In the United States

• Total vehicle production in the U.S. is 4,192
• Total vehicle registration is 8,000. There are 10 miles of paved roads
• In 1900, 115 auto deaths - 96 lynchings
• Ford forms the Ford Motor Company
• Top speed for new cars is 8 mph. Gasoline fuel efficiency is 35 mpg
• New York operates the first U.S. motorized ambulance in the United States
• Boston's last horse drawn trolley is replaced by a 12-passenger electric bus
• The Automobile Club of America hosts the first automobile race in New York. Nine cars raced along Merrick road on Long Island from Sprigfield to Babylon, twenty-five miles each way. A. L. Riker, driving an electric motorcar, was the winner finishing in just over two hours
• William McKinley becomes first U.S. President to ride in an automobile-first a steamer and then an electric
• Some 48,000 fans attend the first National Automobile Show in November in New York; 40 auto companies companies exhibit products, as do 11 parts & accessory firms. Seven cars displayed are steam-powered. Car prices range from $280 to $4000 (about 300 types are on exhibit)
• The Mobile Company of America builds a 200-foot ramp (53 feet high) at the show to demonstrate the hill-climbing and braking ability of steam vehicles
• Short-lived electric omnibus service begins on Fifth Avenue, New York City
• As the number of pedestrians hit by automobiles increases, the city of Chicago considers a bill to require cars to have fenders.
• In Washington D.C. the era of the horse car comes to an end as the last horse car makes it final run
• Bicycle manufacturer Alfred Pope nearly correctly predicts that U.S. cities will have more cars than horses in 1910
• Gasoline cars beat electric cars for first time at Washington Park race track in Chicago
• The National Association of Automobile Manufacturers is formed
• RE Dietz Company introduces special kerosene lamps with a clear white flame that cast a 200-foot beam and remain steady on rough roads
• Automobile advertising appears in The Saturday Evening Post for first time
• Several makes have gasoline engines under a hood - the first such installation on American vehicles
• US engineer Frederick W Taylor develops high speed steel that allows a tripling of machine tool speeds
• Firestone Tire and Rubber incorporated

US Auto Manufacturers

• Olds Company of Detroit begins the first mass production of automobiles turning out 400 cars in the first year
• Theft is a problem, even in the early days, so the Leach Motor Carriage has a removable steering lever - an early anti-theft device
• The Auburn and Peerless makes appear, along with the Knox three-wheel runabout and the first few White Steamers
• The Ohio, built by Packard, introduced the steering wheel instead of a tiller
• The Baker Electric makes its formal debut early in the year

And From Around the World

• Alexander Winton is the first American to participate in foreign auto competition; The Gordon Bennett Race, in France
• Daimler sells a 6-hp car to the Prince of Wales
• France establishes the European pattern, imposes a horsepower tax
• Ferdinand Porsche builds a four wheel drive electric car for the Austrian firm Lohner.
• Opel decides to move out of automobile, and into motorcycle production
• First offshore oil wells in the Caspian Sea
• French army gets its first motor vehicle, an ambulance
• Michelin offers a free guide to automotive facilities in France to tourists
• Gottlieb Daimler, creator of Mercedes, dies in Cannstadt on March 6
• On November 30, a German engineer patents front-wheel drive for autos
• L Renault and A Peugeot are leading France to dominance in the auto industry