Glenn Curtiss piloted the first hydroplane flight at North Island, San Diego, California, with a successful take-off from water and landing on water. Rose six feet and flew about two or three hundred yards. The airplane Flying Fish had pontoons in place of wheels. The rear pontoon was 6-ft wide and 5-ft long. The front one was narrower. He had made his first flight on his 30th birthday, 21 May 1908, in White Wing, a design of the Aerial Experiment Association, the group led by Alexander Graham Bell. Curtiss began building his own aircraft. He pioneered the design of the floatplane and the flying boat. Curtiss established an aviation school on North Island in San Diego Bay, Dec 1910. On 17 Feb 1911, He demonstrated the first hydroplane flight to a ship, the USS Pennsylvania.

The world's largest gem-quality diamond was discovered in the Premier mine in the Transvaal (a British crown colony that later became part of South Africa). It weighed 3,106 carats, or about 1-1/3 pounds, and was named the Cullinan Diamond in honor of Sir Thomas Cullinan, owner of the mining company. The Transvall Government purchased the diamond and presented it to the British monarch, King Edward VII, on his 66th birthday. When the rough diamond was cut, it produced nine large stones and nearly 100 smaller ones. All of these stones were flawless. Now part of the British crown jewels, the largest cut gem, named the Great Star of Africa, was set in the English sculptor; the second largest was added to the gems in the imperial state crown.