WHAT HAPPENED IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 20. CENTURY
Find out what all happened in the first half of the 20. century

Nigeria becomes a British protectorate. (1. January 1901)

The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of Australia; Edmund Barton is appointed the first Prime Minister. (1. January 1901)

The first American college football bowl game, the Rose Bowl between Michigan and Stanford, is held in Pasadena, California. (1. January 1902)

British India officially adopts the Indian Standard Time. (1. January 1906)

For the first time, a ball is dropped in New York, New York's Times Square to signify the start of the New Year at midnight. (1. January 1908)

Drilling begins on the Lakeview Gusher. (1. January 1909)

Captain David Beatty is promoted to Rear admiral, and becomes the youngest admiral in the Royal Navy (except for Royal family members), since Horatio Nelson. (1. January 1910)

Northern Territory is separated from South Australia and transferred to Commonwealth control. (1. January 1911)

The Republic of China is established. (1. January 1912)

The British Board of Censors is established. (1. January 1913)

German troops abandon Yaoundé and their Kamerun colony to British forces and begin the long march to Spanish Guinea. (1. January 1916)

The Belorussian Communist Organisation is founded as a separate party. (1. January 1920)

Britain's Railways are grouped into the Big Four: LNER, GWR, SR, and LMS. (1. January 1923)

The Cristero War begins in Mexico. (1. January 1927)

Turkey adopts the Gregorian calendar: December 18, 1926 (Julian), is immediately followed by January 1, 1927 (Gregorian). (1. January 1927)

Boris Bazhanov defects through Iran. He is the only assistant of Joseph Stalin's secretariat to have defected from the Eastern Bloc. (1. January 1928)

The former municipalities of Point Grey, British Columbia and South Vancouver, British Columbia are amalgamated into Vancouver. (1. January 1929)

The United States Post Office Department issues a set of 12 stamps commemorating the 200th anniversary of George Washington's birth. (1. January 1932)

Alcatraz Island becomes a United States federal prison. (1. January 1934)

Nazi Germany passes the "Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring". (1. January 1934)