February 1 » Fountains Valley, Pretoria, the oldest nature reserve in Africa, is proclaimed by President Paul Kruger.
June 20 » The Kiel Canal, crossing the base of the Jutland peninsula and the busiest artificial waterway in the world, is officially opened.
June 27 » The inaugural run of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Royal Blue from Washington, D.C., to New York City, the first U.S. passenger train to use electric locomotives.
August 31 » German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin patents his navigable balloon.
September 3 » John Brallier becomes the first openly professional American football player, when he was paid US$10 by David Berry, to play for the Latrobe Athletic Association in a 12-0 win over the Jeanette Athletic Association.
December 28 » Wilhelm Röntgen publishes a paper detailing his discovery of a new type of radiation, which later will be known as x-rays.
Day of death April 15, 1903
The temperature on April 15, 1903 was between -1.1 °C and 6.2 °C and averaged 2.5 °C. There was 2.8 hours of sunshine (20%). Source: KNMI
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 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).
February 23 » Cuba leases Guantánamo Bay to the United States "in perpetuity".
March 14 » Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, the first national wildlife refuge in the US, is established by President Theodore Roosevelt.
November 17 » The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party splits into two groups: The Bolsheviks (Russian for "majority") and Mensheviks (Russian for "minority").
When copying data from this family tree, please include a reference to the origin: Arie Verloop, "Family tree Verloop", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/stamboom-verloop/I7758.php : accessed October 8, 2026), "Jan van LEEUWEN (1866-1903)".
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