On This Day

Scott Joplin copyrights "The Entertainer" and several other piano rag compositions with the US Copyright Office

Scott Joplin (November 24, 1868 – April 1, 1917) was an American composer and pianist.

Scott Joplin (November 24, 1868 – April 1, 1917) was an American composer and pianist. Dubbed the "King of Ragtime", he composed more than 40 ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet (original version of "The Ragtime Dance", 1899/1902), and two operas. One of his first and most popular pieces, the "Maple Leaf Rag", became the genre's first and most influential hit, later being recognized as the quintessential rag. Joplin considered ragtime to be a form of classical music meant to be played in concert halls and largely disdained the performance of ragtime as honky tonk music most common in saloons.

Joplin grew up in a musical family of railway laborers in Texarkana, Texas. During the late 1880s, he traveled the American South as a musician.

Historical Significance

Scott Joplin (November 24, 1868 – April 1, 1917) was an American composer and pianist.

Key People

Scott Joplin

composer and pianist

American composer and pianist

Events Before

  1. The Commonwealth of Australia is formed when the British (Imperial) Parliament Act and the Commonwealth of Australia Con

    The Commonwealth of Australia is formed when the British (Imperial) Parliament Act and the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 come into effect

  2. Tennis champ Charlotte Cooper (30) weds solicitor Alfred Sterry

    Tennis champ Charlotte Cooper (30) weds solicitor Alfred Sterry

  3. Queen Victoria's funeral takes place in St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, England

    Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about 25 miles (40 km) west of central London.

  4. Queen Wilhelmina marries Prince Heinrich von Mecklenburg-Schwerin

    Queen Victoria, the British monarch from 1837 to 1901, and Prince Albert (her husband from 1840 until his death in 1861) had 9 children, 42 grandchildren, and 87 great-grandchildren.

  5. Edmund Barton is elected Prime Minister in Australia's first federal election

    Sir Edmund "Toby" Barton (18 January 1849 – 7 January 1920) was an Australian politician, barrister and jurist who served as the first prime minister of Australia from 1901 to 1903.

Events After

  1. First Powered Flight by the Wright Brothers

    Orville and Wilbur Wright make the first controlled, sustained flight of a powered, heavier-than-air aircraft near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

  2. German theoretical physicist Albert Einstein (23) weds Serbian physicist and mathematician Mileva Marić (27); divorce in

    German theoretical physicist Albert Einstein (23) weds Serbian physicist and mathematician Mileva Marić (27); divorce in 1919

  3. Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung (27) weds Swiss watch heiress Emma Rauschenbach (19), until her death in 1955

    Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung (27) weds Swiss watch heiress Emma Rauschenbach (19), until her death in 1955

  4. Fall of the Sokoto Caliphate in Northern Nigeria, British claim supremacy over 500,000 square miles

    Fall of the Sokoto Caliphate in Northern Nigeria, British claim supremacy over 500,000 square miles

  5. NY Highlanders (Yankees) play their first MLB game, losing 3-1 before 11,950 spectators against the Washington Senators

    NY Highlanders (Yankees) play their first MLB game, losing 3-1 before 11,950 spectators against the Washington Senators at American League Park

More from the 1900s

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened on December 29, 1902?
Scott Joplin (November 24, 1868 – April 1, 1917) was an American composer and pianist. Dubbed the "King of Ragtime", he composed more than 40 ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet (original version of "The Ragtime Dance", 1899/1902), and two operas. One of his first and most popular pieces, the "Maple Leaf Rag", became the genre's first and most influential hit, later being recognized as the quintessential rag.
Why is Scott Joplin copyrights "The Entertainer" and several other piano rag composi... significant?
Scott Joplin (November 24, 1868 – April 1, 1917) was an American composer and pianist.
Who was involved in Scott Joplin copyrights "The Entertainer" and several other piano rag composi...?
Key figures include Scott Joplin (composer and pianist).

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