1908 History, Trivia and Fun Facts

Firsts, Inventions and Wonders:
Adolph Spreckels, of the Spreckels Sugar Company, was the first Sugar Daddy, nicknamed by his 24-years-younger wife, Alma de Bretteville.

The word “empathy” did not enter the English language until 1908.

I Got the Blues published by New Orleans musician Antonio Maggio is probably the first published “Blues” song.

Gideon Bibles started appearing in Hotel rooms.

The first ‘spork’ (cutting spoon) was patented (#904553A) in 1908.

Around 400 BC, the Greek philosopher Democritus codified 4 basic tastes (sweet, sour, salty, bitter). No one challenged this until Auguste Escoffier, who claimed another, un-named taste, until a Japanese chemist, Kikunae Ikeda, ‘discovered’ the fifth flavor (umami) in L-glutamate.

Sunshine made Hydrox Cookies in 1908 and Oreo copied it in 1912.

Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf came up with the name Rolex when, as he said, “I tried combining the letters of the alphabet in every possible way. This gave me some hundred names, but none of them felt quite right. One morning, while riding on the upper deck of a horse-drawn omnibus along Cheapside in the City of London, a genie whispered ‘Rolex’ in my ear.”

Tea Bags became popular.

The American term “Melting Pot” was first used in Israel Zangwill’s play of the same name.

The recipe for Tootsie Rolls calls for the previous day’s batch to be mixed in with the new batch each day. Theoretically, this means there could be a bit of the very first, starting in 1908, Tootsie Rolls in every new roll made today.

Until 1908, Philadelphia City Hall was the tallest building in the world.

Pop Culture News:
London was the first city to have ever hosted the Olympics three times. 1908, 1948, and 2012.

The Tunguska Event, an explosion in Siberia in 1908, was 1,000 times greater than the atomic bomb dropped in Hiroshima, wiped out 80 million trees, and some people say it was from a Nikola Tesla experiment. #itwasnt #probablyameteor

“SOS” (· · · – – – · · ·) distress signal officially became the worldwide standard for help.

6,210 fans showed to see the Cubs win the 1908 World Series, the smallest crowd for a World Series game. Chicago Cubs playoff games are scheduled at 7:08 pm or 19:08 in military time, and this is because 1908 was the last year the Cubs won the world series. Merkle’s Boner was an incident in which rookie baseball player Fred Merkle of the New York Giants failed to advance to second base on what should have been a game-winning hit. This would lead to the Giants losing the National League pennant to the Chicago Cubs.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game is a 1908 Tin Pan Alley song by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer which has become the unofficial anthem of North American baseball.

HIV made the jump from chimps into humans around 1908.

Ford’s Model T went on sale, at $825.00.

Mother’s Day was created by Anna Jarvis of West Virginia in 1908. It soon became so commercial that Jarvis spent the rest of her life trying to remove it from the calendar.

Sears sold mail-order homes, 75,000 between 1908 and 1940, as part of their Modern Homes program. They arrived as a kit and included many modern conveniences, such as indoor plumbing.

In 1908 England William “Bigfoot” Anakin, a local champion was taken to court by a defense lawyer to help demonstrate that darts were not gambling, it was a game of skill. He threw three darts in the center, no other court official could do the same. The judge ruled that darts was a game of skill.

The Phaistos Disc was discovered in 1908 by the Italian archaeologist Luigi Pernier

1908 Olympics:
The United States is the only country that does not ‘dip’ its flag to the host country at the Olympics opening ceremonies. When the US flag-holder, Ralph Rose, was asked to do so for King Edward VII at the 1908 London games, he supposedly responded, “This flag dips to no earthly king.”

Pistol dueling was a sport in the 1908 summer Olympics. Contestants used wax bullets and metal masks for safety.

The United Kingdom won 146 medals in their 1908 London Olympic Games – 56 of them were gold medals, more than every other country in that year put together.

The 1908 Olympics were moved from Rome to London due to the 1906 eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

A marathon is 40.195 km (26.2 miles) because the British Queen Alexandra wanted the Olympic marathon in the 1908 Olympics in London to finish on the grass field. This changed the then-current distance of a marathon, but it was later formalized to be the official distance and never changed back.

Finland and Sweden are the only countries in the world that have earned a medal at every Olympic game since 1908.

When introduced to the Olympics in 1908, figure skating was actually part of the summer games. It remained so until 1924.

OOPS!
The Russian Olympic team arrived at the Olympics in London 12 days late because it was still using the Julian calendar instead of the Gregorian calendar.

English newspaper The Daily Telegraph printed an interview with Germany’s Emperor Wilhelm II, who characterized himself as ‘personally friendly’ to Britain but suggested the German people are hostile. It did not go well in either country and is the reason why even today refer separately between governments and citizens of nations.

Popular and Notable Books From 1908: