November 1900

November 1, 1900 (Thursday)

• Tsar Nicholas became seriously ill with typhoid fever, precipitating a crisis in the Russian Empire during the entire month. When it appeared that the Tsar's death was imminent, his advisors argued over whether he should be succeeded by his brother, Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich, or, since he had no sons, by his young daughter Olga. Future Prime Minister Sergei Witte would relate later that a revision of the succession law came from the crisis, that would have allowed women to succeed to the throne. Nicholas began recovering on November 28, and would reign until being deposed during the October Revolution in 1917. Nicholas, Michael, Olga, and the rest of the royal family would be murdered in 1918.
• Pope Leo issued the encyclical Tametsi Futura Prospicientibus.

  November 2, 1900 (Friday)

• "Terrible Terry" McGovern successfully defended his title as featherweight boxing champion against challenger Joe Bernstein in a bout at Louisville, Kentucky.

  November 3, 1900 (Saturday)

• The first auto show in the United States was held at Madison Square Garden in New York City, sponsored by the Automobile Club of America. More than 70 manufacturers put on exhibits and more than 7,000 spectators appeared on the first day of what detractors called "the horseless horse show".
• The first "ground control" station was set up at Ostend, Belgium, allowing constant contact between the station and Belgian ships sailing the route between Ostend and Dover. The Princess Clementine stayed in communication with the shore during its entire journey.
• Born: Adolf "Adi" Dassler, founder of the Adidas shoe company; in Herzogenaurach

  November 4, 1900 (Sunday)

• The Ahmadiyya movement of Islam was formally established in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.
• The German Rugby Federation was founded at Kassel, Germany.
• Born: Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu, Romanian activist, leading member of the Romanian Communist Party; in Bacău

  November 5, 1900 (Monday)

• Chemist Jōkichi Takamine applied for a patent on the first chemical synthesis of a human hormone, epinephrine, which he named "adrenalin" based on the adrenal gland from which the compound is produced. The patent, granted on April 16, 1901, would make a millionaire of the Japanese-born scientist.
• At the Martí Theatre in Havana, Cuba's American Governor, Leonard Wood, opened a convention to decide on a constitution for Cuba. The convention called to order on the day before the American presidential election, would adopt a republican system of government, similar to that of the United States, on February 21, 1901.
• Born:
• * Natalie Schafer, American actress, known for role as "Mrs. Howell" on the television sitcom Gilligan's Island; in Red Bank, New Jersey
• * Martin Dies Jr., American politician, U.S. Representative from Texas from 1931 to 1945, and 1953 to 1959, first chairman of the House Un-American Activities Committee; in Colorado City, Texas

  November 6, 1900 (Tuesday)

• William McKinley was re-elected as President of the United States, with 292 electoral votes over 155 for Democratic challenger William Jennings Bryan. The Republican Party increased its lead in the Senate to 57–33, and to 202–155 in the House. The popular vote was 7,219,530 for McKinley, and 6,358,071 for Bryan.
• In Denver, Colorado, a riot broke out at a polling station. As police tried to push a crowd back across the limit line, gunfire from the crowd killed Denver Police Department Special Officer Stuart K. Harvey and wounded Patrolman Samuel Charles Carpenter in the leg and lower hip. The police fired back, killing one civilian and injuring four. Carpenter would die of his injuries on January 17, 1910.

  November 7, 1900 (Wednesday)

• The day after voting in the United States, elections were held in Canada for the House of Commons. The Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, increased its majority, with 128 of the 213 seats. Charles Tupper, former Prime Minister and leader of the Conservatives, lost re-election as representative from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
• With U.S. President William McKinley re-elected, Spain sold the Sulu Islands to the United States for $100,000.
• The flag and the coat of arms for Ecuador were formally adopted, after being proposed on October 31. The coat of arms, on a yellow, blue and red tricolor, depicts a condor and Mount Chimborazo.
• The People's Party was founded in Cuba.

  November 8, 1900 (Thursday)

• The Doubleday, Page & Company published Theodore Dreiser's novel Sister Carrie over the protests of company president Frank Nelson Doubleday, who had been on a business trip when Dreiser was offered, and accepted, a contract. Doubleday considered the novel to be immoral because its heroine was a "fallen woman". Dreiser refused to call off the deal, and Doubleday's lawyer advised the company that it had no choice but to publish. The Doubleday company did not promote the novel, and it would be the edition printed by the British Heniemann publishing firm that would gain Dreiser's fame.
• Born:
• * Margaret Mitchell, American writer, author of Gone With The Wind; in Atlanta
• * Charley Paddock, American athlete, two-time gold medalist in the 1920 Summer Olympics; in Gainesville, Texas
• Died: Sir Rajinder Singh, the Maharaja of Patiala and recipient of the Order of the Star of India, died after a short illness at the young age of 28. Educated at the University of Cambridge, he was a reform-minded ruler and was called "the best polo player in India" and "the first reigning Prince to blend the elements of the English gentleman and Indian potentate". He was succeeded by his nine-year-old son, Bhupinder, who ruled until 1938.

  November 9, 1900 (Friday)

• At Mukden, Manchuria, Admiral Yevgeni Ivanovich Alekseyev signed an agreement with the Military Governor of Manchuria, Tseng-sh'i, giving Russia control of the area.
• Benjamin Holt applied for the patent for the Track-Type Tractor, the continuous track or the "caterpillar track", used for heavy machinery including tanks and bulldozers. Because the tracks distribute a vehicle's weight over a larger surface than wheels can, tracked vehicles are less prone to sink or get stuck.

  November 10, 1900 (Saturday)

• Only from its destination of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, the ship City of Monticello was dashed against the rocks in the Bay of Fundy, with the loss of 31 lives.

  November 11, 1900 (Sunday)

• The Baron de Coubertin announced that the 1904 Olympic Games would be hosted by the United States.
• The musical Florodora began its run on Broadway, a year after first being shown in London. Closing after 505 performances, it would be revived in 1902, 1905 and 1920. The six "Florodora Girls"—Marie Wilson, Agnes Wayburn, Marjorie Relyea, Vaughn Texsmith, Daisy Green and Margaret Walker—each stood 5'4 and each weighed 130 pounds.

  November 12, 1900 (Monday)

• The Exposition Universelle of 1900 closed in Paris. Three cannon shots fired from the Eiffel Tower signaled the end of the world's fair that had started in April.
• The United States Department of War announced that, effective December 15, the "Department of Porto Rico" would be discontinued, and that Brigadier-General George Whitefield Davis, the military governor of Puerto Rico, would be transferred to the Philippines in conjunction with the reduction of troops there.

  November 13, 1900 (Tuesday)

• The former auxiliary cruiser USS Yosemite was blown from her anchorage at the harbor of San Luis d'Apra, Guam by a particularly violent typhoon—first ashore and then out to sea. A steam launch from Yosemite foundered in the harbor, drowning five men: Coal Passer Joseph Anderson, Seaman George Aubel, Fireman 1 class William Davis, Apprentice 1 class Jacob L. Mehaffey and Coxswain Frank Swanson. For two days, Yosemites crew fought heroically to save their ship, but she shipped water badly and, due to a damaged screw, made only two knots headway even after the storm passed. Finally, after the weather abated completely, her crew was taken off by the collier USS Justin, and Yosemite was scuttled.
• Arthur Jenner, Britain's Sub-Commissioner assigned to the Jubaland province in the colony of British Somaliland, was murdered on orders of two of the Chiefs of the Ogaden, Hassan and Hassan Odel. had been arrested earlier on Jenner's orders as part of a murder investigation.
• Valdemar Poulsen of Denmark was awarded U.S. Patent No. 661,619 for the first sound recording device, which he called the "telegraphone". In the summer of 1898, Poulsen found that a telephone, connected to an electromagnet could electronically store the sound of his voice; and that the sound could be "played back" to a telephone receiver by moving the magnet back over the wire.
• Born:' David "Carbine" Williams, American inventor who designed the M1 carbine rifle; in Cumberland County, North Carolina

  November 14, 1900 (Wednesday)

• After 100 players from baseball's National League jumped to the new American League – including Cy Young and Nap Lajoie – war between the circuits began and the NL declared the AL to be an "outlaw league".
• Born: Aaron Copland, American compose;, in Brooklyn, New York City

  November 15, 1900 (Thursday)

• Carnegie Tech had its genesis with the donation of one million dollars by Andrew Carnegie to the city of Pittsburgh, to build a college on land provided by the city. The buildings of the Carnegie Technical Schools would be constructed at Schenley Park over the next several years, and on October 16, 1905, the first 120 engineering students would be admitted.

  November 16, 1900 (Friday)

• The Philadelphia Orchestra gave its first public concert, conducted by Fritz Scheel. From 1912 to 1938, the orchestra would be conducted by Leopold Stokowski.
• Near Limon, Colorado, 15-year-old Preston Porter Jr. was lynched, when he was suspected of having caused the death of 11-year-old Louise Frost at the same location. Porter had made a forced confession following four days of torture in a sweatbox. At, a mob of 300 citizens stopped a train transporting Porter to the county jail and removed him from the train, with an intent to hang him. Richard W. Frost, the girl's father, was given a choice for the method of execution, and at, he set fire to a kerosene soaked pile of wood as the mob, and reporters, watched. Porter took 20 minutes to die.
• During a parade in Breslau, Germany, a woman threw a hatchet at the open carriage of Kaiser Wilhelm. Selma Schnapke, later ruled to be insane, threw well enough that the "hand chopper" struck the imperial carriage, and was arrested.