1902
1902 was a Common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar).
Events January-April May-August May 5 - Commonwealth Public Service Act creates Australia's Public Service May 8 - In Martinique , Mount Pelée erupts, destroys the town of Saint-Pierre , and kills over 30,000 people. Only a small handful of St. Pierre's residents survived the blast. May 13 - Alfonso XIII of Spain formally begins his reign May 15 - In a field outside Grass Valley, California , Lyman Gilmore reportedly becomes the first person to fly a powered airplane (a Steam -powered glider). May 17 - Archaeologist Spyridon Stais finds the Antikythera mechanism May 20 - Cuba gains independence from the United States May 29 - Lord Rosebery opens London School of Economics May 31 - Treaty of Vereeniging ends Second Boer War June 2 - The Anthracite Coal Strike begins in the United States. June 15 - The New York Central railroad inaugurates the 20th Century Limited passenger train between Chicago, Illinois and New York City, New York . June 16 - Australia : Female British subjects (with the exception of Asians, Aborigines and Africans) won the vote with the Uniform Franchise Act. June 26 - Edward VII institutes The Order of Merit . July 10 - Rolling Mill Mine disaster in Johnstown, PA , kills 112 miners. July 11 - Retirement of Lord Salisbury as British prime minister . July 11 - Order of the Garter conferred on Archduke Ferdinand . July 14 - St Mark's Campanile in Venice collapses. July 23 - Excelsior Rotterdam was founded. August 9 - Edward VII is crowned King of the United Kingdom . August 22 - Theodore Roosevelt became the first American President to ride in an Automobile when he rode in a Columbia Electric Victoria through Hartford, Connecticut . September-December Births January-February January 1 - Buster Nupen , South African cricketer (d. 1977 ) January 9 - Rudolph Bing , Austrian-born opera manager (d. 1997 ) January 9 - Josemaría Escrivá , Spanish priest and founder of Opus Dei (d. 1975 ) January 11 - Maurice Duruflé , French composer (d. 1986 ) January 12 - King Saud of Saudi Arabia (d. 1969 ) January 16 - Eric Liddell , Scottish runner (d. 1945 ) January 22 - Daniel Kinsey , American hurdler (d. 1970 ) January 24 - E. A. Speiser , American Bible scholar (d. 1965 ) January 25 - André Beaufre , French general (d. 1975 ) January 26 - Menno ter Braak , Dutch author and polemicist (d. 1940 ) January 31 - Tallulah Bankhead , American actress (d. 1968 ) January 31 - Alva Myrdal , Swedish politician, diplomat, and writer, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1986 ) February 1 - Langston Hughes , American writer (d. 1967 ) February 4 - Charles Lindbergh , American aviator (d. 1974 ) February 4 - Hartley Shawcross , British prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials (d. 2003 ) February 6 - George Brunies , American jazz trombonist (d. 1974 ) February 8 - Demchugdongrub , Mongolian politician (d. 1966 ) February 10 - Walter Houser Brattain , American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987 ) February 11 - Arne Jacobsen , Danish architect and designer (d. 1971 ) February 19 - Kay Boyle , American writer (d. 1992 ) February 19 - Eddie Peabody , American musician (d.1970 ) February 20 - Ansel Adams , American photographer (d. 1984 ) February 27 - Gene Sarazen , American golfer (d. 1999 ) February 27 - John Steinbeck , American writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1968 ) March-April March 7 - Heinz Rühmann , German actor (d. 1994 ) March 9 - Will Geer , American actor (d. 1978 ) March 16 - Leon Roppolo , American jazz clarinetist (d. 1943 ) March 17 - Bobby Jones , American golfer (d. 1971 ) March 21 - Son House , American musician (d. 1988 ) March 24 - Thomas Dewey , American politician (d. 1971 ) March 28 - Dame Flora Robson , English actress (d. 1984 ) March 29 - William Walton , English composer (d. 1983 ) March 29 - Marcel Aymé , French writer (d. 1967 ) April 4 - Louise Leveque de Vilmorin , French actress (d. 1969 ) April 12 - Louis Beel , Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 1977 ) April 23 - Halldór Laxness , Icelandic writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998 ) April 25 - Werner Heyde , German psychiatrist (d. 1964 ) April 30 - Theodore Schultz , American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998 ) May-October May 3 - Alfred Kastler , French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984 ) May 6 - Max Ophüls , German-born director (d. 1957 ) May 6 - Harry Golden , American journalist (d. 1981 ) May 10 - Anatole Litvak , Ukrainian-born film director (d. 1974 ) May 10 - David O. Selznick , Hollywood film producer (d. 1965 ) May 15 - Richard J. Daley , Mayor of Chicago (d. 1976 ) May 18 - Meredith Willson , American composer (d. 1984 ) May 21 - Earl Averill , baseball player (d. 1983 ) May 21 - Marcel Lajos Breuer , architect (d. 1981 ) May 22 - Al Simmons , baseball player (d. 1956 ) July 4 - George Murphy , American dancer, actor, Senator from California (d. 1992 ) July 4 - Meyer Lansky , Russian-born mobster (d. 1983 ) July 10 - Kurt Alder , German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958 ) July 28 - Karl Raimund Popper , Austrian philosopher (d. 1994 ) July 26 - Gracie Allen , American actress and comedienne (d. 1964 ) August 8 - Paul Dirac , English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984 ) August 9 - Zino Francescatti , French violinist (d. 1991 ) August 10 - Norma Shearer , Canadian actress (d. 1983 ) August 10 - Arne Tiselius , Swedish chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971 ) August 11 - Alfredo Binda , Italian cyclist (d. 1986 ) August 19 - Ogden Nash , American poet (d. 1971 ) August 22 - Leni Riefenstahl , German film director (d. 2003 ) August 25 - Stefan Wolpe , German-born composer (d. 1972 ) September 21 - Luis Cernuda , Spanish poet (d. 1963 ) September 22 - John Houseman , Romanian-born actor and producer (d. 1988 ) September 24 - Ruhollah Khomeini , Iranian Shia cleric (d. 1989 ) October 5 - Larry Fine , American actor and comedian (d. 1975 ) October 5 - Ray Kroc , American fast food entrepreneur (d. 1984 ) October 25 - Eddie Lang , American jazz guitarist (d. 1933 ) November-December Deaths January 11 - Johnny Briggs , English cricketer (b. 1862 ) March 26 - Cecil Rhodes , British imperialist (b. 1853 ) April 2 - Esther Morris , suffragist and the first American woman judge (b. 1814 ) May 6 - Bret Harte , American writer (b. 1836 ) May 26 - Almon Strowger , American inventor (b. 1839 ) June 10 - Jacint Verdaguer , Catalan poet (b. 1845 ) June 18 - Samuel Butler , British author (b. 1835 ) July 4 - Swami Vivekananda , Indian religious leader (b. 1863 ) July 6 - Maria Goretti , Italian Catholic saint (b. 1890 ) August 8 - James Tissot , French artist (b. 1836 ) September 5 - Rudolf Virchow , German doctor, pathologist, biologist, and politician (b. 1821 ) September 6 - Sir Frederick Augustus Abel , British chemist (b. 1827 ) September 29 - Emile Zola , French author (b. 1840 ) October 26 - Elizabeth Cady Stanton , American women's rights activist (b. 1815 ) December 3 - Robert Lawson , New Zealand architect (b. 1833 ) December 22 - Richard von Krafft-Ebing , German sexologist (b. 1840 ) Frederick Temple , Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1821 ) Nobel Prizes