College championship
College football national championship – Penn Quakers
Professional championships
Ohio League championship – Massillon Tigers
Western Pennsylvania Championship – Latrobe Athletic Association
Events
15 November — Canton Athletic Club (later renamed the Canton Bulldogs) is first established.
International
World governing body FIFA is founded. The football associations of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland do not join at this time.
Austria
Formation of the Austrian Football Association (Österreichischer Fußball-Bund or ÖFB)
England
The Football League – The Wednesday 47 points, Manchester City 44, Everton 43, Newcastle United 42, Aston Villa 41, Sunderland 39
FA Cup final – Manchester City 1–0 Bolton Wanderers at Crystal Palace, London.
Germany
National Championship – competition is annulled by the DFB following a protest by Karlsruher FV that matches have not been played on neutral grounds as stipulated by the rules.
Portugal
Benfica founded in Lisbon as the Grupo Sport Lisboa. In 1908, it merges with SC de Benfica to form Sport Lisboa e Benfica (SL Benfica).
Scotland
Scottish Football League – Third Lanark
Scottish Cup final – Celtic 3–2 Rangers at Hampden Park
Sweden
Formation of the Swedish Football Association (Svenska Fotbollförbundet or SvFF)
Michael Spring wins the eighth running of the Boston Marathon.
VFL Premiership
Fitzroy wins the 8th VFL Premiership – Fitzroy 9.7 (61) d Carlton 5.7 (37) at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)
World Series
NL champion New York Giants refuses to participate in the 1904 World Series. Boston Americans repeat as American League champions.
Events
5 May — Cy Young of Boston Americans pitches a perfect game, the second of his three no-hitters. He goes on to complete 24 hitless innings, still the record, and 45 scoreless innings, a record broken by Jack Coombs in 1910
Duluth White Sox wins the Northern League championship
Events
29 April — Barbados Joe Walcott meets Dixie Kid to defend the World Welterweight Championship and, though well on top, is disqualified by the referee after 20 rounds for an alleged foul. Kid claims the title but it is subsequently discovered that the referee has bet on Kid to win and so Kid's claim is widely disregarded.
30 September — Walcott meets World Lightweight Champion Joe Gans in a non-title fight which is scored a draw after 20 rounds.
17 October — Joe Bowker (England) challenges Frankie Neil in London for the World Bantamweight Championship and wins over 20 rounds, the first non-American to hold this title.
31 October — Joe Gans meets Jimmy Britt in San Francisco to defend the World Lightweight Championship. Britt knocks Gans down four times but, after the last one in the fifth round, he hits Gans again before he has stood up and is disqualified for the foul. Afterwards, Gans vacates the title which is awarded to Britt. Two years later, Gans will claim that the fight has been fixed by his and Britt's managers.
31 December — during a New Year celebration, Walcott accidentally shoots himself in the hand to effectively ending his days as a top prizefighter. While he will return to the ring in 1906 (losing his welterweight title in the process), he never regains his old form and loses most of his subsequent fights.
Lineal world champions
World Heavyweight Championship – James J. Jeffries
World Light Heavyweight Championship – Bob Fitzsimmons
World Middleweight Championship – Tommy Ryan
World Welterweight Championship – Barbados Joe Walcott
World Lightweight Championship – Joe Gans → Jimmy Britt
World Featherweight Championship – Abe Attell
World Bantamweight Championship – Frankie Neil → Joe Bowker
England
County Championship – Lancashire
Minor Counties Championship – Northamptonshire
Most runs – Tom Hayward 3170 @ 54.65 (HS 203)
Most wickets – J T Hearne 145 @ 18.84 (BB 8–49)
Wisden Cricketers of the Year – Bernard Bosanquet, Ernest Halliwell, James Hallows, Percy Perrin, Reggie Spooner
Australia
Sheffield Shield – New South Wales
Most runs – Victor Trumper 990 @ 55.00 (HS 185*)
Most wickets – Wilfred Rhodes 65 @ 16.23 (BB 8–68)
India
Bombay Presidency – Parsees
South Africa
Currie Cup – Transvaal
West Indies
Inter-Colonial Tournament – Trinidad and Tobago
Tour de France
Henri Cornet (France) wins the 2nd Tour de France
World Figure Skating Championships
World Men's Champion – Ulrich Salchow (Sweden)
Major tournaments
British Open – Jack White
US Open – Willie Anderson
Other tournaments
British Amateur – Walter Travis
US Amateur – Chandler Egan
England
Grand National – Moifaa
1,000 Guineas Stakes – Pretty Polly
2,000 Guineas Stakes – St. Amant
Epsom Derby – St. Amant
Epsom Oaks – Pretty Polly
St. Leger Stakes – Pretty Polly
Australia
Melbourne Cup – Acrasia
Canada
Queen's Plate – Sapper
Ireland
Irish Grand National – Ascetic's Silver
Irish Derby Stakes – Royal Arch
USA
Kentucky Derby – Elwood
Preakness Stakes – Bryn Mawr
Belmont Stakes – Delhi
Stanley Cup
January — Ottawa Hockey Club defeats Winnipeg Rowing Club to defend the Stanley Cup in a Cup challenge.
February — Stanley Cup champion Ottawa Hockey Club withdraws from the Canadian Amateur Hockey League (CAHL) over a demand by the league to replay a game.
February — Ottawa defeats Toronto Marlboros in a Cup challenge.
2 March — Ottawa plays Montreal Wanderers to a 5–5 tie in a Cup challenge, but Montreal refuses terms of continuation of series and defaults.
March — Quebec Bulldogs win the CAHL championship and demand the Stanley Cup, but the trustees rule the Cup stays with Ottawa. Quebec refuses to play Ottawa in a challenge.
March — Ottawa defeats the Brandon Wheat Kings 2 games to 0 in a Cup challenge.
18 December — Dawson City Nuggets begin a 4,000 mile journey by dog sled to play the Ottawa Hockey Club in a Stanley Cup challenge scheduled for 13 January 1905.
Gordon Bennett Cup
Fifth running of the Gordon Bennett Cup takes place in the Taunus mountains in Germany. The winner is Léon Théry (France) driving a Richard-Brasier.
Circuit des Ardennes
The third Circuit des Ardennes is run on 25 July over 591.255 km (118.251 km x 5 laps) in the vicinity of Bastogne. The winner is George Heath (USA) driving a Panhard-Levassor 70 hp in a time of 5:30:49.
Vanderbilt Cup
William Kissam Vanderbilt II launches the Vanderbilt Cup at a course set out in Nassau County, New York on Long Island. It creates controversy in New York with numerous attempts made, including legal action, to try to prevent it taking place. The inaugural race is run over a 30.24 miles (48.7 km) course of winding dirt roads through Nassau County. Several European drivers with experience of the Gordon Bennett Cup take part and the event is a huge commercial success. The winner is George Heath (USA) driving a Panhard-Levassor 70 hp.
1904 Summer Olympics
The 1904 Summer Olympics takes place in St. Louis, Missouri
Lacrosse is played in the Olympics for the first time but only three teams compete: one from the USA and two from Canada
The first Africans take part in the Olympics: two Tswana tribesmen who are involved with a Boer War exhibit at the World's Fair in St. Louis run in the marathon
USA wins the most medals (236) and the most gold medals (77)
The Boat Race
26 March — Cambridge wins the 61st Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race
England
Championship – Bradford FC
Challenge Cup final – Halifax 8–3 Warrington at The Willows, Salford
Lancashire League Championship – not contested
Yorkshire League Championship – not contested
Home Nations Championship
22nd Home Nations Championship series is won by Scotland
Speed Skating World Championships
Men's All-round Champion – Sigurd Mathisen (Norway)
England
Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship – Laurence Doherty (GB) defeats Frank Riseley (GB) 6–1 7–5 8–6
Wimbledon Women's Singles Championship – Dorothea Douglass Lambert Chambers defeats Charlotte Cooper Sterry 6–0 6–3
France
French Men's Singles Championship – Max Decugis defeats André Vacherot 6–1 9–7 6–8 6–1
French Women's Singles Championship – Kate Gillou defeats Françoise Masson: details unknown
USA
American Men's Singles Championship – Holcombe Ward defeats William Clothier 10–8 6–4 9–7
American Women's Singles Championship – May Sutton defeats Elisabeth Moore 6–1 6–2
Davis Cup
1904 International Lawn Tennis Challenge – British Isles 5–0 Belgium at Warple Road (grass) London, United Kingdom
