January 17 » El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico becomes part of the United States National Forest System as the Luquillo Forest Reserve.
July 19 » Maurice Garin wins the first Tour de France.
August 29 » The Slava, the last of the five Borodino-class battleships, is launched.
September 27 » The Wreck of the Old 97, an American rail disaster that became the subject of a popular ballad.
November 3 » With the encouragement of the United States, Panama separates from Colombia.
November 17 » The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party splits into two groups: The Bolsheviks (Russian for "majority") and Mensheviks (Russian for "minority").
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
March 14 » Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, the first national wildlife refuge in the US, is established by President Theodore Roosevelt.
April 19 » The Kishinev pogrom in Kishinev (Bessarabia) begins, forcing tens of thousands of Jews to later seek refuge in Palestine and the Western world.
June 11 » A group of Serbian officers stormed the royal palace and assassinated King Alexander Obrenović and his wife, Queen Draga.
June 16 » The Ford Motor Company is incorporated.
December 17 » The Wright brothers make the first controlled powered, heavier-than-air flight in the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
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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