HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

When Tosca premieres in 1900:

• The first electric bus becomes operational in New York City.

• United States President William McKinley places Alaska under military rule.

• The international arbitration court at The Hague is created when the Netherlands' Senate ratifies an 1899 peace conference decree.

• Hawaii officially becomes a territory of the United States.

• The Gold Standard Act is ratified placing United States currency on the gold standard.

• New York City Mayor Van Wyck breaks ground for a new underground "Rapid Transit Railroad" that would link Manhattan and Brooklyn.

• In France, the length of a workday for women and children is limited to 11 hours by law.
  Queen Victoria is queen of the United Kingdom.

• The first automobile show in the United States opened at New York's Madison Square Garden under the auspices of the Automobile Club of America.

• Oscar Wilde dies.