February 28, 1900: British forces defending Ladysmith rescued after a four-month siege (painting by John Henry Frederick Bacon)February 1, 1900: Kodak popularizes snapshots by introducing the one-dollar Brownie camera
The Eastman Kodak Company introduced the Brownie camera, shipping it to dealers on this date. The inexpensive ($1.00, equivalent to $33.47 in 2022[1]) box camera made photography affordable to the average person, and over the next twenty months, around 245,000 of the cameras would be sold. In October 1901, Eastman would introduce the next version, the No. 1 Brownie.[2]
The Manila Bulletin, the newspaper of largest circulation in the Philippines, published its first issue. Starting as a publisher of information about shipping, the broadsheet became "The Nation's Leading Newspaper".[3]
U.S. President William McKinley convened a cabinet meeting 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 winner of the election and had been administered the oath of office on his deathbed. United States Attorney GeneralJohn W. Griggs and Secretary of WarElihu Root agreed with McKinley that there was no legal basis for Washington, D.C., to become involved in the matter. A statement was 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."[4]
B. H. Roberts, would-be U.S. Representative from Utah, was arrested in Salt Lake City for unlawful cohabitation, and released on his own recognizance. The charge arose from Roberts's practice of polygamy.[10]
InBuenos Aires, Argentina, a heat wave continued into its second day. The New York Times reported that "There were 219 cases of sunstroke here Sunday, of which 124 cases were fatal. The thermometer on Saturday registered 120 degrees in the shade, with 93 of 120 cases fatal."[11]
A fire in St. Louis caused losses of more than $1,000,000 and killed fireman Charles Mebus (or Mappes), who died after a wall fell upon him. The fire started in the Penny & Gentles dry goods on Broadway and Franklin, then spread along both streets for three blocks.[13][14]
The House of Commons of the United Kingdom voted on Lord FitzMaurice's motion of no confidence in the government after one week's debate. The resolution, which had been introduced following British reversals in the Second Boer War, failed by a vote of 352 to 139.[22]
The Empress Dowager CixiofChina issued 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.[24]
A Chinese immigrant in San Francisco, lumber yard owner Wong Chut King, became the first person known to fall ill of bubonic plague in the San Francisco area, the first epidemic of the disease in the continental United States.[26][27]
In the Midwestern United States, warm weather gave 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.[28]InChicago, the temperature was 62 °F (17 °C) at 7:00 am, and fell to 10 °F (−12 °C) by 11:00 pm. The drop of 52 °F (29 °C) during the day is a record that still stands.[29]
In competition at the Eisstation in Davos, Switzerland, Peder ØstlundofNorway set two new world records in speed skating, in the 1000 and 500 meter races. The next day, Østlund set two additional records in the 1,500 meter and 10,000 meter races. Ostlund's records would stand for years. The 500 m time was not broken until 1906, by Rudolf Gundersen. Oscar Mathisen set new records in the other events; the 10 kilometer record stood until 1912.[36]
Aristocrat Roland B. Molineux was convicted of the December 1899 murder, by mercury cyanide poison, of Mrs. Katherine J. Adams, and sentenced to death. A jury concluded 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, and Molineux would be acquitted in his 1902 trial. He died in 1917.[37][38]
After four years, Vladimir Lenin was released from his exile to the Siberian village of Shushenskoye. He and his wife travelled by horseback for 320 kilometres (200 mi) to Ufa and arrived there on February 18.[40]
InPort Arthur, Texas, James Sweeney, a white man, was lynched by a mob at 1am, only hours after being acquitted of the bayonet murder of Charles Crumbach. Tried in Beaumont, Sweeney 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."[41]
The Spanish steamship Alicante arrived in Barcelona, repatriating 1,100 soldiers who had been imprisoned by rebels during the Philippine–American War.[42]
New York GovernorTheodore Roosevelt released 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 added, "And I am happy to state that Senator Platt cordially acquiesces in my views in the matter." Roosevelt later accepted the nomination to be U.S. President William McKinley's running mate in the upcoming presidential election, and became the 26th President of the United States upon McKinley's death the following year.[43]
InNew York City, U.S. Representative Charles A. Chickering was 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."[44]
In a turning point in the Second Boer War, British troops invaded the Orange Free State, crossing inside the Boer frontier for the first time since the war began. The invasion force consisted of 40,000 infantry and 7,000 cavalry under the command of Lord Roberts.[47]
The Siege of Kimberley was lifted, four months after the British inhabitants defended an attack by the Boers during the Second Boer War. The attack had begun on October 12, 1899. GeneralJohn French led troops to liberate the city.[49]
InParis, Albert Decrais, the Minister of the Colonies received 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.[50]
Three men from the Anglo-Norwegian Southern Cross Expedition, exploring Antarctica, crossed the Great Ice Barrier (now the Ross Ice Shelf) and reached a point further south than humans had ever traveled. Expedition leader Carsten Borchgrevink, Englishman William Colbeck and Norwegian Sami assistant Per Savio arrived at the latitude 78°50'S before proceeding northward back to the Southern Cross.[51]
Agoli-agbo, the last nominal King of Dahomey (now Benin), was deposed after permission was given by the French government. The monarch was sent into exile and France annexed the African state.[56][57]
U.S. Senator William A. ClarkofMontana testified 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 was refused a seat in the United States Senate.[58]
In a day remembered afterward as "Bloody Sunday", British imperial forces suffered their worst single day losses in the Second Boer War. Lord Kitchener ordered a charge downhill toward the Boer trenches at Paardeberg, and there were 1,100 casualties, including 280 deaths.[59]
AtThe Crystal PalaceatSydenham near London, two men were killed when a pair of elephants ran amok during an afternoon circus. One elephant was captured on the property after causing great damage, while the other one ran through the suburb of Beckenham and was not recaptured until late evening.[60]
The New York Times published the report of Dr. J. M. Selfridge of Oakland, who believed that a cancerous tumor on his face had been cured by X-rayradiation, 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."[62]
Chief Washakie, who had been leader of the Shoshone Indian tribe for seventy-eight years, died at the age of 97 at his home, located a mile north of the Wyomingfort that bore his name.[63]Washakie, who was instrumental in the peaceful settlement of Wyoming, was buried with full military honors by the United States Army at his funeral on February 23. In 2000, the state of Wyoming donated a statue of Washakie for display in the United States Capitol.[64]
J.F. Pickering, African American inventor, was issued U.S. Patent No. 643,975 for the first dirigible powered by an electric motor, and the first to have directional control.[65]
The contract for the New York City Subway was 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.[69][70]
Senora Rafaela Ybarra de Vilallonga died 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). Pope John Paul II would beatify her on September 30, 1984.[77]
Died: Poet Richard Hovey, 35, at a New York City hospital, following minor abdominal surgery.[78] 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." (b. 1864)[79]
More than 150 bystanders were 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, burned down in a fire that started at 8 am. By 4 pm, the flames reached the alcohol and the first of several explosions rained debris upon the crowd.[80]
AtPaardeberg, General Piet Cronjé and 3,000 Boer troops unconditionally surrendered to British GeneralFrederick Roberts, commander of British forces in South Africa during the Second Boer War. Roberts received General Cronje at 7:00 in the morning, and granted a request for safe passage for Cronje and his family to Cape Town.[85]
InLondon, the Daily Mail, the Daily News and the Morning Post published 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.[86]
Bayern Munich, the most successful team in German football, was founded.[87]
After a siege of four months during the Second Boer War, the British fortress of Ladysmith in South Africa was liberated. GeneralRedvers Buller's dispatch the next morning was "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."[88]Lieutenant-GeneralGeorge 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."[89]
For the first time in 100 years (and the last time for two centuries), a year divisible by four would not include February 29. The New York Times noted a problem with technology of the day: "It is said on trustworthy authority that to-day calendar clocks, for the first time since their invention, will all go wrong unless their owners give them a little assistance ... this is not a leap year, for astronomers have decreed that, in order to keep the calendar in the present relation to the season, it is necessary to change the natural leap year to a common year when it falls on a century."[90] The calendar clock, invented by William H. Akins and Joseph C. Burritt, was patented in 1854.[91] The problem with 1900 technology would be recalled, near the end of the 20th century, when the Year 2000 problem or Y2K presented difficulties in all computer programming based on a six digit description of dates. In the same manner that calendar clocks would be inaccurate by one day when March 1 would be displayed as February 29 (and March 2 and March 1), the day after 12/31/99 would be followed by 01/01/00 and interpreted by six digit computer systems as January 1, 1900, rather than January 1, 2000.[92] The year 2100 will be the next year divisible by four not to include February 29.
^Africa: the Journal of the International African Institute. Oxford University Press. 1928. p. 152.
^Perrot, Claude Hélène; Fauvelle-Aymar, François-Xavier (1999). Le retour des rois: les autorités traditionnelles et l'état en Afrique contemporaine [The return of the kings: the traditional authorities and the state in contemporary Africa] (in French). Karthala Editions. p. 165.
^"Clark Defends Himself". The New York Times. February 18, 1900. p. 1.
