Naval History and Heritage Command

The Exploring Expedition led by Lt. Charles Wilkes embarks on a world cruise.

The first Navy Nurse Corps superintendent, Esther Voorhees Hasson, is appointed. Under her leadership, 19 additional nurses are recruited and trained for naval service during 1908.

The first naval railway gun, a 14-inch, 50 caliber, Mark IV Navy gun mounted on a railway carriage, became operational in St. Nazaire, France during World War I.  The "rail guns" operated until the end of the war.

USS Philadelphia (CL 41) and USS Boise (CL 47) and four destroyers shell Gioia, Taura, and Palmi on the Italian mainland.

The first ship-to-shore satellite radio message is sent from USS Annapolis (AGMR 1) in the South China Sea to Pacific Fleet Headquarters at Pearl Harbor.