What Happened in April 1902

Historical Events

  • Apr 2 "Electric Theatre", the first full-time movie theater in the United States, opens in Los Angeles, California
  • Apr 2 Dmitry Sipyagin, Minister of Interior of the Russian Empire, is assassinated by a terrorist in the Marie Palace, St Petersburg
  • Apr 2 Dutch football club Maatschappelijke Voetbal Vereniging (MVV) is established in Maastricht, Netherlands

Rhodes Scholarship

Apr 4 Cecil Rhodes scholarship fund forms with $10 million

  • Apr 5 In Glasgow, Scotland the Ibrox disaster occurs after a section of a grandstand collapses killing 25 and injuring 517

Pavane for A Dead Princess

Apr 5 Maurice Ravel's "Pavane pour une infante defunte (Pavane for A Dead Princess)" premieres in Paris, performed by Spanish pianist Ricardo Viñes

  • Apr 7 Texas Oil Company (Texaco) forms
  • Apr 8 Demonstration organised by socialists in Belgium as people demand better education, living conditions, the right to strike and universal male suffrage result in a riot and some deaths
  • Apr 8 Russia and China sign the Convention of Evacuation under which Russia agrees to evacuate Manchuria within 18 months
  • Apr 11 Second Boer War: British forces defeat Boer commandos in Battle of Rooiwal, South Africa

The Golden Rule Store

Apr 14 James Cash Penney opens his first store, The Golden Rule Store, in Kemmerer, Wyoming

On Church in US

Apr 15 Pope Leo XIII encyclical "On Church in US"

  • Apr 15 Rioting and arson continue in Russia with peasants plundering estates to find food.
  • Apr 15 Russian minister of interior and head of secret police, Sipyengin, is assassinated by the 'Terror Brigade' of the Socialist Revolutionaries

Radium Chloride Isolated

Apr 20 Marie and Pierre Curie isolate the radioactive compound radium chloride

  • Apr 21 6th Boston Marathon won by Sam Mellor in 2:43:12
  • Apr 25 Erwin Harvey becomes 1st Cleveland ballplayer (Cleveland Bronchos) to have six hits in one game
  • Apr 28 Using the ISO 8601 standard Year Zero definition for the Gregorian calendar preceded by the Julian calendar, the one billionth minute since the start of January 1 Year Zero occurs at 10:40 AM on this date
  • Apr 29 Congress extends the Chinese Exclusion Act (of 1882) prohibiting immigration of Chinese laborers from territories to the mainland, a rule clearly aimed at Chinese in the Philippines

Pelléas et Mélisande

Apr 30 Claude Debussy's only completed opera "Pelléas et Mélisande" premieres at the Salle Favart in Paris by the Opéra-Comique, conducted by André Messager


1902 History

Famous Birthdays

  • Apr 1 Laxmidas Purshottamdas Jai, Indian cricket batsman (1 Test; captain Bombay in inaugural Ranji Trophy win 1935), born in Bombay, India (d. 1968)
  • Apr 1 Maria Polydouri, Greek poet (d. 1930)
  • Apr 2 Danilo Svara, Slovenian composer, born in San Giuseppe, Trieste, Italy (d. 1981)
  • Apr 2 Jan Tschichold, German typographer, born in Leipzig, Germany (d. 1974)
  • Apr 3 Henri Garat, French actor and singer (Les dieux s'amusent; Congress Dances), born in Paris, France (d. 1959)
  • Apr 3 Siguringi Eirikur Hjorleifsson, Icelandic composer, born in Bergskot, Grindavík, Iceland (d. 1975)
  • Apr 4 Louise Lévêque de Vilmorin, French poet and author (Lutin Sauvage), born in Verrières-le-Buisson, Essonne, Paris (d. 1969)
  • Apr 4 Stanley G. Weinbaum, American sci-fi author (Martian Odyssey), born in Louisville, Kentucky (d. 1935)
  • Apr 6 Gertrude Short, American actress (Stella Dallas, Blonde Venus), born in Cincinnati, Ohio (d. 1968)
  • Apr 6 James "Rosy" McHargue, American jazz clarinetist, and vocalist (Ted Weems Orchestra; The Wolverines), born in Danville, Illinois (d. 1999)
  • Apr 6 Veniamin Kaverin, Russian writer (d. 1989)
  • Apr 8 Arthur Wellard, English cricket all-rounder (2 Tests, 7 wickets, BB 4/81; Somerset CCC), born in Southfleet, England (d. 1980)
  • Apr 8 Elmer Feldcamp, American big band baritone vocalist, saxophone, and clarinet player (Freddy Martin Orchestra), born in Newark, New Jersey (d. 1938)
  • Apr 8 Josef Krips, Austrian conductor (London Symphony, 1950-54; Buffalo Philharmonic, 1954-63; San Francisco Symphony, 1964-70), born in Vienna, Austria (d. !974)
  • Apr 9 František Suchý, Czech oboist and composer (Moravian Wind Quintet), born in Libina, Bohemia, Austro-Hungarian Empire (d. 1977)
  • Apr 10 Lili Darvas, Hungarian actress (Szerelem, Cimmaron), born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 1974)
  • Apr 11 Quentin Reynolds, American newscaster (Its News to Me) and author (FBI), born in New York City (d. 1965)
  • Apr 12 Louis J. M. Beel, Prime Minister of Netherlands (1946-48, 58-59), born in Roermond, Netherlands (d. 1977)
  • Apr 13 Del Porter, American jazz singer (Foursome - "Walkin' My Baby Back Home"; Spike Jones and His City Slickers - "Der Fuehrer's Face"), born in Newberg, Oregon (d. 1977)
  • Apr 13 Godfrey Kenton, English actor (The Tempest; Well's Theater), born in London (d. 1998)
  • Apr 13 Philippe de Rothschild, French race-car driver and manager (Bordeaux Vineyard), born in Paris, France (d. 1988)
  • Apr 14 Ken Loeffler, American College and Basketball Hall of Fame coach (National Invitation Tournament 1952; NCAA Basketball Tournament 1954, La Salle Explorers), born in Rumson, New Jersey (d. 1975)
  • Apr 14 Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Russian-American rabbi (head of Lubavitcher Jews), born in Nikolaev, Kherson Governorate, Russian Empire (d. 1994)
  • Apr 14 Sylvio Mantha, Canadian ice hockey player, born in Montreal, Quebec (d. 1974)
  • Apr 15 Fernando Pessa, Portuguese journalist, born in Aveiro District, Portugal (d. 2002)
  • Apr 17 Anton Beuving, Dutch lyricist (Ketelbinkie), born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 1977)
  • Apr 17 Jaime Torres Bodet, Mexican politician, 2nd Director-General of the UNESCO (1948-52), born in Mexico City (d. 1974)
  • Apr 18 Giuseppe Pella, 31st Prime Minister of Italy, born in Valdengo, Piedmont, Kingdom of Italy (d. 1981)
  • Apr 20 Donald Wolfit, British actor (Lawrence of Arabia, Becket, Accursed), born in New Balderton, Nottinghamshire, England (d. 1968)
  • Apr 20 Veselin Stoyanov, Bulgarian composer and pedagogue, born in Shumen, Bulgaria (d. 1969)
  • Apr 21 Ben Stroman, Dutch writer (Jomtof & Blue Beard), born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 1985)
  • Apr 22 Megan Lloyd George, English politician (1st female MP for Welsh - Carmarthen), born in Criccieth, Caernarfonshire, Wales (d. 1966)

Halldór Laxness (1902-1998)

Apr 23 Icelandic writer (Nobel 1955), born in Reykjavík, Iceland

  • Apr 24 Reuben "Rube" Bloom, American pianist, arranger, bandleader (The Bayou Boys), songwriter ("Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear to Tread)"; "Give Me the Simple Life"), born in New York City (d. 1976)
  • Apr 25 Fred Price, English cricket wicket-keeper (1 Test, 2 dismissals; Middlesex CCC), born in London, England (d. 1969)
  • Apr 25 Werner Heyde, German psychiatrist, one of the main organizers of Nazi Germany's T-4 Euthanasia Program, born in Forst, Germany (d. 1964)
  • Apr 27 Kitty Kelly, American actress (Ladies of the Jury, Behind Office Doors), born in New York City (d. 1968)
  • Apr 28 Johan Borgen, Norwegian author (Lillelord), born in Kristiana, Norway (d. 1979)
  • Apr 29 Theodore Chanler, American composer, born in Newport, Rhode Island (d. 1961)
  • Apr 30 André-François Marescotti, Swiss organist and composer, born in Carouge, Switzerland (d. 1995)
  • Apr 30 Rudolf Wittelsbach, Swiss pianist and composer, born in Constantinople, Turkey (d. 1972)
  • Apr 30 Theodore Schultz, American agricultural economist (1979 Nobel Prize for Economics for development economics), born in Arlington, South Dakota (d. 1998) [1]
Born in 1902

Famous Weddings

Robert A. Millikan

Apr 10 Physicist Robert A. Millikan (34) weds Greta Blanchard

Famous Deaths

  • Apr 2 Esther Morris [Esther Hobart McQuigg], American suffragist, anti-slavery activist, and 1st female justice of the peace in the US, dies at 87
  • Apr 6 Gleb Uspensky, Russian author (Power of the Soil), dies at 58
  • Apr 8 Dmitry Sipyagain, Russian Minister of Interior/headed Secret Service, assassinated by a Socialist-Revolutionary at 49
  • Apr 11 General Jacobus Potgieter, South African Boer commander, dies in Second Boer War Battle of Rooiwal, South African Republic
  • Apr 12 Marie Alfred Cornu, French physicist (b. 1842)
  • Apr 17 Francis of Assisi of Bourbon, King Consort of Spain (b. 1822)
  • Apr 27 Julius Sterling Morton, American politician (3rd U.S. Secretary of Agriculture) and founder of Arbor Day, dies at 70