The following events occurred in February 1902:
February 1, 1902 (Saturday) A gas explosion at a coal mine in Mexico killed over 100 miners.The American Monthly Review of Reviews (March, 1902), pp. 281-285 Born: Langston Hughes, African-American writer; in Joplin, Missouri (d. 1967) Died: Salomon Jadassohn, 70, German composer and pianist (b. 1831)
February 2, 1902 (Sunday) The first labor union in the Philippines, the Unión Obrera Democrática Filipina, was organized by Isabelo de los Reyes and Hermenegildo Cruz. Died: George D. Tillman, 75, U.S. Representative 1883-1893 from South Carolina.
February 3, 1902 (Monday) The French ship Chanaral wrecked on the coast of Brittany, France, killing 21 people. A Papal decree of 3 February 1902 by Pope Leo XIII stipulated that henceforth castrati would no longer be accepted into the Sistine Chapel Choir. The current castrati would be permitted to remain until they died, retired, or were pensioned off.Clapton, Nicholas (2004). Moreschi: The Last Castrato. pp. 111–113; 123–126. Haus.
February 4, 1902 (Tuesday) Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton made the first balloon flight in Antarctica, ascending to 800 feet (240 m) in a tethered hydrogen observation balloon, from which they took the first Antarctic aerial photographs. Insurgent prisoners escaped Colombia's Fort Boca prison in Cartagena. Seven members of the St. Louis Fire Department in Missouri died in the collapse of the American Tent and Awning Company building, the greatest loss of life in the department's history. When the fire at the building was almost under control, the third floor collapsed under two of the firemen. The other five firemen entered the building to rescue their colleagues, but the building collapsed on top of them. Killed were Assistant Chief August Thierry, Capt. Daniel Steele, Lt. Frank McBride, Lt. Michael Kehoe, Charles Krenning, Charles Westenhoff and William Dundon. Born: Charles Lindbergh, American aviator who became famous in 1927 by making the first trans-Atlantic airplane flight; in Detroit (d. 1974) Reginald Beck, British film editor; to a British diplomat in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire. (d. 1992) Margaret Dare, Scottish cellist; in Newport-on-Tay, Fife (d. 1976) Hartley Shawcross, British barrister and politician; in Giessen, Germany (d. 2003)
February 5, 1902 (Wednesday) The French Chamber of Deputies approved a resolution to reduce the workload for coal miners to nine hours per day, approving it 338 to 219. Under the legislation, the workday would be 8 1/2 hours by 1904 and eight hours in 1906. Born: Kaoru Iwamoto, Japanese professional Go player; in Masuda, Shimane Prefecture (d. 1999)
February 6, 1902 (Thursday) Belgium received its only concession of land from China as it was granted of land in the city of Tianjin. Belgian consul Henri Ketels and Chinese foreign ministry official Zhang Lianfen signed the agreement for a parcel of land on the east side of the Hai River, adjacent to the Russian concession. Belgium would return the concession to Chinese control in 1929 in return for repayment of a Belgian loan. The U.S. territorial government in the Philippines established the Bureau of Customs, a Philippine-operated agency that would serve as a counterpart to the American Customs Service. Spanish wine and sherry entrepreneur Manuel Críspulo González y Soto became the first Marquis of Bonanza, a title created by decree of the Queen Regent, Maria Christina of Austria. Born: Beryl McLeish, a wartime superintendent of the Australian Women's Land Army (AWLA); in Gympie, Queensland (d. 1974) Died: Clémence Royer, 71, French scholar and translator of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species
February 7, 1902 (Friday) A new high speed railroad train was tested by the Pennsylvania Railroad. Averaging the train covered the distance between New York City and Philadelphia in only one hour and 24 minutes. Canada's Justice Minister, David Mills, resigned to become a judge on the Supreme Court of Canada. Died: Thomas Sidney Cooper, 98, English landscape painter (b. 1803)
February 8, 1902 (Saturday) David Mills was appointed Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. Born: Demchugdongrub, Mongolian prince and politician; in Chahar Province, Mongolia, Chinese Empire (d. 1966) Robert H.H. Hugman, American architect famous for designing the San Antonio River Walk; in San Antonio, Texas (d. 1980)
February 9, 1902 (Sunday) The South African Republic's General Christiaan de Wet was able to escape through British lines back to safety. Fire leveled 26 city blocks of Paterson, New Jersey, after spreading from trolley car sheds, and destroyed 459 buildings, including churches, homes, offices, and the City Hall. Four years after the end of the Spanish–American War, Spain's cabinet authorized its Foreign Minister, the Duke of Almodóvar del Río, to sign a treaty of friendship with the United States. Born: Fred Harman, who drew the Red Ryder comic strip for 25 years; in St. Joseph, Missouri (d. 1982)
February 10, 1902 (Monday) The British Government announced that it would not give up its concession in China's Wei-Hai-Wei, but pledged that it would withdraw troops. The City Savings Bank of Detroit failed. Born: Walter Houser Brattain, American physicist and Nobel Prize laureate; in Xiamen, Fujian province China, to American missionary parents (d. 1987)
February 11, 1902 (Tuesday) The United Kingdom announced the signing of a treaty of alliance with Japan, subject to approval of the parliaments of both empires, in order to preserve the integrity of China and Korea. Police and universal suffrage demonstrators fought in Brussels. Born: Arne Jacobsen, Danish architect and designer; in Copenhagen (d. 1971)
February 12, 1902 (Wednesday) Hohenzollern, the personal yacht of Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm arrived in New York City in advance of the arrival of Prince Henry. The first Anglo-Japanese Alliance was announced. This and the renewals to the treaty in 1905 and 1911 played a major role in World War I. Died: The Marquess of Dufferin, 75, British administrator who served as the third Governor General of Canada from 1872 to 1878, then as the Viceroy of India from 1884 to 1888 (b. 1826)
February 13, 1902 (Thursday) An earthquake of magnitude 6.9 struck in the Shamakhi District in Azerbaijan, reportedly killing 2,000 people and destroying 4,000 homes.The American Monthly Review of Reviews (April, 1902), pp. 410-413 An official report listed only 86 deaths despite the destruction of over 3,000 homes. The 1902 World Figure Skating Championships took place in London. Only four skaters participated in the singles competition, which was won by Ulrich Salchow of Sweden. Born: Oswald D. Heck, longest serving Speaker of the New York State Assembly; in Schenectady, New York. (d. 1959) Died: Robert B. Lindsay, 77, Scottish-American politician who served as Governor of Alabama during the Reconstruction era from 1870 to 1872 (b. 1824)
February 14, 1902 (Friday)
Brazilian airship aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont escaped disaster as his prize-winning Airship No. 6 experienced extreme heading of the hydrogen balloon while he was over the Mediterranean Sea. The ship, already directed nose-up during its ascension, tilted further upward. Wires supporting the gondola broke and tangled in the propeller. Faced with the prospect of an explosion or a loss of control, Santos-Dumont was able to reach the controls to shut off the motor and to vent the hydrogen enough to make a safe landing in the sea, where he was rescued. The airship was salvaged, and although it would be repaired and put on display in London's Crystal Palace Park, it would never fly again. Born: Thelma Ritter, American actress; in New York City (d. 1969) Died: James Bradley Thayer, 71, American law professor and authority on constitutional law (b. 1831)
February 15, 1902 (Saturday) The "" route of the Berlin U-Bahn underground transport system was opened, and immediately became popular.Brian Hardy: The Berlin U-Bahn, Capital Transport, 1996, Died: Viggo Hørup, 60, Danish liberal politician and journalist who inspired Denmark's Radikale Venstre (the Radical Left or Danish Social Liberal Party), died of cancer. In 1909, Carl Theodor Zahle would become the first Radical Left Prime Minister of Denmark (b. 1841) William H. West, 45, white American entertainer who managed a minstrel show using African American performers rather than white performers in blackface, died of cancer (b. 1853)
February 16, 1902 (Sunday) Ascensión Esquivel Ibarra was elected president of Costa Rica, receiving 78 percent of the vote as a candidate for the new Partido Unión Nacional (PUN). Esquivel took office on May 8, 1902. The record low temperature in Honolulu of was set. It would be tied on January 20, 1969, though not broken. Born: Kathleen Snavely, Irish supercentenarian. Snavely lived died in July 6, 2015 aged 113 years and 140 days. Zhang Yuzhe (Chinese: 张钰哲), Chinese astronomer, widely regarded as the father of modern Chinese astronomy; in Minhou, Fujian province (d. 1986) Died: Ivers S. Calkin, 65, Medal of Honor recipient for actions at the Battle of Sailor's Creek in the American Civil War on 6 April 1865. George Carter Needham, 56, American evangelist whose name was applied by a candy manufacturer to a popular confectionery bar in the 19th century
February 17, 1902 (Monday) In the Bulgarian parliamentary election, the Progressive Liberal Party of Prime Minister Stoyan Danev won 89 of the 189 seats. The United States Senate voted to ratify the purchase by the United States from Denmark of the Danish West Indies, now the United States Virgin Islands. A rule was introduced that allowed the Speaker of the UK House of Commons to suspend the current session "in the case of grave disorder arising"; Born: Vasily Shatilov, Soviet Army colonel general credited with the capture of the Reichstag during the Battle of Berlin; in Kalmek, Voronezh Governorate, Russian Empire. (d. 1995) Died: Yang Yü (Chinese: 楊儒), 60, Chinese diplomat and ambassador to the U.S. and Russia.
February 18, 1902 (Tuesday) U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt prosecuted the Northern Securities Company for violation of the Sherman Act. The first performance of Jules Massenet's opera Le jongleur de Notre-Dame took place at the Opéra Garnier in Monte Carlo.Milnes R. Le jongleur de Notre-Dame. In: The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Macmillan, London and New York, 1997. In elections in the U.S. city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the new Citizens' Party defeated several incumbent city councilmen and the city's comptroller. Died: Charles L. Tiffany, 90, American jewelry merchant who founded Tiffany & Co. (b. 1812) Albert Bierstadt, 72, German-American landscape painter (b. 1830) Marcellin Desboutin, 79, French portrait painter (b. 1823) Reverend Newman Hall, 85, British Anglican bishop and author of the 1848 bestseller Come to Jesus (b. 1816) Neville Bowles Chamberlain, 82, British Army field marshal (b. 1820)
February 19, 1902 (Wednesday) France and Venezuela resumed diplomatic relations, seven years after breaking off contact in 1895. U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt rejected the appeal of Rear Admiral Winfield Scott Schley from the unfavorable decision of the United States Navy Board of Inquiry. Born: Kay Boyle, American writer; in St. Paul, Minnesota (d. 1992) Eddie Peabody, American musician; in Reading, Massachusetts (d. 1970) Died: Richard Maurice Bucke, 64, Canadian psychiatrist, known for his 1901 book Cosmic Consciousness and his theory that human beings could obtain a higher form of consciousness. Bucke suffered a fatal head injury after slipping and falling on a patch of ice at his home. (b. 1837) Thomas F. Toon, 61, American educator and former Confederate general during the American Civil War (b. 1840)
February 20, 1902 (Thursday)