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  • U.S.
    Thursday May 14, 1908
    The Wright brothers

    First fixed-wing aircraft passenger on a few short flights

    U.S.
    Thursday May 14, 1908

    Their contracts required them to fly with a passenger, so they modified the 1905 Flyer by installing two seats and adding upright control levers. After tests with sandbags in the passenger seat, Charlie Furnas, a helper from Dayton, became the first fixed-wing aircraft passenger on a few short flights May 14, 1908.




  • University of Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
    1908
    Carter G. Woodson

    Woodson attended the University of Chicago

    University of Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
    1908

    Woodson later attended the University of Chicago, where he was awarded an A.B. and A.M. in 1908. He was a member of the first black professional fraternity Sigma Pi Phi and a member of Omega Psi Phi.




  • Washington D.C., U.S.
    1908
    Library of Congress

    Schatz collection of early opera librettos

    Washington D.C., U.S.
    1908

    The 1908 Schatz collection of early opera librettos.




  • U.S.
    1908
    Juneteenth

    Texas and all former Confederate states passed new constitutions or amendments that effectively disenfranchised black people

    U.S.
    1908

    In the early 20th century, economic and political forces led to a decline in Juneteenth celebrations. From 1890 to 1908, Texas and all former Confederate states passed new constitutions or amendments that effectively disenfranchised black people, excluding them from the political process. White-dominated state legislatures passed Jim Crow laws imposing second-class status.




  • U.S.
    Saturday Jul 4, 1908
    Flag of the United States

    Star for Oklahoma

    U.S.
    Saturday Jul 4, 1908

    The flag was changed to have 46 stars. (for Oklahoma)




  • Fairmont, West Virginia, U.S.
    Sunday Jul 5, 1908
    Father's Day

    The First observance of a day honoring fathers

    Fairmont, West Virginia, U.S.
    Sunday Jul 5, 1908

    Father's Day was not celebrated in the US, outside Catholic traditions, until the 20th century. As a civic celebration in the US, it was inaugurated in the early 20th century to complement Mother's Day by celebrating fathers and male parenting. After Anna Jarvis' successful promotion of Mother's Day in Grafton, West Virginia, the first observance of a day honoring fathers was held on July 5, 1908, in Fairmont, West Virginia, in the Williams Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church South, now known as Central United Methodist Church.




  • U.S.
    1908
    Wind turbine

    The Spread in U.S.

    U.S.
    1908

    By 1908, there were 72 wind-driven electric generators operating in the United States from 5 kW to 25 kW. Around the time of World War I, American windmill makers were producing 100,000 farm windmills each year, mostly for water-pumping.


  • Virginia, U.S.
    Thursday Sep 3, 1908
    The Wright brothers

    Demonstrating another nearly identical Flyer to the United States Army

    Virginia, U.S.
    Thursday Sep 3, 1908

    Orville followed his brother's success by demonstrating another nearly identical Flyer to the United States Army at Fort Myer, Virginia, starting on September 3, 1908.


  • U.S.
    Wednesday Sep 9, 1908
    The Wright brothers

    The First hour-long flight

    U.S.
    Wednesday Sep 9, 1908

    On September 9, he made the first hour-long flight, lasting 62 minutes and 15 seconds.


  • U.S.
    Thursday Sep 17, 1908
    The Wright brothers

    The First airplane crash fatality

    U.S.
    Thursday Sep 17, 1908

    On September 17, Army lieutenant Thomas Selfridge rode along as his passenger, serving as an official observer. A few minutes into the flight at an altitude of about 100 feet (30 m), a propeller split and shattered, sending the Flyer out of control. Selfridge suffered a fractured skull in the crash and died that evening in the nearby Army hospital, becoming the first airplane crash fatality.


  • Fort Myer, Virginia, U.S.
    Thursday Sep 17, 1908
    Plane Accidents

    The first powered aircraft crash

    Fort Myer, Virginia, U.S.
    Thursday Sep 17, 1908

    The first involving a powered aircraft was the crash of a Wright Model A aircraft at Fort Myer, Virginia, in the United States on September 17, 1908, injuring its co-inventor and pilot, Orville Wright, and killing the passenger, Signal Corps Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge.


  • U.S.
    Wednesday Oct 7, 1908
    The Wright brothers

    The First American woman passenger

    U.S.
    Wednesday Oct 7, 1908

    On October 7, 1908, Edith Berg, the wife of the brothers' European business agent, became the first American woman passenger when she flew with Wilbur—one of many passengers who rode with him that autumn.


  • Grafton, West Virginia, U.S.
    1908
    Mother's Day

    The First Celebration

    Grafton, West Virginia, U.S.
    1908

    The modern holiday of Mother's Day was first celebrated in 1908, when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother at St Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia.


  • Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., U.S.
    1908
    Mother's Day

    Congress rejected a proposal to make Mother's Day an official holiday

    Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., U.S.
    1908

    In 1908, the U.S. Congress rejected a proposal to make Mother's Day an official holiday, joking that they would also have to proclaim a "Mother-in-law's Day".


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