What Happened in August 1908

Historical Events

Tour de France

Aug 9 Tour de France: French road cyclist Lucien Petit-Breton successfully defends his title beating François Faber of Luxembourg

Meeting of Interest

Aug 11 King Edward VII of Britain meets with Emperor Wilhelm of Friedrichshof, Germany; the main point of contention is the increasing size of Germany's navy

Model T

Aug 12 Henry Ford's company builds the first Model T car

Cy Young Celebrated

Aug 13 Future Baseball HOF pitcher Cy Young's career is celebrated with special day in his name in Boston; he pitches briefly for Red Sox against an All-Star team

Aug 13 King Edward VII of Great Britain meets with Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria at Ischl; the King tries to persuade the Emperor to advise Germany against aggressive (anti-British) policies
Aug 14 Race riot in Springfield Illinois
Aug 14 The first beauty contest is held in Folkestone, England.

Event of Interest

Aug 16 The Committee of Union and Progress, 'The Young Turks', announces a program for reforms and respect for the rights of all within the Ottoman Empire, regardless of race or religion

General and Ottoman Minister for War Enver Pasha

Bank of Italy Building

Aug 17 Bank of Italy (now Bank of America) opens new HQ, the Bank of Italy building at Clay & Montgomery, San Francisco

Aug 17 Booth Tarkington & Harry Leon Wilson's play "Man from Home" premieres in New York
Aug 17 Projection in Paris of the very first animated cartoon, "Fantasmagorie" realized by Émile Cohl

Great White Fleet

Aug 20 America's Great White Fleet arrives in Sydney, Australia, to be greeted with a tremendous welcome; 221 American sailors desert to remain in Australia

American naval ships leave Virginia on December 16, 1907, the first day of their two-year voyage

Aug 20 Congo Free State becomes Belgian Congo

Burns KOs Squires

Aug 24 Canadian champion Tommy Burns KOs Bill Squires in 13th round at the Sydney Stadium, Australia to retain world heavyweight boxing title; Burns' 3rd KO of Squires

Boxer and World Heavyweight Champion Tommy Burns

Aug 24 NY Giants scores shown on electric diamonds known as "Compton's Baseball Bulletin" at Madison Square Garden
Aug 25 Allen Winter wins US 1st $50,000 trotting race
Aug 25 National Association of Colored Nurses forms
Aug 27 Calgary City Rugby Football Club re-organizes as the Tigers
Aug 29 NY gives a ticker tape parade to returning US Olympians from London

US Men's Tennis Open

Aug 29 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Newport, RI: Defending champion William Larned beats Beals Wright 6-1, 6-2, 8-6 for his 4th of 7 US singles titles

US Golf Open

Aug 29 US Open Men's Golf, Myopia Hunt GC: Fred McLeod defeats fellow Scot Willie Smith by 6 strokes in an 18-hole playoff to win his only major title

Events in 1908

Famous Birthdays

Aug 1 Miloslav Kabeláč, Czech composer, born in Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia (now Czech Republic) (d. 1979)
Aug 4 Kurt Eichhorn, German conductor, born in Munich (d. 1994)
Aug 4 Osbert Lancaster, English cartoonist and author (Daily Express), born in London (d. 1986)
Aug 5 Harold Holt, Australian politician, Prime Minister of Australia (1966-67); supported US in Vietnam, disappeared swimming, presumed drowned while PM, born in Stanmore, New South Wales (d. 1967)
Aug 6 George Singer, Czech-Israeli pianist, composer, and opera conductor (Hamburg Staatsoper; Israeli Opera), born in Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia (now Czech Republic) (d. 1980)

Helen Jacobs (1908-1997)

Aug 6 American tennis player (7 Grand Slam singles titles, US Open 1932-35), born in Globe, Arizona

Aug 6 James Lees-Milne, English writer and architectural historian, born in Wickhamford, Worcestershire (d. 1997)
Aug 6 Solomon Adler, English-born economist and alleged spy for China, born in Leeds, England (d. 1994)
Aug 6 Svend Erik Tarp, Danish composer, born in Thisted, Denmark (d. 1994)
Aug 6 William "Will" Lee, American actor (They Live by Night, Melody Lane), born in New York City (d. 1982)
Aug 8 Arthur Goldberg, American jurist and statesman (UN ambassador, Supreme Court justice 1962-65), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1990)
Aug 8 Chivu Stoica, Romanian politician (Premier of Romania 1955-61), born in Smeeni, Romania (d. 1975)
Aug 8 Emilio Flores Márquez "Don Millo", Puerto Rican sugar cane worker and centenarian, (world's oldest man in 2021), born in Carolina, Pueto Rico (d. 2021) [1]
Aug 10 Adelino ("Billy") Gonsalves, American soccer player (d. 1977)
Aug 12 David Renton, British politician (one of the final National Liberal MPs), born in Dartford, England (d. 2007)
Aug 13 Gene Raymond [Raymond Guion], American actor (Paris 7000, Love on a Bet, Fireside Theater), born in New York City (d. 1998)
Aug 14 Jean Knox, Director of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (1941-43) (d. 1993)
Aug 14 Manos Katrakis, Greek actor (Antigone; Marinos Kontaras), born in Kastelli Kissamou, Crete (d. 1984)
Aug 16 William Maxwell, American novelist and editor (The New Yorker), born in New York City (d. 2000)
Aug 17 Kurt Hessenberg, German composer, born in Frankfurt, Germany (d. 1994)
Aug 18 Armijn Pane, Indonesian writer (Belenggu), born in North Sumatra, Indonesia (d. 1970)
Aug 18 Bill Merritt, New Zealand cricket spin bowler (6 Tests, 12 wickets; Canterbury, Northamstonshire CCC), born in Christchurch, New Zealand (d. 1977)
Aug 18 Edgar Faure, Prime Minister of France (1952, 52-56) and writer, born in Béziers, France (d. 1988)
Aug 18 Milan Ristić, Serbian composer, born in Belgrade, Serbia (d. 1982)
Aug 19 (Lyle) "Spud" Murphy [Miko Stefanovic], Serbian-American jazz multi-instrumentalist, arranger (Benny Goodman; Casa Loma Orchestra), bandleader, composer (Columbia Pictures), and educator (Equal Interval System), born in Berlin, Germany (d. 2005)
Aug 19 Al Morgan, American jazz double-bassist (Cab Calloway; Fats Waller; Louis Jordan), born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 1974)

Aug 20 American Baseball HOF catcher (MLB All-Star 1934, 41; Brooklyn Dodgers; Boston Bees, Pittsburgh Pirates) and manager (AL Manager of the Year 1959 Chicago WS; Cleveland Indians), born in Tampa, Florida

Aug 20 Jeanne Stern, German screenwriter (The Condemned Village), born in Bedous, Aquitaine (d. 1998)
Aug 20 John Reginald Bevins, British Conservative politician, born in Liverpool, Lancashire (d. 1996)
Aug 20 Kingsley Davis, American sociologist and demographer (coined the term "population explosion"), born in Tuxedo, Texas (d. 1997)
Aug 21 David Farrar, English actor (Beat Girl, I Accuse, Watusi), born in Forest Gate, London (d. 1995)
Aug 21 M. M. Kaye, British writer (The Far Pavilions), born in Shimla, India (d. 2004)
Aug 21 Tom Tully, American radio, stage, and screen actor (The Caine Mutiny; Shane), born in Durango, Colorado (d. 1982)

Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004)

Aug 22 French photographer famous for 'The Decisive Moment', born in Chanteloup-en-Brie, France

Aug 23 Arthur Adamov, Russian-French playwright (Paolo Paoli), born in Kislovodsk, Terek Oblast, Russia (d. 1970)
Aug 23 Hannah Frank, Scottish artist and sculptor, born in Glasgow, Scotland (d. 2008)
Aug 25 Philip Coolidge, American actor (North by Northwest, North by Northwest, I Want to Live, Tingler), born in Concord, Massachusetts (d. 1967)
Aug 26 W. B. Henning, Prussian-born Iranist (d. 1967)
Aug 27 Frank Leahy, American football coach (Notre Dame), born in O'Neill, Nebraska (d. 1973)
Aug 27 Kurt Wegner, German artist, born in Köln, Germany (d. 1985)

Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973)

Aug 27 36th US President (Democrat: 1963-69), born in Stonewall, Texas

Donald Bradman (1908-2001)

Aug 27 Australian cricket batsman and captain (52 Tests; 6,996 runs @ WR 99.94 average; HS 334; 29 x 100s), born in Cootamundra, Australia

Aug 28 Orestes López, Cuban band leader and composer (co-inventor of 'mambo' with his brother, Cachao), born in Havana, Cuba (d. 1991)
Aug 28 Roger Tory Peterson, American ornithologist and writer (How to Know Birds), born in Jamestown, New York (d. 1996)
Aug 30 Fred MacMurray, American actor (Double Indemnity, The Apartment, My Three Sons), born in Kankakee, Illinois (d. 1991)
Aug 30 Leonor Fini, Argentine artist, born in Buenos Aires (d. 1996)
Aug 30 Willie Bryant, American jazz singer, bandleader, and disc jockey (Sugar Hill Times), born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 1964)
Aug 31 Conrad Baden, Norwegian composer, organist and music critic, born in Drammen, Norway (d. 1989)
Aug 31 William Saroyan, American novelist and playwright (Time of Your Life), born in Fresno, California (d. 1981)

Born in 1908

Famous Deaths

Aug 8 Joseph Maria Olbrich, Austrian architect (Vienna Secession movement), dies of leukemia at 40
Aug 11 Khudiram Bose, Indian freedom fighter (b. 1889)
Aug 13 Ira D. Sankey, American evangelist, singer, composer and publisher (Gospel Hymns and Sacred Songs), dies at 67
Aug 20 Louis Varney, French composer, dies at 64
Aug 25 Eyre Massey Shaw, British first chief of London Fire Brigade, dies at 78

Henri Becquerel (1852-1908)

Aug 25 French physicist who discovered radioactivity (Nobel 1903), dies at 55

Aug 26 Tony Pastor, American vaudeville performer, dies at 71
Aug 30 Alexander P. Stewart, American Lieutenant General (Confederate Army), dies at 86

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