Editing 1908 (section)

== Events ==

=== January ===
[[Image:Babynew.jpg|thumb| 1908 [[Baby New Year]] on the cover of ''[[The Saturday Evening Post]]''.]][[File:WikiProject Scouting fleur-de-lis dark.svg|thumb|120px|January 24: [[Scouting|Boy Scout]] movement.]]
* [[January 1]] – The British [[Nimrod Expedition|''Nimrod'' Expedition]] led by [[Ernest Shackleton]] sets sail from New Zealand on the ''[[Nimrod (1867 ship)|Nimrod]]'' for Antarctica.
* [[January 3]] – A [[Solar eclipse of January 3, 1908|total solar eclipse]] is visible in the Pacific Ocean and is the 46th solar eclipse of [[Solar Saros 130]].
* [[January 13]] – A fire breaks out at the [[Rhoads Opera House fire|Rhoads Opera House]] in [[Boyertown, Pennsylvania]], killing 171 people.
* [[January 15]] – [[Alpha Kappa Alpha]], the  first race inclusive sorority is founded on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C.
* [[January 24]] – [[Robert Baden-Powell]]'s ''[[Scouting for Boys]]'' begins publication in London. The book eventually sells over 100 million copies, and effectively begins the worldwide [[Scouting|Boy Scout]] movement.

=== February ===
* [[February 1]] – [[Lisbon Regicide]]: King [[Carlos I of Portugal]] and [[Luís Filipe, Prince Royal of Portugal|Prince Luis Filipe]] are shot dead in [[Lisbon]]. 
* [[February 3]] – [[Panathinaikos A.O.]], a well-known professional multi-sports club of [[Greece]], is founded in [[Athens]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=el&u=http://www.pao.gr/history/events%3Fid%3D156&prev=search|title=The Founding of Panathinaikos|website=Panathinaikos|access-date=29 April 2019|archive-date=January 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103092453/https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=el&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pao.gr%2Fhistory%2Fevents%3Fid%3D156&prev=search|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[February 12]] – The first around-the-world car race, the [[1908 New York to Paris Race]], begins.
* [[February 18]] – [[Japanese Americans|Japanese emigration to the United States]] is forbidden, under terms of the [[Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907]].
* [[February 29]] – The State Normal and Industrial School for Women, precursor to [[James Madison University]], is founded in [[Harrisonburg, Virginia]].

=== March ===
* [[March]]
** A 40,000-year-old [[Neanderthal]] boy skeleton is found at [[Le Moustier]] in southwest France, by [[Otto Hauser]].
** [[Arthur Mee]]'s ''[[The Children's Encyclopædia]]'' begins publication in London.
* [[March 4]]
** The [[Pretoria]] branch of [[Transvaal University College]], precursor to the [[University of Pretoria]], is established.
** The [[Collinwood school fire]] near [[Cleveland]], [[Ohio]] kills 175.
** [[Bank of Communications]], a major [[financial services]] provider in [[China]], is founded in [[Beijing]],.

* [[March 9]] – [[Inter Milan|Football Club Internazionale]] is founded in [[Milan]], [[Italy]]
* [[March 23]] – American diplomat [[Durham Stevens]], an employee of Japan's [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan)|Ministry of Foreign Affairs]], is assassinated in [[San Francisco]] by two [[Korean Americans|Korean immigrant]]s, unhappy with his recent support for the increasing Japanese presence in Korea.
* [[March 27]] – The first [[Scouting|Scout troop]] outside the U.K. is formed in [[Gibraltar]].
* [[March 29]] – French aviator [[Henri Farman]] makes the world's first flight with a passenger, [[Léon Delagrange]].

=== April ===
* [[April 8]] – [[H. H. Asquith]] of the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] takes office as [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]], succeeding Sir [[Henry Campbell-Bannerman]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Jenkins|first=Roy|author-link=Roy Jenkins|title=Asquith|edition=Third|year=1986|publisher=Collins|location=London|isbn=0002177129|pages=179–180|chapter=An Assured Succession 1908}}</ref>
* [[April 20]] – [[Sunshine rail disaster]]: A rear-end collision of two trains in [[Melbourne]], Australia kills 44 people and injures more than 400.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ballaratgenealogy.org.au/goroke/wwm1908.htm |title=''Ballarat Genealogy'': Newspaper Report of the accident |publisher=ballaratgenealogy.org.au |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211154316/http://www.ballaratgenealogy.org.au/goroke/wwm1908.htm |archive-date=February 11, 2012}}</ref>
* [[April 21]] – [[Frederick Cook]] claims to have reached the [[North Pole]] on this date.

=== May ===
* [[May 14]]–[[October 31]] – The [[Franco-British Exhibition (1908)]] is held in London.
* [[May 26]] – At [[Masjed Soleyman]] in southwest [[Iran|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 28]] – An [[Solar eclipse of June 28, 1908|annular solar eclipse]] is visible from Central America, North America, Atlantic Ocean and Africa and is the 33rd solar eclipse of [[Solar Saros 135]].
* [[June 29]] – Kohlerer-Bahn by [[Bleichert]] opens in [[Bolzano]], [[South Tyrol]], the first modern aerial enclosed [[Aerial lift|cable car]] solely for passenger service.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kohlererbahn.it/eng/our-100-years.html|title=Our 100 Years|access-date=November 7, 2021|archive-date=December 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221210012205/https://www.kohlererbahn.it/eng/our-100-years.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[June 30]] (June 17 [[Old Style and New Style dates|OS]]) – The [[Tunguska event]] or "Russian explosion" near the [[Podkamennaya Tunguska River]] in [[Krasnoyarsk Krai]], [[Siberia]], [[Russian Empire]], is believed to have been caused by the [[air burst]] of a large [[meteoroid]] or [[comet]] fragment, at an altitude of {{convert|5|–|10|km|0}} above the [[Earth]]'s surface.<ref>{{cite book|last=Pasechnik|first=I. P.|chapter=Refinement of the moment of explosion of the Tunguska meteorite from the seismic data|title=Cosmic Matter and the Earth|location=Novosibirsk|publisher=Nauka|year=1986|page=66|language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Farinella |first1=Paolo |last2=Foschini |first2=L. |last3=Froeschlé |first3=Christiane |last4=Gonczi |first4=R. |last5=Jopek |first5=T. J. |last6=Longo |first6=G. |last7=Michel |first7=Patrick |url=http://www-th.bo.infn.it/tunguska/aah2886.pdf |title=Probable asteroidal origin of the Tunguska Cosmic Body |journal=[[Astronomy and Astrophysics|Astronomy & Astrophysics]] |volume=377 |pages=1081–1097 |year=2001 |issue=3 |doi=10.1051/0004-6361:20011054 |access-date=2011-08-23 |bibcode=2001A&A...377.1081F |doi-access=free |archive-date=October 9, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131009172144/http://www-th.bo.infn.it/tunguska/aah2886.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Trayner|first=Chris|url=http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu//full/1994Obs...114..227T/0000227.000.html|title=Perplexities of the Tunguska Meteorite|journal=[[The Observatory (journal)|The Observatory]]|volume=114|pages=227–231|year=1994|access-date=2011-08-23|bibcode=1994Obs...114..227T|archive-date=June 20, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130620074218/http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu//full/1994Obs...114..227T/0000227.000.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== July ===
[[File:Olympic games 1908 London.jpg|240px|thumbnail|right|July: [[1908 Summer Olympics]].]]
* [[July 1]] &ndash; {{overbar|[[SOS]]}} comes into force internationally as a [[distress signal]] (originally for ship-to-shore [[wireless telegraphy]]).<ref>{{citation|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044103239133&view=1up&seq=36|title=Article XVI|work=Service Regulations annexed to the [[International Radiotelegraph Convention (1906)|International Radiotelegraph Convention]]|location=Berlin|date=1906-11-03|page=34|access-date=October 3, 2023|archive-date=November 29, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129104414/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044103239133&view=1up&seq=36|url-status=live}}.</ref>
* [[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 (region)|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]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Therese Peltier|url=https://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/topics/women-in-aviation/Peltier.cfm|work=Women in aviation and space history|access-date=2017-05-07|archive-date=September 29, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929102614/https://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/topics/women-in-aviation/Peltier.cfm|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[July 11]]–[[July 12|12]] – The steamship ''Amalthea'', housing 80 British [[strikebreaker]]s 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]]–[[July 25|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.<ref name="Pocket On This Day">{{cite book|title=Penguin Pocket On This Day|publisher=Penguin Reference Library|isbn=0-14-102715-0|year=2006}}</ref> [[Figure skating at the 1908 Summer Olympics|Figure skating]] events are held in London from [[October 28]]–[[October 29|29]].)
* [[July 19]] – [[Feyenoord]], the first Dutch football club to [[1969–70 European Cup|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 [[Abdul Hamid II|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 26]] – The [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] is founded.
* [[July 27]]–[[July 28|28]] – The [[1908 Hong Kong typhoon]] sinks the passenger steamer ''Ying King'', causing 421 deaths.

=== August ===
* [[August 8]] 
** [[Wilbur Wright]] flies in France for the first time, demonstrating controlled powered flight in Europe.
** [[The Hoover Company]] of [[Canton, Ohio]], acquires manufacturing rights to the upright portable [[vacuum cleaner]] [[patent]]ed on June 22 by [[James M. Spangler]].
* [[August 17]] – “[[Fantasmagorie (film)|Fantasmagorie]]”, an [[Animation|animated]] [[short film]] by [[Émile Cohl]], which is widely regarded as the first [[Cartoon|animated cartoon]] is officially released.
* [[August 24]] – After an intense power struggle, Sultan [[Abdelaziz of Morocco]] is deposed and is succeeded by his brother [[Abd al-Hafid of Morocco|Abd al-Hafid]].
* [[August 28]] – American Messenger Company, predecessor of [[United Parcel Service]], is founded in [[Washington (state)]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=American Messenger Service, forerunner of UPS, begins in a saloon in Seattle's Pioneer Square on August 28, 1907|publisher=HistoryLink.org|url=https://www.historylink.org/File/2089|access-date=2023-02-15|website=www.historylink.org|archive-date=February 15, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230215220910/https://www.historylink.org/File/2089|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[August 31]] – The Great Storm of 1908 starts to pound the [[Bristol Channel]], lasting into the morning of September 2.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/wales/entries/5ad4c6e6-91ff-3c7f-b663-fc3b5bc913b7 |title=BBC Blogs – Wales – The great storm of 1908<!-- Bot generated title --> |date=August 31, 2010 |access-date=July 17, 2019 |archive-date=July 27, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727115944/https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/wales/entries/5ad4c6e6-91ff-3c7f-b663-fc3b5bc913b7 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== September ===
* [[September 10]] – The first [[Minas Geraes-class battleship|''Minas Geraes''-class]] [[Dreadnought]] [[battleship]] for [[Brazil]], ''[[Brazilian battleship Minas Geraes|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]], [[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 28]] – Classes begin at [[Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology]] in [[Boston]], Massachusetts, established under the terms of Franklin's will.

=== October ===
[[File:1908 Ford Model T.jpg|thumb|right|October 1: [[Ford Model T]] launch.]]
* [[October 1]]
** Official launch of [[Henry Ford]]'s [[Ford Model T]] automobile, the first having left the [[Ford Piquette Avenue Plant]] in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]], on September 27.<ref>{{cite press release|title=Model T Facts|url=https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2013/08/05/model-t-facts.html|publisher=Ford|location=US|access-date=2013-04-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928165026/https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2013/08/05/model-t-facts.html|archive-date=2013-09-28|url-status=dead}}</ref> The initial price is set at US$850.<ref>Approximately $21,597 in 2017, when adjusted for inflation.</ref>
** [[Penny Post]] is established between the [[United Kingdom]] and [[United States]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Richard|last=Blake|title=The Book of Postal Dates, 1635–1985|location=Caterham|publisher=Marden|page=20}}</ref>
* [[October 5]]
** [[Kingdom of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]] declares its independence from the [[Ottoman Empire]]; [[Ferdinand I of Bulgaria]] becomes [[Tsar]].
** ''[[The Melting Pot (play)|The Melting Pot]]'', a play by [[Israel Zangwill]], opens in Washington, D.C.  The title quickly becomes a widely used symbol for assimilation of immigrants to the United States.
* [[October 6]] – The [[Bosnian crisis]] begins, after the [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]] annexes [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] from the [[Ottoman Empire]].
* [[October 8]] – The University of Omaha, precursor of the [[University of Nebraska Omaha]], is founded as a private non-sectarian college.
* [[October 14]] – The [[Chicago Cubs]] beat the [[Detroit Tigers]] in the [[1908 World Series]] in baseball. The Cubs would not win another [[World Series]] for 108 years.
* [[October 29]] – [[Olivetti]], the well-known [[typewriter]] and business equipment company, is founded in [[Italy]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Arrigo |first=Elisa |date=2003 |title=Corporate Responsibility in Scarcity Economy: The Olivetti Case |url=https://deliverypdf.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=701020068111101099089112090065116106050051026007034010028118065074115020099103088074052006096099098123062120083118077102126015121051066022058093075112026004001099080025003000086074065112076104000095076116006102107023109012000105020101090022021025001090&EXT=pdf&INDEX=TRUE |journal=Symphonya. Emerging Issues in Management |volume=1 |pages=114–134 |via=SSRN}}</ref>

=== November ===
* [[November 3]] – [[1908 United States presidential election]]: Republican candidate [[William Howard Taft]] defeats [[William Jennings Bryan]], 321 electoral votes to 162.
* [[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]] (becoming [[Belgian Congo]]) to Belgium, following evidence collected by [[Roger Casement]] of maladministration.
* [[November 19]] – [[Women's suffrage]] is passed in [[Victoria (state)|Victoria]], Australia.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Vincent |first=Benjamin |title=Haydn's Dictionary of Dates and Universal Information |publisher=G.P. Putnam's Sons |year=1911 |edition=25th |pages=1473}}</ref>
* [[November 25]]
** ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]'' newspaper is first published, in the United States.
** A fire breaks out on {{SS|Sardinia|1888|6}} as it leaves Malta's [[Grand Harbour]], resulting in the ship's grounding and the deaths of at least 118 people.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gulf of Corcovado |url=http://www.tynebuiltships.co.uk/G-Ships/gulfofcorcovado1888.html |website=Tyne Built Ships |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190708121648/http://www.tynebuiltships.co.uk/G-Ships/gulfofcorcovado1888.html |archive-date=8 July 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== December ===
* [[December 2]] – Young [[Emperor of China|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 23]] – A [[Solar eclipse of December 23, 1908|hybrid solar eclipse]] is visible from Atlantic Ocean and is the 23rd solar eclipse of [[Solar Saros 140]].
* [[December 28]] – The 7.1 {{M|w}} [[1908 Messina earthquake|Messina earthquake]] shakes [[Southern Italy]] with a maximum [[Mercalli intensity scale|Mercalli intensity]] of XI (''Extreme''), killing between 75,000 and 200,000.

=== Undated ===
* This is the coldest recorded year since [[1880]], according to [[NASA]] reports.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/|title=Data.GISS: GISS Surface Temperature Analysis (GISTEMP v4)|website=data.giss.nasa.gov|access-date=January 23, 2016|archive-date=May 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517042108/https://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/|url-status=live}}</ref>