1908 - What happened in 1908 ?

January 1908

Wednesday 01:

1908 - The first payments of old-age pensions were made in Britain, with persons over 70 receiving five shillings (25p) a week.

Wednesday 08:

A train collision occurs in the Park Avenue Tunnel in New York City killing 17, injuring 38 and leading to increased demand for electric trains.

Wednesday 15:

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, the first Greek-letter organization by and for Black college women is established.

Tuesday 21:

New York City passes a law, the Sullivan Ordinance, making it illegal for women to smoke in public only to be vetoed by the mayor.

Friday 24:

Robert Baden-Powell begins the Boy Scout movement.

February 1908

Saturday 01:

King Carlos I of Portugal and his son, Prince Luis Filipe are killed in Terreiro do Paco, Lisbon.

Tuesday 11:

Australia regain the Ashes with a 308 run cricket victory over England.

March 1908

Monday 09:

Inter Milan was founded

April 1908

Tuesday 07:

Herbert Henry Asquith takes office as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman

Monday 20:

Opening day of competition of the New South Wales Rugby League.

Monday 27:

The 1908 Summer Olympics open in London.

May 1908

Sunday 10:

Mother's Day is observed for the first time (Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, USA).

Friday 22:

The Wright Brothers patent their aircraft.

Tuesday 26:

At Masjid-al-Salaman in southwest Persia, the first major commercial oil strike in the Middle East is made. The rights to the resource are quickly acquired by the United Kingdom.

June 1908

Tuesday 30:

The Tunguska impact event occurs in Siberia

July 1908

Monday 06:

Robert Peary sets sail for the Arctic on the expedition on which he later reaches the North Pole.

Monday 13:

Women compete in modern Olympics for the first time.

Wednesday 22:

Albert Fisher establishes the Fisher Body Company to manufacture carriage and automobile bodies.

Saturday 25:

Ajinomoto is born. Kikunae Ikeda of the Tokyo Imperial University discovers that a key ingredient in Konbu soup stock is monosodium glutamate (MSG) and patents a process for manufacturing it.

Sunday 26:

United States Attorney General Charles Joseph Bonaparte issues an order to immediately staff the Office of the Chief Examiner (later renamed the Federal Bureau of Investigation).

August 1908

Wednesday 12:

First Model T Ford built

Friday 14:

First beauty contest held in Folkestone, England

September 1908

Wednesday 16:

General Motors is founded.

Thursday 17:

Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge crashes a Wright Brothers airplane and becomes the first airplane fatality.

Tuesday 22:

The independence of Bulgaria is recognised.

Thursday 24:

The first Ford Model T is built.

October 1908

Thursday 01:

Ford introduces the Model T car.

Tuesday 06:

Austria annexes Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Wednesday 07:

Serbia and Montenegro sign anti-Austria-Hungarian pact.

Saturday 10:

Baseball Writers Association forms.

Sunday 18:

Belgium annexes the Congo Free State.

November 1908

Tuesday 03:

U.S. presidential election: Republican William Howard Taft defeats William Jennings Bryan, Democratic candidate in his third and final nomination.

Friday 13:

Andrew Fisher becomes the 5th Prime Minister of Australia.

December 1908

Saturday 26:

Jack Johnson becomes the first African American heavyweight boxing champion by defeating Tommy Burns in Sydney, Australia

Monday 28:

An earthquake rocks Messina, Sicily killing over 75,000.