Events January–February January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, and establish a national assembly, the Majlis. January 16–April 7 – The Algeciras Conference convenes, to resolve the First Moroccan Crisis between France and Germany. January 22 – The strikes a reef off Vancouver Island, Canada, killing over 100 (officially 136) in the ensuing disaster. January 31 – The Ecuador–Colombia earthquake (8.8 on the Moment magnitude scale), and associated tsunami, cause at least 500 deaths. February 7 – is launched, sparking a naval race between Britain and Germany. February 11 Pope Pius X publishes the encyclical Vehementer Nos, denouncing the 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State. Two British members of a poll tax collecting expedition are killed near Richmond, Natal, sparking the Bambatha Rebellion. March–April March 4 – Native American tribal governments are terminated in Indian Territory, a prerequisite for creating the US state of Oklahoma in 1907. March 10 – Courrières mine disaster: An explosion in a coal mine in France kills 1,060. March 18 – In France, Romanian inventor Traian Vuia becomes the first person to achieve an unassisted takeoff in a heavier-than-air powered monoplane, but it is incapable of sustained flight. April 14 – The Azusa Street Revival, the primary catalyst for the revival of Pentecostalism this century, opens in Los Angeles. April 18 The San Francisco Earthquake (estimated magnitude 7.8) on the San Andreas Fault destroys much of San Francisco, California, killing at least 3,000, with 225,000–300,000 left homeless, and $350 million in damages. Xerox, the global digital office machine brand, is founded in Rochester, New York as the Haloid Photographic Company. April 23 – In the Russian Empire, the Fundamental Laws are announced at the first state Duma. May–June May 27 – The first inmates are moved to the Culion leper colony, by the American Insular Government of the Philippine Islands. May 29 – Karl Staaff steps down as Prime Minister of Sweden, over the issue of expanded voting rights. He is replaced by right-wing naval officer and public official Arvid Lindman. June 7 – Cunard liner is launched in Glasgow, as the world's largest ship. June 26 – The first Grand Prix is held in Le Mans, France. July–August July 6 – The Second Geneva Convention meets. July