1908 in the United Kingdom

1908 in the United Kingdom:

Other years

1906 | 1907 | 1908 (1908) | 1909 | 1910

Individual countries of the United Kingdom

England | Ireland | Scotland | Wales

Sport

1908 English cricket season Football: England | Scotland

Events from the year 1908 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

• Monarch - Edward VII
• Prime Minister - Henry Campbell-Bannerman (Liberal) (until 3 April), H. H. Asquith (Liberal) (starting 5 April)

Events

• 1 January
  • Nimrod Expedition: Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the Nimrod for Antarctica.
  • Harry Bensley leaves for his would-be trip around the world pushing a pram and wearing an iron mask, beginning from Trafalgar Square in London.
• 22 January - Arthur Henderson becomes the second leader of the Labour Party following the resignation of Keir Hardie.
• 24 January - Start of publication of Robert Baden-Powell's Scouting for Boys in London. The book will over time sell over 100 million copies and effectively begin the worldwide Boy Scout movement.
• March - The Children's Encyclopedia begins publication in London.
• 1 April - The Territorial Force of the British Army is established by merger of the civilian-organised Volunteer Force with the Yeomanry; and remaining units of the militia are transferred into the regular Special Reserve.
• 7 April - Campbell-Bannerman resigns as Prime Minister, on the grounds of health; replaced by Asquith.
• 8 April - David Lloyd George becomes Chancellor of the Exchequer, while Winston Churchill enters the Cabinet for the first time, as President of the Board of Trade.
• 18 April - Manchester United secure the Football League First Division title - the first major trophy of their history.
• 27 April–31 October - Olympics held in London. The Great Britain and Ireland team win 56 gold, 51 silver and 39 bronze medals.
• 11 May - Foundation stone of the Royal Liver Building in Liverpool is laid.
• 24 May (Empire Day) - Formation of the 1st Arundel (Earl of Arundel's Own) Scout Group (traditionally accepted date although Scouting was probably active in Arundel prior to this).
• 21 June - First large suffragette rally, in London.
• July - Allied Artists' Association holds its first exhibition, at the Royal Albert Hall.
• 31 July - Irish Universities Act receives Royal Assent in Parliament. This provides for establishment of the federal National University of Ireland based in Dublin and the Queen's University of Belfast.
• 10 September - The first Minas Geraes-class Dreadnought battleship for Brazil, Minas Geraes is launched at Armstrong Whitworth's yard on the River Tyne.
• October
  • Edith Morley is made Professor of English at University College, Reading, the first woman appointed to a chair at an English university-level institution.
  • First Ideal Home Exhibition held, at Olympia (London) sponsored by the Daily Mail newspaper.
• 16 October - American-born Samuel F. Cody makes the first powered fixed-wing aircraft flight in Britain, taking off at the School of Ballooning, Farnborough, Hampshire, in British Army Aeroplane No 1.
• November
  • Horace, Eustace and Oswald Short found Short Brothers, the first aircraft manufacturing company in England, in Battersea, London.
  • The North and South Wales Bank is absorbed into the London City and Midland Bank, bringing an end to banknote issue in Wales.
• 14 November - Elizabeth Garrett Anderson is the first woman in England to be elected as a mayor (of Aldeburgh).
• 3 December - The first performance of Edward Elgar's Symphony No. 1 is given by The Hallé in Manchester's Free Trade Hall.
• 10 December - The National Farmers Union is founded.
• 21 December - Royal Assent given to the following Acts of Parliament:
  • Children Act - comes into force 1909, q.v.
  • Prevention of Crime Act - regularises national provision of Borstals.

Undated

• Walter Sickert paints the series of problem pictures The Camden Town Murder.
• John Hassall paints the first version of The Jolly Fisherman poster (slogan: Skegness is SO bracing).
• Punishment of Incest Act makes incest a civil crime for the first time.
• Bisto gravy powder is first marketed.
• Vimto is invented by John Noel Nichols. Originally sold under the name Vimtonic, Nichols shortens it to Vimto in 1912.

Publications

• Robert Baden-Powell's book Scouting for Boys.
• The Children's Encyclopedia, first edition.
• G. K. Chesterton's novel The Man Who Was Thursday and his book Orthodoxy.
• W. H. Davies' autobiography The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp.
• E. M. Forster's novel A Room with a View.
• Kenneth Grahame's children's novel The Wind in the Willows.
• E. Nesbit's children's novel The House of Arden.
• H. De Vere Stacpoole's novel The Blue Lagoon.
• First issue of The Magnet, featuring a story of Greyfriars School by Frank Richards.

Births

• 8 January - William Hartnell, actor (died 1975)
• 5 February - Daisy and Violet Hilton, conjoined twin actresses (died 1969)
• 11 February - Vivian Ernest Fuchs, geologist and explorer (died 1999)
• 22 February - John Mills, actor (died 2005)
• 5 March - Rex Harrison, actor (died 1990)
• 12 March - Ida Crowe Pollock, writer (died 2013)
• 19 March - George Rodger, photojournalist (died 1995)
• 20 March - Michael Redgrave, actor (died 1985)
• 25 March
  • David Lean, film director (died 1991)
  • Bridget D'Oyly Carte, head of D'Oyly Carte Opera Company (died 1985)
• 27 March - Semprini, musician (died 1990)
• 14 May - Amy Jagger, gymnast (died 1993)
• 28 May - Ian Fleming, writer (died 1964)
• 30 June - Winston Graham, writer (died 2003)
• 25 July - Bill Bowes, cricketer (died 1987)
• 4 August - Osbert Lancaster, cartoonist (died 1986)
• 21 August - M. M. Kaye, writer (died 2004)
• 23 August - Hannah Frank, artist and sculptor (died 2008)
• 31 August - Kenneth Gandar-Dower, sportsman, aviator, explorer and author (died 1944)
• 6 September - Louis Essen, physicist (died 1997)
• 12 September - Reginald C. Fuller, Roman Catholic priest and writer (died 2011)
• 19 October - Sydney MacEwan, singer (died 1990)
• 2 November - Fred Bakewell, cricketer (died 1983)
• 20 November - Alistair Cooke, journalist (died 2004)
• 26 November - Charles Forte, businessman (died 2007)
• 18 December - Celia Johnson, actress (died 1982)

Deaths

• 25 January - Ouida, writer (born 1839)
• 22 March - John William Crombie, Scottish woollen manufacturer and politician (born 1858)
• 20 April - Henry Chadwick, baseball writer and historian (born 1824)
• 22 April - Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Prime Minister (born 1836)
• 31 May - Sir John Evans, archaeologist (born 1823)
• 2 June - William Napier, recipient of the Victoria Cross (born 1828)
• 22 July - William Randal Cremer, politician and pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (born 1828)
• 16 October - Joseph Leycester Lyne (Father Ignatius of Jesus), Anglican Benedictine abbot (born 1837)
• 1 December - Howell Jones, Welsh rugby union player (born 1882)