1901

1901 was a year of transition and global events that shaped the early 20th century. The year began with the death of Queen Victoria on January 22, and the accession of her son, Edward VII, to the British throne. On January 1, the Commonwealth of Australia came into being, uniting six colonies into a federation; Edmund Barton became the first prime minister, and the new Parliament first convened in Melbourne on May 9.

In Asia, the Boxer Rebellion concluded with the Boxer Protocol, signed September 7, imposing indemnities and foreign influence in China. In the Philippines, Emilio Aguinaldo, leader of the Philippine independence movement, was captured by American forces on March 23, effectively ending the attempt to restore a Philippine sovereign state under arms.

In the United States, President William McKinley was shot on September 6 and died on September 14, after which Theodore Roosevelt became president.

The year also marked the awarding of the first Nobel Prizes: in Stockholm on December 10, Wilhelm Röntgen received the Nobel Prize in Physics for X-rays; Jacobus van't Hoff in Chemistry; Emil von Behring in Medicine; Sully Prudhomme in Literature; and Jean Henry Dunant with Frédéric Passy shared the Peace Prize.

These events illustrate a world entering a new era of imperial dynamics, international conflict and cooperation, and rapid advances in science.