1908

January 2

• Canadian Governor General Earl Grey formally opens the Ottawa branch of the British Royal Mint. He strikes the first coin minted in Canada, a 50-cent piece. Countess of Grey strikes the first bronze cent. 1000 specimen sets are struck to mark the occasion. [3] [416.58]
• Dom Joâo G da Câmara Portuguese journalist/playwright, dies at age 55. [1]

January 4

• Antony Winkler Prins writer (Groiller Encyclopaedia), dies at age 70. [1]

January 9

• Abraham Goldfaden US Yiddish stage performer (Shulamis), dies at age 67. [1]
• Frans Schollaert succeeds De Trooz as premier of Belgium. [1]
• Muir Woods National Monument, California established. [1]
• Death of Wilhelm Busch in Mechtshausen bei Seesen, Germany; humorous writer, painter and poet, Max und Moritz (The Katzenjammer Kids) and Die fromme Helene, forerunner to the comic strip. [1] [37]

January 10

• Anna S Barbiers Dutch actress (Klaasje Zevenster), dies at age 65. [1]

January 11

• U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt declares the Grand Canyon in northwestern Arizona a national monument. [129]

January 13

• French pilot Henry Farman is first European to fly roundtrip. [1]
• Rhoads Opera House burns in Boyertown, Pennsylvania, USA, killing 170. [1]

January 14

• Holger Drachmann writer, dies. [1]

January 16

• Pinnacles National Monument, California established. [1]

January 17

• Ferdinand IV ruler of Toscane, dies at age 72. [1]

January 18

• Frederick Delius' "Brigg Fair" premieres. [1]

January 21

• August Strindberg's "Spoksonaten" premieres in Stockholm. [1]
• New York City, New York regulation makes it illegal for a woman to smoke in public. [1]

January 23

• Edward Alexander MacDowell US composer (Indian Suite), dies at age 47. [1]
• US and Great Britain demand end of abuses in Congo. [1]

January 24

• General Baden-Powell starts Boy-Scouts. [1]

January 25

• John Blocks' opera "Baldie" premieres in Antwerp. [1]

January 27

• Pasiphaë, a satellite of Jupiter, discovered by Melotte. [1]

January 29

• Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, at Cornell University, incorporates. [1]

February 1

• Carlos I King of Portugal (1889-1908), assassinated by mob at age 44. [1]

February 3

• US Supreme Court rules a union boycott violates Sherman Antitrust Act. [1]

February 7

• Connie Mack sells hurler Rube Waddell to Saint Louis Browns for $5,000. [1]

February 11

• Heemskerk's government begins in Holland. [1]

February 12

• Anna Jeanes bequeathes $1,000,000 to Swarthmore to become all female. [1]
• New York to Paris auto race (via Alaska and Siberia) begins in New York NY; George Schuster wins after 88 days behind the wheel. [1]

February 14

• Georges Jean Pfeiffer composer, dies at age 72. [1]

February 17

• Geronimo Apache chief, dies at about age 79. [1]

February 18

• First US postage stamps in coils issued. [1]

February 24

• Anatol' Vakhnyanyn composer, dies at age 66. [1]

February 25

• First tunnel under the Hudson River (railway tunnel) opens. [1]

February 27

• Sacrifice fly adopted (repealed in 1931, reinstated 1954). [1]
• Star #46 is added to US flag for Oklahoma. [1]

February 28

• Failed assassination attempt on Shah Mohammed Ali in Teheran. [1]

February 29

• Dutch scientists produce solid helium. [1]

March 4

• Collingwood Ohio primary school catches fire; 180 die. [1]

March 5

• First ascent of Mount Erebus, Antarctica. [1]

March 7

• Cincinnati Mayor Mark Breith stood before city council and announced that, "women are not physically fit to operate automobiles". [1]

March 8

• Collingwood Elementary (Cleveland) burns, kills 173 kids and two teachers. [1]
• Demonstration in New York City by women garment workers demanding better working conditions. [287.124]
• Dutch utopist Frederick of Eden speaks in Carnegie Hall, New York. [1]

March 11

• Peter Milne composer, dies at age 83. [1]

March 12

• Edmondo de Amicis Italian writer (L'idioma Gentile), dies at age 61. [1]

March 15

• First performance of Maurice Ravel's "Rapsodie Espagnole". [1]

March 28

• John Eliot English meteorology, dies at age 68. [1]

March 29

• Daily newspaper comic strip Mr. A. Mutt adds character Jeff, creating popular Mutt & Jeff. [55.42]

April 4

• Josef Sucher composer, dies at age 64. [1]

April 5

• British premier Henry Campbell-Bannerman resigns. [1]
• Gaetano Coronaro composer, dies at age 55. [1]

April 8

• Lord Herbert Henry Asquith succeeds Henry Campbell-Bannerman as British Prime Minister. [1]

April 12

• Fire makes 17,000 homeless in Chelsea Massachusetts. [1]

April 16

• Natural Bridges National Monument established (Lake Powell Utah). [1]

April 21

• Frederick A Cook claims to reach North Pole (He didn't). [1]

April 22

• Henry Campbell-Bannerman British premier (1905-08), dies. [1]

April 23

• Denmark, Germany, England, France, Netherlands and Sweden signs North Sea accord. [1]

April 24

• Mr and Mrs Jacob Murdock become the first to travel across the US by car, they leave Los Angeles in a Packard and arrive in New York City in 32 days-5 hours-25 minutes. [1]

May 1

• World's most intense rain shower (2.47" in 3 minutes) at Portobelo Panamá. [1]

May 5

• Great White Fleet arrives in San Francisco. [1]

May 6

• Jean Réville French vicar (Le Prophétisme Hébreu), dies at age 53. [1]

May 9

• Dirk Fock becomes Governor of Suriname. [1]

May 10

• First official Mother's Day service is held, at the Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia, organized by Anna Jarvis. [1] [404.82]

May 12

• George Bernard Shaws' "Getting Married" premieres in London. [1]
• Melesio Morales composer, dies at age 69. [1]
• Wireless Radio Broadcasting is patented by Nathan B Stubblefield. [1]

May 14

• First passenger flight in an airplane. [1]

May 21

• First horror movie (Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde) premieres in Chicago. [1]

May 23

• Dirigible explodes over San Francisco Bay, 16 passengers fall, none die. [1]
• François Coppée French poet, dies. [1]
• Part of the Great White Fleet arrives in Puget Sound Washington. [1]

May 24

• Belgium Catholic socialist/liberal parliamentary election. [1]
• John Masefields "Tragedy of Nan" premieres in London. [1]

May 25

• The Teatro Colón opera house opens in Buenos Aires, Argentina. [223.48]

May 26

• Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Indies theologist (Ahmadiyya motion), dies at age 69. [1]

May 30

• First federal workmen's compensation law approved. [1]
• Aldrich Vineland Currency Act forerunner to Federal Reserve System. [1]
• Paris advocate E Archdeacon is first passenger in a airplane. [1]
• US Assay Office in Salt Lake City, Utah authorized. [1]

May 31

• Miss Pottelsberghe de la Pottery is first airplane passenger (Belgium). [1]

June 10

• First flying club, Aeronautical Society of New York, opens. [1]

June 24

• A Kopff discovers asteroids #663 Gerlinde and #664 Judith. [1]
• Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th U.S. President, dies in Princeton, at age 71. [1] [5]

June 30

• Giant fireball impacts in Central Siberia (Tunguska Event). [1]

July 6

• Robert Peary's expedition sails from New York City for the north pole. [1]

July 7

• Great White Fleet leaves San Francisco Bay. [1]

July 22

• W Lorenz discovers asteroid #665 Sabine. [1]

July 23

• A Kopff discovers asteroids #666 Desdemona and #667 Denise. [1]

July 26

• Federal Bureau of Investigation established. [1]

July 27

• A Kopff discovers asteroid #668 Dora. [1]

July 29

• Saint Louis Browns Rube Waddell strikes out 16 Philadelphia Athletics. [1]

July 30

• Around the World Autombile Race ends in Paris. [1]

August 12

• The first Model T Ford is built. [5]

August 14

• Race riot in Springfield Illinois. [1]

August 17

• Bank of Italy opens new headquarters at Clay and Montgomery. [1]

August 20

• Congo Free State becomes the Belgian Congo. [1]

August 29

• New York gives a ticker tape parade to returning US Olympians from London. [1]

September 9

• Orville Wright makes first one-hr airplane flight, Fort Myer, Virginia. [1]

September 16

• General Motors is founded by William C Durant. [1] [5]

September 17

• Thomas Selfridge becomes first fatality of powered flight. [1]
• Thomas Selfridge earlier aviator, dies in an air crash. [1]

September 23

• University of Alberta opens. [1]

October 1

• Henry Ford introduces the Model T car (costs $825). [1]

October 2

• Addie Joss perfect game stops Ed Walsh 1-0 who won 40 in a row. [1]

October 5

• Emperor Ferdinand I declares Bulgaria an independent kingdom, with himself as czar. [1] [442.92]

October 6

• Austria annexes Bosnia and Herzegovina. [1]

October 7

• Crete revolts against Turkey and aligns with Greece. [1]

October 18

• Belgium annexes Congo Free State. [1]

November 3

• William Howard Taft (Republican) elected 27th President over William Jennings Bryan. [1]

November 14

• Albert Einstein presents his quantum theory of light. [5]

November 16

• Arturo Tuscanini begins conducting New York's Metropolitan Opera. [1]

November 28

• 154 men die in coal mine explosion at Marianna Pennsylvania. [1]

December 2

• Pu Yi (Hsuan-T'ung) became China's Last Emperor at age 3. [1]

December 3

• Edward Elgar's first Symphony in A, premieres. [1]

December 4

• Haiti's President General Alexis Nord flees from military coup. [1]

December 11

• Frederick Delius' "In a Summer Garden" premieres. [1]

December 16

• First credit union in US forms (Manchester New Hampshire). [1]

December 22

• Marie Jungius Dutch teacher/fairy tale writer, dies at age 44. [1]

December 23

• Eduard Wachmann composer, dies at age 72. [1]
• François A Gevaert Belgian/Dutch composer (Diable au Moulin), dies at age 68. [1]

December 24

• François-Auguste Gevaert Belgian musicologist/composer, dies at age 80. [1]

December 28

• Messina, Italy struck by an earthquake (nearly 80,000 died). [1]

December 29

• Patent granted for a 4-wheel automobile brake, Clintonville Wisconsin. [1]

1909

January 5

• Colombia recognizes Panamá's independence. [1]

January 9

• Ernest Shackleton reaches 88 degrees 23' south. [1]

January 14

• Coöp Far Central Management forms. [1]
• Sinovi P Rozhestvensky Russian admiral, dies at age 60. [1]

January 15

• Ernest Reyer composer, dies at age 85. [1]
• Ernest von Wildenbruch German playwright (Das Edle Blut), dies at age 63. [1]

January 16

• British explorer Ernest Shackleton finds magnetic south pole. [1]
• David, Mawson and Mackay reach south magnetic pole. [1]

January 19

• Eugene Walter's "Easiest Way" premieres in New York City, New York. [1]

January 22

• Richard A C E Erlenmeyer German chemist, dies at age 83. [1]
• Vassily Kandinsky forms Künstlerverein in Munich. [1]

January 23

• First radio rescue at sea. [1]

January 25

• Richard Strauss' premiere of "Electricity" in Dresden. [1]

January 28

• US military forces leave Cuba for second time. [1]

February 1

• US Assay Office in Salt Lake City, Utah opens. [1]

February 2

• Adolf Stoecker German anti-semite/prime minister, dies at age 73. [1]
• Italian writer Marinetti publishes Futurist Manifest in Paris. [1]

February 3

• Johann Georg Herzog composer, dies at age 86. [1]

February 8

• Edouard Silas composer, dies at age 80. [1]
• France and Germany sign treaty about Morocco. [1]
• Mieczyslaw Karlowicz composer, dies at age 32. [1]

February 9

• First federal legislation prohibiting narcotics (opium). [1]
• First forestry school is incorporated at Kent Ohio. [1]

February 12

• National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded. [1]
• Netherlands' SDAP suspends Marxist Tribune group (Gorter and Wijnkoop). [1]

February 16

• First subway car with side doors goes into service (New York City, New York). [1]
• Serbia mobilizes against Austria-Hungary. [1]

February 21

• John Galsworthy's "Strife" premieres in London. [1]

February 22

• Great White Fleet, first US fleet to circle the globe, returns to Virginia. [1]

February 23

• In Nova Scotia, Canada, a Silver Dart aerodome aircraft flies a half mile, the first airplane flight in the country. [476.58]
• Russian tsar Nicolas II dissolves Finnish Diet. [1]

February 26

• Caran d'Ache [Emmanuel Poiré], French illustrator, dies. [1]

March 1

• First US university school of nursing established, University of Minnesota. [1]

March 2

• Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy ask Serbia to set no territorial demands. [1]

March 4

• President Taft inaugrated as 27th US President during 10-inch snowstorm. [1] [472.67]
• US prohibits interstate transportation of game birds. [1]

March 6

• Gerhart Hauptmann's "Griselda" premieres in Vienna. [1]

March 10

• Jack Johnson fights Victor McLaglen to no decision in six for box title. [1]

March 12

• Johanna "Lena" Bakker Dutch actress/wife of Bruno Gerlach, dies at age 34. [1]

March 14

• Amsterdam Social-Democratic Party (SDP) forms. [1]

March 16

• George Thorndike Angell lawyer (ASPCA), dies at age 85. [1]

March 18

• Einar Dessau of Denmark uses a short-wave radio transmitter, becoming the first radio broadcaster. [1] [5]

March 22

• Gyula Erkel composer, dies at age 66. [1]

March 24

• John Millington Synge Irish dramatist/playwright/poet, dies at age 37. [1]

March 25

• Ruperto Chapi y Lorente composer, dies at age 57. [1]

March 26

• August Strindberg's "Bjalb-jarle-ti" premieres in Stockholm. [1]
• Nikolai Arkas composer, dies at age 56. [1]

March 30

• Queensboro Bridge opens, linking Manhattan and Queens. [1]

March 31

• In Belfast, Ireland, the keel of the Titanic is laid down at Harland and Wolff Shipyard. [117.39]
• Gustav Mahler conducts New York Philharmonic for his first time. [1]

April 3

• Benjamin Johnson Lang composer, dies at age 71. [1]

April 6

• First credit union established in US. [1]
• United States Navy commander Robert Peary, assistant Matthew Henson, and four Inuit men reach the North Pole, the first documented men to reach the pole. [1] [486.70]

April 9

• Charles Conder artist, dies. [1]

April 10

• Algernon Charles Swinburne English poet, dies at age 72. [1]

April 12

• Hermann Kotzchmar composer, dies at age 79. [1]

April 13

• Death of Sir Donald Currie at age 83 at Dartmouth, England; founder of Union Castle Steamship Company. [152.18]

April 14

• Anglo-Persian Oil Company forms in London. [1]

April 15

• Mien Wenneker, Dutch prince Henry's lover, weds Uncle Cornelis Abbo. [1]

April 18

• Joan of Arc is beatified in Rome. [1] [5]

April 19

• Joan of Arc, declared a saint. [1]

April 27

• Sultan of Turkey Abdul Hamid II is overthrown. [1]

May 1

• Netherlands begins unity with Belgium. [1]

May 5

• Pauline Staegeman German feminist, dies. [1]

May 7

• Construction begins on first 100 houses in Ahuzat Bayit (Tel Aviv). [1]

May 8

• Friedrich von Holstein German diplomat, dies. [1]

May 10

• Johannes de Koo journalist/playwright, dies. [1]

May 13

• Christian National Labor Workers (CNV) party begins in Netherlands. [1]

May

• Cape Colony, Natal, Orange Free State, and Transvaal unite as Union of South Africa. [152.18]

May 17

• White firemen on Georgia railroad strike to protest hiring blacks. [1]

May 18

• George Meredith English poet/writer (Diana of Crossways), dies at age 81. [1]
• Isaac M F Albéniz Spanish pianist/composer, dies at age 48. [1]

May 22

• First San Francisco fireboat, David Scannell, launched. [1]

May 24

• Bristol University granted Royal Charter. [1]

May 30

• National Conference on the Negro is held. [1]
• Reuben Siegel laid cornerstone of first home in Tel-Aviv. [1]

May 31

• First NAACP conference (United Charities Building, New York City). [1]

June 1

• (to October 16) The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition is held in Seattle, Washington. [1] [498.84]

June 7

• Cleveland Industrial Exposition opens. [1]

June 16

• First US airplane sold commercially, by Glenn Curtiss for $5,000. [1]

June 17

• A Kopff discovers asteroid #682 Hagar. [1]

June 26

• The Science Museum in London comes into existence as an independent entity. [5]

June 28

• First French air show, Concours d'Avation opens. [1]

July 11

• Simon Newcomb celestial mechanics authority, dies. [1]

July 12

• 16th Amendment approved (power to tax incomes). [1]

July 23

• M Wolf discovers asteroid #683 Lanzia. [1]

July 25

• Louis Blériot of France makes the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air machine (Calais to Dover) in 37 minutes. [1] [5]

July 27

• Orville Wright tests first US Army airplane, flying 1h12m. [1]

July 30

• US Army accepts delivery of first military airplane. [1]

August 2

• The US Mint releases the Lincoln cent to circulation. [1] [421.68] [465.62] [471.56]
• Army Air Corps formed as Army takes first delivery from Wright Brothers. [1]

August 11

• SOS first used by an American ship, Arapahoe, off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. [1]

August 24

• Workers start pouring concrete for the Gatun locks of the Panama Canal. [1] [150.61]

August 29

• AH Latham of France sets world airplane altitude record of 155 m. [1]
• World's first air race held in Rheims France. Glenn Curtis (USA) wins. [1]

September 6

• Word received, Admiral Peary discovers North Pole five months earlier. [1]

September 7

• Eugène Lefebvre dies test piloting a Wright A aircraft. [1]

September

• The Lusitania ocean liner crosses the Atlantic westbound in a record 4 days, 11 hours, 40 minutes. [274.13]

September 25

• Hudson-Fulton Celebration opens in New York. [1]

October 16

• The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, held in Seattle, Washington, closes. 3.75 million visitors attended. [498.84]

October 18

• Comte de Lambert of France sets airplane altitude record of 300 m. [1]

October 26

• Prince Ito of Japan is assassinated by a Korean. [1]

November 4

• The opera "Il Segreto di Susanna" is produced (Munich). [1]

November 7

• Knights and Ladies of Saint Peter Claver organizes in Mobile Alabama. [1]

November 13

• 259 miners die in a fire at Saint Paul Mine at Cherry Illinois. [1]

November 18

• US invades Nicaragua, later overthrows President Zelaya. [1]

November 23

• 18.2 cm (7.17") of rainfall, Rattlesnake Creek, Idaho (state record). [1]

December 1

• First Christmas Club payment made, to Carlisle Trust Company, Pennsylvania. [1]
• First Israeli kibbutz founded, Deganya Alef. [1]

December 4

• Paul-Albert Besnard French painter/graphic artist (Elle), dies at age 60. [1]

December 7

• Leo Baekeland, Yonkers New York, patents first thermosetting plastic (Bakelite). [1]

December 8

• Bird banding society found. [1]

December 9

• First US monoplane flown (Henry W Walden, Long Island New York). [1]

December 10

• Red Cloud Sioux Indian chief, dies. [1]

December 11

• Colored moving pictures demonstrated at Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York. [1]

December 13

• Innokenti F Annenski Russian poet/interpreter, dies at age 53. [1]

December 14

• Leopold II king of Belgium, dies. [1]

December 15

• Francisco Tarrega y Eixea composer, dies at age 57. [1]

December 16

• US pressure forces Nicaraguan President José Santos Zelaya from office. [1]

December 17

• Leopold II king of Belgium dies. [1]
• Leopold II, king of Belgium, buried in Brussels. [1]

December 20

• Benjamin Ipavec composer, dies at age 79. [1]

December 21

• First junior high school established (Berkeley CA). [1]
• Clyde Fitch's "City" premieres in New York City, New York. [1]
• University of Copenhagen rejects Cook's claim that he was first to North Pole. [1]

December 23

• Albert becomes king of Belgium. [1]
• King Leopold II of Belgium. [1]

December 24

• Nicolaas G Pierson director Suriname/Dutch Bank, dies at age 80. [1]