1904 History, Trivia and Fun Facts

Firsts, Inventions and Wonders: 
The term Banana Republic was created by author O. Henry while visiting Honduras. It describes a politically unstable country with an economy dependent upon the exportation of a limited-resource product like bananas.

Thomas Sullivan invented Tea Bags by accident. He wanted the small bags to be samples of the tea. People dunked them instead.

Peter Pan (or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up) by J.M. Barrie premiered at the Duke of York Theatre in London

Order of Owls was founded in South Bend, Indiana.

King C. Gillette patented (#775,134) his Gillette razor blade.

On December 31, the first New Year’s Eve celebration was held in Times Square (then called Longacre Square), in New York City.

National Ski Association formed in Ishpeming Michigan.

Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity was founded at the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina.

The National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis (now American Lung Association) was founded.

Giacomo Puccini’s opera Madama Butterfly premiered in Milan.

Several people in the US and UK began selling Ice cream in edible cones, each claiming to be the inventor. We do know it was presented during the St Louis World Fair, by Charles E. Menches.

The Bank of Italy (now Bank of America) opened in San Francisco.

The term “hangover” came into the vernacular. Prior to that, people felt “crapulous”.

British newspaper The Daily Mirror began publishing.

The T-shirt was invented in 1904 by the Cooper Underwear Company and marketed to bachelors who couldn’t sew or replace buttons

Pop Culture History: 
Panama Canal construction began.

Louisiana Purchase Exposition (St. Louis World Fair) from April 30 to December 1, 1904. 19 million people from 63 countries attended

The third modern Olympic Games opened in St. Louis, Missouri. It was the first Olympic Games held outside Europe. The US won 239 of the 280 medals available. #hometeamadvantage

Dream of the Rarebit Fiend was a strange newspaper comic strip by Winsor McCay, begun September 10, 1904, and ran through 1925.

George Eyser, an American gymnast with a wooden leg won six medals, including three gold, in a single day at the 1904 Olympics.

Lane Bryant should have been named Lena Bryant after its founder, but a bank officer misspelled her name when she opened an account in 1904.

The Horrible:
Ota Benga, a Mbuti pygmy, was kidnapped from Congo and taken to the US, where he was exhibited with monkeys. He was freed by 1906, and his planned return to Africa was canceled due to WWI. He killed himself on March 20, 1916.

The Great Baltimore Fire raged in Baltimore, between February 7 and February 8, 1904. 1500 buildings in central Baltimore were destroyed, yet no one was killed.