Grand Canyon National Monument is created
Declaring that “The ages had been at work on it, and man can only mar it,” President Theodore Roosevelt designates the mighty Grand Canyon a national monument. Home to Native…
Also Within This Year in History:
1908
In a year that would revolutionize transportation, Henry Ford’s introduced his first Model T and the Wright Brothers’ made their first public flight to demonstrate the airplane they’d invented several years earlier. In Europe, Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina, now seen as a prelude to World War I. In America, Sears started selling "kit" homes through its mail-order catalog, starting for $650. And the charismatic outlaws Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid reportedly met their end in Bolivia—although not everyone believed it.
Declaring that “The ages had been at work on it, and man can only mar it,” President Theodore Roosevelt designates the mighty Grand Canyon a national monument. Home to Native…
On January 11, 1908, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt declares the massive Grand Canyon in northwestern Arizona a national monument. Though Native Americans lived in the area as early as the…
On this day in 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt places the Grand Canyon under public protection, declaring it a national monument. In a statement made during a visit to the Grand…
On January 24, 1908, the Boy Scouts movement begins in England with the publication of the first installment of Robert Baden‑Powell’s Scouting for Boys. The name Baden‑Powell was already well…
On February 1, 1908, King Carlos I of Portugal and his eldest son, Luis Filipe, are assassinated by revolutionaries while riding in an open carriage through the streets of Lisbon,…
Louis L’Amour, the prolific author of scores of bestselling western novels, is born in Jamestown, North Dakota. An indifferent student, L’Amour dropped out of high school at age 15. Over…
A fire in Chelsea, Massachusetts, leaves 12 dead, 85 missing and presumed dead and more than 17,000 homeless on this day in 1908. The fire nearly spread to nearby Boston…
A single tornado travels 150 miles through Louisiana and Mississippi, leaving 143 dead in its wake. In total, 311 people lost their lives to twisters during the deadly month of…
Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher is born on this day in Albion, Michigan. Her father, a fourth‑generation writer, purchased a newspaper in Whittier, California, where the family moved in 1911. In…
On this day in 1908, amid turmoil in the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Abdul Hamid decrees restoration of the constitution, fulfilling the main demand of the Committee of Union and Progress…
On July 26, 1908, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is born when U.S. Attorney General Charles Bonaparte orders a group of newly hired federal investigators to report to Chief…
On August 27, 1908, future President Lyndon Baines Johnson is born on a farm near Stonewall, Texas. The brash, outspoken Johnson grew up in an impoverished rural area and worked…
William Saroyan, the son of an Armenian immigrant, is born in Fresno on this day in 1908. Saroyan’s father died when the boy was only three, and he was raised…
On September 16, 1908, Buick Motor Company head William Crapo Durant spends $2,000 to incorporate General Motors in New Jersey. Durant, a high‑school dropout, had made his fortune building horse‑drawn…
On September 23, 1908, a game between the New York Giants and Chicago Cubs ends in 1‑1 tie after a controversial call at second base. The officials ruled that Giants…
On October 1, 1908, the first production Model T Ford is completed at the company’s Piquette Avenue plant in Detroit. Between 1908 and 1927, Ford would build some 15 million…
On October 6, 1908, the Dual Monarchy of Austria‑Hungary announces its annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, dual provinces in the Balkan region of Europe formerly under the control of the…
Caroline Schermerhorn Astor, wife of businessman and racehorse breeder William Backhouse Astor, Jr., dies at the age of 78. Even before her union with William Astor—the grandson of the American…
On this day in 1908, the boxer John Arthur Johnson defeats Tommy Burns in Sydney, Australia, becoming the first black heavyweight champion of the world and an international icon. Born…
Jack Johnson becomes the first African American to win the world heavyweight title when he knocks out Canadian Tommy Burns in the 14th round in a championship bout near Sydney,…