1900

U.S. scientist R. A. Fessenden transmits human speech via radio waves

1901

President McKinley assassinated, Theodore Roosevelt becomes 26th president

1902

U.S. acquired perpetual control of Panama Canal

1903

First air flight at Kitty Hawk, SC, by the Wright brothers

1904

Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis opened

1905

Acts passed establishing Normal Schools at Springfield and Maryville

1906

Earthquake levels most of San Francisco, killing more than 600

Burge Deaconess Hospital opens

A mob lynches three Negroes on the Public Square

1907

The first Missouri-Pacific Railroad train arrives in the city

1909

Springfield's Landers Theater opens

1911

First transcontinental airplane flight

1913

Sixteenth and Seventeenth Amendments ratified, legalizing federal income tax and electing senators by popular election

The city's Convention Hall, largest in the southwest, opens

1914

Panama Canal completed

1916

Missouri troops sent into Mexico after Villa, under command of John J. Pershing

1917

World War I begins

1918

World War I ends as Germany accepts harsh armistice

1919

Prohibition amendment ratified

1920

National Woman Suffrage amendment ratified

1923

The Shrine Mosque in Springfield is dedicated