1902

January 1

• Nathan Stubblefield makes first public demonstration of radio, Pennsylvania. [1]

January 9

• Gustaaf Rolin-Jaequemyns Belgian lawyer/Interior minister, dies at age 66. [1]

January 10

• Alphons Diepenbrock's "Te Deum" premieres (Amsterdam). [1]

January 11

• Popular Mechanics magazine is first published. [5]

January 13

• Textile workers strike in Enschede Netherlands till June 1. [1]

January 14

• Cato M Guldberg Norwegian mathematician, dies at age 65. [1]

January 17

• Gideon Scheepers South African Boer leader, executed. [1]

January 18

• Filippo Marchetti composer, dies at age 70. [1]

January 24

• Denmark sells Virgin Islands to USA. [1]

January 25

• Aleksandr Skriabin's second Symphony in C premieres in Saint Petersburg. [1]

January 27

• Five workers killed on explosion during IRT subway construction (New York City New York). [1]

January 28

• Carnegie Institute founded in Washington DC. [1]

February 1

• China's empress Tzu-hsi forbids binding woman's feet. [1]
• Hermann Sudermanns "Es lebe das Leben" premieres in Berlin. [1]
• Salomon Jaoassohn composer, dies at age 70. [1]

February 2

• Emanuil Mandlov composer, dies at age 42. [1]

February 3

• Isaac Fransen van der Putten Dutch Prime Minister (1866), dies. [1]

February 6

• Young Women's Hebrew Association organized in New York City, New York. [1]

February 10

• J N Krieger German Selenographer, dies. [1]

February 11

• Police beats up universal suffrage demonstrators in Brussels. [1]

February 15

• Underground railway (U-Bahn). [1]
• Wilhelmina JR Albregt-Engelman Dutch actress, dies at age 68. [1]

February 18

• The opera "Le Jongleur (Hunchback) de Notre Dame" is produced (Monte Carlo). [1]

February 20

• Heavy surf breaks over Seal Rocks and damages Sutro Baths, San Francisco. [1]

February 21

• Dr Harvey Cushing, first US brain surgeon, does his first brain operation. [1]

February 23

• Samuel R Gardiner British historian (Oliver Cromwell), dies at age 72. [1]

February 24

• Battle at Yzer Spruit Boer General De la Rey beats British. [1]

February 25

• Carl Ignaz Franz Umlauf composer, dies at age 77. [1]

February 28

• Jules Massenets opera premieres in Monte Carlo. [1]

March 3

• Isaac D France van de Putte Dutch premier (1866), dies at age 79. [1]

March 4

• American Automobile Association (AAA) founded in Chicago. [1]

March 6

• Census Bureau forms. [1]

March 7

• Boers beat British troop in Tweebosch Transvaal. [1]

March 8

• First performance of Jean Sibelius' second Symphony. [1]

March 9

• Composer Gustav Mahler marries Alma Schindler in Vienna. [1]

March 10

• Earthquake destroys Turkish city of Tochangri. [1]

March 12

• John Peter Altgeld German/US Governor of Illinois, dies at age 54. [1]

March 17

• George William Warren composer, dies at age 73. [1]

March 18

• Enrico Caruso becomes first well-known performer to make a record. [1]
• Schönberg's "Verklärte Nacht" premieres in Vienna. [1]

March 23

• Kálmán Tisza premier of Hungary (1875-90), dies at age 71. [1]

March 25

• Irving W Colburn patents sheet glass drawing machine. [1]

March 26

• Cecil Rhodes Prime Minister of Cape Colony (1890-96) dies at age 48. [1]

March 28

• 27.9 cm precipitation at McMinnville Tennessee (state record). [1]

April 2

• First motion picture theater opens (Los Angeles CA). [1]

April 4

• Cecil Rhodes scholarship fund established with $10 million. [1]

April 5

• Maurice Ravel's "Pavane pour une infante defunte", premieres in Paris France. [1]

April 7

• Texas Oil Company (Texaco) forms. [1]

April 8

• Sipyagain Russian minister of interior/headed Secret Service, assassinated. [1]

April 11

• Battle at Rooiwal, South Africa. [1]
• Hendrik Potgieter South African Boer General, dies in battle. [1]

April 13

• JC Penney opens his first store in Kemmerer Wyoming. [1]

April 14

• Marie and Pierre Curie isolate the radioactive element radium. [1]

April 15

• Pope Leo XIII encyclical "On the Church in the US". [1]

April 18

• Denmark is first country to adopt fingerprinting to identify criminals. [1]

April 20

• Marie and Pierre Curie isolate radioactive element radium. [1]

April 27

• Julius Sterling Morton who started Arbor Day, dies at age 72. [1]

April 30

• Debussy's opera "Pelléas et Mélissande", premieres in Paris France. [1]

May 1

• John Glover English chemist (production sulfuric acid), dies at age 85. [1]

May 2

• The first science fiction film, "A Trip To The Moon", is released. [1]

May 3

• David R Capriles Curaçaos director of psychiatric, dies at age 64. [1]

May 5

• Bret Harte writer, dies at age 65. [1]

May 6

• British SS Camorta sinks off Rangoon; 739 die. [1]
• Zulu assault at Holkrantz South Africa. [1]

May 7

• Soufriere volcano on Saint Vincent kills 2-5,000. [1]

May 8

• Mount Pelée erupts, wipes out Saint Pierre, Martinique, kills 30,000. [1]

May 15

• Lyman Gilmore is first person to fly a powered craft. [1]
• Portugal bankrupt by revolt in Angola. [1]

May 19

• Great Britain and Boers resume peace talks in Pretoria. [1]

May 20

• US military occupation of Cuba (since January 1, 1899) ends. [1]

May 24

• Empire Day first celebrated in Britain. [1]

May 27

• Jan van Droogenbroeck Flemish poet, dies. [1]

May 29

• Dutch State Mine law forms. [1]

May 31

• Boer War Ends; Treaty of Vereeniging signed, Britain annexes Transvaal. [1]

June 2

• Second statewide initiative and referendum law adopted, in Oregon. [1]

June 9

• First Automat restaurant opens (818 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia). [1]

June 10

• Patent for window envelope granted to H.F. Callahan. [1]

June 26

• England establishes Order of Merit. [1]
• M Wolf and L Carnera discovers asteroid #488 Kreusa. [1]

June 28

• US Congress authorizes Louisiana Purchase Expo $1 gold coin. [1]

June 30

• S I Bailey discovers asteroid #504 Cora. [1]

July 9

• L Carnera discovers asteroid #487 Venetia. [1]

August 9

• Edward VII of England crowned after death of his mother Victoria. [1]

August 22

• US President Theodore Roosevelt becomes first US chief executive to ride in an automobile. [1] [5]

August 31

• Split skirt first worn by Mrs Adolph Landeburg (horse rider). [1]

September 29

• Impresario David Belasco opened his first Broadway theater. [1]

December 5

• Henry Stephen Cutler composer, dies at age 78. [1]

December 7

• Thomas Nast political cartoonist, dies. [1]

December 8

• Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr became Associate Justice on Supreme Court. [1]

December 11

• Matthias Hohner German manufacturer (harmonica), dies at age 68. [1]

December 14

• The Commercial Pacific Cable Company lays the first Pacific telegraph cable, from Ocean Beach, San Francisco to Honolulu, Hawaii. [5]

December 17

• Frank Wedekind's "Der Erdgeist" premieres in Berlin. [1]

December 22

• Richard Freiherr von Krafft-Ebing psychiatrist, dies at age 62. [1]

December 25

• Clyde Fitch' "Girl with Green Eyes" premieres in New York City, New York. [1]

December 26

• Most knock downs in a fight, Oscar Nelson (5) and Christy Williams (42). [1]

December 28

• Trans-Pacific cable links Hawaii to US. [1]

December 31

• Boers and British army sign peace treaty. [1]