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1901: Death of Queen Victoria -

The death of Queen Victoria on January 22, 1901 effectively marked the end of the Victorian era and the beginning of the Edwardian era.

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1901: Accession of King Edward VII -

Upon her death, Edward, Queen Victoria's second child and eldest son, ascended to the throne and became King of the United Kingdom, Emperor of India, and King of the British Dominions. His coronation took place on August 9, 1902.

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1901: British National Antarctic Expedition -

RRS Discovery, the vessel that took Robert Falcon Scott on his first expedition to the Antarctic, departed England on August 6, 1901. The voyage, known officially as the British National Antarctic Expedition, was completed in 1904.

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1901: President William McKinley assassinated -

While the world's attention was focused on Great Britain, across the Atlantic President William McKinley had been fatally shot on September 6, 1901. He died on September 14. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt became the 26th President of the United States.

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1901: First submarine built for the Royal Navy -

HMS Holland 1 was the first submarine commissioned by the Royal Navy. One of six Holland-class submarines built, she was launched in secret on October 2, 1901.

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1901: 'Land of Hope and Glory' -

English composer Sir Edward Elgar premiered his 'Pomp and Circumstance Marches' in Liverpool on October 19, 1901. It was the first time the tune known as 'Land of Hope and Glory' was heard. Words for it were later written at Edward VII's suggestion by schoolmaster Arthur Christopher Benson.

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1901: First Nobel Prizes awarded -

The Swiss co-founder of the Red Cross, Jean Henry Dunant, pictured left in the 1860s, and French economist and pacifist Frédéric Passy, shared the first ever Nobel Peace Prize on December 10, 1901.

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1901: First transatlantic radio message -

On December 12, 1901 at Signal Hill in Newfoundland, Canada, Guglielmo Marconi confirmed the reception of the first radio message in Morse code, transmitted from Cornwall, in England.

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1902: Second Boer War ends -

The Second Boer War ended on May 31, 1902 with a British victory. At least 25,000 Afrikaners died in the conflict, most of them in concentration camps. The war also claimed 22,000 British and 12,000 African lives.

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1903: Women's Social and Political Union founded -

Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughter Christabel established the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) on October 10, 1903. The founding of the WSPU marked the start of the influential suffragette movement in Great Britain. And in the United States, women were also campaigning for their right to vote and be recognized.

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1903: Windshield wiper blade invented -

Mary Anderson, an American real estate developer, patented the first car window cleaning device, which she called a windshield wiper blade, on November 10, 1903.

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1903: Wright Flyer takes to the air -

On December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers inaugurated the aerial age with their successful first flights of a heavier-than-air flying machine at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

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1904: The Entente Cordiale signed -

A series of agreements signed on April 8, 1904 between the United Kingdom and the French Republic marked the end of almost a thousand years of intermittent conflict between the two states and their predecessors.

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1904: Peter Pan makes his first appearance -

Scottish novelist and dramatist J.M. Barrie premiered 'Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up' at the Duke of York's Theatre in London's West End on December 27, 1904.

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1905: Bloomsbury Group meets -

The influential Bloomsbury Group—a circle of associated English writers, intellectuals, philosophers, and artists—began to meet in 1905. Principle members included Virginia Woolf (pictured), her sister Vanessa Bell, John Maynard Keynes, Duncan Grant, E. M. Forster, and Lytton Strachey.

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1905: Theory of relativity proposed -

On June 30, 1905, Albert Einstein proposed his groundbreaking theory of relativity, which was published in the German physics journal Annalen der Physik.

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1906: HMS Dreadnought launched -

The Royal Navy's dominance at sea was reaffirmed with the launch on February 10, 1906 of HMS Dreadnought. This new vessel revolutionized naval power to the point where an entire generation of battleships, the "dreadnoughts," was named after her.

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1906: Rolls-Royce founded -

Henry Royce built his first car in 1904. After meeting Charles Rolls, the pair established the Rolls-Royce car manufacturing company on March 16, 1906 in Manchester, England. Pictured is one of the first three Rolls-Royce 10 hp, 2 cylinder motor cars of April 1904 outside Royce Limited in Cooke Street, Manchester.

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1906: San Francisco earthquake -

The city of San Francisco was hit by a major earthquake on April 18, 1906, and was practically destroyed by the devasting fires that followed. More than 3,000 people died.

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1906: Launch of RMS Lusitania -

On June 7, 1906, Cunard Line launched the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania. The vessel held the Blue Riband appellation for the fastest Atlantic crossing in 1908, and was briefly the world's largest passenger ship until the completion of the RMS Mauretania three months later. The Lusitania was sunk in 1915 by a German U-boat with the loss of 1,198 passengers and crew.

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1906: General election landslide -

The United Kingdom general election of January-February 1906 saw Henry Campbell-Bannerman leading the Liberal Party to the greatest election victory in its history. He was the first statesman to be officially called the "prime minister," and his government introduced major legislation to reform politics and society, including the regulation of working hours and the introduction of National Insurance.

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1906: Education (Provision of Meals) Act -

Under the Liberals, the Education (Provision of Meals) Act was passed and received royal assent on December 21, 1906. The legislation introduced free school meals for needy elementary school children in England and Wales.

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1907: The advent of Art Nouveau -

One of the greatest triumphs of the Edwardian era was the advent of Art Nouveau. This international style of art, architecture, and applied art was exemplified by individuals such as Austrian painter Gustav Klimt, whose canvas 'The Kiss' depicts a couple embracing each other, the oils embellished with gold leaf, silver, and platinum.

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1908: Scout movement founded -

On January 24, 1908, the Boy Scout movement began in England. Founded by Robert Baden-Powell after he had organized an experimental camp the previous year, the Scouts were followed by the Girl Guides in 1910. The Boy Scouts of America was established the same year, on February 8.

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1908: Summer Olympic Games -

The 1908 Summer Olympic Games were hosted in London from April 27 to October 31, 1908. Most of the competitions took place inside the White City Stadium, built especially for the event.

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1910: Chain makers' strike -

Scottish suffragist and leading trades unionist Mary Macarthur headed the chain makers' strike in the summer of 1910 in the West Midlands. In a landmark victory, women won the right to a fair wage following a near-three-month showdown with factory bosses.

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1910: Death of Florence Nightingale -

The nation mourned the death of Florence Nightingale, who passed away on August 13, 1910. The English social reformer is remembered as the founder of modern nursing.

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1901-1910: Edwardian fashion trends -

The Edwardian era saw a subtle but important shift toward modern styles of dressing. Edwardian fashion was opulent and formal, with expensive fabrics and trimmings.

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1901-1910: Edwardian style -

The era saw a decrease in the trend for heavy voluminous dresses. Instead, preference was given to decorative light skirts and gowns made of soft fabrics. For men, tailored suits known as tailormades became popular. The British youth subculture movement of the 1950s known as the Teddy Boys borrowed their fashion from the Edwardian period.

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1901-1910: Edwardian-era literature -

Some of the most celebrated names in British literature published a number of cherished and influential novels and short stories during the era, among them Beatrix Potter who wrote 'The Tale of Peter Rabbit' in 1902, Arthur Conan Doyle (pictured), who by popular demand brought back from the dead his fictional detective in 'The Return of Sherlock Holmes' in 1905, and E.M. Forster, who penned 'A Room with a View' in 1908.

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1901-1910: Edwardian architecture -

Edwardian architecture reflected a Neo-Baroque architectural style. While public structures benefitted from this new approach (pictured is the construction of government offices in Great George Street, London), it was in suburbia and the boom in residential properties that saw the most widespread application of this less cluttered, more practical style of architecture.

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1910: End of an era -

The death of King Edward VII on May 6, 1910, brought to an end the short-lived Edwardian era. The period had been defined by momentous leaps in societal, creative, and technological advances heralded by the dawning of a new century. The late monarch's funeral took place on May 20. He is buried at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.

Sources: (BBC) (UK Parliament) (National Archives) (Britannica) (History & Policy)

See also: Historic funeral processions and memorial services

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