There is an interesting paper by The Bird Strike Committee Europe published in May 1996. It states the first known bird strike occurred in 1908, when Orville Wright chased a flock of birds.
It can be found at
http://www.int-birdstrike.org/London...SC23%20WP1.pdf
There is another report of the same date, by the same organisation. It talks of the efforts of Transport Canada to deal with the problem.
http://www.int-birdstrike.org/London...C23%20WP24.pdf
I suppose they must have felt duty bound to do something about it, given their OEM brand, the Canada Geese.