1908

1908 was the 37th year after the founding of the city of Birmingham.

Events

• April 24: The 1908 tornado killed 35 and injured 188 more along its 105 mile-long path.
• May 8: Vanderbilt Furnace No. 2 was blown in.
• May 19: An eastbound train derailed and damaged a steel bridge over the Cahaba River 15 miles east of Birmingham.
• July - August 30: An unsuccessful UMW strike idled 18,000 workers.

• The original 16th Street Baptist Church building was condemned.
• Architect Wallace Rayfield relocated his practice to Birmingham.
• Local prohibition was enacted in the City of Birmingham.
• Frank P. O'Brien succeeded George Ward as Mayor of Birmingham.
• The Birmingham Art Club was founded.
• The Brown Marx Building was expanded.
• Blanche Dean graduated from Lineville High School and began teaching at a local church school.

Sports

• Carleton Molesworth begins managing the Birmingham Barons
• The University of Alabama and Alabama Polytechnic Institute (Auburn) fail to agree on a meal stipend for players, thus ending their rivalry until the legislature required them to play each other again in 1948.

Buildings

• Elyton Elementary School
• Ensley High School
• The second Woodlawn City Hall

Births

• Augusta Williams, murder victim
• January 22: Alice Chalifoux, harpist
• April 20: Lionel Hampton, jazz vibraphonist and bandleader

Deaths

• February 23: Benjamin Roden
• March 6: M. J. Hurst, wife of Edward Hurst
• July 17: Charles Gardner

Context

1908 was a leap year. It was the year that the Grand Canyon was made a National Monument. The Boy Scouts of America was founded by Lord Robert Baden-Powell. The first Model T rolled off the Ford Motor Co. assembly line in Dearborn, Michigan. The Cubs earned their most recent World Series victory over Detroit. Taft was elected President over William Jennings Bryan. And an earthquake in Sicily killed more than 75,000 people.

External links

• "Views of Birmingham, Alabama with a glimpse at some of the natural resources of the Birmingham District and industries based theron." published by Isidore Newman & Son, Bankers (New York, New Orleans) and copyrighted in 1908.

1900s

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