On This Day

May 1902 in History

Events in History

  • May 6 British SS Camorta sinks off Rangoon; 739 die
  • May 6 Zulu assault at Holkrantz, South Africa
  • May 7 La Soufrière volcano on St Vincent kills 1,680 people
  • May 8 Mount Pelée on the French overseas island of Martinique erupts, wiping out the city of Saint-Pierre, killing 30,000 and leaving only two survivors
  • May 10 Portugal goes bankrupt, but its parliament passes a bill converting its external debt. Contributing to Portugal's troubles is recent revolt in its colony of Angola, put down 6 September
  • May 12 140,000 miners of anthracite coal in Pennsylvania go out on a strike called by the United Mine Workers after the owners have refused to recognize the UMW, negotiate or submit to arbitration
  • May 15 "Bailundo Revolt" begins after Ovimbundu kingdom & allies revolt against Portuguese Empire in Benguela Highlands, central Portuguese Angola
  • May 15 Lyman Gilmore is 1st person to fly a powered craft
  • May 16 2 deaf-mutes face each other for 1st time as Dummy Hoy leads off for the Reds against Dummy Taylor of the Giants, Reds win 5-3
  • May 17 Greek archaeologist Valerios Stais discovers the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient mechanical analog computer
  • May 19 Great Britain and Boers resume peace talks in Pretoria
  • May 20 United States withdraws its troops from Cuba as the first Cuban president, Tomas Estrada Palma takes power

Treaty of Interest

May 22 US President Theodore Roosevelt signs a treaty with Mexico under which both countries agree to submit a long-standing dispute over interest payments to the Court of Arbitration at The Hague

Theodore Roosevelt
26th US President Theodore Roosevelt
  • May 24 Cleve's Bill Bradley is 1st ALer to hit a HR run in 4 consecutive games, not duplicated until Babe Ruth does it June 25, 1918
  • May 24 Empire Day 1st celebrated in Britain
  • May 29 Dutch State Mine law forms
  • May 30 Spanish King Alfonso XII, who was elected as a constitutional monarch, suspends the Cortes, Spain's parliament
  • May 31 Boer War Ends; Treaty of Unity signed, Britain annexes Transvaal
  • May 31 Labor trouble and riots lead Spanish King Alfonso XII to impose martial law

Birthdays in History

  • May 3 Alfred Kastler, French physicist (Nobel 1966 - Hertzian resonances within atoms), born in Guebwiller, Alsace, German Empire (d. 1984)
  • May 4 (Nicolaas) "Cola" Debrot, Dutch lawyer, doctor.author and politician (Governor of the Netherlands Antilles, 1962-70), born in Kralendijk, Netherlands (d. 1981)
  • May 4 Rodney Meredith Thomas, English architect and painter, born in London (d. 1996)
  • May 6 Harry Golden, Jewish-American journalist and writer (Only in America), born in Mikulintsy, Ukraine (d. 1981)
  • May 6 Max Ophüls, German director (The Earrings of Madame de...), born in Saarbrücken, German Empire (d. 1957)
  • May 6 Walter Dawson, British Air Chief marshal (d. 1994)
  • May 8 Andre Michel Lwoff, French physiologist (1965 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries of genetic control of enzyme and virus synthesis), born in Ainay-le-Château, France (d. 1994)
  • May 10 David O Selznick, American Academy Award-winning producer (Gone With The Wind; Rebecca), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 1965)
  • May 10 Joachim Prinz, German-American Zionist leader, author and Rabbi of Berlin (1926-37), born in Bierdzany, Prussia (d. 1988)
  • May 11 Kaarlo Sarkia, Finnish poet (Unen Kaivo), born in Kiikka, Grand Duchy of Finland (d. 1945)
  • May 12 Heinrich Kirchner, German sculptor (d. 1984)
  • May 15 Richard J Daley, American politician (38th Mayor-Chicago-D:1955-76), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1976)
  • May 20 Hans Sahl, German American anti-Nazi Jewish writer, born in Dresden (d. 1993)
  • May 21 Marcel Breuer, Hungarian-born modernist architect and furniture designer, born in Pécs, Hungary (d. 1981)
  • May 30 Seton Lloyd, English Archaeologist (Arzawa civilization, Turkey), born in Birmingham, England (d. 1996)

Deaths in History

  • May 1 John Glover, English chemist (sulfuric acid), dies at 85
  • May 3 David Capriles, Curacaos director of psychiatry, dies at 64
  • May 5 Bret Harte, American author (Outcasts of Poker Flat), dies at 65
  • May 26 Almon Strowger, American inventor (b. 1839)
  • May 27 Jan Ferguut [Jan van Droogenbroeck], Belgian poet, dies at 67
  • May 28 Adolf Kussmaul, German physician (stomach pump, Kuszmaul disease), dies at 80

Historical Figures

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