In 1907, the
Banco di Roma founds a branch in
Tripoli and builds significant interests in banking, shipping and agriculture. The bank has powerful connections; the president
Ernesto Pacelli is the uncle of the future
Pope Pius XII, and the vice-president is
Romolo Tittoni, the brother of
Tommaso Tittoni, Italy's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister several times between 1903 and 1909. The bank also financed the important newspaper Corriere d'Italia that would campaign for the
Italo-Turkish War in 1911.[1]
Emigration out of Italy is expected to reach 1 million, mainly to the United States. Minimum wages in the US are five times higher than in Italy and remittances are an important source of income.[2]
January
January 6 – Education reformer
Maria Montessori opens her first Casa dei Bambini, or Children's House, in Rome.
April
April 28 – The vulcano on the island of
Stromboli is erupting large quantities of ash, damaging vineyards in
Calabria and
Sicily.[3]
June
June 22 – Bakers declare a general strike throughout the whole of Italy after the government postponed consideration of a bill prohibiting night work.[4]
July
July 15 – Former Minister of Public Instruction,
Nunzio Nasi, is imprisoned on charges of embezzling USD 300,000.[5]
July 21 – Hundreds are wounded in
Palermo (Sicily) in a clash between crowds and the police at a demonstration in favour of Nunzio Nasi, former Minister of Public Instruction, charged with embezzlement.[6]
October 23 – A magnitude 5.9 earthquake strikes
Calabria, at a depth of 33.0 km. The event caused 167 deaths and major damage. The town
Ferruzzano was the epicentre where many houses collapsed almost completely, and 158 persons, or 8% of its population, were killed.[7]
March 2 –
Lea Schiavi, Italian dissident journalist writing for left-wing journals in opposition to the Italian
fascist government led by
Benito Mussolini (d. 1942)
July 24 –
Vitaliano Brancati, Italian novelist and screenwriter (d. 1954)