Year '1904' ('
MCMIV') was a
leap year starting on Friday (link will display calendar) of the
Gregorian calendar (or a
leap year starting on Thursday
of the 13-day-slower
Julian calendar).
Events of 1904
January - February
★
January 7 - The
distress signal CQD is established, only to be replaced two years later by
SOS.
★
February 7 - The
Great Baltimore Fire in
Baltimore, Maryland destroys over 1,500 buildings in 30 hours.
★
February 8 - Japanese surprise attack on
Port Arthur (Lushun) starts
Russo-Japanese War.
★
February 10 -
Roger Casement publishes his account of
Belgian atrocities in
Congo.
★
February 17 -
Puccini's ''
Madame Butterfly'' debuts in
Milan to no great success.
★
February 23 - For $10 million, the
United States gains control of the
Panama Canal Zone.
March - April
★
March 3 - Kaiser
Wilhelm II of Germany becomes the first person to make a political recording of a document, using
Thomas Edison's cylinder.
★
March 4 -
Russo-Japanese War:
Russian troops in
Korea retreat toward
Manchuria followed by 100,000
Japanese troops.
★
March 8 - The first tunnel beneath the
Hudson River is completed.
★
March 21 -
Battle of Chumik Shenko: British under Colonel
Francis Younghusband defeat ill-equipped
Tibetan troops.
★
April 8
★
★
Entente Cordiale signed between the
UK and
France.
★
★
Longacre Square in
Midtown Manhattan is renamed
Times Square after ''
The New York Times''.
★
April 8-
April 10 -
Aleister Crowley writes ''
The Book of the Law'' in
Cairo,
Egypt.
★
April 18 - The
Great Toronto Fire destroys much of that city's downtown, but kills no one.
★
April 27 - The
Australian Labor Party becomes the first such party to gain national government, under
Chris Watson.
★
April 30 -
Louisiana Purchase Exposition World's Fair opens in
St. Louis, Missouri (closes
December 1).
May - June
★
May 4 -
Frederick Henry Royce meets
Charles Stewart Rolls to discuss
Rolls-Royce agreement.
★
May 5 -
Pitching against the
Philadelphia Athletics at the
Huntington Avenue Grounds,
Cy Young of the
Boston Americans throws the first
perfect game in the modern era of
baseball.
★
May 18 - in
Paris, 12 nations sign the
International Agreement for the Suppression of the White Slave Trade.
★
May 21 - Foundation of
FIFA.
★
June 15 - A fire aboard the steamboat ''
General Slocum'' in
New York City's East River kills 1000.
★
June 15 -
Buffalo Bill's Wild West in
Horsham,
West Sussex
★
June 16 -
Eugen Schauman assassinates
Nikolai Bobrikov,
Governor-General of Finland.
★
June 16 -
Leopold Bloom walks through Dublin (First
Bloomsday).
★
June 28 - The Danish ocean liner
SS Norge runs aground and sinks close to
Rockall, 635 are killed, biggest group is 225 Norwegian emigrants.
★
June 29 -
1904 Moscow tornado
July - August
★
July 21 -
Trans-Siberian railway is completed.
★
July 23 - In
St. Louis, Missouri,
Charles E. Menches invents the
ice cream cone during the
Louisiana Purchase Exposition.
★
August 3 - A British expedition under Colonel
Francis Younghusband takes
Lhasa in
Tibet.
★
August 14 -
Ismael Montes becomes
president of Bolivia.
★
August 17 – Japanese infantry charge fails to take
Port Arthur.
★
August 18 -
Chris Watson resigns as
Prime Minister of Australia and is succeeded by
George Reid.
September - October
★
September 7 - The
Dalai Lama signs the
Anglo-Tibetan Treaty with Colonel
Francis Younghusband.
★
October 1 -
Assumption College is founded.
★
October 4 - Two time UEFA Cup champions (and 17 time Swedish champions)
IFK Göteborg is founded.
★
October 15
★
★ The Russian
Baltic Fleet leaves
Reval,
Estonia for
Port Arthur during the
Russo-Japanese War.
★
★
Theta Tau, the
Professional Engineering Fraternity, is founded at the
University of Minnesota in
Minneapolis, Minnesota.
★
October 19 -
Polytechnic University of the Philippines founded as Manila Business School through the superintendence of the
American C.A. O'Reilley.
★
October 20 -
Toowoomba, Queensland is declared a city.
★
October 21 - The
Russian
Baltic Fleet fires on British trawlers it mistakes for
Japanese torpedo boats in the
North Sea, in what would be known as the
Dogger Bank incident.
★
October 27 - The first underground line of the
New York City Subway opens (IRT); the system is now the largest in the
United States and one of the largest in the world.
November - December
★
November 4 - In
Florence,
Italy, the
Arno River floods.
★
November 8 -
Theodore Roosevelt defeats
Alton B. Parker in the
U.S. presidential election.
★
November 24 - The first successful
caterpillar track is made (it would later revolutionize construction vehicles and land warfare).
★
December 2 -
St. Petersburg Soviet urges run on the
banks: the attempt fails and the executive committee is arrested.
★
December 3 -
Charles Dillon Perrine discovers
Jupiter's largest
irregular satellite,
Himalia.
★
December 4 - KU or
Konservativ Ungdom (Young Conservatives) in Denmark is founded by Carl F. Herman von Rosen. Still existing today, it is the oldest youth political organisation in Denmark and believed to be one of the oldest remaining in the world.
★
December 10 - Founding of
Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity.
★
December 27 - The stage play ''
Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up'' premieres in
London.
★
December 30 -
East Boston Tunnel opens.
★
December 31 - In
New York City, the first
New Year's Eve celebration is held in
Times Square, renamed in April from
Longacre Square.
Undated
★
Herero Wars begin.
★
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints President
Joseph F. Smith issues a "
Second Manifesto" against polygamy.
★ Subject of
alcohol and heart attacks first investigated.
★
Loftus Road and
Griffin Park football stadiums open.
★
Stuyvesant High School is founded in
New York City.
Ongoing
★
Russo-Japanese War (1904-
1905)
★
1904-1905 Welsh Revival
Births
January-February
★
January 1 -
Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry, Pakistani politician (d.
1982)
★
January 3 -
Jeane Dixon, American astrologer (d.
1997)
★
January 10 -
Ray Bolger, American actor, singer, and dancer (d.
1987)
★
January 13 -
Richard Addinsell, British composer (d.
1977)
★
January 14 -
Cecil Beaton, English photographer (d.
1980)
★
January 18 -
Cary Grant, English actor (d.
1986)
★
January 22
★
★
George Balanchine, Russian-born choreographer (d.
1983)
★
★
Arkady Gaidar, Russian children's writer (d.
1941)
★
January 26
★
★
Ancel Keys, American scientist (d.
2004)
★
★
Seán MacBride, Irish statesman, recipient of the
Nobel Peace Prize (d.
1988)
★
January 27 -
J. J. Gibson, American psychologist (d.
1979)
★
January 29
★
★
Arnold Gehlen, German philosopher (d.
1976)
★
February 1 -
S. J. Perelman, American humorist and author (d.
1979)
★
February 3
★
★
Luigi Dallapiccola, Italian composer (d.
1975)
★
★
Pretty Boy Floyd, American gangster (d.
1934)
★
February 4 -
MacKinlay Kantor, American writer and historian (d.
1977)
★
February 11 - Sir
Keith Holyoake,
Prime Minister of New Zealand (d.
1983)
★
February 16
★
★
George F. Kennan, American diplomat (d.
2005)
★
★
Philip Rabinowitz, South African record breaking sprinter
★
February 20 -
Aleksei Kosygin,
Premier of the Soviet Union (d.
1980)
★
February 29 -
Jimmy Dorsey, American bandleader (d.
1957)
March-April
★
March 1 -
Glenn Miller, American bandleader (d.
1944)
★
March 2 -
Dr. Seuss, American author (d.
1991)
★
March 4
★
★
George Gamow, Ukrainian-born physicist (d.
1968)
★
★
Joseph Schmidt, Austrian-Hungarian tenor and actor (d.
1942)
★
★
Chief Tahachee (actor), American-born Old Settler Cherokee Indian stage and film actor (d.
1978)
★
March 6 -
Joseph Schmidt, Austrian tenor (d.
1942)
★
March 7 -
Reinhard Heydrich, Nazi official (d.
1942)
★
March 14 -
Doris Eaton Travis, American actress
★
March 20 -
B. F. Skinner, American behavioral psychologist (d.
1990)
★
March 22 -
Itche Goldberg, Yiddish author (d.
2006)
★
March 26
★
★
Joseph Campbell, American author on mythology (d.
1987)
★
★
Xenophon Zolotas,
Prime Minister of Greece (d.
2004)
★
April 1 -
Nikolai Berzarin, Russian Red Army General (d.
1945)
★
April 3 -
Sally Rand, American dancer and actress (d.
1979)
★
April 8 -
John Hicks, English economist,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1989)
★
April 9 -
Sharkey Bonano, American jazz musician (d.
1972)
★
April 14 - Sir
John Gielgud, English actor (d.
2000)
★
April 15 -
Arshile Gorky, Armenian-born painter (d.
1948)
★
April 16 -
Fifi D'Orsay, Canadian actress (d.
1983)
★
April 22 -
Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist (d.
1967)
★
April 24 -
Willem de Kooning, Dutch artist (d.
1997)
★
April 26 -
Jimmy McGrory, Scottish footballer (d.
1982)
★
April 27 -
Cecil Day-Lewis, English poet (d.
1972)
★
April 29 -
Pedro Vargas, Mexican singer and actor (d.
1989)
May-June
★
May 6
★
★
Moshe Feldenkrais, Ukrainian-born engineer (d.
1984)
★
★
Harry Martinson, Swedish writer,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1978)
★
May 8 -
John Snagge, British radio personality (d.
1996)
★
May 11 -
Salvador Dalí, Spanish artist (d.
1989)
★
May 17 -
Jean Gabin, French actor (d.
1976)
★
May 21
★
★
Fats Waller, American pianist and comedian (d.
1943)
★
★
Robert Montgomery, American actor and director (d.
1981)
★
May 27 -
Chuhei Nambu, Japanese athlete (d.
1997)
★
June 2
★
★
Frantisek Planicka, Czech footballer (d.
1996)
★
★
Johnny Weissmuller, American swimmer and actor (d.
1984)
★
June 3 -
Jan Peerce, American tenor (d.
1984)
★
June 6 -
Francisco López Merino, Argentine poet (d.
1928)
★
June 26 -
Peter Lorre, Hungarian-born film actor (d.
1964)
July-August
★
July 5 -
Ernst Mayr, German-born biologist and author (d.
2005)
★
July 6 -
Erik Wickberg, General of The Salvation Army (d.
1996)
★
July 8 -
Henri Cartan, French mathematician
★
July 12 -
Pablo Neruda, Chilean poet,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1973)
★
July 15 -
Rudolf Arnheim, German-born author (d.
2007)
★
July 28 -
Pavel Alekseyevich Cherenkov, Russian physicist,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1990)
★
July 31 -
Brett Halliday, American writer (d.
1977)
★
August 4 -
Witold Gombrowicz, Polish novelist and dramatist (d.
1969)
★
August 7 -
Ralph Bunche, American diplomat, recipient of the
Nobel Peace Prize (d.
1971)
★
August 12 -
Tsarevich Alexei of Russia (d.
1918)
★
August 16 -
Wendell Meredith Stanley, American chemist,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1971)
★
August 17
★
★
Leopold Nowak, Austrian musicologist (d.
1991)
★
★
Mary Cain,
Mississippi newspaper editor and politician (d.
1984)
★
August 21 -
Count Basie, American musician and bandleader (d.
1984)
★
August 22 -
Deng Xiaoping, Chinese leader (d.
1997)
★
August 23
★
★
Thelma Morgan, Viscountess Furness, American socialite twin (d.
1970)
★
★
Gloria Morgan-Vanderbilt, American socialite twin (d.
1965)
★
August 28 -
Secondo Campini, Italian jet pioneer (d.
1980)
★
August 29 -
Werner Forssmann, German physician, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d.
1979)
September-October
★
September 9 -
Feroze Khan, Pakistani field hockey player (d.
2005)
★
September 22 -
Joseph Valachi, gangster (d.
1971)
★
September 29 -
Greer Garson, English actress (d.
1996)
★
October 1 -
A.K. Gopalan, Indian communist leader (d.
1977)
★
October 3 -
Charles J. Pedersen, American chemist,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1989)
★
October 9 -
Wally Brown, American actor and comedian (d.
1961)
★
October 20 -
Tommy Douglas, Canadian politician (d.
1986)
★
October 23 -
Harvey Penick, American golfer (d.
1995)
★
October 25 -
Vladimir Peter Tytla, American animator (d.
1968)
November-December
★
November 2 -
Louis Eugène Félix Néel, French physicist,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
2000)
★
November 4 -
Tadeusz Żyliński, Polish technician and textilist (d.
1967)
★
November 11 -
J. H. C. Whitehead, British mathematician (d.
1960)
★
November 12 -
Jacques Tourneur, French director (d.
1977)
★
November 14
★
★
Dick Powell, American actor and singer (d.
1963)
★
★
Michael Ramsey,
Archbishop of Canterbury (d.
1988)
★
November 25
★
★
Lillian Copeland, American athlete (d.
1964)
★
★
Toni Ortelli, Italian composer and alpinist (d.
2000)
★
November 30 -
Clyfford Still, American painter (d.
1980)
★
December 6 -
Eve Curie, French author and daughter of Pierre and Marie Curie
★
December 12 - Baron
Nicolas de Gunzburg, French-born magazine editor and socialite (d.
1981)
★
December 18 -
George Stevens, American film director (d.
1975)
★
December 24 -
Joseph M. Juran, American engineer and philanthropist
★
December 25 -
Gerhard Herzberg, German-born chemist,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1999)
★
December 26 -
Alejo Carpentier, Cuban writer (d.
1980)
★
December 30 -
Dmitri Borisovich Kabalevsky, Russian composer (d.
1987)
★ ''date unknown''
★
★
Gustave Biéler, Swiss-born hero of World War II (executed) (d.
1944)
★
★
Bernard Castro, Italian inventor (d.
1991)
★
★
Tevfik Esenç, Turkish-born last speaker of the
Ubykh language (d.
1992)
Deaths
::''(See 1904 list of deaths by name: .)''
January - June
★
January 2 -
James Longstreet, American Confederate general (b.
1821)
★
January 20 -
Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev, Russian chemist (b.
1834)
★
February 8 -
Alfred Ainger, biographer (b.
1837)
★
February 22 -
Leslie Stephen, English writer and critic (b.
1832)
★
March 5 -
John Lowther du Plat Taylor, British founder of the Army Post Office Corps (b.
1829)
★
March 17 -
Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, grandson of King George III (b.
1819)
★
April 10 - Queen
Isabella II of Spain (b.
1830)
★
May 1 -
Antonín Dvořák, Czech composer (b.
1841)
★
May 8 -
Eadweard Muybridge, English photographer and motion picture pioneer (b.
1830)
★
May 10 -
Henry Morton Stanley, Welsh explorer and journalist (b.
1841)
★
May 19 -
Auguste Molinier, French historian (b.
1851)
★
June 4 -
George Frederick Phillips, Canadian-born military hero (b.
1862)
★
June 12 -
Camille de Renesse, Belgian Count (b.
1836)
July - December
★
July 3 -
Theodor Herzl, Austrian founder of Zionism (b.
1860)
★
July 5 -
Abai Kunanbaiuli, Kazakh poet (b.
1845)
★
July 14
★
★
Anton Chekhov, Russian writer (b.
1860)
★
★
Paul Kruger, South African resistance leader (b.
1825)
★
July 22 -
Wilson Barrett, English actor (b.
1846)
★
August 6 -
Eduard Hanslick, Austrian music critic (b.
1825)
★
August 22 -
Kate Chopin, American author (b.
1851)
★
August 25 -
Henri Fantin-Latour, French painter (b.
1836)
★
August 29 -
Murad V,
Ottoman Sultan (b.
1840)
★
September 25 -
Niels Ryberg Finsen, Danish physician, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b.
1860)
★
September 26
★
★
Lafcadio Hearn, American-Japanese author (b.
1850)
★
★
John F. Stairs, Canadian businessman and statesman (b.
1848)
★
October 4
★
★
Frédéric Bartholdi, Alsatian sculptor (b.
1834)
★
★
Laurence Hope, English poetess (b.
1865)
★
October 21 -
Isabelle Eberhardt, explorer (b.
1877)
Nobel prizes
★
Physics -
The Lord Rayleigh
★
Chemistry -
Sir William Ramsay
★
Physiology or Medicine -
Ivan Petrovich Pavlov
★
Literature -
Frédéric Mistral,
José Echegaray Y Eizaguirre
★
Peace -
Institut De Droit International
Fictional
★ Sometime in this year, the events of
Raimuiro Senkitan took place.
★ Three of the short novels about Samantha Edwards took place in this year.
Notes
External links
★
1904 Coin Pictures
Table of contents
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