What Happened in 1906 — Events, Births & Deaths

SS Valencia runs aground on rocks on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, killing more than 130.

HMS Dreadnought, the first of a revolutionary new breed of battleships, is christened.

Pope Pius X publishes the encyclical Vehementer Nos.

Édouard de Laveleye forms the Belgian Olympic Committee in Brussels.

Moro Rebellion: United States Army troops bring overwhelming force against the native Moros in the First Battle of Bud Dajo, leaving only six survivors.

The Courrières mine disaster, Europe's worst ever, kills 1099 miners in northern France.

The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (later the National Collegiate Athletic Association) is established to set rules for college sports in the United States.

The first meeting of the Azusa Street Revival, which will launch Pentecostalism as a worldwide movement, is held in Los Angeles.

The 7.9 Mwearthquake and fire destroy much of San Francisco, California, killing more than 3,000 people, making one of the worst natural disasters in American history.

The 1906 Intercalated Games open in Athens.

The State Duma of the Russian Empire meets for the first time.

Closing ceremony of the Intercalated Games in Athens, Greece.

The Russian Constitution of 1906 is adopted (on April 23 by the Julian calendar).

The attempted regicide of Spanish King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenie on their wedding day instead kills 24.

Cunard Line's RMS Lusitania is launched from the John Brown Shipyard, Glasgow (Clydebank), Scotland.

Theodore Roosevelt signs the Antiquities Act into law, authorizing the President to restrict the use of certain parcels of public land with historical or conservation value.

Sultan Abdelaziz of Morocco ratifies the agreement reached in the Algeciras Conference in a personal decree.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania millionaire Harry Thaw shoots and kills prominent architect Stanford White.

The United States Congress passes the Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act.

Persian Constitutional Revolution: Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar, King of Iran, agrees to convert the government to a constitutional monarchy.

The all black infantrymen of the U.S. Army's 25th Infantry Regiment are accused of killing a white bartender and wounding a white police officer in Brownsville, Texas, despite exculpatory evidence; all are later dishonorably discharged. (Their records were later restored to reflect honorable discharges but there were no financial settlements.)

The 8.2 Mw Valparaíso earthquake hits central Chile, killing 3,882 people.

The Santos-Dumont 14-bis makes a short hop, the first flight of a fixed-wing aircraft in Europe.

U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt proclaims Devils Tower in Wyoming as the nation's first National Monument.

Racial tensions exacerbated by rumors lead to the Atlanta Race Riot, further increasing racial segregation.

Leonardo Torres Quevedo demonstrates the Telekino in the Bilbao Abra (Spain), guiding an electric boat from the shore with people on board, which was controlled at a distance over 2 km (1.2 mi), in what is considered to be the origin of modern wireless remote-control operation principles.

The Royal Galician Academy, the Galician language's biggest linguistic authority, is established in La Coruña, Spain.

San Francisco sparks a diplomatic crisis between the United States and Japan by ordering segregated schools for Japanese students.

A 13–6 victory by the Massillon Tigers over their rivals, the Canton Bulldogs, for the "Ohio League" Championship, leads to accusations that the championship series was fixed and results in the first major scandal in professional American football.

U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the mediation of the Russo-Japanese War, becoming the first American to win a Nobel Prize in any field.

The London Underground's Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway opens.

An Mw 7.9 earthquake strikes Xinjiang, China, killing at least 280.

Reginald Fessenden transmits the first radio broadcast; consisting of a poetry reading, a violin solo, and a speech.

The All-India Muslim League is founded in Dacca, East Bengal, British India (later Dhaka, Bangladesh).

Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar signs the Persian Constitution of 1906.