1908 in sports
Encyclopedia
1908 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.
American football
College championship
Scotland
Italy
Netherlands
Greece
Brazil
Mexico
Australian rules football
VFL Premiership
Events
Bandy
Sweden
Baseball
World Series
Events
Boxing
Events
Lineal world champions
Cricket
England
Australia
India
New Zealand
South Africa
West Indies
Cycling
Tour de France
Field hockey
Olympic Games (Men's Competition)
Figure skating
Events
World Figure Skating Championships
1908 Summer Olympics
Golf
Major tournaments
Other tournaments
Horse racing
England
Australia
Canada
Ireland
USA
Ice hockey
Events
Stanley Cup
Lacrosse
Events
Vanderbilt Cup
American Grand Prize
Olympic Games
1908 Summer Olympics
Rowing
The Boat Race
Rugby league
Events
England
Australia
Rugby union
Home Nations Championship
Speed skating
Speed Skating World Championships
Tennis
Australia
England
France
USA
Davis Cup
American footballAmerican footballAmerican football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
College championship
- College football national championshipNCAA Division I FBS National Football ChampionshipA college football national championship in the highest level of collegiate play in the United States, currently the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , is a designation awarded annually by various third-party organizations to their selection of the best...
– Harvard CrimsonHarvard Crimson footballThe Harvard Crimson football program represents Harvard University in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision . Harvard's football program is one of the oldest in the world, having begun competing in the sport in 1873...
, LSU TigersLSU Tigers footballThe LSU Tigers football team, also known as the Fighting Tigers or Bayou Bengals, represents Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States in NCAA Division I FBS college football. Current head coach Les Miles has led the team since 2005. Since 1999 when Nick Saban took over as...
and Penn QuakersPenn Quakers footballThe Penn Quakers football team is the college football team at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA. The Penn Quakers have competed in the Ivy League since its inaugural season of 1956, and are currently a Division I Football Championship Subdivision member of the National...
(shared)
Association football
England- The Football LeagueThe Football LeagueThe Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
– Manchester United 52 points, Aston Villa 43, Manchester City 43, Newcastle United 42, The Wednesday 42, Middlesbrough 41 - FA Cup finalFA Cup FinalThe FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. With an official attendance of 89,826 at the 2007 FA Cup Final, it is the fourth best attended domestic club championship event in the world and the second most...
– Wolverhampton WanderersWolverhampton Wanderers F.C.Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...
3–1 Newcastle United at Crystal PalaceCrystal Palace National Sports CentreThe National Sports Centre at Crystal Palace in south London, England is a large sports centre and athletics stadium. It was opened in 1964 in Crystal Palace Park, close to the site of the former Crystal Palace, in the former parkland and also usurping part of the former grand prix circuit.It was...
, London - Bradford Park AvenueBradford Park Avenue A.F.C.Bradford Association Football Club, previously also known as Bradford and since its reformation in the 1970s now referred to as Bradford Park Avenue, is a football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England...
(1908–70) and Tottenham Hotspur elected to the Football League after Lincoln CityLincoln City F.C.Lincoln City Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire. The club are currently members of the Conference National in 2011–12 following relegation from the Football League....
and Stoke FC are expelled. Stoke FC is not involved in the election process but goes into receivership soon afterwards and is replaced by Tottenham Hotspur, who have lost the election to Bradford Park Avenue.
Scotland
- Scottish Football LeagueScottish Football LeagueThe Scottish Football League is a league of football teams in Scotland, comprising theScottish First Division, Scottish Second Division and Scottish Third Division. From the league's foundation in 1890 until the breakaway Scottish Premier League was formed in 1998, the Scottish Football League...
– Glasgow Celtic - Scottish Cup final – Glasgow Celtic 5–1 St Mirren at Hampden ParkHampden ParkHampden Park is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The 52,063 capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland...
Italy
- 9 March — Internazionale MilanF.C. Internazionale MilanoFootball Club Internazionale Milano, often referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Italy. Outside Italy, the club is often called Inter Milan. They are the reigning FIFA Club World champions and Coppa Italia holders.Inter have always...
founded
Netherlands
- 19 July — Feyenoord RotterdamFeyenoord RotterdamFeyenoord is a Dutch professional football club located in Rotterdam. Along with Ajax and PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord is one of the "big three" clubs in the Netherlands. These three clubs and Utrecht and Roda JC are the only clubs never to have been relegated from the Dutch first division...
founded
Greece
- 3 February — PanathinaikosPanathinaikos FCPanathinaikos Football Club is a Greek professional football club based in Athens. Founded in 1908, they play in the Super League Greece and are one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Greek football history. They have won 20 Greek Championships and 17 Greek Cups.Panathinaikos is the most...
founded
Brazil
- 25 March — Clube Atlético MineiroClube Atlético MineiroClube Atlético Mineiro , are a Brazilian football club based in Belo Horizonte, the oldest in the city. Founded in 1908, they play in the Campeonato Mineiro and Campeonato Brasileiro Série A or Brasileirão. Atlético Mineiro have been Brazilian champions once, state winners a record 40 times and...
founded
Mexico
- Club Union of Mexico becomes Club Deportivo Guadalajara
Australian rules footballAustralian rules footballAustralian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
VFL Premiership
- CarltonCarlton Football ClubThe Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...
wins the 12th VFLAustralian Football LeagueThe Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
Premiership: Carlton 5.5 (35) d EssendonEssendon Football ClubThe Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
3.8 (26) at Melbourne Cricket GroundMelbourne Cricket GroundThe Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
(MCG)
Events
- RichmondRichmond Football ClubThe Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...
and UniversityMelbourne University Football ClubMelbourne University Football Club, often known simply as University is an Australian rules football club.The club achieved prominence by being a member of the game's most elite competition in the early 20th century, the Victorian Football League between 1908 and 1914.Although there are no records...
join the VFL
BandyBandyBandy is a team winter sport played on ice, in which skaters use sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal.The rules of the game have many similarities to those of association football: the game is played on a rectangle of ice the same size as a football field. Each team has 11 players,...
Sweden
- Championship finalAllsvenskan and Elitserien (bandy)The Allsvenskan and Elitserien was earlier the highest level of bandy in Sweden contested annually between Swedish bandy clubs. The Allsvenskan was split into two regional divisions. The Allsvenskan Norra and the Allsvenskan Södra...
– Djurgårdens IFDjurgårdens IF BandyDjurgårdens IF Bandy is the bandy department of Swedish sports club Djurgårdens IF, located in Stockholm. The club has been in the championship finals seven times, and won two of them, in 1908 and 1912. The 1912 champions title was shared with IFK Uppsala since the weather was too warm for a...
3–1 Östergötlands BF
BaseballBaseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
World Series
- 10–14 October — Chicago CubsChicago CubsThe Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
(NL) defeats Detroit TigersDetroit TigersThe Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
(AL) to win the 1908 World Series1908 World SeriesThe 1908 World Series matched the defending champion Chicago Cubs against the Detroit Tigers in a rematch of the 1907 Series. In this first-ever rematch of this young event, the Cubs won in five games for their second consecutive title....
by 4 games to 1
Events
- 23 September — the Merkle incident, which finally costs New York GiantsSan Francisco GiantsThe San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
the NL pennant - Major League BaseballMajor League BaseballMajor League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
's lowest scoring season including the current record for fewest runs scored in a season by one team: 372 by St. Louis CardinalsSt. Louis CardinalsThe St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to... - Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) founded
BoxingBoxingBoxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
Events
- 4 July — Battling NelsonBattling NelsonOscar Mathæus Nielsen, also known as Battling Nelson, was a Danish boxer who held the world lightweight championship on two separate occasions...
recovers his World Lightweight Championship from Joe GansJoe GansJoe Gans was born in Baltimore, Maryland. Gans was rated as the greatest lightweight boxer of all time by boxing historian and Ring Magazine founder, Nat Fleischer and was known as the "Old Master". He fought from 1891 to 1909.Gans started boxing professionally about 1891 in Baltimore...
with a 17th round knockout at Colma, California - World Middleweight Champion Stanley KetchelStanley Ketchel-External links:**...
loses his title on 7 September to Billy PapkeBilly PapkeBilly Papke was an American boxer....
by a 12th round technical knockout at Vernon, California, but regains it on 26 November at Colma, California, where he knocks out Papke in the 11th round - October – Mike "Twin" Sullivan vacates the World Welterweight Championship which remains unresolved until 1914
- 26 December — Jack JohnsonJack Johnson (boxer)John Arthur Johnson , nicknamed the “Galveston Giant,” was an American boxer. At the height of the Jim Crow era, Johnson became the first African American world heavyweight boxing champion...
becomes the first African AmericanAfrican AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
World Heavyweight Champion by defeating Tommy BurnsTommy Burns (boxer)Tommy Burns , born Noah Brusso, is the only Canadian born world heavyweight champion boxer. The first to travel the globe in defending his title, Tommy made 11 title defenses despite often being the underdog due to his size. Burns famously challenged all comers as Heavyweight Champion, leading to...
at SydneySydneySydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia. Johnson holds the title until 1915.
Lineal world champions
- World Heavyweight Championship – Tommy BurnsTommy Burns (boxer)Tommy Burns , born Noah Brusso, is the only Canadian born world heavyweight champion boxer. The first to travel the globe in defending his title, Tommy made 11 title defenses despite often being the underdog due to his size. Burns famously challenged all comers as Heavyweight Champion, leading to...
→ Jack JohnsonJack Johnson (boxer)John Arthur Johnson , nicknamed the “Galveston Giant,” was an American boxer. At the height of the Jim Crow era, Johnson became the first African American world heavyweight boxing champion... - World Light Heavyweight Championship – vacant
- World Middleweight Championship – Stanley KetchelStanley Ketchel-External links:**...
→ Billy PapkeBilly PapkeBilly Papke was an American boxer....
→ Stanley KetchelStanley Ketchel-External links:**... - World Welterweight Championship – Mike "Twin" Sullivan → vacant
- World Lightweight Championship – Joe GansJoe GansJoe Gans was born in Baltimore, Maryland. Gans was rated as the greatest lightweight boxer of all time by boxing historian and Ring Magazine founder, Nat Fleischer and was known as the "Old Master". He fought from 1891 to 1909.Gans started boxing professionally about 1891 in Baltimore...
→ Battling NelsonBattling NelsonOscar Mathæus Nielsen, also known as Battling Nelson, was a Danish boxer who held the world lightweight championship on two separate occasions... - World Featherweight Championship – Abe AttellAbe AttellAbraham Washington "Abe" Attell , known in the boxing world as Abe "The Little Hebrew" Attell, was a boxer who became known for his record-setting six-year reign as World Featherweight Champion...
- World Bantamweight Championship – Jimmy Walsh
CricketCricketCricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
England
- County ChampionshipCounty ChampionshipThe County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
– Yorkshire - Minor Counties Championship – StaffordshireStaffordshire County Cricket ClubStaffordshire County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Staffordshire and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy...
- Most runs – Tom HaywardTom HaywardThomas Walter Hayward was a cricketer who played for Surrey and England between the 1890s and the outbreak of World War I. He was primarily an opening batsman, noted especially for the quality of his off-drive...
2337 @ 45.82 (HS 175) - Most wickets – Colin BlytheColin BlytheColin Blythe , also known as Charlie Blythe, was a Kent and England left arm spinner who is regarded as one of the finest bowlers of the period between 1900 and 1914 - sometimes referred to as the "Golden Age" of cricket.-Career:Blythe first played...
197 @ 16.88 (BB 8–83) - Wisden Cricketers of the YearWisden Cricketers of the YearThe Wisden Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season"...
– Walter BrearleyWalter BrearleyWalter Brearley, born March 11, 1876, at Bolton, Lancashire; died January 30, 1937, at the Middlesex Hospital, Marylebone, London was a cricketer who played for Lancashire and England....
, Lord Hawke, Jack HobbsJack HobbsSir John Berry "Jack" Hobbs was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches from 1908 to 1930....
, Alan Marshal, John NewsteadJohn NewsteadJohn Thomas Newstead was an English first-class cricketer, who played 96 first-class matches for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1903 and 1913.Newstead was born in Marton, Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, England...
Australia
- Sheffield Shield – Victoria
- Most runs – Joe Hardstaff seniorJoe Hardstaff seniorJoseph Hardstaff senior , was an English cricketer who played for Nottinghamshire and England....
1360 @ 52.30 (HS 135) - Most wickets – Jack SaundersJack SaundersJohn Victor Saunders was an Australian cricketer who played in 14 Tests from 1902 to 1908....
and Jack CrawfordJack Crawford (cricketer)John Neville Crawford was an English first-class cricketer who played mainly for Surrey. An amateur, he played as an all-rounder and was highly regarded from an unusually early age before a disagreement with his county curtailed his career. A right-handed batsman, Crawford had a reputation for...
66 apiece
India
- Bombay TriangularBombay QuadrangularThe Bombay Quadrangular was an influential cricket tournament held in Bombay, India from 1912 to 1936. At other times it was known variously as the Presidency Match, Bombay Triangular, and the Bombay Pentangular....
– ParseesParsees cricket teamThe Parsees cricket team was an Indian first-class cricket team which took part in the annual Bombay tournament. The team was founded by members of the Zoroastrian community in Bombay....
New Zealand
- Plunket Shield – Auckland
South Africa
- Currie CupSuperSport SeriesThe SuperSport Series is the main domestic first class cricket competition in South Africa, first contested in 1889-90. From 1990-91 it became known as the Castle Cup, and from 1996-97 by its current title...
– not contested
West Indies
- Inter-Colonial TournamentInter-Colonial TournamentThe Inter-Colonial Tournament was the main first class cricket competition in the West Indies before World War II.- Competing teams :* Barbados* British Guiana* Trinidad...
– not contested
CyclingCyclingCycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...
Tour de France
- Lucien Petit-BretonLucien Petit-BretonLucien Georges Mazan was a French racing cyclist .He was born in Plessé, Loire-Atlantique , a part of Brittany, now part of Pays de la Loire. When he was six he moved with his parents to Buenos Aires where he took Argentine nationality...
(France) wins the 6th Tour de France
Field hockeyField hockeyField Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
Olympic Games (Men's Competition)
- Gold Medal – England
- Silver Medal – Ireland
- Bronze Medals – Scotland & Wales
Figure skatingFigure skatingFigure skating is an Olympic sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging moves on ice skates. Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level , and at local, national, and international competitions...
Events
- Inaugural International Skating UnionInternational Skating UnionThe International Skating Union is the international governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded in Scheveningen, Netherlands in 1892, making it one of the oldest international...
(ISU) Championships for pair skatingPair skatingPair skating is a figure skating discipline. International Skating Union regulations describe pair teams as consisting of "one lady and one man." The sport is distinguished from ice dancing and single skating by elements unique to pair skating, including overhead lifts, twist lifts, death spirals,...
is held at Saint PetersburgSaint PetersburgSaint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea... - Figure skating is held at the 1908 Summer Olympics1908 Summer OlympicsThe 1908 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the IV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in 1908 in London, England, United Kingdom. These games were originally scheduled to be held in Rome. At the time they were the fifth modern Olympic games...
and is the first winter sport to feature at the Olympics — 16 years before the inaugural Winter Games is held
World Figure Skating Championships
- World Men's ChampionWorld Figure Skating ChampionshipsThe World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion...
– Ulrich SalchowUlrich SalchowKarl Emil Julius Ulrich Salchow was a Swedish figure skater, who dominated the sport in the first decade of the 20th century....
(Sweden) - World Women's ChampionWorld Figure Skating ChampionshipsThe World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion...
– Lily KronbergerLily KronbergerLily Kronberger , also spelled Lili Kronberger, was a Hungarian figure skater competitive during the early years of modern figure skating...
(Hungary) - World Pairs ChampionsWorld Figure Skating ChampionshipsThe World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion...
– Anna HüblerAnna HüblerAnna Hübler was a German pair skater. She was an Olympic champion and two-time World champion with skating partner Heinrich Burger....
and Heinrich BurgerHeinrich BurgerHeinrich Burger was a German figure skater. He competed in both singles and pairs events. He was Olympic champion and two-time World champion together with Anna Hübler....
(Germany)
1908 Summer Olympics
- Men's individual – Ulrich SalchowUlrich SalchowKarl Emil Julius Ulrich Salchow was a Swedish figure skater, who dominated the sport in the first decade of the 20th century....
(Sweden) - Men's special figures – Nikolai PaninNikolai PaninNikolay Aleksandrovich Panin-Kolomenkin, was a Russian figure skater and coach. He won the gold medal in special figures in the 1908 Summer Olympics. Panin was Russia's first Olympic champion. He was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2009.-Biography:Panin was born in...
(Russia) - Women's individual – Madge SyersMadge SyersFlorence Madeline "Madge" Syers was a British figure skater. She became the first woman to compete at the World Figure Skating Championships in 1902 by entering what was previously an all-male event and won the silver medal, which prompted the International Skating Union to create a separate...
(Great Britain) - Pairs – Anna HüblerAnna HüblerAnna Hübler was a German pair skater. She was an Olympic champion and two-time World champion with skating partner Heinrich Burger....
and Heinrich BurgerHeinrich BurgerHeinrich Burger was a German figure skater. He competed in both singles and pairs events. He was Olympic champion and two-time World champion together with Anna Hübler....
(Germany)
GolfGolfGolf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
Major tournaments
- British OpenThe Open ChampionshipThe Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...
– James BraidJames Braid (golfer)James Braid was a Scottish professional golfer and a member of the Great Triumvirate of the sport alongside Harry Vardon and John Henry Taylor. He won The Open Championship five times... - US Open – Fred McLeodFred McLeodFrederick Robertson McLeod was a Scottish-American golfer who had a distinguished career in the United States, which included victory in the 1908 U.S. Open...
Other tournaments
- British AmateurThe Amateur ChampionshipThe Amateur Championship is a golf tournament which is held annually in the United Kingdom. It is one of the two leading individual tournaments for amateur golfers, alongside the U.S. Amateur...
– E.A. Lassen - US Amateur – Jerome TraversJerome TraversJerome Dunstan "Jerry" Travers was one of the leading amateur golfers of the early 20th century. He won the U.S. Amateur in 1907, 1908, 1912 and 1913, the New Jersey Amateur three times, and the Metropolitan Amateur five times. He was regarded as one of the finest match play golfers of his time...
Horse racingHorse racingHorse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
England
- Grand NationalGrand NationalThe Grand National is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. It is a handicap chase run over a distance of four miles and 856 yards , with horses jumping thirty fences over two circuits of Aintree's National Course...
– Rubio - 1,000 Guineas Stakes – Rhodora
- 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Norman III
- Epsom DerbyEpsom DerbyThe Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...
– Signorinetta - Epsom OaksEpsom OaksThe Oaks Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs over a distance of 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 10 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in early June....
– Signorinetta - St. Leger StakesSt. Leger StakesThe St. Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 1 mile, 6 furlongs and 132 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in September.Established in 1776, the St. Leger...
– Your Majesty
Australia
- Melbourne CupMelbourne CupThe Melbourne Cup is Australia's major Thoroughbred horse race. Marketed as "the race that stops a nation", it is a 3,200 metre race for three-year-olds and over. It is the richest "two-mile" handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races...
– Lord Nolan
Canada
- Queen's PlateQueen's PlateThe Queen's Plate is Canada's oldest thoroughbred horse race. It is run at a distance of 1¼ miles for 3-year-old thoroughbred horses foaled in Canada. The race takes place each summer in June or July at Woodbine Racetrack, Etobicoke , Ontario...
– Seismic
Ireland
- Irish Grand NationalIrish Grand NationalThe Irish Grand National is a National Hunt chase in Ireland which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Fairyhouse over a distance of about 3 miles and 5 furlongs , and during its running there are twenty-four fences to be jumped...
– Lord Rivers - Irish Derby StakesIrish Derby StakesThe Irish Derby is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile and 4 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in late June or early July.It is Ireland's equivalent of the Epsom Derby,...
– Wild Bouquet
USA
- Kentucky DerbyKentucky DerbyThe Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...
– Stone Street - Preakness StakesPreakness StakesThe Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...
– Royal Tourist - Belmont StakesBelmont StakesThe Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1.5-mile horse race, open to three year old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds ; fillies carry 121 pounds...
– Colin
Ice hockeyIce hockeyIce hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
Events
- 2 January — the first All-Star game in ice hockey history is held at Montreal to benefit the widow of Hod StuartHod StuartWilliam Hodgson "Hod" Stuart was a Canadian professional ice hockey cover-point who played nine seasons for several teams in different leagues. He also played briefly for the Ottawa Rough Riders football team...
, killed in an off-season swimming accident
Stanley Cup
- March — Montreal WanderersMontreal WanderersThe Montreal Wanderers were a Canadian amateur, and later becoming a professional men's ice hockey team. The team played in the Federal Amateur Hockey League , the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association , the National Hockey Association and briefly the National Hockey League . The Wanderers are...
wins the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey AssociationEastern Canada Amateur Hockey AssociationThe Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association was a men's amateur, later professional ice hockey league in Canada that played four seasons. It was founded on December 11, 1905 with six clubs: four from the Canadian Amateur Hockey League and two from the Federal Amateur Hockey League, to bring...
(ECAHA) championship for the third year in a row and successfully defends the Stanley CupStanley CupThe Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
. Montreal Wanderers later defeats Ottawa Victorias, Winnipeg Maple Leafs and Toronto Professionals in Stanley Cup challenges.
LacrosseLacrosseLacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
Events
- Lacrosse is played as an Olympic sport for the second and last time (the first having been in 1904). Canada defeats Great Britain: they are the only two teams to compete.
Motor racing
French Grand Prix- 7 July — the third French Grand Prix1908 French Grand PrixThe 1908 French Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race held at Dieppe on 7 July 1908.-Formula Changes:The race was run under a new formula agreed in Ostend in 1907...
, organised by the Automobile Club de France (ACF), is run at DieppeDieppe, Seine-MaritimeDieppe is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in France. In 1999, the population of the whole Dieppe urban area was 81,419.A port on the English Channel, famous for its scallops, and with a regular ferry service from the Gare Maritime to Newhaven in England, Dieppe also has a popular pebbled...
over 477.48 miles (47.74 miles x 10 laps). The winner is Christian LautenschlagerChristian LautenschlagerChristian Friedrich Lautenschlager was a German Grand Prix motor racing champion.Born in the village of Magstadt, Baden-Württemberg, Germany near Stuttgart, Christian Lautenschlager was 14 years old when he began training for a career as a machinist at a company in Stuttgart...
of Germany driving a Mercedes GPMercedes (car)Mercedes was a brand of the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft . DMG which began to develop in 1900, after the death of its co-founder, Gottlieb Daimler...
in 6:46:33.0 at an average speed of 69.05 mph. The race is retrospectively referred to as the XI Grand Prix de l'A.C.F.
Vanderbilt Cup
- Not having been contested in 1907, the Vanderbilt CupVanderbilt CupThe Vanderbilt Cup was the first major trophy in American auto racing.-History:An international event, it was founded by William Kissam Vanderbilt II in 1904 and first held at a course set out in Nassau County on Long Island, New York. The announcement that the race was to be held caused...
is revived for its 4th running at Long IslandLong IslandLong Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
over 258.06 miles (23.460 miles x 11 laps). The winner is George Robertson (USA) driving a Locomobile in 4:00:48.2.
American Grand Prize
- Billed as the I Grand Prize Race of the Automobile Club of America, the inaugural American Grand Prize1908 American Grand Prize-The Race:Louis Wagner won the closely contested race in his Fiat finishing less than a minute ahead of Victor Hémery's Benz. Wagner's average speed for the race was . Ralph de Palma set fastest lap in his Fiat, with an average speed of .- Classification :...
takes place at Savannah, GeorgiaSavannah, GeorgiaSavannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
over 402.080 miles (25.130 miles x 16 laps) and is won by Louis WagnerLouis WagnerLouis Wagner was a French race car driver who won the first ever United States and British Grands Prix. Wagner was also a pioneer aviator.Wagner was born in Le Pré-Saint-Gervais, Seine-Saint-Denis...
driving a FIATFiatFIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
in 6:10:31.4 at an average speed of 65.111 mph.
Olympic GamesOlympic GamesThe Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
1908 Summer Olympics
- The 1908 Summer Olympics1908 Summer OlympicsThe 1908 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the IV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in 1908 in London, England, United Kingdom. These games were originally scheduled to be held in Rome. At the time they were the fifth modern Olympic games...
takes place in London - Great Britain wins the most medals (145) and the most gold medals (56)
RowingRowing (sport)Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
The Boat Race
- 4 April — CambridgeCambridge University Boat ClubThe Cambridge University Boat Club is the rowing club of the University of Cambridge, England, located on the River Cam at Cambridge, although training primarily takes place on the River Great Ouse at Ely. The club was founded in 1828...
wins the 65th Oxford and Cambridge Boat RaceThe Boat RaceThe event generally known as "The Boat Race" is a rowing race in England between the Oxford University Boat Club and the Cambridge University Boat Club, rowed between competing eights each spring on the River Thames in London. It takes place generally on the last Saturday of March or the first...
Rugby leagueRugby leagueRugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
Events
- HunsletHunslet HawksHunslet Hawks is a professional rugby league club based in Hunslet, West Yorkshire, England. The club, sometimes known as 'the Parksiders' after their former stadium, are currently champions of Championship One.-History:-Early years:...
becomes the first team to achieve the celebrated "All Four CupsAll Four CupsBetween 1905 and 1970 there were four trophies available to any British rugby league side:* Challenge Cup* Rugby Football League Championship* County league * County cup...
" feat
England
- Championship – HunsletHunslet HawksHunslet Hawks is a professional rugby league club based in Hunslet, West Yorkshire, England. The club, sometimes known as 'the Parksiders' after their former stadium, are currently champions of Championship One.-History:-Early years:...
- Challenge Cup finalChallenge CupThe Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....
– HunsletHunslet HawksHunslet Hawks is a professional rugby league club based in Hunslet, West Yorkshire, England. The club, sometimes known as 'the Parksiders' after their former stadium, are currently champions of Championship One.-History:-Early years:...
14–0 Hull at Fartown Ground, Huddersfield - Lancashire League ChampionshipRugby league county leaguesThe Yorkshire League and the Lancashire League formed two sections of the Rugby Football League Championship for much of its history. Initially, the 22 clubs that broke away in 1895 played in one combined league, however the following season saw the addition of many clubs, and the League was split...
– OldhamOldham RoughyedsOldham Roughyeds is an English professional rugby league club based in Oldham, Greater Manchester. They currently play in the Championship One. Oldham is one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895.... - Yorkshire League ChampionshipRugby league county leaguesThe Yorkshire League and the Lancashire League formed two sections of the Rugby Football League Championship for much of its history. Initially, the 22 clubs that broke away in 1895 played in one combined league, however the following season saw the addition of many clubs, and the League was split...
– HunsletHunslet HawksHunslet Hawks is a professional rugby league club based in Hunslet, West Yorkshire, England. The club, sometimes known as 'the Parksiders' after their former stadium, are currently champions of Championship One.-History:-Early years:... - Lancashire CupRugby league county cupsHistorically, British rugby league clubs competed for the Lancashire Cup and the Yorkshire Cup, known collectively as the county cups. The leading rugby clubs in Yorkshire had played in a cup competition for several years prior to the schism of 1895...
– OldhamOldham RoughyedsOldham Roughyeds is an English professional rugby league club based in Oldham, Greater Manchester. They currently play in the Championship One. Oldham is one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895....
16–9 Broughton RangersBroughton RangersBroughton Rangers was a British rugby football, and subsequently a rugby league club. It was based in Broughton, Salford.-History:Broughton Rangers was founded in 1877 as Broughton and added Rangers for its second season... - Yorkshire CupRugby league county cupsHistorically, British rugby league clubs competed for the Lancashire Cup and the Yorkshire Cup, known collectively as the county cups. The leading rugby clubs in Yorkshire had played in a cup competition for several years prior to the schism of 1895...
– HunsletHunslet HawksHunslet Hawks is a professional rugby league club based in Hunslet, West Yorkshire, England. The club, sometimes known as 'the Parksiders' after their former stadium, are currently champions of Championship One.-History:-Early years:...
17–0 HalifaxHalifax RLFCHalifax RLFC is one of the most historic rugby league clubs in the game, formed over a century ago, in 1873 in the Yorkshire town of Halifax. Known as 'Fax', the official club colours are blue and white hoops, blue shorts and blue socks . They share The Shay stadium with football club FC Halifax Town...
Australia
- Professional rugby league begins in Australia with the formation of the New South Wales Rugby LeagueNew South Wales Rugby League premiershipThe New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League from 1908 until 1994, the premiership was the state's and later the country's elite rugby league competition...
- South SydneySouth Sydney RabbitohsThe South Sydney Rabbitohs are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in Redfern, a suburb of South-central Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League premiership and are one of nine existing teams from the state capital...
wins the first Australian championship, defeating Eastern SuburbsSydney RoostersThe Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League and is one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Australian rugby league history, having won twelve New South Wales Rugby League...
14–12 in the final - First Australian national rugby league teamAustralian national rugby league teamThe Australian national rugby league team have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competition since the establishment of the game in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian Rugby League, the Kangaroos' are ranked number one in the RLIF World Rankings...
embarks on the inaugural 1908-09 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain
Rugby unionRugby unionRugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
Home Nations Championship
- 26th Home Nations ChampionshipSix Nations ChampionshipThe Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales....
series is won by WalesWales national rugby union teamThe Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with... - As Wales also defeats FranceFrance national rugby union teamThe France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...
in a 1908 non-championship match, its team is retrospectively regarded as a Grand SlamGrand Slam (Rugby Union)In rugby union, a Grand Slam occurs when one team in the Six Nations Championship manages to beat all the others during one year's competition...
winner
Speed skatingSpeed skatingSpeed skating, or speedskating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in traveling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating...
Speed Skating World Championships
- Men's All-round ChampionWorld Allround Speed Skating Championships for MenThe International Skating Union has organised the World Allround Speed Skating Championships for Men since 1893. Unofficial Championships were held in the years 1889-1892.-History:-Distances used:...
– Oscar MathisenOscar MathisenOscar Wilhelm Mathisen was a Norwegian speed skater and celebrity, almost rivalling Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen as symbols for a young nation...
(Norway)
TennisTennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
Australia
- Australian Men's Singles Championship – Fred AlexanderFred AlexanderFrederick Beasley Alexander was a top-ranked tennis player in the early 20th century....
(USA) defeats Alfred DunlopAlfred DunlopAlfred W. Dunlop was an Australian tennis player, born in Christchurch, New Zealand. He won the doubles title at the Australasian Championships, the future Australian Open, alongside Fred Alexander in 1908. He also reached the singles finals at the tournament that year, losing to...
(Australia) 3–6 3–6 6–0 6–2 6–3
England
- Wimbledon Men's Singles ChampionshipThe Championships, WimbledonThe Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...
– Arthur Gore (GB) defeats Herbert BarrettHerbert Barrett----Herbert Roper Barrett, KC was a tennis player from Great Britain.-Biography:Barrett was born on 24 November 1873 in Upton, Essex....
(GB) 6–3 6–2 4–6 3–6 6–4 - Wimbledon Women's Singles ChampionshipThe Championships, WimbledonThe Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...
– Charlotte Cooper Sterry defeats Agnes MortonAgnes MortonAgnes Morton was a former British female tennis player. She twice reached the Ladies Singles finals at the 1908 and 1909 Wimbledon Championships and claimed victory in 1914 in Ladies Doubles with partner Elizabeth Ryan...
6–4 6–4
France
- French Men's Singles Championship – Max DecugisMax DécugisMaxime "Max" Omer Decugis was a male tennis player from France who holds the French Championships/French Open record of winning the tournament eight times and his three Olympic medals at the 1900 Summer Olympics and the 1920 Summer Olympics...
defeats Maurice GermotMaurice GermotMaurice Germot was a French tennis player and Olympic champion. He received a gold medal in double at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm....
: details unknown - French Women's Singles Championship – Kate Gillou-FenwickKate GillouKate Gillou was a French tennis player in the first decade of the 20th century.Gillou won the French Women's Singles Championship in each of 1904, 1905, 1906 and 1908, having lost in the 1903 final to Adine Masson....
defeats Pean: details unknown
USA
- American Men's Singles Championship – William LarnedWilliam LarnedWilliam Augustus Larned was an American male tennis player.-Biography:He was raised in Summit, New Jersey on the estate of his father, William Zebedee Larned. Larned Road in Summit honors both father and son. William came from a family that could trace its American roots to shortly after the...
defeats Beals WrightBeals WrightBeals Coleman Wright , was an American male tennis player.Beals was born in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, the son of Cincinnati Red Stockings great George Wright and nephew of Cincinnati Red Stockings team founder Harry Wright...
6–1 6–2 8–6 - American Women's Singles Championship – Maud Barger-WallachMaud Barger-WallachMaud Barger-Wallach was an American female tennis player of the early 1900s....
defeats Evelyn SearsEvelyn SearsEvelyn Georgianna Sears was an American tennis player at the beginning of the 20th century....
6–3 1–6 6–3
Davis Cup
- 1908 International Lawn Tennis Challenge1908 International Lawn Tennis ChallengeThe 1908 International Lawn Tennis Challenge was the eighth edition of what is now known as the Davis Cup. For the first time, ties were held in different countries and at different times, rather than the all the matches being played in the same venue, as before...
– 3–2 at Albert GroundAlbert Park and LakeAlbert Park and Albert Park Lake are situated in the City of Port Phillip, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of the Melbourne CBD....
(grass) MelbourneMelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...