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1908

Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century

Decades: 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s - 1900s - 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s

Years: 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 - 1908 - 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913

Events:

January 1 - A ball signifying New Year's Day drops in New York City's Times Square for the first time
January 8 - 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.
January 11 - Grand Canyon National Monument is created
January 12 - A long-distance radio message is sent from the Eiffel Tower for the first time.
January 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.
January 24 - Robert Baden-Powell begins the Boy Scout movement
February 11 - Australia regain the Ashes[?] with a 308 run cricket victory over England.
April 27 - The 1908 Summer Olympics open in London.
May 10 - Mother's Day is observed for the first time (Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virgina[?]).
May 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 30 - The Tunguska impact event occurs in Siberia.
July 6 - Robert Peary sets sail for the Arctic on the expedition on which he later makes his claim of reaching the North Pole.
December 28 - An earthquake rocks Messina, Sicily killing over 75,000.

De Meester's Dutch government resigns.
November - William Howard Taft defeats William Jennings Bryan in the U.S. presidential election
Change of Emperor of Qing Dynasty from Emperor Guangshui[?] (1875-1908) to Pu-yi (1909-1911)
Henry Ford produces its first Model T automobile.
A 40,000-year-old Neanderthal boy skeleton is found at Le Moustier[?] in southwest France.

Art, Culture & Fashion

1908 in film
1908 in literature
1908 in music
1908 in sports
- The third Summer Olympic Games are held in London, England.
- September 23 - Baseball/History: the "Merkle incident"
- December 26 - Jack Johnson becomes the first African American heavyweight[?] boxing champion by defeating Tommy Burns in Sydney, Australia

Births:

January 9 - Simone de Beauvoir, feminist philosopher
January 12 - Jean Delannoy[?], film director
January 14 - Rus Columbo[?], singer, bandleader, composer
January 15 - Edward Teller
January 26 - Stéphane Grappelli, musician, composer (+ 1997)
January 27 - Oran "Hot Lips" Page[?], jazz trumpet (+ 1954)
February 1 - George Pal[?], director, producer (+ 1980)
February 5 - Daisy and Violet Hilton[?], conjoined twins, actresses (+ 1969)
February 7 - Buster Crabbe, Olympic Games swimming gold medalist, actor
February 8 - Emil Staiger[?], scientist of literature (+ 1987)
February 11 - Sutan Takdir Alishahbana[?], Indonesian linguistic/author/novelist.
February 11 - Vivian Ernest Fuchs[?], geologist/explorer.
February 11 - Josh White[?], musician
February 15 - HAP Grieshaber[?], painter and graphic artist (+ 1981)
February 17 - Red Barber[?], baseball announcer, sports journalist (+ 1992)
February 22 - John Mills, actor
February 26 - Tex Avery, cartoonist (+ 1980)
February 26 - Jean-Pierre Wimille[?], race car driver (+ 1949)
February 29 - Balthus[?], painter (+ 2001)
February 29 - Dee Brown, writer, historian (+ 2002)
March 2 - Walter Bruch[?], engineer (+ 1990)
March 5 - Rex Harrison, actor (+ 1990)
March 8 - Claire Trevor[?], actress
March 7 - Anna Magnani, actress (+ 1973)
March 13 - Walter Annenberg, publisher, philanthropist (+ 2002)
March 17 - Brigitte Helm[?], actress (+ 1996)
March 20 - Sir Michael Redgrave, actor (+ 1985)
March 22 - Louis L'Amour[?], author (+ 1988)
March 23 - Joan Crawford, actor (+ 1977)
March 25 - Helmut Käutner[?], actor and film director (+ 1980)
March 25 - David Lean, film director (+ 1991)
March 29 - Arthur O'Connell[?], actor (+ 1981)
April 2 - Buddy Ebsen, actor, dancer
April 5 - Bette Davis, US-american actress (+ 1989)
April 5 - Herbert von Karajan, Austrian conductor (+ 1989)
April 7 - Percy Faith[?], composer, musician (+ 1976)
April 25 - Edward R. Murrow, journalist (+ 1965)
May 7 - Max Grundig[?], industrialist (+ 1989)
May 19 - Percy Williams, Canadian athlete (+ 1982)
May 20 - Jimmy Stewart, American actor
May 23 - John Bardeen, physicist (+ 1991)
May 25 - Theodore Roethke, American poet
May 28 - Ian Fleming, author of James Bond books (+ 1964)
May 30 - Mel Blanc, voice actor
May 31 - Don Ameche[?] (actor)
August 27 - Don Bradman, cricket player
August 27 - Lyndon Johnson, 36th president of the United States
November 28 - Claude Levi-Strauss
December 10 - Olivier Messiaen, composer

Deaths:

January 25 - Ouida, writer
February 1 - King Charles of Portugal
April 20 - Henry Chadwick, baseball writer and historian
August 25 - Henri Becquerel, French physicist
November 15 1-3 pm - Empress Dowager Cixi[?]
November 14 5-7 pm - Emperor Guangshui[?]

Nobel Prizes:

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