Events January January 1 – The British Nimrod Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the Nimrod for Antarctica. January 3 – A total solar eclipse is visible in the Pacific Ocean and is the 46th solar eclipse of Solar Saros 130. January 15 – Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority is founded on the campus of Howard University, in Washington, D.C. January 24 – Robert Baden-Powell's Scouting for Boys begins publication in London. The book eventually sells over 100 million copies, and effectively begins the worldwide Boy Scout movement. February February 1 – Lisbon Regicide: King Carlos I of Portugal and Prince Luis Filipe are shot dead in Lisbon. February 3 – Panathinaikos, a well-known professional multi-sports club of Greece, is founded in Athens. February 12 – The first around-the-world car race, the 1908 New York to Paris Race, begins. February 18 – Japanese emigration to the United States is forbidden, under terms of the Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907. March March – The Children's Encyclopædia begins publication in London. March 4 The Pretoria branch of the Transvaal University College, precursor to the University of Pretoria, is established. The Collinwood school fire near Cleveland, Ohio kills 174. Bank of Communications, as major financial service in China, founded in Beijing,. March 23 – American diplomat Durham Stevens, an employee of Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is assassinated in San Francisco by two Korean immigrants, unhappy with his recent support for the increasing Japanese presence in Korea. March 27 – The first Scout troop outside the U.K. is formed in Gibraltar. March 29 – French aviator Henri Farman makes the world's first flight with a passenger, Léon Delagrange. April April 8 – H. H. Asquith of the Liberal Party takes office as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, succeeding Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman. April 20 – Sunshine rail disaster: A rear-end collision of two trains in Melbourne, Australia kills 44 people, and injures more than 400. April 21 – Frederick Cook claims to have reached the North Pole on this date. May May 14 – October 31 – The Franco-British Exhibition (1908) is held in London. May 26 – At Masjed Soleyman in southwest Persia, the first major commercial oil discovery in the Middle East is made. The rights to the resource are quickly acquired by the United Kingdom. June June 28 – An annular solar eclipse was visible from Central