1905As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony is subtitled The Year 1905 to commemorate this) and the start of Revolution in the Kingdom of Poland. Canada and the U.S. expand west, with the Alberta and Saskatchewan provinces and the founding of Las Vegas.
1903January 1903 January 1 – Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India. January 4 – Topsy, a female Asian circus elephant, is killed by electrocution at Luna Park, Coney Island, New York City. January 19 – The first west–east transatlantic radio broadcast is made from the United States to England (the first east–west broadcast having been made in 1901). January 17 – 13 days after Topsy's death, the Edison Manufacturing Company released the short, black-and-white, silent documentary film Electrocuting an Elephant, showing the footage of Topsy's electrocution.
1883January 4 – Life magazine is founded in Los Angeles, California, United States. January 10 – A fire at the Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, kills 73 people. January 16 – The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, establishing the United States civil service, is passed. January 19 – The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires begins service in Roselle, New Jersey, United States, installed by Thomas Edison. February – The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi is first published complete in book form, in Italy.
1976January 1976 January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. January 18 – Full diplomatic relations are established between Bangladesh and Pakistan 5 years after the Bangladesh Liberation War. January 27 The United States vetoes a United Nations resolution that calls for an independent Palestinian state. The First Battle of Amgala breaks out between Morocco and Algeria in the Spanish Sahara.
1920January 1920 January 1 Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own market town. January 3 – The 1920 Xalapa earthquake in Mexico kills over 600 people, making it the second deadliest in the country. January 7 – Russian Civil War: The forces of Russian White Admiral Alexander Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk; the Great Siberian Ice March ensues.
1894January 4 – A military alliance is established between the French Third Republic and the Russian Empire. January 7 – William Kennedy Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film in the United States. January 9 – New England Telephone and Telegraph installs the first battery-operated telephone switchboard, in Lexington, Massachusetts. February 12 French anarchist Émile Henry sets off a bomb in a Paris café, killing one person and wounding twenty.
