August 1908 in History

Events in History

Aug 3 French brothers Amadee and Jean Bouyssonie discover the fossil remains of a nearly complete 60,000 year-old Neanderthal man 'Old man of La Chappelle' at La Chappelle-aux-Saints, France
Aug 7 The first train to travel the length of New Zealand's North Island 'main trunk line', leaves Wellington

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

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

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

Event of Interest

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

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
Aug 25 Allen Winter wins US 1st $50,000 trotting race
Aug 25 National Association of Colored Nurses forms
Aug 29 NY gives a ticker tape parade to returning US Olympians from London

Birthdays in History

Aug 4 Leslie Wilkinson, journalist
Aug 4 Osbert Lancaster, English cartoonist and author (Daily Express), born in London (d. 1986)
Aug 6 James Lees-Milne, English writer and architectural historian, born in Wickhamford, Worcestershire (d. 1997)
Aug 6 Sol Adler, economist Sinophile
Aug 8 Arthur J Goldberg, Ill, UN ambassador/Supreme Court justice (1962-65)
Aug 8 Chivu Stoica, premier of Romania (1955-61)
Aug 8 Emilio "Don Millo" Flores Márquez, Puerto Rican centenarian, (world's oldest man at 112 in 2021), born in Carolina, Pueto Rico
Aug 12 Lord Renton, QC/British government minister
Aug 14 Jean Knox, Director of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (1941-43) (d. 1993)
Aug 16 William Maxwell, American novelist and editor (The New Yorker), born in NYC, New York (d. 2000)
Aug 18 Armijn Pane, Indonesian writer (Belenggu), born in North Sumatra, Indonesia (d. 1970)
Aug 18 Edgar Faure, Prime Minister of France (1952, 52-56) and writer, born in Béziers, France (d. 1988)
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 M. M. Kaye, British writer (The Far Pavilions), born in Shimla, India (d. 2004)

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 Cornelis van Dis Sr., Dutch chemist and politician, born in Leiden, Netherlands
Aug 23 Hannah Frank, Scottish artist and sculptor, born in Glasgow, Scotland (d. 2008)
Aug 26 W. B. Henning, Prussian-born Iranist (d. 1967)
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

Aug 28 Roger Tory Peterson, American ornithologist and writer (How to Know Birds), born in Jamestown, New York (d. 1996)
Aug 30 Leonor Fini, Argentine artist, born in Buenos Aires (d. 1996)
Aug 31 William Saroyan, American novelist and playwright (Time of Your Life), born in Fresno, California (d. 1981)