throne at age 2. December 16 – Construction begins on the , at the Harland and Wolff Shipyard in Belfast. December 23 – A hybrid solar eclipse is visible from Atlantic Ocean and is the 23rd solar eclipse of Solar Saros 140. December 28 – The 7.1 Messina earthquake shakes Southern Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing between 75,000 and 200,000. Date unknown According to NASA reports, 1908 was the coldest recorded year since 1880. A 40,000-year-old Neanderthal boy skeleton is found at Le Moustier in southwest France, by Otto Hauser. The Western University of Pennsylvania is renamed the University of Pittsburgh. The State Normal and Industrial School for Women, precursor to James Madison University, is founded in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The University of Omaha, precursor of the University of Nebraska Omaha is founded as a private non-sectarian college. Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology in Boston, Massachusetts, is established under the terms of Franklin's will. Hitachi, an electromechanics company, is founded as a mining machine repair factory in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. Births January January 8 William Hartnell, British actor (died 1975) Fearless Nadia (Mary Evans), Indian actress (died 1996) January 9 – Simone de Beauvoir, French feminist writer (died 1986) January 10 – Paul Henreid, Austrian-born American actor (died 1992) January 12 – Jean Delannoy, French film director (died 2008) January 15 – Edward Teller, Hungarian-born physicist (died 2003) January 16 Günther Prien, German submarine commander (died 1941) Ethel Merman, American singer and actress (died 1984) January 22 – Lev Landau, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1968) January 26 – Stéphane Grappelli, French jazz violinist and composer (died 1997) February February 1 – George Pal, Hungarian-born American animator (died 1980) February 5 – Peg Entwistle, English actress (died 1932) February 6 Amintore Fanfani, 32nd Prime Minister of Italy (died 1999) Michael Maltese, American screenwriter (died 1981) February 7 – Buster Crabbe, American swimmer, actor (died 1983) February 11 – Vivian Fuchs, English geologist, explorer (died 1999) February 17 – Bo Yibo, Chinese politician (died 2007) February 19 – Qin Hanzhang, Chinese engineer (died 2019) February 22 Rómulo Betancourt, President of Venezuela (died 1981) John Mills, English actor (died 2005) February 23 – Sir William McMahon, 20th Prime Minister of Australia (died 1988) February 26 Tex Avery, American cartoonist (died 1980) Nestor Mesta Chayres, Mexican operatic tenor and bolero vocalist (died 1971) Jean-Pierre Wimille, French racing driver