The Centennial

2002-12-11T10:08:00.000-08:00

The Alpha Chi Sigma fraternity was founded on December 11, 1902, at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

2002-12-10T10:18:00.000-08:00

Victor "Trader Vic" Bergeron, inventor of the Mai Tai, among other drinks, was born on December 10, 1902.

2002-12-09T10:20:00.000-08:00

Margaret Hamilton, the actress best known for her role as the Wicked Witch of the West in "The Wizard of Oz" was born on December 9, 1902, in Cleveland, Ohio.

2002-12-08T16:23:00.000-08:00

On December 8, 1902, Pope Leo XIII wrote an encyclical called Fin Dal Principio (On the Education of the Clergy)

2002-12-07T12:38:00.000-08:00

Thomas Nast, America's greatest political cartoonist, who popularized images of the Republican elephant, the Democratic donkey, Uncle Sam, and Santa Claus, died on December 7, 1902, in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

2002-12-06T10:00:00.000-08:00

Alice Elvira Freeman Palmer, an American educator and president of Wellesley College, died on December 6, 1902, in Paris.

2002-12-05T14:40:00.000-08:00

U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond (R-SC) was born on December 5, 1902, in Edgefield, South Carolina.

2002-12-02T08:58:00.000-08:00

On December 2, 1902, Theodore Roosevelt nominated Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. for the Supreme Court, and made a State of the Union Address.

Also, the Pan American Health Organization was formed.

2002-11-29T11:28:00.000-08:00

The first issue of Hyde's Weekly Art News (now ARTnews) appeared on November 29, 1902.

2002-11-28T11:43:00.000-08:00

On November 28, 1902, Mark Twain celebrated his sixty-seventh birthday by making a speech.

2002-11-25T08:23:00.000-08:00

Morris Lapidus, a Miami Beach, Florida architect, was born on November 25, 1902, in Odessa, Russia.

2002-11-24T09:29:00.000-08:00

The first American destroyer, the U.S.S. Bainbridge, was commissioned on November 24, 1902.

2002-11-23T11:51:00.000-08:00

Walter Reed, the conqueror of yellow fever, died on November 23, 1902, in Washington, D.C.

2002-11-22T08:28:00.000-08:00

Emanuel Feuermann, the master cellist, was born on November 22, 1902, in Kolomea, Galicia (now Ukraine).

2002-11-21T10:04:00.000-08:00

Foster Hewitt, the Canadian ice hockey broadcaster who coined the phrase "He shoots, he scores," was born on November 21, 1902, in Toronto.

2002-11-18T19:42:00.000-08:00

On November 18, 1902, Sir Samuel Henry Strong, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, retired.

2002-11-17T10:09:00.000-08:00

Eugene Paul Wigner, winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1963, was born on November 17, 1902, in Budapest.

2002-11-16T13:30:00.000-08:00

On November 16, 1902, a famous cartoon by Clifford Berryman appeared in the Washington Post.

2002-11-15T08:37:00.000-08:00

The Egyptian Museum in Cairo opened to the public on November 15, 1902.

2002-11-14T11:20:00.000-08:00

November 14, 1902:

-- Frances Auretta Fuller Victor, American writer and historian, died in Portland, Oregon.

-- The first issue of the Olde Penn, now called the Pennsylvania Gazette, was printed.

2002-11-13T11:20:00.000-08:00

In November of 1902 (I don't know the exact date, but it was around the 13th), Theodore Roosevelt set out on a bear hunting trip in Mississippi. After a while, his aides became concerned that he hadn't had any luck, so they captured a bear for him, but he refused to shoot it. Thus, the Teddy bear had its beginning.

2002-11-11T19:57:00.000-08:00

The first requisite of a good citizen in this republic of ours is that he shall be able and willing to pull his weight; that he shall not be a mere passenger, but shall do his share in the work that each generation of us finds ready to hand; and, furthermore, that in doing his work he shall show, not only the capacity for sturdy self-help, but also self-respecting regard for the rights of others.

-- Theodore Roosevelt, in a speech on November 11, 1902, in New York.

2002-11-09T20:40:00.000-08:00

Anthony Asquith, a British film director, was born on November 9, 1902, in London.

2002-11-08T17:54:00.000-08:00

Macy's Herald Square, the world's largest store, opened on November 8, 1902.

2002-11-07T09:26:00.000-08:00

Ed Dodd, creator of the comic strip Mark Trail, was born on November 7, 1902.

2002-11-02T12:24:00.000-08:00

November 2, 1902:

-- Sergei Alekseevich Lebedev, a Soviet computing pioneer, was born in Nizhny Novogorod.

--Ernest Shackleton, Robert Scott, and Edward Wilson left on an expedition to the South Pole.

2002-11-01T08:42:00.000-08:00

November 1, 1902:

--Buffalo Bill's Irma Hotel in Cody, Wyoming was opened to the public.

--Eugen Jochum, a German composer, was born.

2002-10-31T13:08:00.000-08:00

On October 31, 1902, the Pacific Cable, between Vancouver, Canada and Brisbane, Australia, was completed, linking North America and Australia for the first time.

2002-10-30T10:22:00.000-08:00

On October 28, 1902, Public Opinion published an article on the aftermath of the coal strike, and Secretary of War Elihu Root used the strike in a speech to urge people to vote Republican in the upcoming midterm elections.

2002-10-28T10:20:00.000-08:00

Elsa Lanchester, an actress best known for her role as the bride of Frankenstein, was born on October 28, 1902 in Lewisham, England.

2002-10-26T20:53:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a campaigner for women's suffrage, died on October 26, 1902 in New York City.

2002-10-25T13:05:00.000-07:00

October 25, 1902:

-- Eddie Lang, the first jazz guitar virtuoso, was born in Philadelphia.

-- The Santa Maria Volcano in Guatemala erupted, killing thousands.

-- Leslie McFarlane, the first ghostwriter of the Hardy Boys books, was born in Carlton Place, Ontario.

-- Frank Norris, best known as the author of The Octopus, died at the age of 32.

2002-10-24T09:43:00.000-07:00

October 24, 1902:

-- Delta Zeta Sorority was founded at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.

-- N.C. Wyeth arrived in Wilmington.

2002-10-23T11:01:00.000-07:00

On October 23, 1902, the Anthracite Coal Strike ended, and the miners went back to work.

2002-10-20T13:02:00.000-07:00

Felisberto Hernandez, a Uruguayan writer of short stories, was born on October 20, 1902 in Montevideo.

2002-10-18T10:22:00.000-07:00

Miriam Hopkins, a famous actress, was born on October 18, 1902.

2002-10-17T10:26:00.000-07:00

On October 17, 1902, the mountain gorilla was discovered by Oscar von Beringe.

Also, the first Cadillac car was introduced, and Irene Ryan, a castmember of The Beverly Hillbillies, was born.

2002-10-16T08:48:00.000-07:00

On October 16, 1902, Public Opinion published an update on the coal strike.

2002-10-13T18:26:00.000-07:00

On October 13, 1902, Mark Twain sent a letter to the Secretary of the Treasury with a solution to the rising cost of fuel: burn money.

Also, Arna Bontemps, an important writer of the Harlem Renaissance and an author of children's books, was born in Alexandria, Louisiana.

2002-10-11T11:04:00.000-07:00

Jayprakash Narayan, an Indian freedom fighter and politician, was born on October 11, 1902.

2002-10-10T08:43:00.000-07:00

October 10, 1902:

--Some pictures were taken of the Wright glider in action.

--The New South Wales Trotting Club was incorporated.

--Albert Einstein's father Hermann died.

--The Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Co., Ltd. was incorporated.

2002-10-09T08:45:00.000-07:00

October 9, 1902:

-- Public Opinion published an article about the coal strike conference.

--A landmark court case on the separation of church and state was decided by the Nebraska Supreme Court.

--A gunfight broke out in El Dorado, Arkansas. It is re-enacted weekly during the summer.

2002-10-08T08:45:00.000-07:00

On October 7, 1902, the Wright brothers modified their glider to give it 3-axis control (something that had never been done before), and on October 8, they tested it. It worked perfectly.

2002-10-05T11:37:00.000-07:00

Born on October 5, 1902:

--Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald's Corporation, in Oak Park, Illinois.

--Larry Fine, one of the Three Stooges, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

2002-10-04T08:43:00.000-07:00

Lionel Johnson, a British poet, died on October 4, 1902.

2002-10-03T12:16:00.000-07:00

October 3, 1902:

As winter approached, and the Anthracite Coal Strike went on, Theodore Roosevelt invited both sides to the White House for a conference. It marked the first time a U.S. president had tried to mediate a labor dispute.

2002-10-02T08:45:00.000-07:00

On October 2, 1902, Freddie Young, one of the greatest cinematographers of all time, was born in London, and John Whiteaker, the first governor of Oregon(1859-1862), died in Eugene.

2002-10-01T08:18:00.000-07:00

On October 1, 1902, Lina Rogers Struthers, the first school nurse in the United States, began work at a New York City school.

2002-09-30T10:45:00.000-07:00

On September 30, 1902, the Guardian reviewed Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories.

2002-09-29T11:51:00.000-07:00

William Topaz McGonagall, called the worst poet of the English language, died on September 29, 1902 in Edinburgh.

2002-09-28T10:21:00.000-07:00

On September 28, 1902, Emile Zola, a controvertial French novelist, died in Paris, and Ed Sullivan (of The Ed Sullivan Show) was born in New York City.

2002-09-26T10:16:00.000-07:00

Levi Strauss, inventor of jeans, died on September 26, 1902 in San Francisco.

2002-09-24T12:02:00.000-07:00

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, revolutionary and founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, was born on September 24, 1902.

2002-09-23T08:58:00.000-07:00

Major John Wesley Powell, explorer of the canyons of the American southwest, died on September 23, 1902 in Haven, Maine.

Also on that day, Caleb D. Bradham, the creator of Pepsi-Cola, applied for a trademark, and Theodore Roosevelt was in Tipton, Indiana.

2002-09-22T11:01:00.000-07:00

We know there are dangers ahead, as we know there are evils to fight and overcome. But stout of heart, we see across the dangers the great future that lies beyond, and we rejoice as a giant refreshed, as a strong man girt for the race, and we go down into the arena where the nations strive for mastery, our hearts lifted with the faith that to us and our children and our children’s children it shall be given to make this republic the mightiest among the peoples of mankind.

--Theodore Roosevelt, Detroit, Michigan, September 22, 1902

Born on this day: Ivan Jadan, the great Russian tenor of the 20th century, in Lugansk; and John Houseman, a legendary Hollywood producer and actor, winner of two academy awards, in Bucharest.

2002-09-20T09:22:00.000-07:00

September 20, 1902:

--The California State Park System began with Big Basin Redwoods SP.

--Stevie Smith, a British poet, was born in Hull, England.

--Also born that day: Italian neorealist screenwriter Cesare Zavattini in Luzzara.

2002-09-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

September 19, 1902:

--The Wright Brothers began testing their new glider, flying it like a kite. It was by far their most successful yet.

--James Henry (Jimmy) Van Alen, who transformed tennis with the introduction of the tiebreaker and founded the Tennis Hall of Fame, was born in Newport, Rhode Island.

--Why did David Henderson resign as speaker? Nearly one hundred years afterward, the mystery was solved.

--115 people died when a crowd of 2000 at the Shiloh Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama thought it heard someone yell "Fire!"

--Nicolai Kamov, a Russian helicopter pioneer, was born.

--Masaoka Shiki, the Japanese poet who revived the haiku, died in Tokyo.

2002-09-18T08:57:00.000-07:00

There is no wonder that we die. The wonder is that we persist in living.

-- unknown, quoted in The Independent, September 18, 1902

2002-09-17T09:12:00.000-07:00

On September 17, 1902, oil was struck in Alaska for the first time in Cotella.

That same day, on the 40th anniversary of the battle of Antietam, worst of the American Civil War, a monument was dedicated to the 34th New York Volunteer Infantry.

2002-09-16T16:32:00.000-07:00

On September 16, 1902, David B. Henderson, U.S. Speaker of the House, announced that he would decline a renomination.

2002-09-15T23:49:00.000-07:00

September 15, 1902:

Horace Gray, U.S. Supreme Court justice, died in office at the age of seventy-four.

Luther Leonidas Hill became the first surgeon in the Western Hemisphere to successfully suture the human heart. The surgery took place in Montgomery, Alabama.

Theodore Ward, African-American playwright, was born in Thibodaux, Louisiana.

2002-09-14T00:08:00.000-07:00

Winfield Scott Stratton, Colorado gold mining magnate and philanthropist, died on September 14, 1902 in Colorado Springs.

Jorge Carrera Andrade, Ecuadorian poet, was born on this date, or on September 18, or possibly in 1903 or 1905. Sources differ. In any case, he was definitely born in Quito.

2002-09-13T11:51:00.000-07:00

John Horace Forney, Confederate major general in the U.S. Civil War, died on September 13, 1902, in Jacksonville, Alabama.

That same day, Auckland became the first team to recieve the Ranfurly Shield, a trophy for New Zealand rugby teams.

Also, a nine-pound meteorite fell to earth in Crumlin, Ireland.

2002-09-12T09:48:00.000-07:00

Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira, president of Brazil from 1956 to 1961, whose administration relocated the capital to Brasilia, was born on September 12, 1902, in Diamantina, Minas Gerais.

2002-09-11T11:25:00.000-07:00

Robert Hicks, a blues musician called Barbecue Bob, was born on September 11, 1902, in Walnut Grove, Georgia.

2002-09-09T11:49:00.000-07:00

The government is us; we are the government, you and I.

--Teddy Roosevelt, in a speech on September 9, 1902.

2002-09-06T17:45:00.000-07:00

Mildred Harnack, a resistor of the Nazis, was born on September 6, 1902 (Some sources say September 16) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

2002-09-05T10:35:00.000-07:00

September 5, 1902: Darryl F. Zanuck, co-founder of 20th Century Fox, producer of many classic films, and winner of three academy awards, was born in Wahoo, Nebraska. Rudolf Virchow, one of the greatest physicians of the 19th century, and the founder of modern pathology, died in Berlin.

2002-09-03T08:57:00.000-07:00

September 3, 1902: President Roosevelt, still in New England, and preparing to travel to the south and west to campaign for his fellow Republicans before the upcoming election, was injured in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, when an out-of-control trolley slammed into his carriage. From that day, his leg continued to pain him for the rest of his life. (The story can be found about halfway down this page.)

Also, "The Adventure of the Illustrious Client," a Sherlock Holmes story, begins on this date.

2002-09-02T08:10:00.000-07:00

Austrian composer Jeno Takacs was born one hundred years ago today.

2002-09-01T15:12:00.000-07:00

Labor Day, September 1, 1902:

--The day's Houston Daily Post.

--A statue honoring Governor Roswell P. Flower of New York was dedicated.

--Barbara Inez Barnes Lucas, known as Tad Lucas, called Rodeo's First Lady, was born.

--Georges Melies's film "Le Voyage Dans La Lune" was released.

--Confederate General Tyree Harris Bell died in New Orleans.

2002-08-30T12:28:00.000-07:00

On August 30, 1902, Mt. Pelee on the island of Martinique erupted, destroying the town of Morne Rouge and killing about a thousand people.

2002-08-29T14:23:00.000-07:00

An addition to yesterday's entry: Theodore Roosevelt, continuing his trip, delivered a speech in Weirs Beach, New Hampshire.

2002-08-28T12:48:00.000-07:00

On August 28, 1902, Newt Gresham founded the Farmers Educational and Cooperative Union of America, now called the National Farmers Union. Also, Arthur Casagrande, geotechnical engineer and professor at Harvard, was born in Austria.

2002-08-27T10:34:00.000-07:00

August 27, 1902: A.A. Ames, corrupt six-term mayor of Minneapolis, resigned. The Reverend Doctor Thomas Gallaudet, who founded the first church for the deaf, died. Willam Christensen, who helped establish ballet in the United States, was born. And the Wright brothers arrived once again at Kill Devil Hills in North Carolina...

2002-08-26T11:20:00.000-07:00

August 26, 1902: Teddy Roosevelt continued his trip through New England, stopping in Lawrence, Massachusetts, among other places. James Andrew "Jimmy" Rushing, a jazz and blues musician known as "Mr. Five by Five" was born in Oklahoma City. Woodville Latham was granted a patent for a projecting kinetoscope incorporating the Latham Loop. Without the loop, the film would tear after a few minutes. It is still used in projectors to this day.

2002-08-25T11:51:00.000-07:00

August 25, 1902:

--Stefan Wolpe, German composer, was born in Berlin.

--The Willis Wood Theater in Kansas City opened to the public. It burned down fifteen years later.

--Alexander Graham Bell discovered tetrahedral architecture.

--Meanwhile, the Wright brothers set out for Kitty Hawk for a third time, to test one more glider before starting work on powered flight...

2002-08-24T11:19:00.000-07:00

Carlo Gambino, Mafia boss, was born one hundred years ago today.

2002-08-23T11:44:00.000-07:00

It is difficult to make our material condition better by the best law, but it is easy enough to ruin it by bad laws.

-- Theodore Roosevelt, in a speech in Providence, Rhode Island, on August 23, 1902.

Also on that day, Scientific American published this article on the U.S. locomotive industry, and Canobie Lake Park in Salem, New Hampshire opened its doors to the public.

2002-08-22T10:43:00.000-07:00

August 22, 1902:

-- Leni Riefenstahl, a filmmaker for the Nazis, was born.

-- The Cadillac Automobile Company was founded.

-- Theodore Roosevelt delivered a speech about U.S. overseas possessions in Hartford, Connecticut, where, that same day, he became the first president to ride an automobile.

2002-08-21T14:13:00.000-07:00

August 21, 1902:

-- Franz Sigel, a participant in the failed German Revolution of 1848, and a Union general in the U.S. Civil War who helped rally German-Americans to the Union cause, died in New York City.

--The Cedric, the second of the White Star Line's "Big Four," was launched.

2002-08-20T08:46:00.000-07:00

On August 20, 1902, Teddy Roosevelt created the Alexander Archipelago Forest Reserve, which later became the Tongass National Forest.

2002-08-19T12:51:00.000-07:00

The cow is of bovine ilk;
One end is moo, the other is milk.

-- Ogden Nash, the playful poet, born one hundred years ago today.

2002-08-18T08:55:00.000-07:00

Mardy Murie, Alaskan conservationist, called the Grandmother of the Conservation Movement, was born one hundred years ago today.

2002-08-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

Correction: Actually, Wallace Thurman was born on August 16, 1902, not August 15. Sorry about that.

2002-08-15T07:36:00.000-07:00

Wallace Thurman, one of the most versatile writers of the Harlem Renaissance, was born one hundred years ago today.

2002-08-14T08:23:00.000-07:00

On August 14, 1902, William Helms, a Missouri farmer, found a baby inside a valise that had been tossed from a train. Thus began the legend of the Iron Mountain Baby.

2002-08-13T08:26:00.000-07:00

Dr. Felix Wankel, who developed the first practical rotary engine, was born one hundred years ago today.

2002-08-12T09:15:00.000-07:00

On August 12, 1902, the International Harvester Company was formed by the union of five competing companies.

Also, Dr. John Walter Grant MacEwan, one of Alberta's most beloved citizens, was born.

2002-08-10T12:25:00.000-07:00

August 10, 1902 --

Born: Oscar-winning actress Norma Shearer, Nobel-winning chemist Arne Wilhelm Kaurin Tiselius, and Curt Siodmak, writer of horror classics such as "The Wolf Man" and "Donovan's Brain"

Died: Michigan Senator James McMillan, creator of the McMillan Plan, which made the National Mall what it is today.

2002-08-09T10:20:00.000-07:00

One hundred years ago, Britain's King Edward VII was crowned, after becoming king in January 1901 with the death of Queen Victoria.

2002-08-08T07:55:00.000-07:00

Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, a founder of quantum physics, was born one hundred years ago today.

2002-08-06T14:04:00.000-07:00

Testing...