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| 1900-1909 | ||
| 1900 |  Sigmund Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams is published. The "Brownie" becomes the first camera to be mass marketed. Hurricane devastates Galveston, TX. The Gold Standard Act is passed. Hawaii acquires territorial status. The first national advertisement for an automobile appears in the Saturday Evening Post, and the first national automobile show is held in Madison Square Garden. |
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| 1901 |  Former New York Governor and current Vice President Theodore Roosevelt becomes President upon the assassination of William McKinley. Connecticut becomes the first state to pass an automobile law, setting the speed limit at 12 miles per hour. The first Nobel Peace Prize is awarded. New York imposes first state license fee on automobiles, a source of revenue for highway construction that spread to other states. Wisconsin becomes the first state to establish a legislative reference service. |
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| 1902 | Tournament of Roses Association decides to enhance tournament festivities with a college football game, which becomes the Rose Bowl.The idea for the "Teddy Bear" is born of a cartoon penned after President Teddy Roosevelt orders the mercy killing of a wounded bear cub during a hunting trip in Mississippi.At President Theodore Roosevelt's suggestion, Congress passes the Newlands Reclamation Act, authorizing construction of irrigation dams across the West. |
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| 1903 | First transcontinental trip by automobile takes place. Wright Brothers make first successful flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Harley-Davidson motorcycle company is founded. The first narrative film, The Great Train Robbery, is released. Baseball's first World Series is played. The Supreme Court upholds a clause in the Alabama Constitution requiring passage of a literacy test to determine voting eligibility. |
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| 1904 | The Summer Olympics are held in St. Louis. The first underground line of the New York City subway opens. George M. Cohan’s show Little Johnny Jones opens on Broadway, featuring the song "The Yankee Doodle Boy." As a new century dawns, sixteen states now provide financial assistance for road construction. |
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| 1905 | Albert Einstein proposes Theory of Relativity. Upton Sinclair's The Jungle exposes dangerous and unsanitary practices in the meatpacking industry. Groucho Marx debuts as a vaudeville singer. In Lochner v. New York, the Supreme Court rules unconstitutional a limit on the maximum number of hours a person can work. The U.S. Forest Service is created, and Gifford Pinchot, later to become governor of Pennsylvania, is its first director. Nineteen states now have a central road agency. California becomes a model in separating state-local revenue sources, leaving property taxes within the purview of local governments. Colorado has three Governors in one day in a political squabble. Former Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg is killed by a bomb, an act for which famed union organizer "Big Bill" Haywood of the Western Federation of Miners is among the accused but is acquitted with the representation of Clarence Darrow. |
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| 1906 | Earthquake and related fires destroy much of San Francisco. The First radio broadcast originates from Brant Rock, Massachusetts. President Theodore Roosevelt's threat to ban of football because of its risk of injury and death leads to the development of a rule-making and oversight organization, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). President Theodore Roosevelt signs the Food and Drugs Act into law. People of New Mexico and Arizona vote on joint statehood, New Mexico voting in favor and Arizona against. |
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| 1907 | Ringling Brothers buys Barnum & Bailey Circus. Pablo Picasso introduces cubism. The electric washing machine is introduced. The Gentlemen's Agreement is signed, under which the U.S. commits to a policy of non-discrimination against Japanese nationals in the United States in exchange for Japan's agreement not to send additional laborers to this country. The Inland Waters Commission is established by the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt to design multiple-purpose development of river basins. It is this Commission that recommends holding the first conference of Governors, to discuss conservation. Western Governors meet to discuss public land management. New York and Wisconsin become the first states to establish public utility commissions. Oklahoma becomes a state. A proposal is developed to create a Council of States to submit ideas for uniform state legislation. The first meeting of the National Tax Association is held for the purpose of developing uniform state tax laws. |
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| 1908 |  1908
Meeting: Washington, DC (May 13-15)
Ford Motor Company launches the Model T. The General Motors Corporation is founded. In Berea College v. Kentucky, the Supreme Court upholds a Kentucky law prohibiting racial integration in private schools. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is founded. Oregon's Corrupt Practices Act, regulating campaign expenditures and practices, is adopted by popular vote, becoming a national model. |
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| 1909 | No Meeting is held. Theodore Roosevelt calls a White House conference on how best to
deal with the problem of poor single mothers and their children. W.E.B. DuBois founds the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). White House Conference on the Care of Dependent Children is held. By this time, 29 states provide for election of U.S. Senators by popular vote. |
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