Selma Lagerlof of Sweden is awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.

Rafael Reyes Prieto is ousted as president of Colombia following his recognition of the independence of Panama in a treaty with the United States.

1 Jan.

Astronomers in London report the possibility of another planet in the solar system beyond Neptune.

9 Jan.

British explorer Ernest Henry Shackleton misses reaching the South Pole by one hundred miles.

18 Jan.

Brewers in New Zealand decide to abolish barmaids and ban women from purchasing alcohol in bars.

9 Feb.

A British court rules that a wife is not permitted to divorce her husband, even if her claim is based on desertion.

24 Mar.

John Millington Synge, a major figure in the Irish literary awakening at the turn of the century whose The Playboy of the Western World had shocked Dublin theater audiences in 1907, dies.

6 Apr.

Robert Peary reaches the North Pole, though his achievement will...