The turn of the 20th century was defined by the speed at which technologies, globalism and social change were progressing. When the Wright Brothers made the first successful aeroplane flight in 1903, no one was expecting their technology to develop at such a pace that the first human would land on the moon just 66 years later. Social aspects such as women's rights were also progressing dramatically, especially in the UK and US, with women's suffrage increasing particularly after world war one. When all women in England obtained the vote in 1928, it was a clear marker the journey to gender equality was underway.
In England 1901, Queen Victoria died at the age of 81. Her eldest of four sons and nine total children, Edward, was crowned King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India shortly afterwards, taking on the title of Edward VII. The British Labour Party was established in February of the same year and contributed greatly to social change as the voices of the workers and lower classes were championed in politics. On the same day that the Labour Party was born, the British accepted surrender from Boer General Piet Cronje, paving the way to ending the Second Boer War in 1902. Britain would also declare a protectorate in the Congo and claim the Cook Islands as their territory around the same time.
In France, the first Michelin Guide was published, bringing attention to some of the best restaurants in the region and awarding them 'Michelin stars', a publication and campaign that still operates today. Similarly, the first the Tour de France (a cycling race) was held in 1903 and is held yearly to this day. Over in Crete, Sir Arthur Evans was beginning to uncover the ruins of the Palace of Knosson, a remnant of the Minoan civilisation associated with Theseus. In Germany, the first zeppelin airship took flight near Friedrichshafen, while Max Planck presented his paper on quantum theory. Science was developing quickly in this era, with technologies such as radio communication and flight being introduced. Some unusual scientific campaigns were also being established, such as the Pierre Guzman prize set up by Anne Emilie Clara Goguet. In her will, she set up a prize pot of 100,000 francs offered to the first person who could communicate with extraterrestrials, as long as the communicatees did not hail from Mars: that planet's inhabitants were deemed too easy to communicate with and therefore not worthy of the prize. The first Nobel Prizes were awarded at the end of 1901, as Einstein began formulating his theory of special relativity.
Elsewhere in the world, developments were also taking place. In Nicaragua, the US and UK agreed to build a Central American shipping canal for ease of trade and travel. This project would never come to fruition, as the US would gain access to the Panama Canal instead. The deadliest hurricane to ever hit the US, The Galveston hurricane, killed 8000 people and destroyed 7000 buildings in Texas. Panama gained independence from Columbia, while Carsten Borchgrevink, a Norwegian polar explorer, reached the Great Ice Barrier in Antarctica, breaking the current record for a human to travel as far south as south goes. A successful expedition to the south pole would not be reached until a decade later in 1911 by another Norwegian explorer, Roald Amundsen. In China, the Taoist Monk Wang Yuanlu discovered a collection of ancient texts: the Dunhuang manuscripts. Dating from the 11th century, these manuscripts contained contemporary information about medicine, history, geography, astronomy, games, a dictionary, maths, social documentation, culture and various world religions. The country of Australia was established as the Federation of Australia, uniting all colonies under British rule.
At the turn of the century and especially after world war one, women's rights were progressing in England and the US. As the bells tolled for the new year in 1900, women were still heavily defined by traditional gender roles. Women could have jobs, but they were often limited to domestic professions such as housekeeping or caring for children. Professions like banking, law and politics were barred. Education too was limited, with women only beginning to be admitted to university in 1878; it would take the University of Oxford until 1920 to allow women to graduate. Upon marriage, the woman was expected to leave her profession and focus on serving the husband and raising the children. By the 1920s however, the percentage of women who worked outside of the household rose to almost 50%.