What Happened in September 1903

Historical Events

  • Sep 3 American yacht Reliance (largest gaff-rigged cutter ever built) defends America's Cup for the NYYC beating UK challenger Shamrock III off the New Jersey shore for a 3-0 series win
  • Sep 7 Federation of American Motorcyclists organized in NY
  • Sep 9 6 km long Engadin-railroad tunnel in Switzerland inaugurated
  • Sep 11 The first race at The Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisconsin is held. The oldest major speedway in the world.

Railroad Strike

Sep 15 Queen Wilhelmina calls Dutch railroad strikers "criminals"

  • Sep 17 Boston Pilgrims clinch AL pennant, beating Cleveland, 14-3
  • Sep 18 Phillies' Chick Fraser no-hits Chicago Cubs, 10-0

Leopold Denies Cruelty

Sep 19 King Leopold II denies Belgian cruelty in Congo

  • Sep 21 First cowboy film "Kit Carson" premieres in US

PM Alfred Deakin

Sep 24 Alfred Deakin succeeds Edmund Barton as Australian Prime Minister

  • Sep 24 Bill Bradley becomes 1st Cleveland baseball player (Cleveland Naps) to hit for cycle
  • Sep 27 Wreck of the Old 97, a train crash made famous by the song of the same name.
  • Sep 30 New Gresham's School officially opened by Field Marshal Sir Evelyn Wood in Norfolk, England (expansion of original school founded 1555)
1903 History

Famous Birthdays

  • Sep 3 Willem Kooiman, Dutch theologist and church historian (d. 1968)
  • Sep 5 Gloria Holden, British actress (The Life of Emile Zola, Dracula's Daughter), born in London, England (d. 1991)
  • Sep 9 Phyllis Whitney, American writer (d. 2008)

Theodor W. Adorno (1903-1969)

Sep 11 German philosopher and sociologist (Dialectic of Enlightenment, Negative Dialectics), born in Frankfurt

Claudette Colbert (1903-1996)

Sep 13 French-born American actress (It Happened One Night, Texas Lady), born in Paris

  • Sep 15 Roy Acuff, American country fiddler, singer ("Wabash Cannonball"; Grand Ole Opry), and music publisher (Acuff-Rose Music), born in Maynardville, Tennessee (d. 1992)
  • Sep 15 Syed Wazir Ali, Indian cricket batsman (7 Tests; Southern Punjab; Muslims), born in Jalandhar, India (d. 1950)
  • Sep 16 (Giuseppe) "Joe" Venuti, American jazz musician and pioneer violinist considered the "father of jazz violin", born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1978)
  • Sep 17 Dolores Costello, American actress (Little Lord Fauntleroy), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 1979)
  • Sep 17 Karel Miljon, Dutch boxer (Olympic bronze 1928), born in Amsterdam (d. 1984)
  • Sep 22 Joseph Valachi, American gangster (Genovese mafia family), born in New York City (d. 1971)
  • Sep 25 Mark Rothko [Marcus Rothkovich], Latvian-American abstract expressionist (Green on Blue), born in Daugavpils, Russian Empire (now Latvia) (d. 1970)
  • Sep 25 Olive Ann Beech, American businesswoman (Co-Founder of Beech Aircraft Company), born in Waverly, Kansas (d. 1993)
  • Sep 26 Gerhard Nebel, German writer, born in Dessau (d. 1974)
  • Sep 29 (Edward) "Ted" de Corsia, American actor (The Naked City; 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1973)
  • Sep 29 Diana Vreeland, French-American fashion editor (Harper's Bazaar; Vogue), born in Paris (d. 1989)
  • Sep 29 Karl August Andersen, Norwegian cellist and composer, born in Oslo, Norway (d. 1970)
Born in 1903

Famous Deaths

  • Sep 1 Charles Renouvier, French philosopher (neo criticism), dies
  • Sep 3 Joseph Skipsey, British poet (b. 1832)
  • Sep 4 Hermann Zumpe, German composer, dies at 53
  • Sep 6 Charles Ammi Cutter, American librarian (Expansive classification), dies at 66
  • Sep 18 Theodore Furchtegott Kirchner, German composer, dies at 79
  • Sep 19 Sydir Vorobkevych, Ukrainian composer, poet, newspaper editor, and Orthodox priest, dies at 67
  • Sep 27 Alson Sherman, American politician (8th Mayor of Chicago 1844-45), dies at 92
  • Sep 28 Jesús de Monasterio, Spanish violinist, conductor, composer, and pedagogue (Madrid Conservatory, 1857-1903), dies at 67