the McDowell County, West Virginia Sheriff's Department is shot and mortally wounded by a wanted man he and his brother were attempting to arrest. (Payne would die of his wound on February 21. The suspect was never caught.)

Baltimore weather: High temp. 28° F; Low temp. 14° F; Precip.: None.

Washakie dies at age 91 or 92 in Fort Washakie, New York. He was a prominent leader of the Shoshone people during the mid-19th century. He was first mentioned in 1840 in the written record of the American fur trapper, Osborne Russell. In 1851, at the urging of trapper Jim Bridger, Washakie led a band of Shoshones to the council meetings of the Treaty of Fort Laramie. He was born in 1808 in the Bitterroot Valley in what is now southwestern Montana.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 36° F; Low temp. 18° F; Precip.: None.

The contract for the New York City Subway is signed between the City of New York and John B. MacDonald of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company. (McDonald's company would build the subway at a cost of $35,000,000 and would have the right to operate the system for 50 years, with an option to renew for another 25 years.)

Future film director Cecil B. DeMille makes his Broadway directing debut at the Garden Theater, Manhattan, New York City, in a production of Hearts Art Trumps.

Baltimore weather: Rain; High temp. 44° F; Low temp. 26° F; Precip.: 0.40"

In a meeting at the Raleigh Hotel in Washington, D.C., the national committee of the Democratic Party votes 40–9 to hold its convention in Kansas City, Missouri. The city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, had also made a bid to host the gathering. The committee also confirmed the date for the convention to open on the Fourth of July, 1900.

The Knights of Columbus creates the "Fourth Degree," with the first persons initiated in New York, NY.

Baltimore weather: Rain; High temp. 57° F; Low temp. 41° F; Precip.: 0.54"

Ernest Dowson dies at age 32 in London, England. He was an English poet, novelist, and short-story writer, often associated with the Decadent movement. He was born on August 2, 1867, also in London, England.

Senora Rafaela Ybarra de Vilallonga dies at age 57 at her home in Bilbao, Spain. She used her wealth to found the Holy Family Hospice and the Congregacion de los Santos Angeles Custodios (Sisters of the Holy Guardian Angels). She was born on January 16, 1843, also in Bilbao. (She would be beatified by Pope John Paul II on September 30, 1984.)

Baltimore weather: Light rain; High temp. 45° F; Low temp. 36° F; Precip.: 0.01 inch.

Deputy City Marshal Levi Neal of the Bryan, Texas Police Department, an African-American, is shot and killed by a man he had arrested and was escorting to jail. (Neal had been present on two previous occasions when fellow Bryan marshals were killed in the line of duty.)

Poet Richard Hovey dies at age 35 at a New York City hospital, following minor abdominal surgery. Wrote one biographer, "Few poets of the younger generation gave such promise as Hovey, and at the time of his death the outlook seemed brightest." He was born on May 4, 1864 in Normal, Illinois.

Baltimore weather: Rain with a trace of snow; High temp. 55° F; Low temp. 8° F; Precip.: 0.15" (liquid).

More than 150 bystanders are injured in the Paris suburb of Saint-Ouen, France, while watching a fire at a warehouse block. Six warehouses, including several that had vats of alcohol, burn down in a fire that starts at 8:00 in the morning. By 4:00 pm, the flames reach the alcohol and the first of several explosions rains debris upon the crowd.

Baltimore weather: Snow (one inch); High temp. 19° F; Low temp. 8° F; Precip.: 0.25" (liquid).

The first Harvard vs. Yale ice hockey game is played in New York, with Yale winning 4–0.

Rear Admiral Otto von Diederichs meets with Kaiser Wilhelm to outline, for the first time, contingency plans for a war with the United States. His proposal is for an all-out offensive on the east coast. In the proposal, the armored frigates SMS König Wilhelm, SMS Friedrich Carl, SMS Preussen and SMS Friedrich der Grosse would lead an attack of Siegried-class and Baden class ships against the Northeastern United States during the summer, after arriving at the West Indies in the winter.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 25° F; Low temp. 15° F; Precip.: None.

At the Congregational Memorial Hall on Farringdon Road in London, England, 120 persons gather to form the "Labour Representation Committee" (which would later become the Labour Party), with Ramsay MacDonald as its first secretary. (The Labour Committee places two candidates in British Parliament in 1900, including Keir Hardie. In 1924, MacDonald becomes the first Labour prime minister. The party would attain a majority in Parliament in 1945.)

In the Second Boer War, at Paardeberg in South Africa, General Piet Cronjé and 3,000 Boer troops unconditionally surrender to British General Frederick Roberts, commander of British forces in South Africa. Roberts receives General Cronje at 7:00 in the morning, and grants a request for safe passage for Cronje and his family to Cape Town.

In London, England, the Daily Mail, the Daily News and the Morning Post publish an interview with E.S. Grogan, who reported that in his exploration of Africa, he had found "enormous lava streams, forming a veritable sea, forty miles by sixty, and a hundred feet deep", near Lake Tanganyika, and that he had encountered the Balekas, a 3,000 member tribe of cannibals.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 26° F; Low temp. 9° F; Precip.: None.

In the Second Boer War, after a siege of four months, the British fortress of Ladysmith in South Africa is liberated. (General Redvers Buller's dispatch the next morning is "General Dundonald, with the Natal carbineers and a composite regiment, entered Ladysmith last night. The country between me and Ladysmith is reported clear of the enemy. I am moving on Nelthorpe." On receipt of the cable, there was celebration across the British Empire. An account of the time noted that "London went literally mad with joy, and throughout England the scenes witnessed have no parallel in the memories of this generation." Lieutenant-General George White, the Natal colony commander who had led the defence of the frontier town, addressed the residents that evening, saying "Thank God we kept the flag flying." His voice breaking, he added, "It cut me to the heart ... to reduce your rations as I did." After an uncomfortable pause, he added, "I promise you, though, that I'll never do it again.")

Baltimore weather: Snow flurries; High temp. 43° F; Low temp. 18° F; Precip.: Trace (liquid).

The total precipitation for February 1900 in Baltimore is 5.13 inches, including melted snow and ice.

Calendar clocks lose one day and have to be reset. Calendar clocks, invented in 1854, are designed for a four-year cycle in which every fourth year is a leap year.  However, although 1896 was a leap year, 1900 is not a leap year (nor are any other "century years" that are not evenly divisible by 400, such as 1700 or 1800).  The next leap year is 1904.

The German flag is formally hoisted at Apia, the capital of Samoa, and Wilhelm Solf becomes the colony's first governor. Chief Mata'afa, who had fought against the Germans, and Chief Tamasese, who had been the puppet ruler during German occupation, reconcile. Mata'afa is named as the paramount chief of the western Samoa colony, although Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm is designated as the Paramount King.

The United Kingdom and its subjects celebrate across the world when the news arrives of the relief of the South African fortress Ladysmith. "London went literally mad with joy, and throughout England the scenes witnessed have no parallel in the memories of this generation."

Baltimore weather: Rain; High temp. 52° F; Low temp. 33° F; Precip.: 0.90"

The University of Kansas basketball team suffers its worst loss of all time. In Lincoln, Nebraska, the team falls to the University of Nebraska 48–8. "Coach Naismith, who is the originator of the game of basket ball, came up from Lawrence yesterday afternoon and brought a team that represents fine physical specimens of manhood," wrote a local paper, "but they were slow in following the ball. They complained of the slickness of the floor ...".

The first high school basketball game in Illinois is played, at Elgin, Illinois. Englewood High School of Chicago defeats Elgin 16–12.

Kurt Weill, a German-American composer, is born in in Dessau, Germany. He died at age 50 of a heart attack on April 3, 1950, in New York, NY.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 41° F; Low temp. 31° F; Precip.: None.

In New York, NY, a drunken spectator twice approaches the carriage carrying U.S. President William McKinley and Secretary George B. Cortelyou, attempting to open the vehicle's door in an attempt to shake hands with the President. (NYPD Commissioner Michael C. Murphy recalls the incident after McKinley's assassination in Buffalo, New York in 1901.)

In Cleveland, Ohio, the owners of baseball's National League meet with representatives of the newly organized American League to avert a crisis over player signings. In return for the National League dropping objections to AL franchises in Cleveland and Chicago, the former Western League would operate as a minor circuit for 1900, with its players subject to being called up by the National League. The AL's eight teams for the 1900 season would be the Buffalo Bisons, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Blues, Detroit Tigers, Indianapolis Indians, Kansas City Blues, Milwaukee Brewers, and Minneapolis Millers.

89-year-old Sheriff James T. Cooley of the Chilton County, Alabama Sheriff's Office is beaten to death by an insane jail prisoner who had killed a fellow prisoner the previous night.

Edna Best is born in Hove, England. She was a British stage and film actress who appeared on early television in 1938. She died at age 74 on September 18, 1974 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Ruby Dandridge is born in Wichita, Kansas. She was an African-American film and radio actress. She died at age 87 on October 17, 1987 in Los Angeles, CA.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 46° F; Low temp. 31° F; Precip.: None.

The first railway service in Nigeria is inaugurated with the opening of a line between Lagos and Ibadan. Built by the British colonial government, the railroad track extends for 122 and a half miles and costs 1 million pounds.

Herbert Biberman is born in Philadelphia, PA. He was a screenwriter and film director, one of the Hollywood Ten blacklisted in the 1950s. He died at age 71 on June 30, 1971 in New York, NY.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 53° F; Low temp. 31° F; Precip.: None.

The Hall of Fame for Great Americans, the inspiration for many Halls of Fame in the years that followed, is founded with the help of a $250,000 donation by Helen Miller Shepard, to commemorate persons deemed by a committee of 100 to have made great contributions to the United States. In addition to still-famous individuals like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Benjamin Franklin, the first group of enshrinees includes Supreme Court justice Joseph Story, Congressman Horace Mann, and botanist Asa Gray.

Two U.S. Navy cruisers, the USS Detroit and the USS Marblehead, are sent to Central America to protect American interests in a dispute between Nicaragua and Costa Rica. The United States Department of War sends the ships at the request of the American envoy to Costa Rica.

Baltimore weather: Light rain; High temp. 50° F; Low temp. 36° F; Precip.: Trace.

Forty-six coal miners are killed by an explosion at the Red Ash Mine at Fayette County, West Virginia. The explosion is so strong that it piles railroad coal cars in heaps at the mine's entrance.

The United States Senate votes 44 to 28 to pass the Gold Standard Act.

Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler dies at age 65 in Stuttgart, Germany. He was a German engineer, industrial designer and industrialist. He was a pioneer of internal-combustion engines and automobile development. He invented the high-speed liquid petroleum-fueled engine. He was born on March 17, 1834 in Schorndorf in what is now Germany. The German company Daimler AG is named for him; the company is commonly known as Mercedes-Benz.

Baltimore weather: Light rain; High temp. 63° F; Low temp. 35° F; Precip.: 0.21"

The first withdrawal of American troops from the Philippines is ordered by U.S. President William McKinley to General Elwell Stephen Otis.

The Montreal Shamrocks, holders of the Stanley Cup since 1899, retain the trophy after defeating the Halifax Crescents 11–0 in the second game of a best of three series.

A new era in transportation safety begins on reports of the first successful transmission of wireless signals from a passenger ship to a distant receiver. The German steamer SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, carrying 1,500 passengers, transmits from on ship to Borkum, fifty miles away in Germany.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 61° F; Low temp. 35° F; Precip.: None.

Gaston A. Robbins is removed from the U.S. House of Representatives after serving since March 4, 1899. (Election results initially indicate that he defeated William F. Aldrich in the 1898 election for U.S. Representative for Alabama's 4th congressional district. However, further inspection determines that Aldrich actually won the election. Aldrich is sworn in on March 13, 1900.)

Residents of London, England, celebrate as Queen Victoria makes a rare visit to the city in celebration of the British victory at Ladysmith, South Africa.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 36° F; Low temp. 30° F; Precip.: None.

In Indianapolis, Indiana, the Social Democratic Party of America nominates Eugene V. Debs for president and Job Harriman for Vice President. (Debs, in his first run for the presidency, would pick up 0.6% of the popular vote in the November presidential election, and run four more times after that: 1904, 1908, 1912 and 1920.)

Howard H. Aiken is born in Hoboken, New Jersey. (Some sources say he was born on March 8.) He was a physicist and computing pioneer, and the primary designer of the first Harvard Mark I computer that was installed at Harvard University in February 1944. He died at age 73 on March 14, 1973 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Baltimore weather: Light rain; High temp. 52° F; Low temp. 30° F; Precip.: 0.01"

In Springfield, Illinois, the remains of Abraham Lincoln and his family are removed so that renovations of his tomb can be made. (Held in a vault for more than a year, the remains are returned to the tomb, without public ceremony, on April 24, 1901.)

After escaping from Frankfort, Kentucky, the Kentucky Secretary of State, Caleb Powers, is arrested in Lexington, Kentucky, for conspiracy in the murder of Kentucky Governor William Goebel. Powers and State Guard Captain Davis had put on uniforms and escaped on a train. (Powers serves eight years in prison, but is pardoned in 1908 and later serves as a U.S. Representative from 1911 to 1919. He died at age 63 in Baltimore on July 25, 1932.)

Violet Brown is born Violet Mosse in Dwanvale, Trelawny, British Jamaica. She would become the oldest verified living person in the world for five months, following the death of Emma Morano on April 15, 2017, until Violet's own death on September 15, 2017, at the age of 117 years, 189 days.

Baltimore weather: Light rain; High temp. 59° F; Low temp. 38° F; Precip.: 0.01"

Religious broadcasting is launched in Elkhart, Indiana, as the Reverend E.H. Gwynne of the First Presbyterian Church, begins preaching his sermons by wireless technology. A transmitter, designed by inventors from the Home Telephone Company for the benefit of a crippled parishioner, is placed on the pulpit, "and every word was as distinctly heard as though the listeners were present in the church," a reporter noted.

Captain Umberto Cagni of Italy, with ten men, 102 dogs and a cat, sets off from the base camp at Franz Josef Land, established by the Arctic expedition of the Duke of Abruzzi. (Cagni's men do not reach the North Pole, but they do plant the Italian flag at 86–34 N on April 25, 1900, closer than anyone had before, before turning back.)

Baltimore weather: Snow (1.2"); High temp. 45° F; Low temp. 22° F; Precip.: 0.12" (liquid).

At 5:00 p.m. local time, the British Army's General John French gives the leaders of the Orange Free State (the Oranje-Vrystaat) in southern Africa 11 hours to surrender. French had arrived within five miles of the capital, Bloemfontein. President Martinus Theunis Steyn flees the capital ahead of the invasion force. (The city leaders capitulate the next morning, bringing an end to the republic as an independent nation.)

The low temperature in Baltimore reaches 12 degrees F, the lowest temperature ever recorded in Baltimore on any March 12th (up to this point) since recordkeeping began in 1871.

Baltimore weather: Snow flurries; High temp. 34° F; Low temp. 12° F; Precip.: Trace (liquid).

The United States House of Representatives votes 166–120 in favor of passage of the Gold Standard Act, also known as the Overstreet Act, and the measure is sent to U.S. President William McKinley for his signature.

At 10:00 AM local time, British forces march into Bloemfontein, the capital of the Orange Free State, and take possession. Led by the Royal Engineers corps, C. E. Shaw captures the Orange Free State flag atop the capital building, replacing it with a white flag. Mayor Kellner and other officials, reported Lord Roberts, "met me two miles from the town and presented me with the keys to the public offices." When Roberts and his soldiers enter the city at noon, he is cheered by the conquered Boers.

Sālote Tupou III is born in Tonga in the Royal Palace there. She was Queen of Tonga from 1918 to 1965. She was well known for her height, standing 6 feet 3 inches in her prime. She died at age 65 on December 16, 1965 in Auckland, New Zealand.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 42° F; Low temp. 26° F; Precip.: None.

At 1:14 in the afternoon at the White House, U.S. President William McKinley signs the Gold Standard Act into law, using a gold pen presented to him by U.S. Representative Jesse Overstreet of Indiana, who had sponsored the legislation.

Botanist Hugo de Vries submits a paper to the German journal Comptes Rendus, outlining a rediscovery of Mendel's laws of heredity. (Both de Vries and German botanist Carl Correns had been working independently of each other in 1900 and found Gregor Mendel's 1865 paper on genetics. Correns' paper is completed on April 22, 1900. Wrote De Vries, "I draw the conclusion that the law of segregation of hybrids as discovered by Mendel for peas finds very general application in the plant kingdom ... This memoir, very beautiful for its time, has been misunderstood and forgotten."

Baltimore weather: High temp. 48° F; Low temp. 34° F; Precip.: None.

In Louisburg and Morrisville, North Carolina, an unusual weather phenomenon appears in the form of black rain that falls from an intensely dark cloud. Professor M.S. Davis of Louisburg College collects a sample of the black rainwater and has it analyzed by chemists at the University of North Carolina. Drs. Baskerville and Weller conclude, in an article in Science magazine, that the rain had a high, and unexplained, concentration of soot.

Elsewhere in the U.S.,  6 and a half inches of snow fall in New York, NY; 8 inches in Washington, D.C., and snow falls in the Deep South in Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and north Texas.

The Standard Oil Company pays out the largest dividend ever distributed up to this time, disbursing to shareholders a total of twenty million dollars in cash based on $20 a share. (The dividend had been declared on February 6, and broke a record of a stock dividend paid by the Pullman car company.)

Baltimore weather: Snow (4.5"); High temp. 34° F; Low temp. 21° F; Precip.: 0.51" (liquid).

The company that would become known as AMF Bowling is incorporated in New Jersey as the American Machine and Foundry Company.

In response to growing trouble with Boxer rebels in China, United States Secretary of the Navy John Davis Long cables instructions to the naval base at Cavite, in the Philippines, to ready a warship to sail to Taku in China to protect missionaries at Tianjin. (The gunboat Nashville is sent on June 9, 1900.)

Baltimore weather: Snow (0.8") and rain; High temp. 37° F; Low temp. 22° F; Precip.: 0.40" (liquid).

Richard P. Leary, the American Governor of Guam, issues a proclamation abolishing slavery on the island.

The Topeka Daily Capital publishes its final "Sheldon Edition," bringing to a close an experiment that had started on March 13. The publisher of the Capital had challenged author Charles Sheldon to try editing a daily newspaper as Jesus might. Sheldon, the author of In His Steps (and the originator of the question "What would Jesus do?"), edited the paper for five days, emphasizing "good news" stories. During the experiment, the circulation of the Capital increases from about 12,000 to more than 350,000, with the help of presses in Chicago, Illinois, and New York, NY. Rather than closing with a Sunday paper, Sheldon publishes a "Saturday Evening Edition" following the regular morning paper, with instructions that even the news carriers were "to deliver their papers in time to reach home themselves before Sunday," and there was "no news of the world." Sheldon wrote, "The human race can be just as happy and useful and powerful if it does not know every twenty-four hours the news of the wars and the sports and the society events of the world."

Alfred Newman is born in New Haven, Connecticut. He was an American composer, recipient of nine Academy Awards in a career of creating musical scores for films. He died at age 69 on February 17, 1970, in Hollywood, California.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 26° F; Low temp. 15° F; Precip.: None.

Comedian W. C. Fields, recently signed by the William Morris Agency, breaks into big time show business when he opens for the Orpheum vaudeville circuit in San Francisco, California. Fields, age 20, is billed as "The Tramp Juggler." (He is touring Europe by the end of 1900.)

Maud S., a race horse beloved by millions of Americans and known as "The Race Track Queen," dies a week short of turning 26 years old. Owned by wealthy philanthropist Robert E. Bonner, whom she outlived by almost a year, she had set a record on October 20, 1891, for running a mile in two minutes, 8.75 seconds.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 44° F; Low temp. 14° F; Precip.: None.

Harry Lauder, celebrated as Scotland's greatest entertainer, makes his professional debut at Gatti's Music Hall in London, England. (A former coal miner who entertained his co-workers in the mines, Lauder was encouraged to try out at a local talent competition, where he was discovered and signed to a contract. At one time, Lauder was the highest-paid entertainer in the world.)

Frédéric Joliot-Curie is born in Paris, France. He was a French physicist and recipient in 1935 of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He died in 1958.

Baltimore weather: Rain; High temp. 53° F; Low temp. 38° F; Precip.: 0.17"

Nikola Tesla receives U.S. Patent No. 645,576 for wireless transmission of electric power, the first in a series of patents for sending "industrially significant amounts of power" from one station to another without electrical wires. (Tesla's U.S. Patent 685,012 "Means for Increasing the Intensity of Electrical Oscillations" is granted the next day.)

In Washington, D.C., United States Secretary of State John Hay informs the ambassadors from six of the world's major powers (the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, Italy and Japan) that he considers them to have accepted his proposal for an Open Door Policy and non-interference in China. His instructions to each government are that the United States regards the answers as "definitive and binding."

Morris K. Jessup is born near Rockville, Indiana. He was a writer, known for investigation and writings on UFOs. He died on April 20, 1959 in Dade County, Florida of carbon monoxide poisoning in a car; his death wass ruled a suicide.

Baltimore weather: Light rain; High temp. 54° F; Low temp. 33° F; Precip.: 0.02". A trace of snow on the ground.

George C. Hale, Chief of the Kansas City (Missouri) Fire Department and inventor of the Hale tower and the automatic harness, demonstrates the first heat sensitive automatic fire alarm system: "When the temperature goes above the maximum fixed for the building, an electric circuit is opened that puts into operation a phonograph which talks into a telephone, telling Fire Headquarters that there is a fire at whatever address the alarm is located."

Baltimore weather: High temp. 39°F; Low temp. 28°F; Precip.: None.  A trace of snow on the ground.

Anne Rainsford French is awarded a Steam Engineer's License (Locomobile Class), issued by the City of Washington, D.C., making her one of the first women to receive a driver's license. (Mrs. John Howell Phillips had received a license, in Chicago, Illinois, in late 1899.)

Justice of the Peace John W. Saunders and Deputy Sheriff Joseph Welton, both of the Greensville County, Virginia Sheriff's Office, are shot and killed when they enter a cabin near Skippers, Virginia to arrest a suspect in a series of burglaries. (The county sheriff subsequently allows the shooter and another suspect to be lynched.)

Baltimore weather: High temp. 53°F; Low temp. 26°F; Precip.: None.

Dr. Karl Landsteiner's first report on his discovery of a process for classification of the four blood groups under the ABO blood group system (as A, B, AB and O), "Zur Kenntnis der antifermentativen, lytischen und agglutinierenden Wirkungen des Blutserums und der Lymphe" ("Regarding on the knowledge of the antifermentative, lytic and agglutinating effects of the blood serum and the lymph") is published in the Austrian medical journal Centralblatt fur Bakteriologie, Parasitenkunde und Infektionskrankheiten. (In 1930, Landsteiner wins the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his contribution to the discovery that makes safe blood transfusions possible.)

British archaeologist Arthur Evans begins excavation of the site of the Minoan temple at Knossos, Crete in Greece.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 67°F; Low temp. 39°F; Precip.: None.

New York Mayor Robert Anderson Van Wyck breaks ground for the underground "rapid transit tunnel" that will become the first part of the New York City Subway, linking Manhattan and Brooklyn. Using a silver spade, Van Wyck starts in front of City Hall. "Tunnel day, for as such it will be known," wrote The New York Times, "was a greater day to the people, for it marked a beginning of a system of tunnels in future years and for future generations ...".

Fifteen members of the New York, NY, Fire Department fall into a basement full of 10 feet of water. Captain John J. Grady and Firefighters Peter F. Bowen and William J. Smith drown.

The first workplace smoking ban is issued by Willis L. Moore, Chief of the U.S. Weather Bureau, the forerunner of the National Weather Service, for all of its offices. The Director's Instruction No. 51 declares that "The smoking of cigarettes in the offices of the Weather Bureau is hereby prohibited. Officials in charge of stations will rigidly enforce this order, and will also include in their semiannual confidential reports information as to those of their assistants who smoke cigarettes outside of office hours."

Press Clay Southworth, 14, shoots and kills the last passenger pigeon in the wild, near his farm in Sargents, Ohio. (The species becomes extinct when the last living passenger pigeon dies on September 1, 1914, in the Cincinnati Zoo in Ohio.)

Baltimore weather: High temp. 50°F; Low temp. 36°F; Precip.: None.

The Socialist Party is founded in the United States by a committee meeting in New York City from members of the Social Democratic and Socialist Labor parties.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 39°F; Low temp. 30°F; Precip.: None.

Baltimore weather: Snow (3 inches) & light rain; High temp. 38°F; Low temp. 30°F; Precip.: 0.33 inch (liquid).

U.S. Patent No. 646,375 is granted to William Abner Eddy for the "Eddy kite," the diamond shaped, two-stick kite that becomes the standard for kite flying. (Eddy, of Bayonne, New Jersey, had applied for the patent on August 1, 1898.)

U.S. Secretary of War Elihu Root announces the creation of the Division of the Pacific to administer the Philippines, with sub-departments for Northern Luzon, Southern Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and Jolo.

Assistant City Marshal William Hennecke of the Boonville, Missouri Police Department is shot and killed while trying to arrest a robbery suspect.

Queen Victoria of Britain receives delegates at Windsor Castle from the British colonies in Australia to discuss the Australian Commonwealth Bill in preparation for federation and an independent state, and voices her disagreement with the word "commonwealth." "She found the title obnoxious to her," wrote one author, "She had an ingrained dislike for the word 'Commonwealth,' which she identified with Oliver Cromwell and his Republican form of government." The Queen's suggestion is that the new nation be called the "Dominion of Australia," similar to the title of the Canadian state. The assembled delegates persuade the Queen that the word "commonwealth" has other meanings beyond those associated with Oliver Cromwell, and she reluctantly drops further objections, giving her full support for Australian independence.

Baltimore weather: Light rain; High temp. 52°F; Low temp. 38°F; Precip.: Trace.

Police Officers George W. Kirkley and J. Wafe Adams of the Birmingham Police Department in Alabama are shot and killed while trying to stop a robbery suspect.

Policeman Charles Hartsell Smelser of the Hot Springs, North Carolina Police Department is shot in the head with his own service revolver while trying to arrest three intoxicated men on a shooting rampage. Another policeman and two civilians are also shot, as is one of the suspects. (Smelser died of his injuries on April 1, 1900.)

The War of the Golden Stool is triggered in the British Gold Coast colony (modern-day Ghana) after Colonial Governor Frederick Mitchell Hodgson offends a gathering of the chiefs of the Ashanti Empire. In Kumasi, Governor Hodgson demands the Golden Stool, the most sacred relic of the Asante nation. After summoning the chiefs, Governor Hodgson refuses to sit at the chair provided and demands "Why did you not take the opportunity of my coming to Kumasi to bring the Golden Stool and give it to me to sit upon?" War breaks out, and Hodgson and his party barely escape with their lives.

In Bern, Switzerland, an arbitration tribunal resolves claims arising from the Delagoa Bay Railroad. Portugal is ordered to pay to the United Kingdom and the United States 15,314,000 francs and 5% interest from June 25, 1889, roughly $5,000,000. (The railroad, built to link Lourenço Marques in Portuguese East Africa (now Mozambique) to Pretoria, South Africa, had been started by British and American construction companies, but was seized by the Portuguese government. The British and American governments then filed claims for damages.)

Legislation takes effect in France, reducing the workday for women and children from 12 hours to 11 hours. (The law provides further that on April 1, 1902, the workday will go to ten and a half hours, and to ten hours by April 1, 1904.)

Father Leonardo Murialdo dies at age 71 in Turin, Kingdom of Italy. He was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and the co-founder of the Congregation of Saint Joseph - also known as the Murialdines (which he founded alongside Eugenio Reffo). He was born on October 26, 1828, also in Turin (in the Kingdom of Sardinia at the time). (He would be canonized by Pope Paul VI on May 3, 1970.)

The first clay tablets with Linear B writing are discovered at the excavation of the Minoan ruins at Knossos. (The language is finally deciphered in 1951.)

At Sanna's Post, Boer General Christiaan de Wet leads a surprise counterattack on British forces under the command of Brigadier General Robert George Broadwood, inflicting more than 150 casualties and obtaining the surrender of more than 400 of the British forces. The water supply for Bloemfontein, the Orange Free State capital that had been recently captured by the British, is cut off. (This then causes the spread of typhoid fever within the capital.)

Patrolman James A. Mynderse of the Schenectady, New York Police Department is struck and killed by a train after saving a female pedestrian who was crossing a double track when two trains were approaching.

The total precipitation for March 1900 in Baltimore is 3.17 inches, including melted ice and snow.

In choosing a manager for the Mallard Ducks baseball team in California, two candidates Manuel ("Manny") Garcia and Percy Few, among several others, are called in for interviews. After Few is selected, Manny Garcia quips: "Manny was called, but Few was chosen."

Baltimore weather: High temp. 59°F; Low temp. 41°F; Precip.: None.

Spencer Tracy is born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He became a movie actor and made several dozen films. He won two consecutive Academy Awards for Best Actor -- in 1938 for his role in "Captains Courageous" and in 1939 for his role in "Boys Town." Spencer died of a heart attack at age 67 at his home in Beverly Hills, California, on June 10, 1967.

United States Secretary of War Elihu Root surprises an audience at a banquet when he predicts that the United States would go to war in a few years. Speaking at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, where the birthday of the late General Ulysses S. Grant is being celebrated, Root says that "The American people will, within a few years, have to either abandon the Monroe doctrine, or fight for it, and we are not going to abandon it. If necessary we will fight for it, but unless there is greater diligence in legislation, in the future than in the past, when the time comes it may find us unprepared."

Deputy Sheriff George W. Hoffman of the Windsor County, Vermont Sheriff's Office is mortally shot while trying to arrest a father and son who had escaped from jail. (Hoffman dies of his wounds on April 29, 1900.)

John Luther "Casey" Jones dies at age 37 in a train wreck in Vaughan, Mississippi. He was the engineer of a train that approached Vaughan with a stopped train already occupying the station on the same track as his own train. Unable to fully stop his train in time, Casey Jones managed to avert a potentially disastrous crash through his exceptional skill at slowing the engine and saving the lives of the passengers at the cost of his own life. His heroics inspired the song "The Ballad of Casey Jones." He was born on March 14, 1863 in Cayce, Kentucky. Cayce is pronounced like "Casey," hence the nickname Casey for John Luther Jones.

The total precipitation for April 1900 in Baltimore is 2.06 inches.

The Hepburn Bill for construction of the proposed Nicaragua Canal passes the United States House of Representatives by a vote of 225–35 (but would end up failing in the United States Senate). The bill proposes American purchase of land in Costa Rica and Nicaragua to build a canal from Greytown, Nicaragua on the Caribbean to Breto on the Pacific.

Lieut. Gibson wins the Kentucky Derby horse race.

Harry Burke, captain of the University of Cincinnati track team, is fatally injured while practicing the pole vault. The pole snaps and the fall breaks Burke's thoracic spine. (He dies four days later.)

Desk Sergeant Timothy S. O'Connell of the Chicago Police Department in Illinois is shot and killed by an armed robber while walking to his car at the end of his shift.

City Marshal George Houston Myers of the Davis, Oklahoma Police Department is shot and killed while trying to arrest two men firing guns in town.

Albert Ellis of the Pacific Islands Company signs a lease with the chiefs of the Banaban people of Ocean Island, a tiny atoll (that is now part of the nation of Kiribati), granting the company a 999-year exclusive right to mine phosphate, in exchange for 50 British pounds per year. The islanders, including the misidentified "King of Ocean Island," Temate, did not have the authority to sell mining rights, and were likely not aware of what Ellis intended to do. (Following the British annexation of Ocean Island on September 28, 1901, "The British government reduced the term of the lease to a more realistic 99 years.")

General Arthur MacArthur replaces General Elwell Stephen Otis as military governor of the Philippines. The father of General Douglas MacArthur sets up his office at the Malacañan Palace in Manila.

The short story "Danger Lurks" by Fred Tauben is first published. It originates the sentence "Failure is not an option."

The book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by author L. Frank Baum and illiustrator W. W. Denslow, is first published.

Ruhollah Khomeini, also known as Ayatollah Khomeini, is born in Khomeyn, Sublime State of Persia. He became an Iranian political and religious leader. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which saw the overthrow of the last Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and the end of the Persian monarchy. Following the revolution, Khomeini became the country's first supreme leader, a position created in the constitution of the Islamic Republic as the highest-ranking political and religious authority of the nation, which he held until his death. He died at age 89 in Tehran, Iran.

Stephen Crane dies at age 28 in Badenweiler, Germany. He was an American poet, novelist ("The Red Badge of Courage" among others), and short story writer. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism and Impressionism. He is recognized by modern critics as one of the most innovative writers of his generation. He was born on November 1, 1871 in Newark, New Jersey.

In what became known as the Boxer Rebellion or the Boxer Uprising, a Chinese secret organization called the Society of the Righteous and Harmonious Fists lead an uprising in northern China against the spread of Western and Japanese influence there. The rebels are referred to by Westerners as Boxers because they perform physical exercises they believe will make them able to withstand bullets. The Boxers kill foreigners and Chinese Christians and destroy foreign property. On June 5, the Boxers cut the railway line between Beijing and Tianjin, leaving Beijing isolated.

Maria "Belle" Boyd dies at age 56 in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. She was a Confederate spy in the American Civil War. She operated from her father's hotel in Front Royal, Virginia, and provided valuable information to Confederate General Stonewall Jackson in 1862. She was born on May 9, 1844, in Martinsburg, Virginia (now in West Virginia).

Outside of Beijing, Cg=hina, German soldiers capture and execute a Boxer boy. Thousands of Boxers respond by bursting into the walled city of Beijing in the afternoon and burning many of the Christian churches and cathedrals in the city. Some people are burned alive. An attack at the Methodist Mission is repulsed by American Marines. Soldiers at the British Embassy and German Legation shoot and kill several Boxers. The Muslim Gansu Braves and Boxers, along with other Chinese, subsequently attack and kill Chinese Christians around the legations in revenge for foreign attacks on Chinese people.

2.01 inches of precipitation falls in Baltimore, the most in Baltimore on any June 17th (up to this point) since recordkeeping began in 1871.

Baltimore weather: Cloudy; heavy rain in the morning; High temp. 63 F; Low temp. 57 F; Precipitation: 2.01 inches. Maximum wind speed: 12 mph, from the northeast.

A lightning strike from an intense thunderstorm in Allegany County, Maryland, kills a woman in her house. An examination of the body of 50-year-old Mary Imes of Hewitt, Maryland, shows signs of being burned by electricity, although the house itself is not wired for electrical power.

In China, the legations of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United States, Russia and Japan, located in the Beijing Legation Quarter south of the Forbidden City, begin to be beseiged by the Chinese army and Boxers. The seige finally ends on August 14, 1900.

Empress Dowager Cixi of China declares war against all foreign powers. Some Chinese regional governors choose to ignore the war declaration, especially those in the south of China. Most Chinese are kept out of the conflict.

A regiment composed of 1,800 men -- 900 Russian troops from Port Arthur, 500 British seamen, with an ad hoc mix of other assorted Alliance troops -- arrive on foot from Tientsin, China, to rescue British Vice Admiral Edward Seymour and his troops who had been under heavy fire from Chinese artillery.

Lord Earl Mountbatten is born in Windsor, Berkshire, England. He was a member of the British royal family, and became a Royal Navy officer and statesman, a maternal uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and second cousin once removed of Queen Elizabeth II. During the Second World War, he was Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia Command. He was the last Viceroy of India of British India, and the first governor-general of the Dominion of India. He was killed at age 79 on August 27, 1979, in a boat explosion at Mullaghmore, Republic of Ireland. The Irish Republican Army claimed responsibility for the explosion.

Edward Seymour and his force spike mounted Chinese field guns and set fire to any munitions they could not take. They march back to Tientsin unopposed.

Elizabeth the Queen Mother is born Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon in the United Kingdom. Her place of birth is uncertain, but is most likely either Hitchin or London. She becomes Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions in 1936 as the wife of King George VI, and her reign ends at her husband's death on February 6, 1952. After his death, she is called Elizabeth the Queen Mother to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II. Elizabeth the Queen Mother died on March 30, 2002.

Étienne Lenoir dies at age 78 in France. He was a Belgian-French engineer who developed the internal combustion engine in 1858. He was born on January 12, 1822 in Luxembourg.

Policeman Herbert Haynes of the Clayton, Delaware Police Department is shot and mortally wounded shortly after midnight while trying to arrest a hobo trespassing on a Delaware Railroad freight train. Haynes dies at his home at 5:30 a.m.

Night Policeman James T. Martin of the Carrollton, Kentucky Police Department is shot and killed while impounding two horses.

Milton S. Hershey gets out of the business of making caramel candy, selling his Lancaster Caramel Company to investor Daniel F. Lafean for one million dollars in cash. (Hershey and his attorney, John Snyder, turned down initial offers for a merger, then for $500,000 and finally for $900,000 cash and $100,000 stock before sealing the deal in Providence, Rhode Island, at 11:00 in the morning. With the infusion of capital, The Hershey Company builds a factory in Derry Church, Pennsylvania, and creates the largest chocolate manufacturer in the United States, with sales of five billion dollars a year by 2007.)

The high temperature in Baltimore reaches 100° F, the highest temperature ever recorded for Baltimore on any August 10th (up to this point) since recordkeeping began in 1871.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 100° F; Low temp. 82° F, Precip.: None.

Violence breaks out on Laysan in the Territory of Hawaii, after the 41 Japanese miners on the small (1.5 by 1 mile) island confront the four white American managers of Pacific Guano & Fertilizer Company. In response, manager Joseph Spencer pulls two pistols and announced that the first person to step forward would die. When the group charges en masse, Spencer fires away, killing two of the Japanese and wounding three others. (The next day, the 39 survivors are arrested and imprisoned on the ship Ceylon, and on August 16, 1900, everyone sailed back to Honolulu. Spencer was acquitted after a ten-day trial, and the other men were fired.)

Philip Phillips is born. He was an American archaeologist. He died at age 94 on December 11, 1994.

The high temperature in Baltimore reaches 100° F, the highest temperature ever recorded for Baltimore on any August 11th (up to this point) since recordkeeping began in 1871.

Baltimore weather: High temp. 100° F; Low temp. 80° F, Precip.: None.

The high temperature in Baltimore reaches 99° F, the highest temperature ever recorded for Baltimore on any August 12th (up to this point) since recordkeeping began in 1871.

Baltimore weather: Thunderstorm; High temp. 99° F; Low temp. 73° F, Precip.: 0.14 inch.

Collis Potter Huntington dies at age 79 at Camp Pine Knot near Raquette Lake, New York.  He was an American industrialist and railway magnate. He was one of the Big Four of western railroading who invested in Theodore Judah's idea to build the Central Pacific Railroad as part of the first U.S. transcontinental railroad. He was born on October 22, 1821, in Harwinton, Connecticut.

Vladimir Solovyov dies at age 47 in Moscow, Russia. He was a Russian philosopher, theologian, poet, pamphleteer, and literary critic, played a significant role in the development of Russian philosophy and poetry at the end of the 19th century and in the spiritual renaissance of the early-20th century. He was born on January 28, 1853, also in Moscow, Russia.

The United States and Spain sign a treaty to restore relations ended by the Spanish–American War.

Rebel leader Arcadio Maxílom proclaims amnesty on Cebu in the Philippines.

A parachute accident in Delphos, Ohio, kills stuntman Harry Davis. Davis had jumped from a balloon as part of the attractions of a fair.

Shortland Island in the Solomon Islands is claimed by Great Britain as a British protectorate.

The first members of the Hall of Fame for Great Americans are selected in voting by 100 judges, with 51 votes needed for admission. George Washington has 97, followed by Abraham Lincoln and Daniel Webster with 96 each.

The submarine force of the U.S. Navy begins with the commissioning of USS Holland, purchased for $150,000 in April. (The Holland, which could carry seven men and four torpedoes, is scrapped in 1910.)

The 1900 Major League Baseball National League season standings are final as follows. (The American League will begin play in 1901.)

National League final standings for 1900 season

The Chronicle-Telegraph Cup (series) is played between the top two teams of the National League, the only league in Major League Baseball at this point. This series is played only in 1900 and it is a precursor to the current World Series. The Brooklyn Superbas, who finished first in the regular season, face the Pittsburgh Pirates, who finished second.

In Game 1 of the Chronicle-Telegraph Cup (CTC) series played today at Pittsburgh, Brooklyn defeats Pittsburgh, 5 to 2. Attendance is estimated at 4,000.

Itō Hirobumi becomes Prime Minister of Japan for the fourth and final time, taking over from Yamagata Aritomo. (Ito, who had been Japan's first Prime Minister from 1885 to 1888, serves until May 10, 1901.)

Wayne Morse is born in Madison, Wisconsin. He becomes an attorney and politician, and a U. S. Senator from Oregon from 1945 to 1969. He was one of the first opponents in the U. S. Congress of the Vietnam War.  He was a Republican until 1952, an Independent from 1952 to 1955, and a Democrat thereafter. He died at age 73 on July 22, 1974, in Portland, Oregon.

Snow falls in Baltimore for the first time this autumn.

Baltimore weather: Cloudy, then clear; snow flurries in the morning; High temp. 48 F; Low temp. 34 F; Precipitation: Trace. Maximum wind speed: 29 mph, from the west.

Czar Nicholas of Russia begins recovering from the typhoid fever from which he had serious symptoms since November 1, 1900.

Halcyon Skinner, eulogized as "the man who revolutionized the carpet making industry," is killed when he accidentally steps in front of a train near his home in Yonkers, New York. (From 1849 to 1871, Skinner invented various looms that lowered the costs for manufacturing carpets.)

Oscar Wilde dies in Paris, France. He was an Irish poet and playwright who wrote "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and many others. Oscar was born on October 16, 1854 in Dublin, Ireland.

The total precipitation for November 1900 in Baltimore is 1.81 inches, including melted ice and snow.

New York City's newly completed Park Row Building becomes the world's tallest building, at 32 stories.

A census of the German Empire is taken. (Data released on February 26, 1901, show a population of 56,345,014 "of which number 27,731,067 were males." The growth rate of 7.70% in five years is the highest increase in 30 years.)

The President of Switzerland resolves a boundary dispute between French Guiana and Brazil, awarding most of the 101,000-square-mile territory to Brazil.

Leopold Godowsky makes his professional debut as a pianist in Berlin, Germany.

Caisse Populaire, the first cooperative bank in North America, opens in Lévis, Quebec, Canada.

Agnes Moorehead is born in Clinton, Massachusetts. She became an actress best known for her role as Endora on the TV series "Bewitched" (from 1964 to 1972).  She also appeared in such movies as "Citizen Kane", "Show Boat", and "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte". Agnes died at age 73 on April 30, 1974 in Rochester, Minnesota.

By a 55–18 vote, the U.S. Senate ratifies the treaty with the United Kingdom regarding the Nicaragua Canal, but with three amendments, including an American defense of the canal. (The United Kingdom refuses to ratify the altered treaty by the March 5, 1901, expiration. U.S. Secretary of State John Hay and British Ambassador Lord Pauncefote sign a new treaty in 1901 that is ratified by both nations in 1902.)

General Arthur MacArthur declares martial law over the Philippines under General Order 100.  Philippine civilians who support the rebels or stay neutral are subject to arrest, along with exile and even the death penalty.

The original railroad tunnel through the Cascade Range in Washington state is completed after three years and five million dollars. (Construction began on August 20, 1897.) It is 2.63 miles long and situated at Stevens Pass, east of the Seattle metropolitan area. (A second tunnel is completed nearby in early 1929, at 7.8 miles in length and about 500 feet lower in elevation than the original.)

French astronomer Michel Giacobini discovers the Giacobini-Zinner comet. (It returns on October 23, 1913, and it is spotted by Ernst Zinner.)

"1900 Yesterday" was a hit song in the U.S. in 1971 by Liz Damon's Orient Express.