What Happened in February 1904

Historical Events

Root Resigns

Feb 1 Elihu Root, then Secretary of War, resigns from the cabinet of President William McKinley and is succeeded by William Howard Taft

Caruso's First Recordings

Feb 1 Italian tenor Enrico Caruso makes his first recordings in America, singing "Questa o quella" and "La donna è mobile" from Giuseppe Verdi's "Rigoletto" in Carnegie Hall, NYC, for Victor Talking Machine Company

  • Feb 4 John Millington Synge's play "Well of Saints" premieres in Dublin
  • Feb 5 American occupation of Cuba ends
  • Feb 6 Japan notifies Russia that in view of Russia's delaying tactics and provocative military action, Japan is ending negotiations and recalling its members from Moscow
  • Feb 7 Baltimore catches fire (1500 buildings destroyed in 80 blocks)

A Humorous Diplomatic Atlas of Europe and Asia

Feb 9 Japanese torpedo boats make a surprise attack on Russian ships Port Arthur naval base, Manchuria, beginning the Russo-Japanese War. Japanese also land troops at Chemulpo (Inchon), near Seoul, Korea; in 3 weeks they advance to the Yalu River, the border of Manchuria.

  • Feb 10 Japan and Russia declare war

Madama Butterfly

Feb 17 Giacomo Puccini's opera "Madama Butterfly" premieres at La Scala in Milan, Italy

  • Feb 21 National Ski Association forms in Ishpeming, Michigan
  • Feb 22 The Hague Tribunal gives its decision in claims against Venezuela; it sets the sum to be paid by Venezuela and gives preferential treatment to the three powers that initiated the block - Britain, Germany, and Italy
  • Feb 22 The United Kingdom sells a meteorological station on the South Orkney Islands to Argentina; the islands are subsequently claimed by the United Kingdom in 1908.
  • Feb 23 Having occupied Korea, Japan signs a treaty with Korea under which it becomes a Japanese protectorate in return for Japanese protection from other powers
  • Feb 23 United States acquires control of the Panama Canal Zone for $10 million
  • Feb 25 J M Synge's "Riders to the Sea" opens at Irish National Theater Society
  • Feb 25 Stanley Cup: Ottawa Silver 7 sweep Toronto Marlboroughs in 2 games
  • Feb 28 Football club Sport Lisboa (Benfica) founded in Lisbon, Portugal

Symphony No.2

Feb 28 Vincent d'Indy's 2nd Symphony in B, premieres

Panama Canal Commission

Feb 29 Theodore Roosevelt, appoints 7-man Panama Canal Commission to proceed with completing a canal at the Isthmus


1904 History

Famous Birthdays

  • Feb 1 (Joe) "Tricky Sam" Nanton, American trombonist and plunger-mute pioneer (Duke Ellington Orchestra), born in New York City (d. 1946)
  • Feb 1 S J Perelman, American author, humorist and screenwriter (The New Yorker, Around the World in 80 Days), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1979)
  • Feb 2 Buzurg Alavi, Iranian writer (Panjah va sih nafar, Namal'ha), born in Tehran, Persia (d. 1997)
  • Feb 2 Jose Enrique Pedreira, Puerto Rican composer ("Tus Caricias"; "Siempre"), and pedagogue, born in San Juan, Puerto Rico (d. 1959)

Pretty Boy Floyd (1904-1934)

Feb 3 American gangster and FBI Most Wanted criminal, born in Adairsville, Georgia

  • Feb 3 Jimmy Starr, American screenwriter, actor (The Corpse Came C.O.D.), and gossip columnist, born in Clarksville, Texas, (d. 1990)
  • Feb 3 Luigi Dallapiccola, Italian 12-tone composer (Il prigioniero; Ulisse), born in Pisino d'Istria, Austrian Empire (now Pazin, Croatia) (d. 1975)
  • Feb 3 Roger Makins, British diplomat (UK Ambassador to the US 1953-56), (d. 1996)
  • Feb 4 Herman Bernard Wiardi Beckman, Dutch politician (SDAP, captured and killed at Dachau), born in Nijmegen, Netherlands (d. 1945)
  • Feb 4 MacKinlay Kantor, American novelist (Andersonville), born in Webster City, Iowa (d. 1977)
  • Feb 4 Predrag Milošević, Serbian pianist, conductor, composer (Simfonijeta), and pedagogue, born in Knjaževac, Serbia (d. 1988)
  • Feb 7 Alison Leggatt, British character actress (Day of Triffids, Cows), born in Kensington, London (d. 1990)
  • Feb 7 Benode Behari Mukherjee, Indian blind artist (Lives of Medieval Saints fresco), born in Behala, British India (d. 1980) [1]
  • Feb 7 Milton Krims, American screenwriter (Prince of Foxes), born in New York City (d. 1988)
  • Feb 8 Igor' Fyodorovich Belza [Boelza], Soviet composer, born in Kielce, Kingdom of Poland (d. 1994)
  • Feb 10 John Farrow, Australian director and actor (Botany Bay, Wake Island), born in Sydney, New South Wales (d. 1963)
  • Feb 11 Henry Richardson LaBouisse, American diplomat (headed UNICEF 1965-79), born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 1987)

Keith Holyoake (1904-1983)

Feb 11 26th Prime Minister of New Zealand (National: 1960-72), born in Pahiatua, New Zealand

  • Feb 12 Ted Mack, American TV host (The Original Amateur Hour), born in Denver, Colorado (d. 1976)
  • Feb 14 Charles Oatley, English electrical engineer (developed scanning electron microscope), born in From, England (d. 1996)
  • Feb 14 Hertha Kuusinen, Finnish communist politician (daughter of Otto Ville Kuusinen), born in Luhanka, Finland (d. 1974)
  • Feb 15 Antonin Magne, French cyclist (Tour de France 1931, 34), born in Ytrac, France (d. 1983)
  • Feb 15 Mary Adshead, English muralist and painter, born in London, England (d. 1995)
  • Feb 16 Ellis Achong, West Indian cricket spin bowler (6 Tests, 8 wickets; Trinidad; 1st of Chinese descent to play a Test match), born in Belmont, Trinidad and Tobago (d. 1986)
  • Feb 16 George F. Kennan, American diplomat, Cold War strategist who advocated containment ("Long Telegram"; "The Sources of Soviet Conduct") and historian, born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (d. 2005)
  • Feb 16 James Baskett, American actor (Song of the South) 1st African American male to receive an Oscar, born in Indianapolis, Indiana (d. 1948)
  • Feb 17 Hans Morgenthau, German political philosopher (d. 1980)
  • Feb 17 Luis A. Ferré, Puerto Rican industrialist and politician (Governor of Puerto Rico, 1969-73), born in Ponce, Puerto Rico (d. 2003)
  • Feb 19 Havank [Hans van der Kallen], Dutch thriller and mystery writer (St Eustache), born in Leeuwarden, Netherlands (d. 1964)

Alexei Kosygin (1904-1980)

Feb 20 Soviet statesman and Premier of the Soviet Union (1964-80), born in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire

  • Feb 20 Armin Loos, German-born American composer, born in Darmstadt, Germany (d. 1971)
  • Feb 20 Bramwell Fletcher, British actor (White Cargo, Random Harvest, The Mummy), born in Bradford, Yorkshire, England (d. 1988)
  • Feb 21 Armand Preud'homme, Belgian organist and composer (Kempenland), born in Peer, Belgium (d. 1986)
  • Feb 22 Peter Hurd, American painter (Portrait of Jose Herrera), born in Roswell, New Mexico (d. 1984)
  • Feb 23 Leopold Trepper, Polish-Israeli spy (founded CP Palestina), born in Nowy Targ, Poland, Austria-Hungary (d. 1982)
  • Feb 23 William L. Shirer, American journalist and historian (Rise & Fall of 3rd Reich), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1993)
  • Feb 25 Adelle Davis, American nutritionist and author (Let's Stay Healthy), born in Lizton, Indiana (d. 1974)
  • Feb 27 André Leducq, French cyclist (Tour de France 1930, 32; Olympic gold road race 1924), born in Saint-Ouen, France (d. 1980)
  • Feb 27 Chick Fullis, American baseball player (d. 1946)
  • Feb 27 James T. Farrell, American author (Studs Lonigan trilogy), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1979)
  • Feb 27 Renaat Verheijen, Flemish actor and director (Innocent Heart), born in Belgium (d. 1930)
  • Feb 27 Yulii Borisovich Khariton, Russian physicist (d. 1996)
  • Feb 29 Adolph Blaine Charles David Earl Frederick Gerald Hubert Irvin John Kenneth Lloyd Martin Nero Oliver Paul Quincy Randolph Sherman Thomas Uncas Victor William Xerxes Yancy Zeus Wolfeschlegelsteinhausen, longest ever personal name, born in Bergedorf, Germany (d. 1997) disputed date
  • Feb 29 Alan Richardson, Scottish composer and pianist, born in Edinbugh, Scotland (d. 1978)
  • Feb 29 Jimmy Dorsey, American big band jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer, and bandleader (Green Eyes; Tangerine; Pennies From Heaven), born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania (d. 1957)
  • Feb 29 John "Pepper" Martin, American baseball utility (MLB All-Star 1933–35, 37; World Series 1931, 34; NL stolen base leader 1933, 34, 36; St. Louis Cardinals), born in Temple, Oklahoma (d. 1965)
  • Feb 29 Rukmini Devi Arundale (née Sastri), Indian dancer, educator (co-founder of Kalakshetra Academy), politician (Member or Parliament, 1952-62), and animal rights activist, born in Madurai, Madras Presidency, British India (d. 1986)
Born in 1904

Famous Weddings

  • Feb 2 American blues singer Gertrude Pridgett (17) weds American minstrel & vaudeville comic William "Pa" Rainey; she becomes known as Ma Rainey; divorce in 196

Famous Deaths

  • Feb 1 Peter Paul Maria Alberdingk Thijm, Dutch historian and writer, dies at 76
  • Feb 2 William C. Whitney, American financier and 31st United States Secretary of the Navy, dies at 62
  • Feb 10 John A. Roche, Mayor of Chicago (b. 1844)
  • Feb 20 Gustav Adolf Heinze, Dutch composer, dies at 83
  • Feb 22 Leslie Stephen, English writer and critic (b. 1832)
  • Feb 23 Mahendralal Sarkar, Indian homeopath doctor and founder of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, dies at 70