Modern Era
Persian Constitutional Revolution (1905-1911) in Qajar Iran
Iran gained a written constitution and an elected Majlis, but Russian and British intervention closed parliament in 1911.
Era · c. 1800 – 1945
Modern Era
Industry, science and global conflict: the century and a half that built the modern world.
Modern Era
Maji Maji Rebellion (1905-1907) in German East Africa
The rising was crushed by German forces using scorched-earth tactics; an estimated 75,000 to 300,000 Africans died, most from famine.
Modern Era
Partition of Bengal (1905): Curzon, Swadeshi and Reversal
Bengal was split into two provinces, provoking the Swadeshi movement; the partition was annulled at the Delhi Durbar of 1911.
Modern Era
Treaty of Portsmouth (1905): Ending the Russo-Japanese War
Russia ceded southern Sakhalin and its Manchurian leases to Japan and recognised Japanese dominance in Korea, but paid no indemnity.
Modern Era
Battle of Tsushima (1905): Togo Destroys the Russian Baltic Fleet
Decisive Japanese victory; almost the entire Russian fleet was sunk, captured or interned, and Russia soon agreed to peace talks.
Modern Era
Einstein's Miracle Year (1905): Special Relativity and E=mc2
Einstein's four papers of 1905 introduced light quanta, proved the reality of atoms, founded special relativity and showed that mass and energy are equivalent.
Modern Era
1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire: A City Destroyed
The earthquake and fires destroyed about 28,000 buildings and killed an estimated 3,000 or more people; the city was rebuilt and the event founded modern earthquake science in the United States.
Modern Era
Ford Model T (1908): The Car That Put America on Wheels
The Model T became the best-selling car of its age, with about 15 million built in the United States, and turned the automobile into an everyday necessity.
Modern Era
Messina Earthquake and Tsunami (1908): Europe's Deadliest Quake
Messina and Reggio Calabria were largely destroyed; tens of thousands died, and Italy adopted its first national earthquake building rules in 1909.
Modern Era
Tunguska Event (1908): The Siberian Explosion Explained
A cosmic body exploded in the air above the taiga, flattening an estimated 80 million trees over about 2,000 sq km without leaving a crater.
Modern Era
Assassination of Ito Hirobumi (1909) by An Jung-geun at Harbin
Ito died within the hour; An Jung-geun was tried by a Japanese court and executed in March 1910, and Japan annexed Korea in August 1910.
Modern Era
Blériot Crosses the Channel (1909): First Flight to England
Blériot made the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air aircraft, winning the Daily Mail's £1,000 prize.