Title: 1908 Content: 1908 (MCMVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. == 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 15 – Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, the first Greek-letter organization by and for Black college women is established. * January 21 – New York City passes a law, the Sullivan Ordinance, making it illegal for aliens to smoke in public only to be vetoed by the mayor. * January 24 – Robert Baden-Powell begins the Boy Scout movement. * February 1 – King Carlos I of Portugal and Crown Prince Luis are shot in Lisbon. * February 11 – Australia regain The Ashes with a 308 run cricket victory over England. * February 18 – Japanese immigration to USA forbidden. * Philippe's, a restaurant opens in Los Angeles. * St. Albans City F.C. founded. * Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov, Russian biologist, and Paul Ehrlich, Germany, won the 1908 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine == Births == === January === * January 9 – Simone de Beauvoir, French writer and intellectual (d. 1986) * January 16 – Ethel Merman, American singer and actress (d. 1984) * January 22 – Lev Landau, Soviet physicist (d. 1968) === February === * February 6 – Amintore Fanfani, Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1999) * February 22 – Rómulo Betancourt, 47th & 54th President of Venezuela (d. 1981) * February 23 – William McMahon, Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1988) === March === * May 5 – Rex Harrison, British actor (d. 1990) * March 7 – Anna Magnani, Italian actress (d. 1973) * March 20 – Michael Redgrave, English stage actor (d. 1985) * March 25 – David Lean, British movie director (d. 1991) === April === * April 2 – Manoel de Oliveira, Portuguese movie director and screenwriter (d. 2015) * April 5 – Bette Davis, American actress (d. 1989) * April 5 – Herbert von Karajan, Austrian conductor (d. 1989) * April 28 – Oskar Schindler, German businessman (d. 1974) === May === * May 20 – James Stewart, American actor (d. 1997) * May 23 – John Bardeen, American physicist (d. 1991) * May 30 – Hannes Alfvén, Swedish physicist (d. 1995) * May 31 – Don Ameche, American actor, (d. 1993) === June === * June 26 – Salvador Allende, President of Chile (d. 1973) === July === * July 8 – Nelson Rockefeller, 41st Vice President of the United States (d. 1979) * July 12 – Milton Berle, American actor, entertainer and comedian (d. 2002) === August === * August 27 – Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th President of the United States (d. 1973) * August 30 – Fred MacMurray, American actor and singer (d. 1991) === September === * September 4 – Edward Dmytryk, Canadian-American movie director (d. 1999) === October === * October 06 – Carole Lombard, American actress (d. 1942) * October 15 – John Kenneth Galbraith, Canadian economist (d. 2006) * October 16 – Enver Hoxha, Prime Minister of Albania (d. 1985) === November === === December ===