January 17 » El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico becomes part of the United States National Forest System as the Luquillo Forest Reserve.
February 14 » The United States Department of Commerce and Labor is established (later split into the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor).
March 14 » Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, the first national wildlife refuge in the US, is established by President Theodore Roosevelt.
July 19 » Maurice Garin wins the first Tour de France.
August 3 » Macedonian rebels in Kruševo proclaim the Kruševo Republic, which exists for only ten days before Ottoman Turks lay waste to the town.
December 30 » A fire at the Iroquois Theater in Chicago, Illinois kills at least 605.
Day of death December 16, 1903
The temperature on December 16, 1903 was between -0.1 °C and 4.9 °C and averaged 2.9 °C. Source: KNMI
January 9 » Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson, son of the poet Alfred Tennyson, becomes the second Governor-General of Australia.
June 19 » Benito Mussolini, at the time a radical Socialist, is arrested by Bern police for advocating a violent general strike.
July 20 » The Ford Motor Company ships its first automobile.
August 29 » The Slava, the last of the five Borodino-class battleships, is launched.
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.
December 30 » A fire at the Iroquois Theater in Chicago, Illinois kills at least 605.
When copying data from this family tree, please include a reference to the origin: Peeters Mathieu, "FutureHistory", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/stamboom-riske/I7163.php : accessed October 9, 2026), "Benedictus Bijl (1903-1903)".
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