January 1, 1901★★★★★
Federation of Australia
Six British colonies united to form the Commonwealth of Australia, with Edmund Barton as its first prime minister.
Politics· Australia
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Events this year
December 10, 1901★★★★★
First Nobel Prizes awarded
The first Nobel Prizes are awarded on the fifth anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death; Wilhelm Röntgen receives the first Nobel Prize in Physics.
ScienceCulture· Sweden, Norway
December 12, 1901★★★★★
Marconi's transatlantic radio signal
Guglielmo Marconi reports receiving a radio signal in Newfoundland transmitted from Cornwall across the Atlantic.
Technology· United Kingdom, Canada
Ongoing
1858 – 1947★★★★★
Beginning of the British Raj
After the 1857 rebellion, the Government of India Act transfers rule from the East India Company to the British Crown; the Mughal Empire formally ends.
Politics· India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, United Kingdom
1885 – 1908★★★★★
Leopold II's Congo Free State
King Leopold II of Belgium ruled the Congo as a personal possession; its forced-labour rubber regime caused mass deaths until Belgium annexed the territory in 1908.
PoliticsEconomy· DR Congo, Belgium
1899 – 1901★★★★★
Boxer Rebellion
The anti-foreign Boxer movement besieges Beijing's legation quarter; an Eight-Nation Alliance intervenes and occupies Beijing in 1900.
WarRevolution· China
1899 – 1902★★★★★
Philippine–American War
After Spain cedes the Philippines to the United States, forces of the Philippine Republic fight American rule but are defeated.
War· Philippines, United States
October 11, 1899 – May 31, 1902★★★★★
Second Boer War
The British Empire fought the Boer republics of the Transvaal and Orange Free State; the war ended with the Treaty of Vereeniging, after tens of thousands of civilians died in concentration camps.
War· South Africa, United Kingdom