1903

1903 in other calendars
Gregorian calendar	1903; MCMIII
Ab urbe condita	2656
Armenian calendar	1352; ԹՎ ՌՅԾԲ
Assyrian calendar	6653
Bahá'í calendar	59–60
Bengali calendar	1310
Berber calendar	2853
British Regnal year	2 Edw. 7 – 3 Edw. 7
Buddhist calendar	2447
Burmese calendar	1265
Byzantine calendar	7411–7412
Chinese calendar	壬寅年 (Water Tiger); 4599 or 4539; — to —; 癸卯年 (Water Rabbit); 4600 or 4540
Coptic calendar	1619–1620
Discordian calendar	3069
Ethiopian calendar	1895–1896
Hebrew calendar	5663–5664
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	1959–1960
- Shaka Samvat	1824–1825
- Kali Yuga	5003–5004
Holocene calendar	11903
Igbo calendar	903–904
Iranian calendar	1281–1282
Islamic calendar	1320–1321
Japanese calendar	Meiji 36; (明治３６年)
Javanese calendar	1832–1833
Julian calendar	Gregorian minus 13 days
Korean calendar	4236
Minguo calendar	9 before ROC; 民前9年
Nanakshahi calendar	435
Thai solar calendar	2445–2446
	This box: view; talk; edit;

	1903 by topic:
	Subject
	Archaeology; Architecture; Art; Aviation; Awards; Comics; Film; Literature Poetry; ; Meteorology; Music; Rail transport; Science; Sports; Television;
	By country
	Australia; Canada; France; Germany; India; Ireland; Italy; New Zealand; Norway; Ottoman Syria; Philippines; Russia; South Africa; Sweden; United Kingdom; United States;
	Leaders
	Sovereign states; State leaders; Religious leaders; Law;
	Birth and death categories
	Births; Deaths;
	Establishments and disestablishments categories
	Establishments; Disestablishments;
	Works and introductions categories
	Works; Introductions;
	v; t; e;

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	19th century – 20th century – 21st century
Decades:	1870s 1880s 1890s – 1900s – 1910s 1920s 1930s
Years:	1900 1901 1902 – 1903 – 1904 1905 1906

1903 January February March April May June July August September October November December

1903 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (dominical letter D) of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Wednesday (dominical letter E) of the Julian calendar, the 1903rd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 903rd year of the 2nd millennium, the 3rd year of the 20th century, and the 4th year of the 1900s decade. As of the start of 1903, the Gregorian calendar was 13 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1918.

Events[edit]

January[edit]

January 1: Edward VII becomes Emperor of India.

February 15: first teddy bear.

January 1 – Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India.
January 19 – The first west–east transatlantic radio broadcast is made from the United States to England (the first east–west broadcast having been made in 1901).

February[edit]

February 11 – The Oxnard strike of 1903 becomes the first time in U.S. history that a labor union is formed from members of different races.
February 15 – Morris and Rose Michtom introduce the first teddy bear in the United States.
February 17 – El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico becomes part of the United States National Forest System as the Luquillo Forest Reserve.
February 23 – Cuba leases Guantánamo Bay to the United States "in perpetuity".

March[edit]

March 2 – In New York City, the Martha Washington Hotel, the first hotel exclusively for women, opens.
March 3 – The British Admiralty announces plans to build a naval base at Rosyth.
March 5 – The Ottoman Empire and the German Empire sign an agreement to build the Constantinople–Baghdad Railway.
March 12 – The University of Puerto Rico is founded.
March 14 – The Hay–Herrán Treaty, granting the United States the right to build the Panama Canal, is ratified by the United States Senate. The Colombian Senate later rejects the treaty.

April[edit]

April 29: The Frank Slide occurs

April 29 – A 30-million-m³ landslide kills 70-90 in Frank, Alberta.
April 29 – A strong earthquake destroys the town of Melazhgerd, Van Province, Armenia. Over 2,000 people killed.^[1]

May[edit]

May 4 – The leading Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary Gotse Delchev is killed in a skirmish with the Turkish army.
May 18 – The port of Burgas, Bulgaria opens.
May 22 – The White Star Liner, SS Ionic, is launched.
May 24 – The Paris–Madrid race begins, during which at least eight people are killed.
May 29 (O.S.) – In the May coup d'état, Alexander I, King of Serbia, and Queen Draga, are assassinated in Belgrade by the Black Hand (Crna Ruka) organization.

June[edit]

June 11: Alexander I

June 11 – Serbian King Alexander Obrenović and Queen Draga are assassinated.
June 14 – The town of Heppner, Oregon, is nearly destroyed by a cloud burst that resulted in a flash flood that kills an estimated 238 people.
June 27 – 19-year-old American socialite Aida de Acosta becomes the first woman to fly a powered aircraft solo when she pilots Santos-Dumont's motorized dirigible, “No. 9”, from Paris to Château de Bagatelle in France.^[2]

July 23: 1903 Ford Model A.

July[edit]

July 1–July 19 – First Tour de France bicycle race, won by Maurice Garin.
July 7 – The British take over the Fulani Empire.
July 23 – Dr. Ernst Pfenning of Chicago becomes the first owner of a Ford Model A.
July 29 – Explosion of a United States Cartridge Company magazine destroys 70 homes killing 22 residents of Tewksbury, Massachusetts.^[3]
July 30–August 23 (July 17–August 10, O.S.) – Second Congress of the All-Russian Social Democratic Labour Party held in exile in Brussels, transferring to London.

August[edit]

August 2 – The Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising, organized by the Secret Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization, breaks out in the Ottoman provinces of Macedonia and Adrianople.
August 4 – Pope Pius X succeeds Pope Leo XIII as the 257th pope.
August 10 – Paris Métro train fire takes place.
August 25 – The Judiciary Act is passed in the Australian parliament.

September[edit]

September 11 – The first stock car event is held at the Milwaukee Mile.
September 14 – Joseph Chamberlain resigns as British Colonial Secretary, in order to campaign publicly for Imperial Preference.
September 15 – Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense is founded in Porto Alegre, Brazil
September 24 – Edmund Barton steps down as Prime Minister of Australia and is succeeded by Alfred Deakin.
September 27 – The Wreck of the Old 97 Fast Mail train at Stillhouse Trestle near Danville, Virginia kills 11 people and inspires a ballad.^[4]
September 29 – Prussia becomes the first locality to require mandatory driver's licenses for operators of motor vehicles.

October[edit]

October – Frank Nelson Cole proves that 2⁶⁷-1 is composite by factoring it as 193,707,721 * 761,838,257,287 after trying every Sunday for 3 years.
October 1 – First modern World Series: The Boston Red Sox defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates.
October 6 – The High Court of Australia sits for the first time.
October 10 – The Women's Social and Political Union is founded in the UK.

November[edit]

December 17: The first flight by Orville Wright.

November 3 – With the encouragement of the United States, Panama proclaims itself independent from Colombia.
November 13 – The United States recognizes the independence of Panama.
November 17 – The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party splits into two groups; the Bolsheviks (Russian for "majority") and Mensheviks (Russian for "minority").
November 18 – The Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty is signed by the United States and Panama, giving the U.S. exclusive rights over the Panama Canal Zone.
November 23 – Colorado Governor James Hamilton Peabody sends the state militia into the town of Cripple Creek to break up a miners' strike.

December[edit]

December 16 – The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Bombay opens its doors to guests.
December 17 – Orville Wright flies an aircraft with a petrol engine at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in the first documented, successful, controlled, powered, heavier-than-air flight.
December 30 – Iroquois Theatre fire in Chicago kills 600.

Date unknown[edit]

The Lincoln–Lee Legion is established to promote the American temperance movement and signing of alcohol abstinence pledges by children.
The first box of Crayola crayons is made and sold for 5 cents. It contains 8 colors; brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet and black.
Osea Island off Maldon, Essex, England, is bought by Frederick Nicholas Charrington to provide an addiction treatment centre.
Royal Enfield starts making Motor Cycles.
Texas State University in San Marcos, TX opens its doors as Southwest Texas Normal School.

Births[edit]

January[edit]

January 6 – Maurice Abravanel, Greek-born conductor (d. 1993)
January 10 – Barbara Hepworth, English sculptor (d. 1975)
January 11 – Alan Paton, South African author and anti-apartheid, activist. (d. 1988)
January 12 – Igor Kurchatov, Soviet physicist (d. 1960)
January 16 – William Grover-Williams, French race car driver and war hero (d. 1945)
January 17 – Warren Hull, American actor (d. 1974)
January 22 – Fritz Houtermans, Polish physicist (d. 1966)
January 23 – Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, Colombian politician (d. 1948)
January 27 – John Eccles, Australian neuropsychologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1997)

February[edit]

Giulio Natta

February 2 – Bartel Leendert van der Waerden, Dutch mathematician (d. 1996)
February 3 – Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton, Scottish nobleman and pioneering aviator (d. 1973)
February 4 – Alexander Imich, American parapsychologist and chemist (d. 2014)
February 6 – Claudio Arrau, Chilean-born pianist (d. 1991)
February 8
- Greta Keller, Vienna-born cabaret singer and actress (d. 1977)
- Tunku Abdul Rahman, first Prime Minister of Malaysia (d. 1990)
February 10
- Waldemar Hoven, German physician (d. 1948)
- Matthias Sindelar, Austrian footballer (d. 1939)
February 11
- Rex Lease, American actor (d. 1966)
- Hans Redlich, Austrian composer (d. 1968)
February 13 – Georges Simenon, French writer (d. 1989)
February 14 – Stuart Erwin, American actor (d. 1967)
February 16 – Edgar Bergen, American ventriloquist (d. 1978)
February 21
- Anaïs Nin, French writer (d. 1977)
- Raymond Queneau, French poet and novelist (d. 1976)
February 22
- Morley Callaghan, Canadian writer and media personality (d. 1990)
- Ain-Ervin Mere, Estonian Nazi (d. 1969)
- Frank P. Ramsey, English mathematician (d. 1930)
February 24 – Vladimir Bartol, Slove author (d. 1967)
February 26 – Giulio Natta, Italian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
February 27 – Grethe Weiser, German actress (d. 1970)
February 28 – Vincente Minnelli, American director (d. 1986)

March[edit]

Empress Kojun

Adolf Butenandt

March 4
- Luis Carrero Blanco, Spanish statesman (d. 1973)
- William C. Boyd, American immunochemist (d. 1983)
- Dorothy Mackaill, British-born American actress (d. 1990)
- John Scarne, American magician and card expert (d. 1985)
March 6 – Empress Kōjun, Empress consort of Japan (d. 2000)
March 10
- Bix Beiderbecke, American jazz musician (d. 1931)
- Clare Boothe Luce, American publisher and writer (d. 1987)
March 11
- Ronald Syme, New Zealand-born classicist and historian (d. 1989)
- Lawrence Welk, American television musician (d. 1992)
March 14 – Mustafa Barzani, Kurdish politician (d. 1979)
March 18 – Gian Galeazzo Ciano, 2nd Count of Cortellazzo and Buccari, Italian aristocrat and diplomat (d. 1944)
March 20 – Edgar Buchanan, American actor (d. 1979)
March 21 – Frank Sargeson, New Zealand writer (d. 1982)
March 24
- Adolf Butenandt, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1995)
- Malcolm Muggeridge, English journalist (d. 1990)
March 25 – Nahum Norbert Glatzer, Jewish-American scholar (d. 1990)
March 27 – Betty Balfour, English screen actress (d. 1977)
March 28 – Rudolf Serkin, Austrian pianist (d. 1991)
March 31 – H. J. Blackham, British humanist and author (d. 2009)

April[edit]

April 5 – Hilda Bruce, British zoologist (d. 1974)
April 6
- Mickey Cochrane, American baseball player (d. 1962)
- Doc Edgerton, American electrical engineering (d. 1990)
April 12 – Jan Tinbergen, Dutch economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)
April 9 – Gregory Goodwin Pincus, American biologist and researcher (d. 1967)
April 15 – John Williams, English-born actor (d. 1983)
April 17
- Gregor Piatigorsky, Russian cellist (d. 1976)
- Morgan Taylor, American athlete (d. 1975)
April 19 – Eliot Ness, American treasury agent (d. 1957)
April 24 – José Antonio Primo de Rivera, Spanish politician (d. 1936)
April 25 – Andrey Kolmogorov, Russian mathematician (d. 1987)

May[edit]

Bing Crosby

Bob Hope

May 2 – Benjamin Spock, American pediatrician (d. 1998)
May 3 – Bing Crosby, American singer and actor (d. 1977)
May 4 – Luther Adler, American actor (d. 1984)
May 6 – Toots Shor, New York restaurateur (d. 1977)
May 8 – Fernandel, French actor (d. 1971)
May 10 – Hans Jonas, German-born philosopher(d. 1993)
May 11 – Charlie Gehringer, baseball player (d. 1993)
May 18 – Frits Warmolt Went, Dutch botanist (d. 1990)
May 24 – Lofton R. Henderson, American naval aviator, died in the Battle of Midway (d. 1942)
May 25 – Binnie Barnes, English actress (d. 1988)
May 29 – Bob Hope, English-born American comedian and actor (d. 2003)

June[edit]

Bakht Singh

Theo Lingen

June 1 – Vasyl Velychkovsky Ukrainian bishop (d. 1973)
June 6 – Aram Khachaturian, Armenian composer (d. 1978)
June 6 – Bakht Singh, Indian evangelist, well-known bible teacher and preacher (d. 2000)
June 8 – Marguerite Yourcenar, Belgian-French author (d. 1987)
June 10 – Theo Lingen, German actor (d. 1978)
June 12 – Emmett Hardy, American musician (d. 1925)
June 15 – Huldreich Georg Früh, Swiss composer (d. 1945)
June 18
- Jeanette MacDonald, American singer and actress (d. 1965)
- Raymond Radiguet, French author (d. 1923)
June 19
- Lou Gehrig, American baseball player (d. 1941)
- Wally Hammond, English cricketer (d. 1965)
June 20 – Eddie Laughton, British-born American film actor (d. 1952)
June 21 – Al Hirschfeld, American caricaturist (d. 2003)
June 22
- John Dillinger, American bank robber (d. 1934)
- Jiro Horikoshi, Japanese aircraft designer (d. 1982)
- Ben Pollack, American jazz drummer and bandleader (d. 1971)
- Ben Robertson, American novelist, journalist, and war correspondent (d. 1943)
June 25
- Pierre Brossolette, French journalist and resistance fighter (d. 1944)
- George Orwell, English author (d. 1950)
June 29 – Alan Blumlein, British electronics engineer (d. 1942)