Events of 1902

January

January 1: first Rose Bowl college American football game.

Carnegie

• January – In France, Alfred Loisy writes L'évangile et l'Eglise, which inaugurates the Modernist Crisis.

• January 1 – The first college football bowl game, the Rose Bowl between Michigan and Stanford, is held in Pasadena, California.

• January 8 – A train collision in the New York Central Railroad's Park Avenue Tunnel kills 17, injures 38, and leads to increased demand for electric trains.

• January 23 – A snowstorm at Mount Hakkoda, northern Honshu, Japan, kills 199 during a military training exercise.

• January 28 – The Carnegie Institution is founded in Washington, DC with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie.

February

• February 11 – Police and universal suffrage demonstrators are involved in a physical altercation in Brussels.

• February 15 – The Berlin U-Bahn underground is opened.

• February 18 – U.S. President Roosevelt prosecutes the Northern Securities Company for violation of the Sherman Act.

March

• March 7 – Second Boer War: South African Boers win their last battle over British forces, with the capture of a British general and 200 of his men.

• March 10 – A Circuit Court prevents Thomas Edison from having a monopoly on motion picture technology.

April

• April 2 – Electric Theatre, the first movie theater in the United States, opens in Los Angeles, California.

• April 13 – A new car speed record of 74 mph is set in Nice, France, by Leon Serpollet.

• April 19 – A magnitude 7.5 earthquake rocks Guatemala, killing 2,000.

• April 26 – Hibernian FC won the Scottish Cup 1–0 against Glasgow Celtic FC, the last time in their history they have won the competition.

May

May 8: Mount Pelée erupts.

• May 5 – The Commonwealth Public Service Act creates Australia's Public Service.

• May 8 – In Martinique, Mount Pelée erupts, destroying the town of Saint-Pierre and killing over 30,000.

• May 13 – Alfonso XIII of Spain begins his reign.

• May 15 – It is claimed that in a field outside Grass Valley, California, Lyman Gilmore achieves flight in a powered airplane (a steam-powered glider). There is no surviving evidence to verify this claim.

• May 20 – Cuba gains independence from the United States.

• May 29 – Lord Rosebery opens London School of Economics.

• May 31 – The Treaty of Vereeniging ends the Second Boer War.

May 15: Lyman Gilmore plane.

June

• 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 and New York City, New York.

• June 16 – Australia: Female British subjects (with the exception of Asians, Aborigines and Africans) win the vote with the Uniform Franchise Act.

• June 17 – Norwich City Football Club is formed.

• June 26 – Edward VII institutes The Order of Merit.

July

• July 10 – The Rolling Mill Mine disaster in Johnstown, PA kills 112 miners.

• July 11

• *Lord Salisbury retires as British prime minister.

• *The Order of the Garter is conferred on Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria.

• July 14 – St Mark's Campanile in Venice collapses.

• July 21 – Fluminense Football Club is founded in Rio de Janeiro.

August

• August 1 – 100 miners die in a pit explosion in Wollongong, Australia.

• August 9 – Edward VII is crowned King of the United Kingdom.

• August 22 – Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first American President to ride in an automobile when he rides in a Columbia Electric Victoria through Hartford, Connecticut.

• August 24 – A statue of Joan of Arc was unveiled in Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier.

• August 30 – In Martinique, Mount Pelée erupts again, destroying the town of Morne-Rouge causing 1000 deaths.

October

• October 16 – The first Borstal (youth offenders' institution) opens in Borstal, Kent, U.K.

• October 21 – In the United States, a five month strike by the United Mine Workers ends.

November

• November 30 – American Old West: The second-in-command of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch gang, Kid Curry Logan, is sentenced to 20 years hard labor.

• November–December – The Venezuela Crisis occurs between the United States and Germany.

December

• December 10 – The first Aswan Dam on The Nile is completed.

• December 31 – Scott, Shackleton and Wilson reach the furthest southern point thus far by man at 82°17'S.

Undated

• The insurrection ends in the Philippines.

• The Potawatomi Zoo (the oldest zoo in Indiana) opens in South Bend.

Ongoing

• Discovery Expedition (1901–1904)

Births

January–February

• January 1 – Buster Nupen, South African cricketer (d. 1977)

• January 2 – Dan Keating, Irish republican (d. 2007)

• January 9 – Rudolph Bing, Austrian-born opera manager (d. 1997)

• January 9 – Josemaría Escrivá, Spanish priest (d. 1975)

• January 9 – Ann Nixon Cooper, American activist for African-American people's rights

• 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 20 – Kevin Barry, Irish republican (d. 1920)

• January 22 – Daniel Kinsey, American hurdler (d. 1970)

• January 24 – E. A. Speiser, American biblical scholar (d. 1965)

• January 25 – André Beaufre, French general (d. 1975)

• January 25 – Pablo Antonio, Filipino modernist architect (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, African American writer (d. 1967)

• February 4 – Charles Lindbergh, American aviator (d. 1974)

• February 4 – Hartley Shawcross, British barrister and politician (d. 2003)

• February 5 – Iwamoto Kaoru, Japanese professional Go player (d. 1999)

• 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 26 – Albert Anastasia, American gangster (d. 1957)

• February 27 – Gene Sarazen, American golfer (d. 1999)

• February 27 – John Steinbeck, American writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1968)

March–April

• March 4 – Red Reeder, American soldier and author (d. 1998)

• 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)

• March 30 – Brooke Astor, American socialite and philanthropist (d. 2007)

• April 4 – Louise Leveque de Vilmorin, French actress (d. 1969)

• April 4 – Stanley G. Weinbaum, American science-fiction author (d. 1935)

• April 8 – Andrew Irvine, British mountaineer (d. 1924)

• 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–June

• 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 8 – Andre Michael Lwoff, French microbiologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1994)

• May 10 – Anatole Litvak, Ukrainian-born film director (d. 1974)

• May 10 – David O. Selznick, American film producer (d. 1965)

• May 15 – Richard J. Daley, American politician (d. 1976)

• May 18 – Meredith Willson, American composer (d. 1984)

• May 21 – Earl Averill, American baseball player (d. 1983)

• May 21 – Marcel Lajos Breuer, Hungarian-born architect (d. 1981)

• May 22 – Al Simmons, American baseball player (d. 1956)

• June 18 – Barbara McClintock, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1992)

• June 26 – Hugues Cuénod, Swiss tenor

• June 28 – Richard Rodgers, American composer (d. 1979)

July–August

• July 4 – George Murphy, American dancer, actor, and politician (d. 1992)

• July 4 – Meyer Lansky, Russian-born mobster (d. 1983)

• July 8 – Gwendolyn Bennett, American writer (d. 1981)

• July 10 – Kurt Alder, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)

• July 16 – Alexander Luria, Russian nevropychologist (d. 1977)

• July 28 – Karl Raimund Popper, Austrian philosopher (d. 1994)

• July 28 – Albert Namatjira, Australian painter (d. 1959)

• July 31 – Randolph E. Haugan, American author, editor and publisher (d. 1985)

• August 2 – Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria, Coptic Orthodox Patriarch (d. 1971)

• August 4 – Clara Peller, American actress (d. 1987)

• 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 18 – Adamson-Eric, Estonian artist (d. 1968)

• August 19 – Ogden Nash, American poet (d. 1971)

• August 19 – J. B. L. Reyes, Filipino jurist (d. 1994)

• August 22 – Leni Riefenstahl, German film director (d. 2003)

• August 24 – Carlo Gambino, American gangster (d. 1976)

• August 25 – Stefan Wolpe, German-born composer (d. 1972)

September–October

• September 12 – Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira, President of Brazil (d. 1976)

• September 14 – Giorgos Papasideris, Greek singer, composer, and lyricist (d. 1977)

• 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 3 – Waldo McBurney, America's oldest worker (d. 2009)

• October 5 – Larry Fine, American actor and comedian (The Three Stooges) (d. 1975)

• October 5 – Ray Kroc, American fast food entrepreneur (McDonald's) (d. 1984)

• October 13 – Arna Wendell Bontemps, American writer (d. 1973)

• October 18 – Miriam Hopkins, American actress (d. 1972)

• October 18 – Pascual Jordan, German physicist (d. 1980)

• October 25 – Eddie Lang, American jazz guitarist (d. 1933)

• October 31 – Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Brazilian poet (d. 1987)

November–December

• November – Peter Pitseolak, Inuit photographer and author (d. 1973)

• November 1 – Eugen Jochum, German conductor (d. 1987)

• November 2 – Princess Mafalda of Savoy (d. 1944)

• November 9 – Anthony Asquith, British film director (d. 1968)

• November 17 – Eugene Wigner, Hungarian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1995)

• November 21 – Mikhail Suslov, Soviet politician (d. 1982)

• November 23 – Victor Jory, Canadian actor (d. 1982)

• December 2 – Wifredo Lam, Cuban artist (d. 1982)

• December 5 – Strom Thurmond, American politician (d. 2003)

• December 9 – Margaret Hamilton, American actress (d. 1985)

• December 20 – Prince George, Duke of Kent (d. 1942)

• December 23 – Norman Maclean, American author (d. 1990)

• December 28 – Mortimer Adler, American philosopher (d. 2001)

• December 28 – Shen Congwen, Chinese writer (d. 1988)

Deaths

January–June

• January 11 – Johnny Briggs, English cricketer (b. 1862)

• February 15 – Viggo Hørup, Danish politician (b. 1841)

• February 27 – Harry 'Breaker' Morant, Australian soldier (b. 1864)

• February 27 – Peter Handcock, Australian soldier (b. 1869)

• March 26 – Cecil Rhodes, British imperialist (b. 1853)

• April 2 – Esther Hobart Morris, American suffragist judge (b. 1814)

• April 15 – Jules Dalou, French sculptor (b. 1838)

• April 21 – Ethna Carbery, Irish poet (b. 1866)

• 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 10 – Auguste Schmidt, German educator and activist (b. 1833)

• June 18 – Samuel Butler, British author (b. 1835)

July–December

• 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 scientist and politician (b. 1821)

• September 6 – Sir Frederick Augustus Abel, British chemist (b. 1827)

• September 26 – Levi Strauss Inventor of Jeans (b. 1829)

• September 29 – Emile Zola, French author (b. 1840)

• October 25 – Frank Norris, American novelist (b. 1870)

• October 26 – Elizabeth Cady Stanton, American activist (b. 1815)

• November 4 – Hale Johnson, American politician (b. 1847)

• November 17 – Hugh Price Hughes, Welsh social reformer (b. 1847)

• November 23 – Walter Reed, American army physician (b. 1851)

• December 3 – Robert Lawson, New Zealand architect (b. 1833)

• December 14 – Julia Grant, Wife of President Ulysses S. Grant (b. 1826)

• December 22 – Richard von Krafft-Ebing, German sexologist (b. 1840)

• December 23 – Frederick Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1821)

Nobel Prizes

• Physics – Hendrik Antoon Lorentz, Pieter Zeeman

• Chemistry – Hermann Emil Fischer

• Medicine – Ronald Ross

• Literature – Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen

• Peace – Élie Ducommun, Charles Albert Gobat