The following events occurred in August 1904:
August 1, 1904 (Monday) John Carr, a contractor, carried out a mass shooting in Nebraska City, Nebraska, killing one man and wounding eight others, including two police officers. Died: Robert E. Pattison, American politician, former Governor of Pennsylvania, pneumonia (b. 1850)
August 2, 1904 (Tuesday) Died: Jacob H. Studer, American ornithologist (b. 1840)
August 3, 1904 (Wednesday) British expedition to Tibet: The British expedition under Colonel Francis Younghusband took Lhasa, Tibet. Born: Dolores del Río (born Lolita Dolores Martinez Asúnsolo López Negrette), Mexican actress; in Durango, Mexico (d. 1983, liver failure due to hepatitis) Died: Ernst Jedliczka, Russian-born German pianist (b. 1855)
August 4, 1904 (Thursday) Born: Witold Gombrowicz, Polish novelist and dramatist; in Małoszyce, Congress Poland, Russian Empire (d. 1969) Helen Kane, American singer, dancer, comedian and actress; in The Bronx, New York City (d. 1966, breast cancer)
August 5, 1904 (Friday) Died: Sir George Dibbs KCMG, Australian politician, former Premier of New South Wales, heart disease (b. 1834) Fanny Octavia Louise Spencer-Churchill, Lady Tweedmouth, wife of Edward Marjoribanks, 2nd Baron Tweedmouth, and aunt of Winston Churchill, cancer (b. 1853)
August 6, 1904 (Saturday) Born: Ballard Berkeley (born Ballard Blascheck), British actor; in Kent, England (d. 1988) Died: James Cox Aikins, , Canadian politician (b. 1823) Eduard Hanslick, Austrian music critic (b. 1825)
August 7, 1904 (Sunday) On the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad near Pueblo, Colorado, a flash flood caused the Eden train wreck, which left over 100 people dead or missing. Born: Ralph Bunche, American diplomat, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize; in Detroit, Michigan (d. 1971, complications of heart disease, kidney disease and diabetes)
August 8, 1904 (Monday) Died: Mamie Gilroy, American actress, heart disease (b. c. 1871) John Innes JP, British philanthropist (b. 1829)
August 9, 1904 (Tuesday) Eight Moro and Igorrote leaders, who were participating in the Philippine exhibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, visited U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt at the White House. Died: Sir William Mitchell Banks , Scottish surgeon (b. 1842) Joseph David Everett, English physicist, heart failure (b. 1831) Friedrich Ratzel, German geographer and ethnographer (b. 1844) John F. Starr, American businessman and politician, former member of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey (b. 1818) George Graham Vest, American politician, former member of the Confederate States Congress and the United States Senate from Missouri (b. 1830)
August 10, 1904 (Wednesday) Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of the Yellow Sea resulted in a strategic Japanese victory. Died: Wilgelm Vitgeft, Russian admiral (killed in action at the Battle of the Yellow Sea) (b. 1847) Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau, French politician, 29th Prime Minister of France, after surgery (b. 1846)
August 11, 1904 (Thursday) A 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck Samos in the Ottoman Empire, with an aftershock occurring three days later. Four people were killed. Lothar von Trotha defeated the Herero people at the Battle of Waterberg in German South West Africa and drove them into the Omaheke desert, beginning the Herero and Namaqua genocide. Born: Bernard Castro, Italian inventor; near Palermo, Sicily (d. 1991) Died: Samuel Putnam Avery, American art dealer and connoisseur (b. 1822)
August 12, 1904 (Friday) Born: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia; at Peterhof Palace, Saint Petersburg Governorate, Russian Empire (murdered in 1918) Died: George H. Brickner, German-born American politician, former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wisconsin (b. 1834) Kawamura Sumiyoshi, Japanese admiral (b. 1836) William Renshaw, British tennis player, epileptic convulsions (b. 1861)
August 13, 1904 (Saturday) Ten spectators at the annual regatta on the Potomac River at Georgetown drowned when a gasoline launch capsized. Four people were rescued. Born: Jonathan Hole, American actor; in Eldora, Iowa (d. 1998) Charles "Buddy" Rogers, American actor and jazz musician; in Olathe, Kansas (d. 1999) Died: Elizabeth Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington (b. 1820)
August 14, 1904 (Sunday) Ismael Montes became President of Bolivia. Died: Eduard von Martens, German zoologist (b. 1831) William Wainwright, American real estate developer, gastritis (b. 1836)
August 15, 1904 (Monday) Died: John Henry Kinkead, American businessman and politician, 1st Governor of Alaska and 3rd Governor of Nevada (b. 1826)
August 16, 1904 (Tuesday)