January 4 » Topsy, an elephant, is electrocuted by the owners of Luna Park, Coney Island. The Edison film company records the film Electrocuting an Elephant of Topsy's death.
January 9 » Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson, son of the poet Alfred Tennyson, becomes the second Governor-General of Australia.
January 17 » El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico becomes part of the United States National Forest System as the Luquillo Forest Reserve.
February 23 » Cuba leases Guantánamo Bay to the United States "in perpetuity".
March 2 » In New York City the Martha Washington Hotel opens, becoming the first hotel exclusively for women.
September 11 » The first race at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisconsin is held. It is the oldest major speedway in the world.
Day of death September 17, 1903
The temperature on September 17, 1903 was between 4.9 °C and 16.0 °C and averaged 10.4 °C. There was 6.2 hours of sunshine (49%). Source: KNMI
March 14 » Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, the first national wildlife refuge in the US, is established by President Theodore Roosevelt.
July 20 » The Ford Motor Company ships its first automobile.
August 3 » Macedonian rebels in Kruševo proclaim the Kruševo Republic, which exists for only ten days before Ottoman Turks lay waste to the town.
October 6 » The High Court of Australia sits for the first time.
October 31 » The Purdue Wreck, a railroad train collision in Indianapolis, kills 17 people, including 14 players of the Purdue University football team.
November 18 » The Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty is signed by the United States and Panama, giving the United States exclusive rights over the Panama Canal Zone.
When copying data from this family tree, please include a reference to the origin: Johan Raatjes, "Family tree Raatjes en Sloots", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/stamboom-raatjes-sloots/I2418.php : accessed December 24, 2025), "Jurriena Raatjes (1903-1903)".
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