The year in history
1903
Someone born in 1903 turns 123 in 2026
1903 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar, the 1903rd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 903rd year of the 2nd millennium, the 3rd year of the 20th century, and the 4th year of the 1900s decade. As of the start of 1903, the Gregorian calendar was 13 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.
What happened in 1903
Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India.
Cuba leases Guantánamo Bay to the United States "in perpetuity".
The University of Puerto Rico is founded.
Atlético Madrid is founded as a professional association football club in Spain.
The port of Burgas, Bulgaria opens.
The town of Heppner, Oregon is nearly destroyed by a cloud burst that results in a flash flood that kills about 238 people.
United States Cartridge Company explosion: The explosion of two explosives storage magazines destroys 70 homes, killing 22 residents of Tewksbury, Massachusetts.
Pope Pius X succeeds Pope Leo XIII as the 257th pope.
Grêmio FBPA is founded in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Separation of Panama from Colombia: With the encouragement of the United States, Panama proclaims itself independent of Colombia.
The Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty is signed by the United States and Panama, giving the U.S. exclusive rights over the Panama Canal Zone.
The Iroquois Theatre fire in Chicago kills 600.
Famous people born in 1903
Jasimuddin
Bangladeshi poet, lyricist, composer and writer (d. 1976)
January 1 →
Igor Kurchatov
Russian physicist (d. 1960)
January 12 →
Alexander Imich
Polish-born American parapsychologist, chemist (d. 2014)
February 4 →
Stuart Erwin
American actor (d. 1967)
February 14 →
Vladimir Bartol
Slovenian author (d. 1967)
February 24 →
Bix Beiderbecke
American jazz musician (d. 1931)
March 10 →
Edgar Buchanan
American actor (d. 1979)
March 20 →
Rudolf Serkin
Austrian pianist (d. 1991)
March 28 →
Gregor Piatigorsky
Russian-born American cellist (d. 1976)
April 17 →
Luther Adler
American actor (d. 1984)
May 4 →
Aram Khachaturian
Soviet-Armenian composer (d. 1978)
June 6 →
Al Hirschfeld
American caricaturist (d. 2003)
June 21 →
George Orwell
English author (d. 1950)
June 25 →
Charles Poletti
American lawyer and politician (d. 2002)
July 2 →
Werner Best
German SS officer, jurist (d. 1989)
July 10 →
Estes Kefauver
American politician (d. 1963)
July 26 →
James Gould Cozzens
American writer (d. 1978)
August 19 →
Claudette Colbert
American actress (d. 1996)
September 13 →
Mark Rothko
Latvian-born American painter (d. 1970)
September 25 →
Prince Charles
Count of Flanders (d. 1983)
October 10 →
Evelyn Waugh
English novelist (d. 1966)
October 28 →
Konrad Lorenz
Austrian zoologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1989)
November 7 →
A. L. Rowse
English historian (d. 1997)
December 4 →
Erskine Caldwell
American author (d. 1987)
December 17 →