From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Calendar year
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
1908 .
1908 (MCMVIII ) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on Tuesday 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 1923.
Calendar year
This is the longest year in either the Julian or Gregorian calendars, having a duration of 31622401.38 seconds of Terrestrial Time (or ephemeris time ), measured according to the definition of mean solar time .[1]
Events January 1908 Baby New Year on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post . January 24: Boy Scout movement. February March April May June July July: 1908 Summer Olympics . July 1 – SOS comes into force internationally as a distress signal (originally for ship-to-shore wireless telegraphy ).[9] 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 8 – French aviator Léon Delagrange makes the world's first flight with a female passenger, his partner and fellow sculptor Thérèse Peltier .[10] 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 11 – The Western University of Pennsylvania is renamed the University of Pittsburgh .July 13 –25 – The 1908 Summer Olympics are held in London. (Originally scheduled to be in Rome, but changed due to the Mount Vesuvius eruption of 1906.[11] Figure skating events are held in London from October 28 –29 .)July 19 – Feyenoord , the first Dutch football club to win the UEFA Champions League , is founded at Rotterdam , Netherlands 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 in Olympic history, only to be disqualified soon afterwards for receiving assistance; victory is awarded to Irish-American Johnny Hayes .July 27 –28 – The 1908 Hong Kong typhoon sinks the passenger steamer Ying King , causing 421 deaths.August September October October 1: Ford Model T launch. November December Undated This is the coldest recorded year since 1880 , according to NASA reports.[19] Births
January Edward Teller February Rómulo Betancourt Sir William McMahon February 1 – George Pal , Hungarian-born American animator (died 1980 )February 5 – Peg Entwistle , Welsh actress (died 1932 )February 6 February 7 – Buster Crabbe , American swimmer, actor (died 1983 )February 11 – Vivian Fuchs , English geologist, explorer (died 1999 )February 17 – Bo Yibo , Chinese politician (died 2007 )February 19 – Qin Hanzhang , Chinese engineer (died 2019 )February 22 February 23 – Sir William McMahon , 20th Prime Minister of Australia (died 1988 )February 26 February 27 – Herbert Wiere, Austrian-born American slapstick comedian, member of the Wiere Brothers (died 1999 )February 29 – Balthus , French painter (died 2001 )March Rex Harrison April Bette Davis Herbert von Karajan April 1 – Abraham Maslow , American psychologist (died 1970 )[23] April 2 – Buddy Ebsen , American actor and dancer (died 2003 )April 5 April 7 – Percy Faith , Canadian-born American composer, musician (died 1976 )April 9 – Paula Nenette Pepin , French composer, pianist and lyricist (died 1990 )April 11 April 12 – Carlos Lleras Restrepo , President of Colombia (died 1994 )April 15 – Lita Grey , American actress (died 1995 )April 20 – Lionel Hampton , African-American musician and bandleader (died 2002 )April 24 – Józef Gosławski , Polish sculptor, medallic artist (died 1963 )April 25 – Edward R. Murrow , American journalist (died 1965 )April 26 – Fred Phillips , American make-up artist (died 1993 )April 28 – Oskar Schindler , Austro-Hungarian (Sudeten German) industrialist (died 1974 )April 29 – Jack Williamson , American science fiction author (died 2006 )April 30 May Arturo de Córdova James Stewart Mel Blanc May 1 – Krystyna Skarbek , Polish-born World War II heroine (died 1952 )May 5 – Kurt Böhme , German bass (died 1989 )May 7 – Max Grundig , German inventor, industrialist (died 1989 )May 8 – Arturo de Córdova , Mexican actor (died 1973 )May 17 – Muhammad Ahmad Mahgoub , Sudanese author, 6th Prime Minister of Sudan (died 1976 )May 19 – Percy Williams , Canadian athlete (died 1982 )[24] May 20 – James Stewart , American actor (died 1997 )[25] May 23 May 25 – Theodore Roethke , American poet (died 1963 )May 26 May 28 – Ian Fleming , English novelist (died 1964 )[26] May 30 May 31 – Don Ameche , American actor (died 1993 )[27] June Salvador Allende July Lupe Vélez July 1 – Luis Regueiro , Spanish footballer (died 1995 )[30] July 2 – Thurgood Marshall , Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (died 1993 )[31] July 5 – Henri of Orléans, Count of Paris , Orléanist claimant to the throne of France (died 1999 )July 8 – Kaii Higashiyama , Japanese painter and writer (died 1999 )[32] July 12 July 13 – Garfield Todd , 5th Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia (died 2002 )July 17 – Mohammad Natsir , Indonesian scholar and politician; 5th Prime Minister of Indonesia (died 1993 )July 18 – Lupe Vélez , Mexican actress, dancer and singer (died 1944 )July 23 – Karl Swenson , American actor (died 1978 )August Harold Holt Sir Don Bradman September Richard Wright September 2 September 3 – Lev Pontryagin , Russian mathematician (died 1988 )[37] September 4 – Richard Wright , African-American author (died 1960 )September 5 September 7 – Michael E. DeBakey , American surgeon, medical researcher (died 2008 )September 13 – Mae Questel , American actress (died 1998 )[38] September 18 – Viktor Ambartsumian , Soviet Armenian scientist (died 1996 )[39] September 19 – Mika Waltari , Finnish author (died 1979 )[40] September 21 – Charles Upham , New Zealand soldier, twice winner of the Victoria Cross (died 1994 )[41] September 25 – Eugen Suchoň , Slovak composer (died 1993 )September 29 – Eddie Tolan , American athlete (died 1967 )[24] September 30 – David Oistrakh , Ukrainian-born violinist (died 1974 )October John Kenneth Galbraith October 6 – Carole Lombard , American actress (died 1942 )October 7 – Baek Du-jin , Korean politician, 4th Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea (South Korea ) (died 1993 )October 15 – John Kenneth Galbraith , Canadian economist (died 2006 )October 16 – Enver Hoxha , Albanian communist dictator (died 1985 )October 21 – Jorge Oteiza , Spanish painter (died 2003 )October 23 – Ilya Frank , Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1990 )October 27 – Lee Krasner , American painter (died 1984 )October 28 – Arturo Frondizi , 35th President of Argentina (died 1995 )October 30 – Dmitriy Ustinov , Soviet Army officer, Minister of Defense (died 1984 )November December Simon Wiesenthal December 4 – Alfred Hershey , American bacteriologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1997 )December 6 – Baby Face Nelson , American gangster (died 1934 )December 9 – Aden Adde , 1st president of Somalia (died 2007)December 10 – Olivier Messiaen , French composer (died 1992 )December 11 December 14 December 16 – Hans Schaffner , 69th President of Switzerland (died 2004 )December 17 – Willard Libby , American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1980 )December 28 – Lew Ayres , American actor (died 1996 )December 31 – Simon Wiesenthal , Austrian Nazi-hunter (died 2005 )[45] Date unknown Deaths January–March Wilhelm Busch Carlos I of Portugal Henry Campbell-Bannerman Prince Yamashina Kikumaro Grover Cleveland January 9 – Wilhelm Busch , German painter, poet (born 1832 )[47] January 14 – Holger Drachmann , Danish poet (born 1846 )[48] January 17 – Ferdinand IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany (born 1835 )January 20 – William Wood , American ventriloquist (born c. 1861)January 23 – Edward MacDowell , American composer (born 1860 )January 25 – Ouida , English writer (born 1839 )[49] February 1 February 17 February 22 – Eliza A. Pittsinger , "The California Poetess" (born 1837 )February 29 March 3 – Sidney Hill , English philanthropist (born 1829 )March 11 – Edmondo De Amicis , Italian novelist (born 1846 )[50] March 27 – Charles N. Sims , American Methodist preacher, third chancellor of Syracuse University (born 1835 )March 29 – Esther Pugh , American temperance reformer (born 1834 )March 30 – Chester Gillette , American murderer (executed) (born 1883 )April–June April 20 – Henry Chadwick , English-born American baseball writer (born 1824 )April 22 April 26 – Karl Möbius , German ecologist (born 1825 )[51] May 2 – Prince Yamashina Kikumaro , Japanese prince (born 1873 )May 17 – Carl Koldewey , German explorer (born 1837 )[52] May 23 – François Coppée , French poet, playwright and novelist (born 1842 )[53] May 24 – Old Tom Morris , Scottish golfer (born 1821 )May 26 – Mirza Ghulam Ahmad , Sikh Empire-born founder of the Ahmadiyya movement in Islam (born 1835 )June 2 – Sir Redvers Buller , British general, Victoria Cross recipient (born 1839 )June 5 – Jef Lambeaux , Belgian sculptor (born 1852 )June 9 – Drusilla Wilson , American temperance leader and Quaker pastor (born 1815 )June 14 – Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby , Governor-General of Canada, founder of the Stanley Cup (born 1841 )June 20 June 21 – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov , Russian composer (born 1844 )June 24 – Grover Cleveland , 22nd and 24th President of the United States (born 1837 )July–September Demetrius Vikelas Henri Becquerel Servant of God John Berthier Tomás Estrada Palma Emperor Guangxu of China July 3 – Joel Chandler Harris , American author (born 1848 )July 5 – Jonas Lie , Norwegian writer (born 1833 )July 6 – Felipe Calderón y Roca , Filipino politician (born 1868 )July 12 – William D. Coleman , 13th President of Liberia (born 1842 )[54] July 19 – Ignacio de Veintemilla , 11th President of Ecuador (born 1828 )July 20 – Demetrius Vikelas , 1st President of the International Olympic Committee (born 1835 )July 22 – Sir Randal Cremer , English politician and pacifist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1828 )July 24 – Sigismondo Savona , Maltese educator and politician (born 1835 )[55] August 4 – Radoje Domanović , Serbian writer (born 1873 )August 7 – Antonio Starabba, Marchese di Rudinì , 12th Prime Minister of Italy (born 1839 )August 24 – Éleuthère Mascart , French physicist (born 1837 )August 25 – Henri Becquerel , French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1852 )August 26 – Tony Pastor , American theater impresario (born 1837 )August 31 – Leslie Green , British architect (born 1875 )September 17 – Thomas Selfridge , United States Army officer, first person killed in an airplane crash (born 1882 )September 20 – Pablo de Sarasate , Spanish violinist, composer (born 1844 )September 21 September 25 – Frank Robison , American baseball executive, early owner of the St. Louis Cardinals (born 1852 )September 29 – Machado de Assis , Brazilian author (born 1839 )October–December October 11 – Rita Cetina Gutiérrez , Mexican educator, poet and activist (born 1846 )October 16 – John Berthier , French Roman Catholic priest, missionary and servant of God (born 1840 )October 18 – Nozu Michitsura , Japanese general (born 1840 )October 26 – Enomoto Takeaki , Japanese samurai , admiral (born 1836 )October 30 – Caroline Schermerhorn Astor , American socialite (born 1830 )October – Gus Rogers , American vaudevillian (born 1869)November 1 – Mary F. Eastman , American educator, lecturer, writer and suffragist (born 1833 )November 4 November 7 November 8 November 14 – Emperor Guangxu of China (born 1871 )November 15 – Empress Dowager Cixi of China (born 1835 )[56] November 17 – Lydia Thompson , English dancer, actress (born 1838 )November 22 – Paul Taffanel , French flautist, composer (born 1844 )December 13 – Augustus Le Plongeon , American archaeologist (born 1825 )December 22 – Jacob Parrott , the first person to receive the American Medal of Honor , one of six presented on March 25, 1863, to the heroes of the Great Locomotive Chase during the American Civil War (born 1843 )Date unknown Nobel Prizes References Further reading The Annual Register for 1908 , British and world events online Gilbert, Martin. A History of the Twentieth Century: Volume 1 1900–1933 (1997); global coverage of politics, diplomacy and warfare; pp 105 – 22.