December 1902

[December 1], 1902 (Monday)

• Danish composer Carl Nielsen conducts the premiėre of his Symphony No. 2, The Four Temperaments, for the Danish Concert Association in Copenhagen.
• The Los Angeles mayoral election is won by the incumbent mayor, Democrat Meredith P. Snyder.
• Denver, Colorado becomes a Consolidated city-county.

  [December 2], 1902 (Tuesday)

• Died: Richard Belcredi, 79, former Prime minister of the Austrian Empire

  [December 3], 1902 (Wednesday)

• José Paranhos, Baron of Rio Branco, is appointed Brazil's Minister of Foreign Affairs. He would be the longest-serving Foreign Minister in the history of Brazil.
• Born: Mitsuo Fuchida, Japanese aviator, naval officer, and Christian evangelist, in Katsuragi, Nara Prefecture
• Died:
• *Robert Lawson, 69, New Zealand architect
• *Prudente de Morais, 61, 3rd President of Brazil

  [December 4], 1902 (Thursday)

• Died: Charles Dow, 51, US journalist, co-founder of Dow Jones & Company

  [December 5], 1902 (Friday)

• The first performance of Leo Tolstoy's play The Power of Darkness is given at the Moscow Art Theatre, with Konstantin Stanislavski as Mitrich.
• Born: Strom Thurmond, US politician, in Edgefield, South Carolina

  [December 6], 1902 (Saturday)

[December 7], 1902 (Sunday)

• Died: Thomas Nast, 62, German-born US caricaturist and cartoonist, having contracted yellow fever in Ecuador

  [December 8], 1902 (Monday)

• The Committee of Imperial Defence is established by Arthur Balfour, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
• Born: Wifredo Lam, Cuban artist, in Sagua La Grande

  [December 9], 1902 (Tuesday)

• Venezuelan crisis of 1902–03: A naval blockade of Venezuela is imposed by Western European powers, as a result of President Cipriano Castro's refusal to pay foreign debts and recompense European citizens for losses incurred in the Federal War.
• Born: Margaret Hamilton, US actress, in Cleveland, Ohio

  [December 10], 1902 (Wednesday)

• Construction of the Aswan Low Dam on the River Nile is completed.

  [December 11], 1902 (Thursday)

• Ludwig Forrer is elected a member of the Swiss Federal Council.

  [December 12], 1902 (Friday)

• Ranshima Station is opened by the Hokkaido Railway Company on the Hakodate Main Line in Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan.
• Koloman Sokol, Slovak artist, in Liptovský Mikuláš

  [December 13], 1902 (Saturday)

• Venezuela Crisis of 1902–03: A British merchant ship is boarded and its crew arrested in Venezuela. When no apology was forthcoming, a British and German force launches a bombardment of Venezuelan forts at Puerto Cabello.

  [December 14], 1902 (Sunday)

• Born: Frances Bavier, US stage and television actress, in New York City
• Died: Julia Grant, 76, 18th First Lady of the United States

  [December 15], 1902 (Monday)

• Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada, is the location for transmission of the first transatlantic radio press report, sent by Guglielmo Marconi.

  [December 16], 1902 (Tuesday)

• 1902 Andijan earthquake: An earthquake of magnitude 6.4 strikes Andijan Province, Uzbekistan, killing 4,880 people and destroying over 40,000 homes.

  [December 17], 1902 (Wednesday)

• During a gale in the Atlantic Ocean off Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA, the schooners Frank A. Palmer## and Louise B. Crary'' collide and sink; eleven of a total of 21 crew members are killed.

  [December 18], 1902 (Thursday)

[December 19], 1902 (Friday)

• Lord Hawke's XI plays the first match of its cricket tour of New Zealand at Auckland, defeating a local side.

  [December 20], 1902 (Saturday)

• Born: Prince George, Duke of Kent, son of the future King George V of the United Kingdom and Queen Mary, at York Cottage, Norfolk

  [December 21], 1902 (Sunday)

• Pierre Nord Alexis becomes President of Haiti at the age of 82, following a military coup.

  [December 22], 1902 (Monday)

• The Maori electorates of New Zealand vote in the country's general election.
• Died: Richard von Krafft-Ebing, 62, German sexologist

  [December 23], 1902 (Tuesday)

• Born:Norman Maclean, American author
• Died: Frederick Temple, 81, English priest, Archbishop of Canterbury

  [December 24], 1902 (Wednesday)

[December 25], 1902 (Thursday)

• Born: Princess Françoise of Orléans, daughter of Prince Jean, Duke of Guise, and Princess Isabelle of Orléans, in Paris

  [December 26], 1902 (Friday)

• British-born Ada Evans becomes the first woman in Australia to obtain a degree in Law.
• Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, is incorporated as a city.

  [December 27], 1902 (Saturday)

[December 28], 1902 (Sunday)

• Born:
• *Mortimer J. Adler, US philosopher, in New York City
• *Shen Congwen, Chinese writer, in Fenghuang

  [December 29], 1902 (Monday)

[December 30], 1902 (Tuesday)

• Discovery Expedition: Robert Falcon Scott, Ernest Shackleton and Edward Adrian Wilson reach the furthest southern point reached thus far by man, south of 82°S.

  [December 31], 1902 (Wednesday)

• Discovery Expedition: Wilson, Scott and Shackleton turn back, with most of their sledge-dogs dead and Shackleton suffering from scurvy.