1908 in the United States

1908 in the United States
Years:	1905 1906 1907 – 1908 – 1909 1910 1911
Flag
46 stars (1908–12)
Timeline of United States history History of the United States (1865–1918)

Events from the year 1908 in the United States.

Incumbents

Federal Government

• President: Theodore Roosevelt (R-New York)
• Vice President: Charles W. Fairbanks (R-Indiana)
• Chief Justice: Melville Fuller (originally now residing in from of the U.S. state of Illinois)
• Speaker of the House of Representatives: Joseph Gurney Cannon (R-Illinois)
• Congress: 60th

Governors and Lieutenant Governors
Governors 2 Lieutenant Governors 2

Events

File:File-ABouquetOfFloweryNewYearPostcardsFor1908.jpg

United States postcards for New Year 1908

File:Grandcanyon laban.jpg

January 11: Grand Canyon designated as a monument, and later, in 1919, becomes a National Park.

January

• January 1 – A ball signifying New Year's Day drops in New York City's Times Square for the first time.
  • Gustav Mahler makes US conducting debut at the Metropolitan Opera.
  • Georgia introduces a law prohibiting alcohol.
• January 13 – A fire at the Rhoads Opera House in Boyertown, Pennsylvania, kills 170 people. The tragedy is a catalyst for stricter fire safety laws nationwide.
• January 15 – The Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority (the first Greek-letter organization by and for black college women) is established.
• January 21 – New York City passes the Sullivan Ordinance, making it illegal for women to smoke in public, only for it to be vetoed by the mayor.

February

• February 12
  • The first around-the-world car race, begins in New York City.
  • Division of Militia Affairs with the War Department.
• February 18 – Japanese immigration to the U.S.A. is restricted under the Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907.
• February 25 – The Bible Institute of Los Angeles (now Biola University) is founded.
• February 27 – A 46th star is added to the United States flag representing the state of Oklahoma.

March

• March 4 – The Collinwood School Fire, near Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A., kills 174.
• March 26 – The US Thomas Flyer car sails for Alaska at the head of a motor race from New York to Paris.

April

• April 8 – Harvard University votes to establish the Harvard Business School.
• April 19 – The Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago, designed by Jens Jensen, opens to the public for the first time.
• April 24 – The seventh deadliest tornado in U.S. history strikes the towns of Amite, Louisiana, Pine, Louisiana and Purvis, Mississippi, killing 143 and injuring 770.

May

• May 10 – Mother's Day is observed for the first time, at Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia.

June

• June 20 – The Georgia Tech Alumni Association is chartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

July

• July 22 – The automobile manufacturing company Fisher Body is founded.
• July 26 – 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

• August 14 – Springfield Race Riot of 1908 in Springfield, Illinois.
• August 31 – A charter is granted for Wayland Literary and Technical Institute in Plainview, Texas (now Wayland Baptist University).

September

September 27: The first Ford Model T.

• September 16 – William C. Durant founds the company which eventually becomes General Motors.
• September 17 – At Ft. Myer, Virginia, U.S.A. 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 27 – Henry Ford produces his first Model T automobile.

October

• October 1 – The launch price for the Ford Model T is set as $850.
• October 13 – The Church of the Nazarene is organized officially at Pilot Point, Texas as the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene. This is the official "birthday" of the denomination.
• October 14 – The Chicago Cubs win the 1908 World Series defeating the Detroit Tigers in Game 5. As of 2015, this is the last time the Cubs have won a World Series.

November

• November 3 – 1908 Presidential election: Republican William Howard Taft defeats Democrat William Jennings Bryan.
• November 24 – The first credit union in the United States begins operation in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Undated

• The American Temperance University closes.
• The Converse Rubber Shoe Company (also known as the Boston Rubber Shoe Company) is formed in Malden, Massachusetts.
• The first upright vacuum cleaner is invented by James Murray Spangler and the rights sold later in the year to The Hoover Company.

Ongoing

• Progressive Era (1890s–1920s)
• Lochner era (c. 1897–c. 1937)
• Black Patch Tobacco Wars (1904–1908)
• Great White Fleet voyage (1907–1909)

Births

January – March

• January 1 – Bill Tapia, Musician (died 2011)
• January 14 – Russ Columbo, Singer, bandleader, and composer (died 1934)
• January 27 – Oran "Hot Lips" Page, Jazz musician (died 1954)
• February 2 – Justice M. Chambers, Medal of Honor recipient (died 1982)
• February 17 – Red Barber, Baseball announcer and sports journalist (died 1992)
• February 26 – Tex Avery, Cartoonist (died 1980)
• February 29 – Dee Brown, Writer and historian (died 2002)
• March 4 – T.R.M. Howard, African-American civil rights leader & surgeon (died 1976)
• March 13 – Walter Annenberg, Publisher and philanthropist (died 2002)
• March 20 – Frank Stanton, Businessman (died 2006)
• March 22 – Louis L'Amour, Author (died 1988)
• March 26 – Henry (Hank) Sylvern, Radio personality (died 1964)
• March 29 – Arthur O'Connell, Actor (died 1981)

April – June

• April 2 – Buddy Ebsen, Actor and dancer (died 2003)
• April 4
  • Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, Author (died 2006)
  • Frances Ford Seymour, Socialite (died 1950)
• April 5 – Bette Davis, Actress (died 1989)
• April 6 – John P. Davies, Diplomat (died 1999)
• April 15 – eden ahbez, Musician (died 1995)
• April 20 – Lionel Hampton, African-American musician and bandleader (died 2002)
• April 25 – Edward R. Murrow, Journalist (died 1965)
• April 29 – Jack Williamson, Science fiction author (died 2006)
• May 20 – James Stewart, Actor (died 1997)
• May 23 – John Bardeen, Physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1991)
• May 25 – Theodore Roethke, Poet (died 1963)
• May 30 – Mel Blanc, Voice actor (died 1989)
• May 31 – Don Ameche, Actor (died 1993)
• June 18 – Bud Collyer, Voice actor and game show host (died 1969)
• June 20 – Billy Werber, Baseball player (died 2009)
• June 26 – William F. Knowland, United States Senator from California from 1945 till 1959. Politician and newspaperman (died 1974)
• June 27 – Bill Kennedy, Actor (died 1997)
• June 29 – Leroy Anderson, Composer (died 1975)

July – September

• July 12 – Milton Berle, Comedian (died 2002)
• July 21 – William E. Jenner, United States Senator from Indiana from 1947 to 1959. (died 1985)
• July 25 – Kathryn Eames, Actress (died 2004)
• July 27 – Joseph Mitchell, Writer (died 1996)
• August 2 – Al Alquist, California politician (died 2006)
• August 9 – A. I. Bezzerides, Screenwriter (died 2007)
• August 16
  • William Maxwell, Novelist and editor (died 2000)
  • Orlando Cole, Classical cellist and educator (died 2010)
• August 20 – Al Lopez, Baseball player and manager (died 2005)
• August 27 – Lyndon Johnson, 36th President of the United States from 1963 till 1969. (died 1973)
• August 28 – Roger Tory Peterson, Naturalist, artist and educator (died 1996)
• August 31 – William Saroyan, Writer (died 1981)
• September 4 – Richard Wright, African-American author (died 1960)
• September 6 – Korczak Ziolkowski, Sculptor (died 1982)
• September 7
  • Paul Brown, Football coach (died 1991)
  • Michael E. DeBakey, Surgeon and medical researcher (died 2008)
• September 10 – Raymond Scott, Composer, bandleader, electronic music pioneer (died 1994)
• September 13 – Mae Questel, Actress (died 1998)
• September 15 – Penny Singleton, Actress (died 2003)
• September 29 – Eddie Tolan, Athlete (died 1967)

October – December

• October 6 – Carole Lombard, Actress (died 1942)
• October 9 – Lee Wiley, Jazz singer (died 1975)
• October 14 – Ruth Hale, Playwright and actress (died 2003)
• October 20 – Carl Stuart Hamblen, Musician and presidential candidate (died 1989)
• October 22 – John Gould, Humorist, essayist, and columnist (died 2003)
• November 12 – Harry Blackmun, Judge (died 1999)
• November 18 – Imogene Coca, Actress (died 2001)
• November 20 – Alistair Cooke, English-born journalist (died 2004)
• November 23 – Nelson S. Bond, Science fiction writer (died 2006)
• November 29 – Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Politician (died 1972)
• December 3 – Edward Underdown, Actor (died 1989)
• December 4 – Alfred Hershey, Bacteriologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1997)
• December 7 – Slim Bryant, Country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist (died 2010)
• December 11 – Elliott Carter, Composer (died 2012)
• December 17 – Willard Libby, Chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1980)
• December 23 – Sol Carter, Baseball player (died 2006)

Date unknown

• Howard Cary, Engineer (died 1991)

Deaths

• April 19 – Simon B. Conover, United States Senator from Florida from 1873 till 1879. (born 1840)
• April 20 – Henry Chadwick, English-born baseball writer and historian (born 1824)
• May 14 – John O'Connell, baseball player (born 1872)
• June 1 – James Kimbrough Jones, United States Senator from Arkansas from 1885 till 1903. (born 1839)
• June 13 – Henry Lomb, German-American optician, co-founder of Bausch & Lomb (born 1848)
• June 14 – Frederick Stanley, founder of the Stanley Cup (born 1841)
• June 24 – Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th President (born 1837)
• July 3 – Joel Chandler Harris, author (born 1848)
• July 10 – Phoebe Knapp, hymn composer (born 1839)
• August 4 – William B. Allison, United States Senator from Iowa from 1873 till 1908. (born 1829)
• August 26 – Tony Pastor, vaudeville and theater impresario (born 1837)
• September 17 – Thomas Selfridge, army officer & first aviation casualty (born 1882)
• October 30 – Caroline Astor, socialite (born 1830)

External links

• Media related to at Wikimedia Commons