The Year 1907 in Review: Fun Facts, Trivia, and Historic Highlights

This quick read is a collection of fun facts, trivia, and historic events from the year 1907. Discover the year’s top news stories, most influential people, sports facts, entertainment trivia, grocery prices, and much more.

1. In 1907, Theodore Roosevelt (R-New York) was the 26th president of the United States, and Charles W. Fairbanks (R-Indiana) was the nation’s vice president.
2. The U.S. unemployment rate was 2.8%, and the nation’s inflation rate was 4.4%.
3. The average wage in the United States was 22 cents per hour, and the average American worker made between $200 and $400 per year.
4. There were 140,300 cars and 2,900 trucks registered in the U.S. The speed limit in most cities was 10 miles per hour.
5. American companies and brands established in 1907 included Dutch Boy Paint, Neiman Marcus, United Parcel Service (UPS), and Varallo’s restaurant.
6. On January 1, President Roosevelt shook hands with over 8,000 people, setting a world record he held for over 70 years.
7. On January 1, Daniel J. Tobin became the president of the Teamsters—a position he held for 45 years.
8. On February 26, President Roosevelt appointed George Washington Goethals, an American military officer and civil engineer, as the chief engineer for the Panama Canal.
9. On April 7, Hersheypark, a family-oriented theme park, opened in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
10. On April 17, an estimated 1.1 million immigrants passed through the Ellis Island processing station in New York Harbor, setting a record.
11. On September 10, the first Neiman Marcus department store opened its doors in Dallas, Texas.
12. On October 1, the 18-story, 750-room Plaza Hotel opened at the corner of Central Park South and Fifth Avenue in New York City. The moment it opened, the Plaza set the standard for luxury accommodations and service.
13. On October 22, the short-lived Panic of 1907 unfolded in the U.S. According to Investopedia.com, the panic “resulted from the collapse of highly leveraged speculative investments propagated by easy money policies pursued by the U.S. Treasury in the preceding years. This led to runs on New York banks and trust companies that had been financing these risky investments and to shrinking stock market liquidity as smaller regional banks, in turn, drew down their deposits from the New York banks.”
14. On October 24, the Panic of 1907 was averted when J. P. Morgan, E. H. Harriman, James Stillman, Henry Clay Frick, and other Wall Street financiers “created a $25,000,000 pool to invest in the shares on the plunging New York Stock Exchange,” a decision that led to the establishment of the Federal Reserve System.
15. On November 16, Oklahoma became the 46th state.
16. On December 7, Christmas seals went on sale for the first time for one cent each. The proceeds went to fight tuberculosis, a major disease at the time.
17. In 1907, Leo Baekeland, a Belgian chemist who spent much of his life in the United States, invented Bakelite—the world's first fully synthetic plastic.
18. Clemens von Pirquet, an Austrian scientist and pediatrician, developed a skin test for tuberculosis. In the early 1900s, the death rate from tuberculosis in the U.S. was 194 per 100,000 people.
19. John James McLaughlin of Ontario, Canada, received a trademark for Canada Dry ginger ale, "the champagne of ginger ales."
20. The Scott Paper Company in Philadelphia introduced the paper towel.
21. Hershey’s Kisses first appeared in the marketplace.
22. Famous people born in 1907 included Earl Tupper (the creator of Tupperware), Edwin J. Shoemaker (an American engineer who invented the reclining chair), and John Wayne (movie actor).
23. Famous people who died in 1907 were Mary Jane Holmes (novelist), Ida Saxton McKinley (former First Lady), Edmonia Lewis (sculptor), Francis Thompson (poet), and Dmitri Mendeleev (chemist).
24. Popular movies for the year included A Curious Dream, Ben Hur, That Fatal Sneeze, Under the Seas, Laughing Gas, The Doll’s Revenge, and The Haunted Hotel.
25. America’s favorite songs were Auld Lang Syne (Frank Stanley), Because You’re Here (Harry MacDonough and Elise Stevenson), and He’s a Cousin of Mine (Bert Williams).
26. Here are some sports facts from 1907: Thomas Longboat won the Boston Marathon, Pink Star was the winning horse at the Kentucky Derby, and the Chicago Cubs were the World Series champions.
27. In 1907 as well, the words "bear hug," "bookend," "brainstorming," "buyout," "costume jewelry," "cat burglar," "cornflakes," "fleabag," "junior high school," "plywood," "round-the-clock," "saltine," "shortwave," "thermos," "timeline," and "wiener roast" all appeared in print for the first time.
28. Apple jelly: Five pounds for 22 cents
29. Bacon: 15 cents a pound
30. Baking powder: 20 cents a pound
31. Bananas: Five cents a dozen
32. Butter: 27 cents a pound
33. Cape Cod cranberries: 10 cents a quart
34. Caramel candy: 30 to 40 cents a pound
35. Ceylon tea: 25 cents a pound
36. Coffee: 35 cents a pound
37. Corned beef: Four cents a pound
38. Cream of wheat: Three boxes for 25 cents
39. Eggs: 25 cents a dozen
40. Flour: $5.15 a bushel
41. Lentils: 12 cents a pound
42. Navel oranges: 13 for 25 cents
43. Oysters: 35 cents a quart
44. Quaker oats: Five pounds for 25 cents
45. S&S Worcestershire sauce: 17 cents a pint

References:

1. https://popculturemadness.com/1907-fun-facts-trivia-and-history/
2. https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/1907
3. https://www.foodreference.com/html/html/food-timeline-1906.html
4. https://www.mclib.info/Research/Local-History-Genealogy/Historic-Prices/Historic-Prices-1900s/Historic-Prices-1907
5. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/year/1907.html
6. https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?release_date=1907-01-01,1907-12-31
7. https://playback.fm/charts/top-100-songs/1907
8. https://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1907
9. https://www.infoplease.com/year/1907
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1907_in_the_United_States

Disclaimer: In writing and editing this article, Gregory DeVictor has made every effort to ensure historical accuracy and not to mislead his audience. In addition, the contents of this article, including text, graphics, and captions, are for general informational purposes only.

© 2026 Gregory DeVictor