1904
Japan attacks Russian fleet at Port Arthur
Without a declaration of war, Japanese torpedo boats slipped into Port Arthur and struck the Russian Pacific squadron at anchor. It was the first move in a conflict nobody in Europe expected a small Asian nation to win. The shock at the imperial capitals was still ringing when Tsushima came.
Entente Cordiale binds Britain and France
After nine centuries of rivalry, Britain and France quietly sorted out their colonial squabbles over Egypt and Morocco. The agreement carried no treaty of alliance, but the two old enemies had chosen each other. Ten years later they would stand shoulder to shoulder in the trenches of the Marne, bound by an understanding that had begun over maps and champagne in a London drawing room.
Herero genocide in German South-West Africa
When the Herero people rebelled against German colonial settlers in what is now Namibia, General Lothar von Trotha issued an extermination order. Herero families were driven into the Omaheke desert to die of thirst. Those who surrendered were worked to death in camps. Perhaps sixty-five thousand Herero perished, the century's first genocide.
Russian Jews flee pogroms for America
Following waves of anti-Jewish pogroms across Russia's Pale of Settlement, Jewish emigration to America hit record numbers. By 1914 more than two million Russian Jews would have arrived at Ellis Island, carrying bundles and speaking Yiddish. They remade New York's Lower East Side, the American garment industry, and before long American entertainment, science, and the rhythms of the nation's great cities.
St. Louis World's Fair opens
To celebrate the centennial of the Louisiana Purchase, St. Louis mounted an exposition sprawling across twelve hundred acres with palaces, canals, and human beings from the Philippines and Africa displayed in mock villages. Ice cream cones and iced tea debuted. The fair embodied an era's racial assumptions and its appetite for spectacle.
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Frequently asked
What happened in the year 1904?
Saeculum lists 5 curated events from 1904. The most significant is Japan attacks Russian fleet at Port Arthur: Without a declaration of war, Japanese torpedo boats slipped into Port Arthur and struck the Russian Pacific squadron at anchor.
What era was 1904 part of?
1904 falls within the Modern Era (1901-2000). World wars, cold war, and the splitting of the atom.
Which regions saw notable events in 1904?
The curated events from 1904 span East Asia, Europe, Africa and North America.