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'Prize Winners in the Olympic Games'

4 of 5 portraits of John Baxter Taylor Jr

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© National Portrait Gallery, London

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'Prize Winners in the Olympic Games'

by Benjamin Stone
platinum print, 29 July 1908
7 3/4 in. x 6 1/8 in. (196 mm x 155 mm) image size
Given by House of Commons Library, 1974
Photographs Collection
NPG x131228

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  • Sir (John) Benjamin Stone (1838-1914), Politician and photographer. Artist or producer associated with 1436 portraits, Sitter in 28 portraits.

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This portrait highlights three of the most successful track and field stars from the 1908 Olympic Games. Ray Ewry, in the centre, excelled at standing jump events. He held the record for the greatest number of Olympic gold medals won by a single athlete until 2008. On the right is Mel Shepherd, winner of three gold medals. On the left stands John Baxter Taylor Jr, a member of the triumphant 400m relay team. A veterinary graduate from the University of Pennsylvania, Taylor is celebrated for being the first African American to win Olympic gold. Tragically, he died shortly after the Games.

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Current affairs

Henry Asquith replaces Henry Campbell-Bannerman as Liberal leader and Prime Minister, with David Lloyd George taking control of the Exchequer. Asquith and Lloyd George embark on a bold programme of social reform, laying the foundations of the Welfare State, introducing government pensions this year and later a system of National Insurance.
The first aeroplane for the British army is built by the American, Samuel Cody.

Art and science

E.M. Forster's novel A Room with a View is published, following the experiences of a young woman, Lucy Honeychurch, in the repressed culture of Edwardian England.
The French art critic Louis Vauxcelles first uses the term 'cubism' to refer to a landscape painting by Georges Braque.

International

King Carlos of Portugal and his heir, Prince Luis Filipe, are killed by assassins from the Republican trying to provoke a revolution. Carlos I, unpopular because of his extravagant lifestyle and extramarital affairs, was succeeded by his younger son, Manuel, the last monarch of the Braganza dynasty.
Following the death of the Guangxu Emperor in China, his two year old nephew replaces him, becoming the the last Manchu emperor of China.

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