May 1904

May 1, 1904 (Sunday)

• The Battle of the Yalu River, the first major land battle of the Russo-Japanese War, ended in a Japanese victory.
• On International Workers' Day, Russian railway workers held a protest in Tashkent, Russian Empire. The Armenian Social-Democratic Labour Organization organized a strike of between 4,000 and 5,000 Armenian workers in Balakhani, Russian Empire. In memory of the Haymarket defendants, 70,000 anarchist workers marched in the streets of La Boca, Buenos Aires, Argentina. 18-year-old sailor Juan Ocampo was killed in a crackdown by authorities.
• The Belgian and French national association football teams made their debuts in the Évence Coppée Trophy, a match at the Stade du Vivier d'Oie in Uccle, Brussels, Belgium. The game ended in a 3–3 draw; therefore, the trophy itself was not awarded.
• Colonel Ismael Montes was elected President of Bolivia.
• The construction of Orchestra Hall began in Chicago, Illinois.
• At a drinking party in Duncan, Iowa, James Banda died after drinking carbolic acid. A coroner's jury concluded that someone handed Banda the acid. It remains unclear whether or not Banda was murdered.
• Born:
• * John Abt, American lawyer and politician; in Chicago, Illinois
• * Carlos J. Anderson, American painter and illustrator; in Midvale, Utah
• * José Bonifácio Lafayette de Andrada, Brazilian lawyer and politician; in Barbacena, Brazil
• * Emil Augsburg, German SS functionary and war criminal; in Łódź, Kingdom of Poland, Russian Empire
• * Wally Downer, Canadian politician and Anglican priest, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario; in Lefaive's Corners, Ontario, Canada
• * Katherine Grant, American actress; in Los Angeles, California
• * M. Donald Grant, Canadian American businessman, chairman and minority owner of the New York Mets; in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
• * Donn Greenshields, National Football League tackle; in Cleveland, Ohio
• * Anton Janda, Austrian footballer and coach; in Vienna, Austria-Hungary
• * Joel, Brazilian footballer; in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• * Sigmund Neumann, German American political scientist and sociologist; in Leipzig, German Empire
• * Tom Oswald, Scottish Member of Parliament; in Leith, Scotland
• * Lucia Pamela, American musician and bandleader; in St. Louis, Missouri
• * M. P. Paul, academic and literary critic of Malayalam; in Puthenpally Varapuzha, Ernakulam district, Kerala, India
• * Fred Spencer, American animator ; in Missouri
• * Paul Sterian, Romanian poet and civil servant; in Bucharest, Romania
• Died:
• * Antonín Dvořák, 62, Czech composer, died of a stroke.
• * William Collett, 64, English cricketer
• * Charles N. Fox, 75, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California, died of paralysis of the brain.
• * Wilhelm His Sr., 72, Swiss anatomist
• * Andrew Kiefer, 71, German American politician, member of the United States House of Representatives from Minnesota
• * James Massie, 70, Canadian businessman and politician, member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
• * Mary McDonald, 32, first victim of the Cumminsville murders

  May 2, 1904 (Monday)

• The horse Elwood, ridden by jockey Frank Prior, won the 1904 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Elwood was the first Kentucky Derby winner to be owned by a woman, Lasca Durnell.
• Born:
• * Bruno Bianchi, Italian Olympic champion sailor; in Genoa, Province of Genoa, Italy
• * Bill Brandt, German-born British photographer; in Hamburg, Germany
• * Maurice Estève, French painter; in Culan, Cher, France
• Died:
• * Émile Duclaux, 63, French microbiologist
• * Edgar Fawcett, 56, American poet and novelist
• * Alexander Wade, 72, American educator, died of an obstruction of the stomach.

  May 3, 1904 (Tuesday)

• The Fairy's Dilemma, the final full-length play by W. S. Gilbert, received its world premiere at the Garrick Theatre in the City of Westminster, London, England.
• In Hobart, Oklahoma Territory, lightning struck a farmhouse, killing four sleeping children.
• Born:
• * Roberto Agramonte, Cuban philosopher and politician; in Villa Clara Province, Cuba
• * William L. Hendricks, United States Marine Corps Reserve colonel and film producer, founder of Toys for Tots
• Died: James Reid, 64, Canadian businessman and politician

  May 4, 1904 (Wednesday)

• The German association football club FC Schalke 04 was established as Westfalia Schalke.
• Charles Rolls and Henry Royce, the founders of Rolls-Royce Limited, met for the first time in Manchester, England.
• While dynamiter John Croft was attempting to demolish the remains of a building destroyed in the Great Fire of Toronto on April 19, a charge that had failed to detonate exploded in his face while he was inspecting it. Croft would die at 9:50 a.m. on May 5, the only fatality caused by the previous month's fire.
• The United States Army Corps of Engineers began work on the Panama Canal.
• Born:
• * Adele Bei, Italian trade unionist and politician; in Cantiano, Province of Pesaro and Urbino, Italy
• * Antonino Buenaventura, Filipino composer, conductor and teacher; in Baliuag, Bulacan, Philippine Islands
• * Joaquín García Morato, Spanish fighter ace; in Melilla, Spain
• * Josef Pieper, German Catholic philosopher; in Elte, North Rhine-Westphalia, German Empire
• * Umm Kulthum, Egyptian singer, songwriter and film actress; in El Senbellawein, Dakahlia Governorate, Egypt
• * Bruno Wolke, German professional road bicycle racer; in Neukölln, Berlin, Germany
• Died: Ashbel P. Fitch, 55, American lawyer and financier, member of the United States House of Representatives from New York, died of apoplexy.

  May 5, 1904 (Thursday)

• Hundreds of Tibetans attacked the camp of the British expedition to Tibet at Changlo in Gyantse, holding the advantage for a while before being defeated by superior weapons and losing at least 200 men.
• Thousands of people attended the funeral of Czech composer Antonín Dvořák in Prague.
• Belgian driver Pierre de Caters set a new world land speed record of, driving a Mercedes racing car in Ostend, Belgium.
• Pitching against the Philadelphia Athletics at the Huntington Avenue Grounds, Cy Young of the Boston Americans threw the first perfect game in the modern era of baseball.
• The Philadelphia City Council passed a resolution providing for the Liberty Bell to be exhibited at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri. The Bell's departure from Philadelphia was scheduled for early June.
• The national convention of the Socialist Party of America nominated Eugene V. Debs and Ben Hanford for President and Vice President of the United States.
• Born:
• * Alston Scott Householder, American mathematician; in Rockford, Illinois
• * Robert Kronfeld, Austrian-born gliding champion and Royal Air Force test pilot; in Vienna, Austria-Hungary
• * Gordon Richards, English jockey; in Donnington Wood, Shropshire, England
• Died: Mór Jókai, 79, Hungarian novelist, died of inflammation of the lungs.

  May 6, 1904 (Friday)

• In Yosemite, California, fire destroyed the residence and studio of landscape photographer George Fiske, along with 30 years' worth of Fiske's negatives.
• Born:
• * Raymond Bailey, American actor; in San Francisco, California
• * Una Cameron, Scottish mountaineer; in West Linton, Peeblesshire, Scotland
• * Moshé Feldenkrais, Ukrainian-born Israeli engineer and physicist; in Slavuta, Russian Empire
• * Catherine Lacey, English actress; in London, England
• * Max Mallowan, British archaeologist, second husband of Agatha Christie; in Wandsworth, London, England
• * Harry Martinson, Swedish writer, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature; in Jämshög, Blekinge County, Sweden
• * Renzo Minoli, Italian Olympic champion fencer; in Milan, Province of Milan, Italy
• * Montgomery Tully, Irish film director and writer; in Dublin, Ireland
• Died:
• * Emanuel Vogel Gerhart, 86, American minister of the German Reformed Church
• * Franz von Lenbach, 67, German painter
• * John B. Sanborn, 77, American lawyer and politician, Union Army general
• * Alexander William Williamson, 80, English chemist

  May 7, 1904 (Saturday)

• A human crush during a massive celebration in Tokyo of Japanese war victories caused 21 deaths and 40 injuries.
• The 1. Spielklasse Bezirk Braunschweig, an association football league, was founded in the Duchy of Brunswick.
• In Woodbridge, California, aeronaut Frank Hamilton unsuccessfully attempted to make a parachute jump from a balloon in a gale, falling and landing on his head, causing him to lose consciousness.
• Born:
• * Elisabeth Grasser, Austrian Olympic fencer; in Neudörfl, Mattersburg District, Austria
• * Val Lewton, Russian American novelist, film producer and screenwriter; in Yalta, Russian Empire
• * David Sullivan, Irish American labor leader; in Cork, Ireland
• Died:
• * Manuel Candamo, 62, Peruvian politician, 23rd President of Peru, died of cardiac syncope.
• * Émile-Jules Dubois, 50, French physician, deputy in the National Assembly
• * Andrew McNally, 68, Irish-born American publisher, died of heart disease.

  May 8, 1904 (Sunday)

• Near Simpatem, on the eastern shore of Lake Liguasan, Mindanao, Philippines, a group of Moros attacked a detachment of the United States Army 17th Infantry Regiment that was searching for insurgent leader Datu Ali. The Moros killed Lieutenants Harry A. Woodruff and Joseph H. Hall and fifteen enlisted men.
• The Sugar Museum, the world's first museum devoted to the subject of sugar, opened in Wedding, Berlin, Germany. It would close as an independent museum in 2012.
• Mrs. Amelia F. M. Billingsley of Toledo, Ohio, was arrested after her arrival by train in Washington, D.C., where she said she had intended to call on First Lady Edith Roosevelt at the White House to warn her of "political intrigue directed against the Government". Mrs. Billingsley, who claimed to have been a personal friend of William McKinley and Mark Hanna, had caused a disturbance in her train car.
• Half of the town of Utica, Michigan, was destroyed by fire, causing $100,000 in damage.
• The Director of Exhibits at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition received a cablegram from Saint Petersburg announcing that Russia would place an exhibit at the fair after all. Russia had previously pulled out of the exposition due to the Russo-Japanese War.
• Born:
• * Fredie Blom, South African supercentenarian; in Adelaide, Cape Colony
• * Paul J. Kramer, American biologist and plant physiologist; in Brookville, Indiana
• * Boris Livanov, Soviet actor and theater director; in Moscow, Russian Empire
• * John Snagge, British radio personality; in Chelsea, London, England
• Died:
• * Richard Xavier Baxter, 83, Canadian Roman Catholic priest and venerable
• * Eadweard Muybridge, 74, British photographer and motion picture pioneer, died of prostate cancer.
• * Frederick York Powell, 54, English historian and scholar