1908

1908 (MCMVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (dominical letter ED) of the Gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on Tuesday (dominical letter FE) of the Julian calendar, the 1908th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 908th year of the 2nd millennium, the 8th year of the 20th century, and the 9th year of the 1900s decade. As of the start of 1908, the Gregorian calendar was 13 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1918.

According to NASA reports, 1908 was the coldest recorded year since 1880.^[1]

Events

January

• January 1 – Nimrod Expedition: Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the Nimrod for Antarctica.
• January 12 – A long-distance radio message is sent from the Eiffel Tower for the first time.
• January 13 – A fire at the Rhoads Opera House in Boyertown, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., kills 170.
• January 24 – Start of publication of Robert Baden-Powell's Scouting for Boys in London. The book will over time sell over 100 million copies and effectively begin the worldwide Boy Scout movement.

February

• February 1 – Lisbon Regicide: King Carlos I of Portugal and Infante Luis Filipe are shot dead in Lisbon.
• February 12 – The first around-the-world car race, the 1908 New York to Paris Race, begins.
• February 18 – Japanese emigration to the United States is forbidden under terms of the Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907.

March

• March – The Children's Encyclopædia begins publication in London.
• March 4 – The Collinwood school fire, near Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A., kills 174.
• March 21 – French aviator Léon Delagrange pilots the first passenger flight with Henri Farman on board.^[2]
• March 23 – American diplomat Durham Stevens, an employee of Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is assassinated in San Francisco by two Korean immigrants unhappy with his recent support for the increasing Japanese presence in Korea.
• March 27 – The first Scout troop outside the U.K. is formed in Gibraltar.

April

• April 20 – Sunshine rail disaster: A rear-end collision of two trains in Melbourne, Australia, kills 44 people and injures more than 400.^[3]
• April 21 – Frederick Cook claims to have reached the North Pole on this date.

May

• May 26–October – Franco-British Exhibition (1908) held in London.
• May 26 – At Masjed Soleyman in southwest Persia, the first major commercial oil discovery in the Middle East is made. The rights to the resource are quickly acquired by the United Kingdom.

June

• June 30 (June 17 OS) – Tunguska event or "Russian explosion" near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Siberia, Russian Empire, an explosion believed to have been caused by the air burst of a large meteoroid or comet fragment at an altitude of 5–10 kilometres (3–6 mi) above the Earth's surface.^[4][5][6]

July

• July 3 – Young Turk Revolution in the Ottoman Empire: Major Ahmed Niyazi, with 200 followers (Ottoman troops and civilians), begins an open revolution by defecting from the 3rd Army Corps in Macedonia, decamping into the hill country.
• July 6 – Robert Peary sets sail for the North Pole.
• July 11–12 – The steamship Amalthea, housing 80 British strikebreakers in Malmö harbour, Sweden, is bombed by Anton Nilson; 1 is killed, 20 injured.
• July 13–25 – 1908 Summer Olympics held in London. The Winter Olympics are held here on 19–31 October.^[7]
• July 23 – Young Turk Revolution: The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) issues a formal ultimatum to Sultan Abdul Hamid II to restore the constitution of 1876 within the Ottoman Empire. It is restored the following day.
• July 24 – Italian Dorando Pietri wins the Olympic marathon (run from Windsor Castle to London) in one of the most dramatic arrivals of the Olympic history, only to be disqualified soon afterwards for receiving assistance; victory is awarded to the Irish American Johnny Hayes.
• July 27-28 – The 1908 Hong Kong typhoon sinks the passenger steamer Ying King, losing 421 lives.

August

• August 8 – Wilbur Wright flies in France for the first time demonstrating true controlled powered flight in Europe.
• August 8 – The Hoover Company of Canton, Ohio, acquires manufacturing rights to the upright portable vacuum cleaner just invented by James M. Spangler.
• August 17 – Émile Cohl makes the first fully animated film, Fantasmagorie.
• August 24 – After an intense power struggle, Sultan Abdelaziz of Morocco is deposed, and is succeeded by his brother Abd al-Hafid.

September

• September 10 – The first Minas Geraes-class Dreadnought battleship for Brazil, Minas Geraes is launched at Armstrong Whitworth's yard on the River Tyne in England, catalysing the "South American dreadnought race".
• September 17 – At Fort Myer, Virginia, U.S.A., Thomas Selfridge becomes the first person to die in an airplane crash. The pilot, Orville Wright, is severely injured in the crash but recovers.
• September 27 – Henry Ford produces his first Model T automobile at the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant in Detroit, Michigan.

October

• October 1 – Penny Post established between the United Kingdom and United States.^[8]
• October 5 – Bulgaria declares its independence from the Ottoman Empire; Ferdinand I of Bulgaria becomes Tsar.
• October 6 – The Bosnian crisis begins after the Austro-Hungarian Empire annexes Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• October 14 – The Chicago Cubs defeat the Detroit Tigers to win the 1908 World Series. As of 2015, this is the last World Series title for the Chicago Cubs.

November

• November 3 – United States presidential election, 1908: Incumbent Theodore Roosevelt declined to run for a third term, paving the way for the Republican Party to nominate Secretary of War (and eventual winner with 321 electoral college votes) William Howard Taft. The Democratic Party nominated William Jennings Bryan, previously defeated in 1896 and 1900, received 162 EC votes.
• November 6 – Western bandits Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid are supposedly killed in Bolivia, after being surrounded by a large group of soldiers. There are many rumors to the contrary however, and their grave sites are unmarked.
• November 15 – King Leopold II of Belgium formally relinquishes his personal control of the Congo Free State to Belgium (becoming Belgian Congo) following evidence collected by Roger Casement of maladministration.
• November 25 – The Christian Science Monitor newspaper is first published, in the United States.

December

• December 2 – Young Emperor Puyi ascends the Chinese throne at age 2.
• December 16 – Construction begins on the RMS Olympic at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast.
• December 28 – Messina earthquake: An earthquake of 7.1 M_w^[9] and tsunami hit Sicily and Calabria, destroying Messina and killing over 70,000 people.

Date unknown

• A 40,000-year-old Neanderthal boy skeleton is found at Le Moustier in southwest France by Otto Hauser.
• The University of Pittsburgh was organized.
• Madison College, precursor to James Madison University founded

Births

January

• January 8 – William Hartnell, British actor (d. 1975)
• January 9 – Simone de Beauvoir, French feminist writer (d. 1986)
• January 10 – Paul Henreid, Austrian-American actor (d. 1992)
• January 12 – Jean Delannoy, French film director (d. 2008)
• January 14 – Russ Columbo, Italian-American singer, bandleader, and composer (d. 1934)
• January 15 – Edward Teller, Hungarian-born physicist (d. 2003)
• January 16 – Günther Prien, German submarine commander (d. 1941)
• January 17 – Cus D'Amato, American Boxing trainer (d. 1985)
• January 22 – Lev Landau, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1968)
• January 24 – Duncan Sandys, British politician (d. 1987)
• January 26
  • Rupprecht Geiger, German painter (d. 2009)
  • Stéphane Grappelli, French jazz violinist and composer (d. 1997)

February

• February 1 – George Pal, Hungarian-born animator (d. 1980)
• February 5
  • Peg Entwistle, English actress (d. 1932)
  • Eugen Weidmann, German serial killer, last person publicly executed in France (d. 1939)
• February 6
  • Amintore Fanfani, 32nd Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1999)
  • Michael Maltese, American screenwriter (d. 1981)
• February 7 – Buster Crabbe, American swimmer and actor (d. 1983)
• February 11
  • Philip Dunne, American screenwriter, director, and producer (d. 1992)
  • Vivian Fuchs, English geologist and explorer (d. 1999)
• February 12 – Jean Effel, French painter and journalist (d. 1982)
• February 17 – Bo Yibo, Chinese politician (d. 2007)
• February 22
  • Rómulo Betancourt, President of Venezuela (d. 1981)
  • John Mills, British actor (d. 2005)
• February 23 – William McMahon, Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1988)
• February 26
  • Tex Avery, American cartoonist (d. 1980)
  • Jean-Pierre Wimille, French race car driver (d. 1949)
• February 29
  • Balthus, French painter (d. 2001)
  • Dee Brown, American writer and historian (d. 2002)

March

• March 2 – Walter Bruch, German engineer (d. 1990)
• March 5 – Rex Harrison, English actor (d. 1990)
• March 7 – Anna Magnani, Italian actress (d. 1973)
• March 14 – Ed Heinemann, American aircraft designer (d. 1991)
• March 19 – George Rodger, British photojournalist (d. 1995)
• March 20
  • Michael Redgrave, English actor (d. 1985)
  • Frank Stanton, American businessman (d. 2006)
• March 22 – Louis L'Amour, American author (d. 1988)
• March 25
  • Helmut Käutner, German actor and director (d. 1980)
  • David Lean, English film director (d. 1991)
• March 29 – Arthur O'Connell, American actor (d. 1981)

April

• April 1 – Abraham Maslow, American psychologist (d. 1970)
• April 2 – Buddy Ebsen, American actor and dancer (d. 2003)
• April 5
  • Bette Davis, American actress (d. 1989)
  • Herbert von Karajan, Austrian conductor (d. 1989)
• April 7 – Percy Faith, Canadian-born composer, musician (d. 1976)
• April 8 – Tito Guízar, Mexican singer and film actor (d. 1999)
• April 11 – Masaru Ibuka, Japanese electronics industrialist (d. 1997)
• April 12 – Ida Pollock, British writer (d. 2013)
• April 20 – Lionel Hampton, African-American musician and bandleader (d. 2002)
• April 24 – Józef Gosławski, Polish sculptor and medallic artist (d. 1963)
• April 25 – Edward R. Murrow, American journalist (d. 1965)
• April 28 – Oskar Schindler, Austro-Hungarian (Sudeten German) industrialist (d. 1974)
• April 29 – Jack Williamson, American science fiction author (d. 2006)
• April 30
  • Eve Arden, American actress (d. 1990)
  • Bjarni Benediktsson, Icelandic prime minister (d. 1970)

May

• May 1 – Krystyna Skarbek, Polish-born heroine of World War II (d. 1952)
• May 5 – Kurt Böhme, German bass (d. 1989)
• May 7 – Max Grundig, German inventor and industrialist (d. 1989)
• May 8 – Cristian Vasile, Romanian singer (d. 1974)
• May 19 – Percy Williams, Canadian athlete (d. 1982)
• May 20 – James Stewart, American actor (d. 1997)
• May 23
  • Max Abramovitz, American architect (d. 2004)
  • John Bardeen, American physicist, twice awarded the Nobel Prize (d. 1991)
  • Hélène Boucher, French aviator (d. 1934)
• May 25 – Theodore Roethke, American poet (d. 1963)
• May 26
  • Robert Morley, British actor (d. 1992)
  • Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ, First prime minister of South Vietnam (d. 1976)
• May 25 – Barbara Luddy, American voice actress (d. 1979)
• May 28 – Ian Fleming, English writer (d. 1964)
• May 30
  • Hannes Alfvén, Swedish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1995)
  • Mel Blanc, American voice actor (d. 1989)
• May 31 – Don Ameche, American actor (d. 1993)

June

• June 11 – Francisco Marto, Portuguese, beatified (d. 1919)
• June 12 – Marina Semyonova, Russian ballerina (d. 2010)
• June 21 – Yun Bong-gil, Korean resister against the Japanese occupation of Korea (d. 1932)
• June 24
  • Alfons Rebane, Estonian military commander (d. 1976)
  • Hugo Distler, German composer (d. 1942)
• June 26
  • Salvador Allende, President of Chile (d. 1973)
  • William F. Knowland, American politician (d. 1974)
• June 27 – Bill Kennedy, American actor (d. 1997)
• June 29 – Leroy Anderson, American composer (d. 1975)
• June 30 – Winston Graham, English writer (d. 2003)

July

• July 1 – Estée Lauder, American cosmetics entrepreneur (d. 2004)
• July 8 – Nelson Rockefeller, American businessman, philanthropist, public servant, and politician (d. 1979)
• July 12 – Milton Berle, American comedian (d. 2002)
• July 16 – Gerd Achgelis, German aviator, test pilot, and pioneer in the development of helicopters (d. 1991)
• July 23
  • Karl Swenson, American actor (d. 1978)
  • James C. Tison, Jr., American admiral and civil engineer, sixth Director of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, first director of the Environmental Science Services Administration Corps (d. 1991)

August

• August 4 – Kurt Eichhorn, German conductor (d. 1994)
• August 5 – Harold Holt, Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1967)
• August 6 – Will Lee, American actor (d. 1982)
• August 9 – A. I. Bezzerides, American screenwriter (d. 2007)
• August 10 – Rica Erickson, Australian naturalist and botanical artist (d. 2009)
• August 21
  • M. M. Kaye, British writer (d. 2004)
  • Tom Tully, American actor (d. 1982)
• August 22 – Henri Cartier-Bresson, French photographer (d. 2004)
• August 27
  • Donald Bradman, Australian cricketer (d. 2001)
  • Lyndon B. Johnson, President of the United States (d. 1973)
• August 28 – Robert Merle, French writer (d. 2004)
• August 30
  • Leonor Fini, Argentine artist (d. 1996)
  • Fred MacMurray, American actor (d. 1991)
• August 31 – William Saroyan, American writer (d. 1981)

September

• September 2 – Nikolai Aleksandrovich Kozyrev, Russian astronomer/astrophysicist (d. 1983)
• September 3 – Lev Semenovich Pontryagin, Russian mathematician (d. 1988)
• September 4 – Richard Wright, African-American author (d. 1960)
• September 5 – Josué de Castro, Brazilian activist against hunger (d. 1973)
• September 6 – Louis Essen, English physicist (d. 1997)
• September 7 – Michael E. DeBakey, American surgeon and medical researcher (d. 2008)
• September 10 – Raymond Scott, American composer, bandleader, electronic music pioneer (d. 1994)
• September 13 – Mae Questel, American actress (d. 1998)
• September 15 – Miško Kranjec, Slovenian writer (d. 1983)
• September 18 – Victor Ambartsumian, Soviet Armenian scientist (d. 1996)
• September 19 – Paul Bénichou, French intellectual (d. 2001)
• September 21 – Charles Upham, New Zealand soldier (d. 1994)
• September 25 – Eugen Suchoň, Slovak composer (d. 1993)
• September 29 – Eddie Tolan, American athlete (d. 1967)
• September 30 – David Oistrakh, Ukrainian-born violinist (d. 1974)

October

• October 1 – Umar Dimayev, Chechen folk singer (d. 1972)
• October 6 – Carole Lombard, American actress (d. 1942)
• October 10 – Min Chueh Chang, Chinese-born American reproductive biologist (d. 1991)
• October 15 – John Kenneth Galbraith, Canadian economist (d. 2006)
• October 16 – Enver Hoxha, Albanian dictator (d. 1985)
• October 17 – Kenji Miyamoto, Japanese politician (d. 2007)
• October 19 – Geirr Tveitt, Norwegian composer (d. 1981)
• October 21 – Jorge Oteiza, Spanish painter (d. 2003)
• October 23
  • Abdurakhman Avtorkhanov, Chechen historian (d. 1997)
  • Ilya Frank, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1990)
• October 25
  • Tauno Palo, Finnish actor (d. 1982)
  • Edmond Pidoux, Swiss writer (d. 2004)
• October 27 – Lee Krasner, American painter (d. 1984)
• October 28 – Arturo Frondizi, President of Argentina (d. 1995)
• October 30 – Dmitriy Ustinov, Soviet Army officer and Minister of Defense (d. 1984)
• October 31 – Muriel Duckworth, Canadian pacifist and social activist (d. 2009)

November

• November 3 – Giovanni Leone, 68th Prime Minister of Italy, 6th President of Italy (d. 2001)
• November 4 – Joseph Rotblat, Polish physicist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (d. 2005)
• November 12 – Harry Blackmun, American judge (d. 1999)
• November 14 – Joseph McCarthy, American politician (d. 1957)
• November 16 – Sœur Emmanuelle, French nun (d. 2008)
• November 18 – Imogene Coca, American actress (d. 2001)
• November 20 – Alistair Cooke, English-born American journalist (d. 2004)
• November 23 – Nelson S. Bond, American author and playwright (d. 2006)
• November 28 – Claude Lévi-Strauss, Belgian-born French anthropologist (d. 2009)

December

• December 2 – Aron Schvartzman, Argentine chess player (d. 2013)
• December 4 – Alfred Hershey, American bacteriologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1997)
• December 6
  • Pierre Graber, Swiss Federal Councilor (d. 2003)
  • "Baby Face" Nelson, American gangster (d. 1934)
• December 10 – Olivier Messiaen, French composer (d. 1992)
• December 11
  • Elliott Carter, American composer (d. 2012)
  • Manoel de Oliveira, Portuguese film director (d. 2015)
  • Alfred Proksch, Austrian Olympic athlete (d. 2011)
• December 16 – Frances Day, American actress and singer (d. 1984)
• December 17 – Willard Libby, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1980)
• December 22
  • Kočo Racin, Macedonian poet and revolutionary (d. 1943)
  • Giovanni Luigi Bonelli, Italian comic book author and writer (d. 2001)
• December 25 – Quentin Crisp, English gay icon, author and raconteur (d. 1999)
• December 31 – Simon Wiesenthal, Austrian Nazi-hunter (d. 2005)

Date unknown

• Aden Abdullah Osman Daar, Somali politician (d. 2007)

Deaths

January–June

• January 9 – Wilhelm Busch, German painter and poet (b. 1832)
• January 14 – Holger Drachmann, Danish poet (b. 1846)
• January 17 – Ferdinand IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1835)
• January 23 – Edward MacDowell, American composer (b. 1860)
• January 25 – Ouida, English writer (b. 1839)
• February 1
  • King Carlos I of Portugal (b. 1863)
  • Luís Filipe, Prince Royal of Portugal (b. 1887)
• February 7 – Manuel Curros Enríquez, Spanish Galician writer (b. 1851)
• February 17 – Baron Ignaz von Plener, 3rd Minister-President of Cisleithania (b. 1810)
• February 29 – John Hope, 1st Governor-General of Australia (b. 1860)
• March 11 – Edmondo De Amicis, Italian novelist (b. 1846)
• March 27 – Charles N. Sims, American Methodist preacher and third chancellor of Syracuse University (b. 1835)
• March 30 – Chester Gillette, American murderer (executed) (b. 1883)
• April 22
  • Qasim Amin, Egyptian writer (b. 1863)
  • Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1836)
• April 26 – Karl Möbius, German ecologist (b. 1825)
• May 2 – Prince Yamashina Kikumaro, Japanese Prince (b. 1873)
• May 23 – François Coppée, French poet and novelist (b. 1842)
• May 24 – Old Tom Morris, Scottish golfer (b. 1821)
• May 26 – Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, founder of the Ahmadiyya movement in Islam (b. 1835)
• June 2 – Redvers Buller, British general and Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1839)
• June 5
  • Jonas Lie, Norwegian author (b. 1833)
  • Jef Lambeaux, Belgian sculptor (b. 1852)
• June 14 – Frederick Stanley, Governor-General of Canada and founder of the Stanley Cup (b. 1841)
• June 20 – Federico Chueca, Spanish composer (b. 1846)
• June 21 – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian composer (b. 1844)
• June 24 – Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th President of the United States (b. 1837)

July–December

• July 3 – Joel Chandler Harris, American author (b. 1848)
• July 6 – Felipe Calderón y Roca, Filipino politician (b. 1868)
• July 20 – Demetrius Vikelas, 1st President of the International Olympic Committee (b. 1835)
• July 22 – William Randal Cremer, English politician and pacifist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1828)
• August 4 – Radoje Domanović, Serbian writer (b. 1873)
• August 25 – Henri Becquerel, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)
• August 26 – Tony Pastor, American theater impresario (b. 1837)
• August 31 – Leslie Green, British architect (b. 1875)
• September 17 – Thomas Selfridge, United States Army officer and first person killed in an airplane crash (b. 1882)
• September 20 – Pablo de Sarasate, Spanish violinist and composer (b. 1844)
• September 21 – Nicolás Salmerón, 3rd President of the First Spanish Republic (b. 1838)
• September 29 – Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, Brazilian author (b. 1839)
• October 11 – Rita Cetina Gutiérrez, Mexican educator, poet and activist (b. 1846)
• October 18 – Nozu Michitsura, Japanese general (b. 1840)
• October 26 – Enomoto Takeaki, Japanese samurai and admiral (b. 1836)
• November 3 – Harro Magnussen, German sculptor (b. 1861)
• November 4
  • Richard Gerstl, Austrian artist (b. 1883)
  • Tomás Estrada Palma, 1st President of Cuba (b. 1832)
• November 7 – Butch Cassidy, American outlaw (b. 1866)
• November 7 – Sundance Kid, American outlaw (b. 1867)
• November 8 – Victorien Sardou, French dramatist (b. 1831)

• November 14 – Emperor Guangxu of China (b. 1871)
• November 15 – Empress Dowager Cixi, ruler of China (b. 1835)
• November 17 – Lydia Thompson, English dancer and actress (b. 1838)
• November 22 – Claude-Paul Taffanel French flautist and composer (b. 1844)
• December 13 – Augustus Le Plongeon, American archaeologist (b. 1825)

Nobel Prizes

• Physics – Gabriel Lippmann
• Chemistry – Ernest Rutherford
• Medicine – Élie Metchnikoff, Paul Ehrlich
• Literature – Rudolf Christoph Eucken
• Peace – Klas Pontus Arnoldson, Fredrik Bajer

References

Further reading

• The Annual Register for 1908, British and world events online