1903
| File:Decade.png ( 1900s: ) 1903 link | |
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 The Wright Flyer,a heavier than air craft first flew in 1903. |
Events
- January 1 – Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India.
- January 19 – The first west–east transatlantic radio broadcast is made from the United States to England (the first east–west broadcast having been made in 1901).
- February 13 – Venezuelan crisis: After agreeing to arbitration in Washington, Britain, Germany and Italy reach a settlement with Venezuela, resulting in the Washington Protocols. The naval blockade that began in 1902 will end.
- February 23 – Cuba leases Guantánamo Bay to the United States "in perpetuity".
- March 5 – The Ottoman Empire and the German Empire sign an agreement to build the Constantinople–Baghdad Railway.
- March 14 – The Hay–Herrán Treaty, granting the United States the right to build the Panama Canal, is ratified by the United States Senate. The Colombian Senate later rejects the treaty.
- June 11 (May 29 O.S.) – Serbian King Alexander Obrenović and Queen Draga are assassinated in Belgrade, by the Black Hand (Crna Ruka) organization.
- June 16 – The Ford Motor Company is founded by Henry Ford with $28,000 in cash from twelve investors. The first president is not Ford, but local banker John S. Gray, who is chosen to assuage investors' fears that Ford would leave the new company the way he had left its predecessor.
- July 7 – The British take over the Fulani Empire.
- July 30–August 23 – The Second Congress of the All-Russian Social Democratic Labour Party is held in exile in Brussels, transferring to London.
- August 2 – The Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising, organized by the Secret Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization, breaks out in the Ottoman provinces of Macedonia and Adrianople.
- September 14 – Joseph Chamberlain resigns as British Colonial Secretary, in order to campaign publicly for Imperial Preference.
- November 3 – Separation of Panama from Colombia: With the 'encouragement' of the United States, Panama proclaims itself independent of Colombia.
- November 13 – The United States recognizes the independence of Panama.
- November 17 – The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party splits into two groups: the Bolsheviks (Russian for "majority") and Mensheviks (Russian for "minority").
- November 18 – The Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty is signed by the United States and Panama, giving the U.S. exclusive rights over the Panama Canal Zone.
- November 23 – Colorado Governor James Hamilton Peabody sends the state militia into the town of Cripple Creek to break up a miners' strike.