- February 24
- US signs agreement acquiring a naval station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. [1]
- March 5
- Definitive treaty for construction of Baghdad railway is drawn. [1]
- March 10
- Harry Gammeter of Cleveland, Ohio, USA patents multigraph duplicating machine. [1]
- March 15
- Frederick Lugard occupies Sokoto, West Africa. [1]
- March 22
- Niagara Falls runs out of water because of a drought. [1]
- March 23
- Wright brothers obtain airplane patent. [1]
- March 31
- Richard Pearse flies monoplane several hundred yards (New Zealand). [1]
- April 14
- Dr Harry Plotz discovers vaccine against typhoid (New York City, New York). [1]
- April 29
- Limestone slides at Turtle Mountain in Frank, Alberta, Canada kills 9. [1]
- June 10
- King Alexander I and Queen Dragia of Serbia are assassinated. [1]
- June 12
- Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada is incorporated as a city. [1]
- June 16
- Ford Motors incorporates. [1]
- July 4
- Pacific Cable (San Francisco, Hawaii, Guam, Philippines) opens, US President Theodore Roosevelt sends first message. [1]
- July 20
- Ford Motor Company ships its first car. [5]
- Giuseppe Sarto is elected Pope Pius X. [1]
- July 23
- The Ford Motor Company sells its first car. [5]
- August 2
- Unsuccessful uprising of Macedonians against Turkey. [1]
- August 14
- In Great Britain, the Motor Car Act introduces driving licenses. Minimum age is 17 for cars, 14 for motorcycles. [55.51]
- September 11
- The first race is held at the oldest major speedway in the world, The Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisconsin, USA. [5]
- October 20
- US wins disputed boundary between the District of Alaska and Canada. [1]
- October 24
- George Sutton becomes billiard champ. [1]
- November 3
- Colombia grants Panama independence. [1] [150.60]
- November 18
- Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty gives US exclusive canal rights in Panama. [1]
- November 23
- Enrico Caruso makes his US debut (Metropolitan Opera House, New York) in Rigoletto. [1]
- November 24
- Clyde Coleman of New York City patents automobile electric starter. [1]
- December 1
- The Great Train Robbery, the first Western film, is released to theaters. [1]
- December 3
- Panglima Polim surrenders to Captain Colijn at Atjeh. [1]
- December 9
- Norwegian parliament vote unanimiously for female suffrage. [1]
- December 10
- Nobel for physics awarded to Pierre and Marie Curie. [1]
- December 11
- British forces under MacDonald and Young march into Tibet. [1]
- December 12
- Roger Casement completes report about abuses in Belgian Congo. [1]
- December 13
- Wright Brothers make first flight at Kittyhawk. [1]
- December 14
- William Ennis is first US policeman to die in the electric chair. [1]
- December 17
- At 10:35 AM, the first sustained, controlled, powered aircraft flight is made by Orville Wright of Dayton, Ohio, in 12hp Flyer I at Kill Devil Hills, Kittyhawk, North Carolina. The flight lasts 12 seconds. [1] [55.10] [456.34] [648.41]
- December 27
- "Sweet Adeline", a barbershop quartet favorite, is first sung. [1]
- December 29
- French Equatorial Africa separates into Gabon, Chad, and Ubangi-Shari. [1]
- December 30
- 602 die as flames sweep through Iroquois Theater in Chicago, Illinois, USA. [1]
1904
- January 1
- In Great Britain, the Motor Car Act comes into effect (requires driving licenses). [55.51]
- Netherlands Indies colony begins opium production. [1]
- January 5
- England beats Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Rhodes 7-56 and 8-68. [1]
- January 7
- Marconi Company establishes "CQD" as first international radio distress signal. [1]
- January 8
- Pope Pius X bans low cut dresses in the presence of churchmen. [1]
- January 12
- Southwest-Africa uprising under Samuel Maherero against German garrison. [1]
- January 25
- 179 die in coal mine explosion at Cheswick, Pennsylvania, USA. [1]
- February 5
- American occupation of Cuba ends. [1]
- February 7
- Baltimore, Maryland, USA catches fire (1500 buildings destroyed in 80 blocks). [1]
- February 8
- Outbreak of hostilities in Russo-Japanese war. [1]
- February 10
- Japan and Russia declares war after Japan's surprise attack on Russian fleet at Port Arthur disabled 7 Russian warships. [1]
- February 17
- Giacomo Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly premieres at the La Scala theatre in Milan, Italy. [1] [129]
- February 23
- Control of Panamá Canal Zone acquired by US for $10 million. [1]
- February 29
- US President Theodore Roosevelt appoints seven-man committee to study Panamá Canal. [1]
- March 5
- Nikola Tesla, in Electrical World and Engineer, describes the process of the ball lightning formation. [5]
- March 12
- First main line electric train in United Kingdom (Liverpool to Southport). [1]
- March 13
- Bronze statue of Jesus Christ on Argentine-Chilian border is dedicated. [1]
- April 8
- Great Britain and France sign Cordial Entente concerning colonial matter. [1]
- April 13
- Battle at Oviumbo, Africa: Herero's chase away German army. [1]
- April 18
- L'Humanité, under Jean Jaurès, begins publishing. [1]
- April 19
- Much of Toronto, Ontario, Canada is destroyed by fire. [1]
- May 4
- Americans begin canal construction work in Panama. [150.61]
- May 9
- The steam locomotive City of Truro becomes the first steam engine to exceed 100mph. [5]
- A fireball is seen over Teleutskoye Lake area of Russia, visible over 455,000 km2 area, creating a ground shock and meteorite shower. [526.195]
- May 18
- American businessman Ion Perdicaris is kidnapped in Morocco. [1]
- June 6
- National Tuberculosis Association organized, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA. [1]
- June 15
- Side-wheeler ship General Slocum burns in New York's East River (1,031 die). [1]
- July 16
- Islands of the Manu'a group (Samoa) ceded to US by their chiefs. [1]
- July 21
- Camille Jenatzy sets world auto speed record at 65.79 MPH. [1]
- August 23
- Automobile tire chain is patented. [1]
- September 15
- Wilbur Wright makes his first airplane flight. [1]
- October 17
- Bank of Italy (Bank of America) opens its doors. [1]
- October 27
- New York City Mayor George McClellan operates the inaugural run of the city's new subway rapid transit system. The line, operated by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, travels 9.1 miles through 28 stations, running from lower Manhattan to Harlem. In the evening, the subway opens to the general public, at a cost of 5 cents each. [1] [129]
- October 28
- Saint Louis, Missouri, police try a new investigation method: fingerprints. [1]
- November 2
- British newspaper, The Daily Mirror, begins publishing. [1]
- November 9
- First airplane flight to last more than 5 minutes. [1]
- November 16
- John Ambrose Fleming invents the vacuum tube. [5]
- December 24
- German South West Africa abolishes slavery of young children. [1]
- December 28
- First daily wireless weather forecasts published (London, England). [1]
- December 31
- The first New Year's Eve celebration is held in Longacre Square (later known as Times Square) in New York City, New York. [5]
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