The Year 1902 in Review: Fun Facts, Trivia, and Historic Highlights

This quick read is a collection of fun facts, trivia, and historic events from the year 1902. Discover the year’s top news stories, most influential people, sports facts, entertainment trivia, famous birthdays and deaths, and much more.

1. In 1902, Theodore Roosevelt (R-New York) was the 26th president of the United States, and the vice president’s office was vacant.
2. The U.S. unemployment rate was 3.7%, and the nation’s inflation rate was 1.18%.
3. The life expectancy for men born in 1902 was 49.8 years; for women, it was 53.4 years. In the 1900s, the average life expectancy in the U.S. was relatively low, and a major factor was a high infant mortality rate.
4. The 3M Company, Amato's, Bassett Furniture, the Gibson Guitar Company, JCPenney, Physicians Mutual, Pitney Bowes, the Target Corporation, and Texaco were among the American businesses and brands launched in 1902.
5. January 3: In the first-ever Rose Bowl college football game, Michigan (representing the East) defeated Stanford (representing the West), 49-0. (Just so you know, the Rose Bowl was originally known as the Tournament East-West Football Game.)
6. On February 8, a devastating fire broke out in Paterson, New Jersey, shortly after midnight. It was touched off by an overheated stove in a trolley shed and eventually burnt its way across downtown Paterson, destroying over 500 buildings. The Great Paterson Fire of 1902 is still regarded as New Jersey’s largest fire in history.
7. On February 22, Senator John McLaurin (D-South Carolina) accused the state’s senior senator, Ben Tillman, of “a willful, malicious, and deliberate lie.” A Senate historian recounted, “The 54-year-old Tillman jumped from his place and physically attacked McLaurin, who was 41, with a series of stinging blows. Efforts to separate the two combatants resulted in misdirected punches landing on other members.”
8. On February 28, the U.S. Senate censured South Carolina Senators John McLaurin and Ben Tillman for their unprofessional conduct on February 22.
9. On March 4, the American Automobile Association (AAA) was founded in Chicago. The AAA was created by nine motor clubs that wanted to improve existing road conditions and create new roads across America.
10. On March 10, a circuit court decision “ended Thomas Edison's monopoly on 35 mm movie film technology. The court of appeals reversed a previous decision that had upheld Edison's patents.”
11. On April 14, James Cash Penney opened his first store in Kemmerer, Wyoming. (You might want to know that the first JCPenney store was known as “The Golden Rule Store.”)
12. On April 16, Thomas Lincoln Tally opened the Electric Theatre at 262 South Main Street in Los Angeles. It was the first movie theatre in the U.S. to be built “specifically” for showing movies.
13. Between May 12 and October 23, an estimated 150,000 miners who were members of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) went on strike in eastern Pennsylvania for better wages and working conditions. The 163-day strike became known as the “Anthracite Coal Strike.”
14. On June 9, Frank Hardart and Joe Horn opened the first Horn & Hardart Automat at 818 Chestnut Street in Center City Philadelphia.
15. On June 24, George Dayton founded the Target Corporation when he purchased a company named Goodfellow Dry Goods.
16. On November 16, Clifford Berryman, a political cartoonist, published a cartoon in the Washington Post depicting President “Teddy” Roosevelt’s refusal to shoot a bear cub while on a hunting expedition in Mississippi. Businessman and inventor Morris Mitchtom of New York City was inspired by the newspaper cartoon and soon created the world’s first “teddy bear.”
17. On December 10, the Aswan Dam in central Egypt opened and became “the primary method of storing irrigation water for the Nile Valley in Egypt.”
18. In 1902, Clara Peller was born in Russia. She is the actress famous for her Wendy's TV commercial, "Where's the beef?"
19. John L. Mason died. Mason “patented the metal screw-on lid for glass jars used for canning.”
20. Julius Sterling Morton also died. He established Arbor Day, first observed in Nebraska on April 10, 1872. On that day, over one million trees were planted.
21. Popular music artists and groups in 1902: Arthur Collins, Joe Belmont, S.H. Dudley, the Haydn Quartet, Mina Hickman, Harry Macdonough, the Metropolitan Orchestra, Dan Quinn, William Redmond, John Philip Sousa’s Band, Len Spencer, Cal Stewart, and Bert Williams
22. America’s beloved songs were Tell Me Pretty Maiden, Bill Bailey Won’t You Please Come Home, Good Morning, Carrie, Under the Bamboo Tree, and On a Sunday Afternoon.
23. Popular movies for the year included A Trip to the Moon, The Eruption of Mt. Pelee, Gulliver’s Travels, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Robinson Crusoe.
24. Here are some sports facts from 1902: Sammy Mellor won the Boston Marathon, and Alan-a-Dale was the winning horse at the Kentucky Derby. The Philadelphia Athletics were the American League baseball champions, and the Pittsburgh Pirates were the National League baseball champions.
25. In 1902 as well, the words "airport," "beta ray," "block party," "catalyst," "cocktail sauce," "construction paper," "deadbolt," "executive chef," "flank steak," "garage," "greasy spoon," "London broil," "prewash," "rubbing alcohol," "speed limit," "student teaching," "trivia," and "windshield" all appeared in print for the first time.

References:

1. https://popculturemadness.com/1902-trivia-history-fun-facts/
2. https://www.infoplease.com/year/1902
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1902_in_the_United_States
4. https://www.foodreference.com/html/html/yearonlytimeline1900-1950.htm
5. https://www.mclib.info/Research/Local-History-Genealogy/Historic-Prices/Historic-Prices-1900s/Historic-Prices-1902
6. https://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1902
7. https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/1902
8. https://playback.fm/charts/top-100-songs/1902
9. https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?release_date=1902-01-01,1902-12-31
10. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/year/1902.html
11. https://www.listchallenges.com/foods-popular-from-1900-1910
12. https://www.onthisday.com/sport/events/date/1902
13. https://www.alphadictionary.com/slang/?term=&beginEra=1900&endEra=1920&clean=true
14. https://www.bustle.com/articles/25318-88-hilarious-slang-terms-from-the-20th-century-to-sprinkle-through-your-writing-like-youre-putting

Disclaimer: In writing and editing this article, Gregory DeVictor has made every effort to ensure historical accuracy and not to mislead his audience. In addition, the contents of this article, including text, graphics, and captions, are for general informational purposes only

© 2026 Gregory DeVictor