History of Watchmaking

The metallurgist Harry Brearley developed the first genuinely stainless steel at his laboratory in Sheffield (England). This new steel, an alloy of iron, chromium and nickel, could withstand chemical aggressions.

World history

Opening of the Panama Canal.
Henry Ford introduced assembly-line production. Thanks to this new method, the time required to produce a Ford "T" was substantially reduced, from six to one and a half hours.

Art and Culture

The controversial premiere at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées of The Rite of Spring, a ballet by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky with choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky.
Creation of Cubism whose representatives included Picasso and Braque.

Marcel Proust self-published Swann’s Way.
The Russian painter Kasimir Malevitch laid the foundations for Suprematism.
The Armory Show brought modern art to the United States.