1903

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Events

January

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January 1: Edward VII becomes Emperor of India.

January 1 – Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India.
January 10 – The Aceh Sultanate was fully annexed by the Dutch forces, deposing the last sultan, marking the end of the Aceh War that have lasted for almost 30 years.
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

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February 13 – Venezuelan crisis: After agreeing to arbitration in Washington, the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy reach a settlement with Venezuela resulting in the Washington Protocols. The naval blockade that began in 1902 ends.
February 23 – Cuba leases Guantánamo Bay to the United States "in perpetuity".

March

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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 the Rosyth Dockyard as a naval base at Rosyth in Scotland.
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 13 – Having abolished the Sokoto Caliphate in West Africa, the new British administration accepts the concession of its last vizier.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
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

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April 29: The Frank Slide occurs

April 19–21 (April 6–8 O.S.) – The first Kishinev pogrom, beginning on Easter Day, takes place in Kishinev, capital of the Bessarabia Governorate of the Russian Empire. At least 47 Jews are killed during mob rioting encouraged by blood libel articles in the press and led by priests.<ref>Template:Cite Jewish Encyclopedia</ref>
April 26 – Atlético Madrid is founded as a professional association football club in Spain.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
April 29
- The 30-million-m³ Frank Slide rockslide kills 70–90 in Frank, Alberta.
- The 7.0 Template:M Manzikert earthquake affects eastern Turkey, leaving 3,500 dead.

May

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May 4 – Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary Gotse Delchev is killed in a skirmish with the Ottoman army.
May 18 – The port of Burgas, Bulgaria opens.
May 24 – The Paris–Madrid race for automobiles begins, during which at least eight people are killed; the French government stops the event at Bordeaux and impounds all of the competitors' cars.<ref>Grand Prix History online Template:Webarchive (retrieved 11 June 2017) </ref>
May 26 – Românul de la Pind, the longest-running newspaper by and about Aromanians until World War II, is founded.<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>

June

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June 11: Alexander I

c. June – Osea Island off Maldon, Essex, England, is bought by Frederick Nicholas Charrington to provide an alcohol addiction treatment centre.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
June 11 (May 29 O.S.) – King Alexander Obrenović and Queen Draga of Serbia are assassinated in Belgrade by the Black Hand (Crna Ruka) organization.
June 14 – The town of Heppner, Oregon is nearly destroyed by a cloud burst that results in a flash flood that kills about 238 people.
June 16 – The Ford Motor Company is founded by Henry Ford with $28,000 in cash from 12 investors.<ref>Steven Watts, The People's Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century (2006) p. 131</ref>
June 27 – American socialite Aida de Acosta, 19, 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

July

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July 23: 1903 Ford Model A.

July 1–19 – The first Tour de France bicycle race is held; Maurice Garin wins it.
July 7 – The British take over the Fulani Empire.
July 29 – United States Cartridge Company explosion: The explosion of two explosives storage magazines destroys 70 homes, killing 22 residents of Tewksbury, Massachusetts.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
July 30–August 23 (July 17–August 10, O.S.) – The Second Congress of the All-Russian Social Democratic Labour Party is held in exile in Brussels, transferring to London.

August

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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 3 – The Kruševo Republic is proclaimed in Ottoman Macedonia; it is crushed 10 days later.
August 4 – Pope Pius X succeeds Pope Leo XIII as the 257th pope.
August 10 – The Paris Métro train fire at Couronnes results in 84 deaths.
August 25 – The Judiciary Act is passed in the Australian parliament.

September

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September – Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas opens as Southwest Texas Normal School.
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.<ref name="AlfredPScott">Template:Cite web</ref>
September 29 – Prussia becomes the second jurisdiction to require mandatory driver's licenses for operators of motor vehicles, after New York State in 1901.

October

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October 1–13 – First modern World Series: The Boston Americans defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates in eight games.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
October 6 – The High Court of Australia sits for the first time.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
October 10 – The Women's Social and Political Union is founded in the U.K.<ref>Template:Cite ODNB</ref>

November

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November 2 – Maggie L. Walker becomes the first African American woman to charter a bank.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
November 3 – Separation of Panama from Colombia: With the encouragement of the United States, Panama proclaims itself independent of Colombia.<ref name="Secession">Template:Cite news</ref>
November 6 – The English-language South China Morning Post newspaper is first published in Hong Kong.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
November 13 – The United States recognizes the independence of Panama.<ref name="Panama">Template:Cite web</ref>
November 17 – The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party splits into two groups: the Bolsheviks (Russian for "majority") and Mensheviks (Russian for "minority").<ref>Template:Cite book This source mentions a meeting of the Party Council on November 17, 1903, but does not clarify that this was the occasion of the permanent split.</ref>
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.<ref name="Secession"/>
November 23 – Colorado governor James Hamilton Peabody sends the state militia into the town of Cripple Creek to break up a miners' strike.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
November 28 – Template:SS is wrecked on a reef outside Melbourne, Australia, causing one of the world's first major oil spills.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

December

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December 17: The Wright Flyer in the air, the first airplane flight, by Orville Wright.

December 16 – The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Bombay (now Mumbai), India opens.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
December 17 – Orville Wright flies an aircraft with a petrol engine, the Wright Flyer, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in the first documented and successful powered and controlled heavier-than-air flight.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
December 30 – The Iroquois Theatre fire in Chicago kills 600.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
December 31 – The National Association for Women's Suffrage (Sweden) is founded.

Date unknown

The first box of Crayola crayons is made and sold for five cents. It contains eight colors; brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet and black.
American motorcycle brand Harley-Davidson is founded in Wisconsin.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Compression Rheostat, the predecessor of industrial automation and industrial equipment parts brand Rockwell Automation, is founded in Wisconsin.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Births

January

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Alan Paton

January 1 – Jasimuddin, Bangladeshi poet, lyricist, composer and writer (d. 1976)
January 2 – Kane Tanaka, Japanese supercentenarian, oldest Japanese person ever, last surviving person born in 1903 (d. 2022)
January 4 – Georg Elser, German carpenter and attempted assassin of Adolf Hitler (d. 1945)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
January 6 – Maurice Abravanel, Greek-born American conductor (d. 1993)
January 10 – Barbara Hepworth, English sculptor (d. 1975)
January 11 – Alan Paton, South African author, anti-apartheid activist (d. 1988)
January 12 – Igor Kurchatov, Russian physicist (d. 1960)
January 16
- Peter Brocco, American actor (d. 1992)
- William Grover-Williams, Anglo/French race car driver, war hero (d. 1945)
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

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Tunku Abdul Rahman

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Giulio Natta

February 3 – Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton, Scottish nobleman, aviation pioneer (d. 1973)
February 4 – Alexander Imich, Polish-born American parapsychologist, chemist (d. 2014)
February 6 – Claudio Arrau, Chilean-born pianist (d. 1991)
February 8 – 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 12 – Jorge Basadre, Peruvian historian (d. 1980)
February 13 – Georges Simenon, Belgian writer (d. 1989)
February 14 – Stuart Erwin, American actor (d. 1967)
February 16 – Edgar Bergen, American ventriloquist (d. 1978)
February 17 – Joaquín Rodríguez Ortega, Spanish bullfighter (d. 1984)
February 21
- Anaïs Nin, French-born American writer (d. 1977)
- Raymond Queneau, French poet, novelist (d. 1976)
February 22
- Morley Callaghan, Canadian writer, media personality (d. 1990)
- Frank Ramsey, English mathematician (d. 1930)
February 24 – Vladimir Bartol, Slovenian author (d. 1967)
February 26 – Giulio Natta, Italian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
February 28 – Vincente Minnelli, American stage and film director (d. 1986)

March

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Empress Nagako

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Clare Boothe Luce

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Lawrence Welk

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Adolf Butenandt

March 4
- Dorothy Mackaill, British-born American actress (d. 1990)
- John Scarne, American magician, card expert (d. 1985)
March 6
- Empress Nagako, Japanese consort of Emperor Hirohito (d. 2000)
- Józef Skoczyński, Polish Roman Catholic priest and social activist (d. 1967)
March 10
- Bix Beiderbecke, American jazz musician (d. 1931)
- Clare Boothe Luce, American publisher, writer (d. 1987)
March 11
- Ronald Syme, New Zealand-born classicist, historian (d. 1989)
- Lawrence Welk, American television musician, bandleader (d. 1992)
March 14 – Mustafa Barzani, Kurdish politician (d. 1979)
March 18 – Galeazzo Ciano, Italian aristocrat and diplomat (d. 1944)
March 19 – Wage Rudolf Supratman, Indonesian violinist (d. 1938)
March 20 – Edgar Buchanan, American actor (d. 1979)
March 21 – Frank Sargeson, New Zealand writer (d. 1982)
March 23 – Germán Busch, 36th President of Bolivia (d. 1939)
March 24
- Adolf Butenandt, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1995)
- Malcolm Muggeridge, English journalist (d. 1990)
March 25
- Binnie Barnes, English actress (d. 1998)
- Nahum Norbert Glatzer, Austrian-American historian and philosopher (d. 1990)
March 28 – Rudolf Serkin, Austrian pianist (d. 1991)

April

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Eliot Ness

April 3 – Lola Alvarez Bravo, Mexican photographer (d. 1993)
April 6
- Mickey Cochrane, American baseball player (d. 1962)
- Doc Edgerton, American electrical engineer (d. 1990)
April 9 – Gregory G. Pincus, American biologist, researcher (d. 1967)
April 12 – Jan Tinbergen, Dutch economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)
April 15 – John Williams, English actor (d. 1983)
April 17
- Gregor Piatigorsky, Russian-born American cellist (d. 1976)
- Morgan Taylor, American athlete (d. 1975)
April 19 – Eliot Ness, American Prohibition agent (d. 1957)
April 24 – José Antonio Primo de Rivera, Spanish politician (d. 1936)
April 25 – Andrey Kolmogorov, Soviet mathematician (d. 1987)

May

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Bing Crosby

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Bob Hope

May 2 – Benjamin Spock, American pediatrician (d. 1998)
May 3 – Bing Crosby, American singer, actor (d. 1977)
May 4 – Luther Adler, American actor (d. 1984)
May 8 – Fernandel, French actor (d. 1971)
May 10 – Hans Jonas, German-born American philosopher (d. 1993)
May 11 – Charlie Gehringer, American baseball player (d. 1993)
May 14 – Billie Dove, American actress (d. 1997)
May 29 – Bob Hope, English-born American comedian, actor (d. 2003)

June

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Lou Gehrig

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George Orwell

June 1 – Niní Marshall, Argentine humorist, comic actress and screenwriter (d. 1996)
June 6
- Aram Khachaturian, Soviet-Armenian composer (d. 1978)
- Bakht Singh, Indian evangelist, Bible teacher and preacher (d. 2000)
June 8 – Marguerite Yourcenar, Belgian-French author (d. 1987)
June 10 – Theo Lingen, German actor (d. 1978)
June 18 – Jeanette MacDonald, American singer, actress (d. 1965)
June 19
- Lou Gehrig, American baseball player (d. 1941)
- Wally Hammond, English cricketer (d. 1965)
June 21
- Al Hirschfeld, American caricaturist (d. 2003)
- Lucy Sutherland, Australian-born British historian, academic and public servant (d. 1980)
June 22
- John Dillinger, American bank robber (d. 1934)
- Jiro Horikoshi, Japanese aircraft designer (d. 1982)
- Carl Hubbell, American baseball player (d. 1988)
- Ben Pollack, American jazz drummer, bandleader (d. 1971)
- Ben Robertson, American novelist, journalist, and war correspondent (d. 1943)
June 23
- Louis Seigner, French actor (d. 1991)
- Frances Dewey Wormser, American stage actress, entertainer and vaudeville performer (d. 2008)
- Paul Martin Sr., Canadian politician (d. 1992)
June 25
- Pierre Brossolette, French journalist, resistance fighter (d. 1944)
- George Orwell, English author (d. 1950)
- Anne Revere, American actress (d. 1990)
June 26
- Harry DeWolf, Canadian naval officer (d. 2000)
- Big Bill Broonzy, American blues singer, composer (d. 1958) (some sources give his year of birth as 1893)
June 29
- Alan Blumlein, British electronics engineer (d. 1942)
- Ellen Pollock, British actress (d. 1997)
- Max Winter, American businessman, sport executive (d. 1996)

July

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Alec Douglas-Home

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Olav V of Norway

July 1
- Don Beddoe, American character actor (d. 1991)
- Amy Johnson, English aviator (d. 1941)
July 2
- Harwell Hamilton Harris, American architect (d. 1990)
- Charles Poletti, American lawyer and politician (d. 2002)
- Alec Douglas-Home, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1995)
- King Olav V of Norway (d. 1991)
July 3 – Ace Bailey, Canadian hockey player (d. 1992)
July 4
- Corrado Bafile, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 2005)
- Walter Trohan, American journalist (d. 2003)
- Howard Hobson, American basketball player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball (d. 1991)
July 5
- Edward Woods, American actor (d. 1989)
- Willem Peters, Dutch athlete (d. 1995)
July 6 – Hugo Theorell, Swedish scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1982)
July 7
- Gustaf Jonsson, Swedish cross country skier (d. 1990)
- Steven Runciman, English historian (d. 2000)
July 10 – Werner Best, German SS officer, jurist (d. 1989)
July 12 – Judith Hare, Countess of Listowel, Hungarian-born journalist, writer (d. 2003)
July 13
- Olle Hallberg, Swedish long jumper (d. 1996)
- Kenneth Clark, English art historian (d. 1983)
July 14
- Thomas D. Clark, American historian (d. 2005)
- Henricus Cockuyt, Belgian sprinter (d. 1993)
July 16
- Tore Asplund, Swedish-born American painter (d. 1977)
- Mary Philbin, American notable film actress of the silent film era (d. 1993)
July 18 – Victor Gruen, Austrian-Jewish architect and inventor of the shopping mall (d. 1980)
July 21 – Roy Neuberger, American financier, art collector (d. 2010)
July 26 – Estes Kefauver, American politician (d. 1963)
July 27 – Michail Stasinopoulos, 1st president of Greece (d. 2002)