Events of 1909

January

• January – The Old Age Pensions Act 1908 comes into force in Britain.
• January 1 – Drilling begins on the Lakeview Gusher.
• January 5 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama.
• January 16 – Ernest Shackleton's expedition claims to have found the magnetic South Pole, but the location recorded for it may be incorrect. [709298]
• January 27 – The Young Left is founded in Norway.
• January 28 – United States troops leave Cuba after being there since the Spanish-American War.

February

• February 12 – The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded, commemorating the 100th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln's birth.
• February 20- The Futurist Manifesto, written by Filippo Marinetti, is published in the Paris newspaper Le Figaro.
• February 23 – The Silver Dart makes the first powered flight in Canada.
• February 24 – The Hudson Motor Car Company is founded.

March

• March 4 – William Howard Taft succeeds Theodore Roosevelt as the 27th President of the United States.
• March 10 – The Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909 is signed in Bangkok.
• March 18 – Einar Dessau uses a short-wave radio transmitter, becoming the first radio broadcaster.
• March 23 – Theodore Roosevelt leaves New York for a post-presidency safari in Africa. The trip is sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society.
• March 31
  • Serbia accepts Austrian control over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
  • Construction begins on the RMS Titanic at Harland and Wolff Shipyards in Belfast.

April

• April 4 – The Sport Club Internacional is founded in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
• April 6 – Robert Peary, Matthew Henson, and four Eskimo explorers come within a few miles of the North Pole.
• April 11 – The city of Tel Aviv (then known as Ahuzat Bayit) is founded.
• April 18 – Joan of Arc is beatified in Rome.
• April 19 – The Anglo-Persian Oil Company, now BP, is incorporated.
• April 27 – Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Abdul Hamid II is overthrown and succeeded by his brother, Mehmed V. He is sent to the Ottoman port city of Thessaloniki (Selanik) the next day.

May

• May 13 – The first Giro d'Italia is held, in Milan, and is won by Italian cyclist Luigi Ganna.

June

• See also June 1909
• June 1 – The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition opens in Seattle.
• June 2 – Alfred Deakin becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the third time.
• June 9 – Alice Huyler Ramsey, a 22-year-old housewife and mother from Hackensack, New Jersey, becomes the first woman to drive across the United States. With 3 female companions, none of whom could drive a car, for 59 days she drives a Maxwell automobile 3,800 miles, from Manhattan, New York to San Francisco, California.
• June 15 – Representatives from England, Australia and South Africa meet at Lord's and form the Imperial Cricket Conference.
• June 22 – Construction begins on the Cape Cod Canal, which would separate Cape Cod from mainland Massachusetts, United States.
• June 26 – The Science Museum in London comes into existence as an independent entity.

July

• July 13 – Gold is discovered near Cochrane, Ontario.
• July 16 – A revolution forces Mohammad Ali Shah, Persian Shah of the Qajar dynasty to abdicate in favor of his son Ahmad Shah Qajar. He proceeds to leave Persia for Imperial Russia, reportedly seeking the assistance of Nicholas II of Russia in regaining the throne.
• July 25 – Louis Bleriot is the first man to fly across the English Channel(thus a large open body of water) in a heavier-than-air craft.
• July 25 – August 2 – The city of Barcelona experiences a worker's uprising known as the Tragic Week.
• July 26 – Work on the anti-aircraft gun commences.

August

• August 2 – The United States Army Signal Corp Division purchases the world's first military airplane. They buy the Wright Military Flyer from the Wright Brothers.
• August 8 – The Rosicrucian Fellowship is launched at Seattle, Washington.
• August 12 – The first event is held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
• August 23 – Welshman Fred ‘Tenby’ Davies beats Irishman Bert Day at Pontypridd to become world champion over the half-mile distance run.

September

• September 4 – Japan and China sign the Jiandao/Gando Treaty, which gives Imperial Japan a way to receive railroad concessions in Manchuria.

October

• October – The Trade Boards Act, a form of minimum wage legislation, is passed in the UK.
• October 8
  • The first rugby football match to be played at Twickenham Stadium is won by the Harlequins when they defeat Richmond at the brand new ground.
• October 8
  • An earthquake in the Zagreb area leads Andrija Mohorovičić to identify the Mohorovičić discontinuity.
• October 13 – An agreement by Germany, Italy and Switzerland gives the Germans and Italians access to the Gotthard Rail Tunnel.
• October 26 – Korean nationalist An Jung-geun assassinates Ito Hirobumi, a former Prime Minister of Japan, in Harbin, China, in protest of the Japanese annexation of Korea.

November

• November 2 – The Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity is founded at Boston University.
• November 11 – The U.S. Navy founds a navy base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
• November 13 – Ballinger–Pinchot scandal begins: Collier's Magazine accuses U.S. Secretary of the Interior Richard Ballinger of questionable dealings in Alaskan coal fields.
• November 18 – Two United States warships are sent to Nicaragua after 500 revolutionaries (including 2 Americans) are executed by order of dictator Jose Santos Zelaya.

December

• December 3 – the Ellan Vannin sinks in Liverpool Bay
• December 4
  • The first Grey Cup Championship game is played.
  • The Montreal Canadiens Hockey Club is founded.
  • The University of Bristol is founded and receives its Royal Charter.
• December 17 – Leopold II of Belgium dies and is succeeded by his nephew Albert I of Belgium.
• December 31 – The Manhattan Bridge opens.

Undated

• Karl Landsteiner develops a system of blood grouping.
• Leon's, a Canadian furniture store, opens.
• The laboratory of Paul Ehrlich creates the Salvarsan treatment for syphilis.
• The centennial anniversary of Miami University (Ohio) is celebrated.
• The American Issue Publishing House of the Anti-Saloon League is incorporated.
• Ottoman Empire slaughters thousands of Armenian Christians.

Ongoing

• Unification of Saudi Arabia

Births

January–February

• January 1 – Barry Goldwater, American politician (d. 1998)
  • Dana Andrews, American actor (d. 1992)
• January 3 – Victor Borge, Danish entertainer (d. 2000)
• January 4 – J. R. Simplot, American businessman (d. 2008)
• January 5 – Stephen Cole Kleene, American mathematician (d. 1994)
• January 8 – Willy Millowitsch, German actor (d. 1999)
• January 9 – Anthony Mamo, Maltese President (d. 2008)
• January 15
  • Jean Bugatti, German-born automobile designer (d. 1939)
  • Gene Krupa, American drummer (d. 1973)
• January 16 – Clement Greenberg, American art critic (d. 1994)
• January 19 – Hans Hotter, German bass-baritone (d. 2003)
• January 21 – Todor Skalovski, Macedonian composer (d. 2004)
• January 22
  • Ann Sothern, American actress (d. 2001)
  • U Thant, Burmese United Nations Secretary General (d. 1974)
• January 24 – Martin Lings, British Islamic scholar (d. 2005)
• February 1 – George Beverly Shea, American gospel singer and songwriter
• February 3 – Simone Weil, French philosopher (d. 1943)
• February 7 – Wilhelm Freddie, Danish painter (d. 1995)
  • Amedeo Guillet, Italian army officer
  • Silvio Zavala, Mexican historian
• February 9
  • Carmen Miranda, Portuguese-born actress and singer (d. 1955)
  • Dean Rusk, American politician (d. 1994)
  • Harald Genzmer, German composer (d. 2007)
• February 11
  • Max Baer, American boxer and actor (d. 1959)
  • Joseph Mankiewicz, American filmmaker (d. 1993)
• February 15
  • Guillermo Gorostiza Paredes, Spanish footballer (d. 1966)
  • Miep Gies, Austrian-born Dutch humanitarian
• February 16 – Hugh Beaumont, American actor (d. 1982)
• February 18 – Wallace Stegner, American writer (d. 1993)
• February 19 – Enrico Donati, Italian-born American painter (d. 2008)
• February 21 – Hans Erni, Swiss painter and sculptor
• February 22 – Edmund Berkeley, American scientist (d. 1988)
• February 24 – August Derleth, American writer (d. 1971)
• February 26 – King Talal of Jordan (d. 1972)

March–April

• March 4 – Harry Helmsley, American real estate entrepreneur (d. 1997)
• March 19 – Louis Hayward, South African–born actor (d. 1985)
• March 22 – Gabrielle Roy, Canadian author (d. 1983)
• March 27 – Golo Mann, German historian (d. 1994)
• March 28 – Nelson Algren, American Author (d. 1981)
• April 6 – William M. Branham, American Christian minister (d. 1965)
• April 7 – Robert Charroux, French writer (d. 1978)
• April 8 – John Fante, Italian-American writer (d. 1983)
• April 13 – Stanislaw Marcin Ulam, Polish-born mathematician (d. 1984)
• April 22 – Rita Levi-Montalcini, Italian neurologist, Nobel Prize laureate
• April 25 – William Pereira, American architect (d. 1985)
• April 30
  • Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (d. 2004)
  • F. E. McWilliam, Northern Irish sculptor (d. 1992)

May–June

• May 1 – Yannis Ritsos, Greek poet and activist (d. 1990)
• May 6 – Loyd Sigmon, American amateur radio broadcaster (d. 2004)
• May 7 – Edwin H. Land, American camera inventor (d. 1991)
• May 10 – Mother Maybelle Carter, American musician (d. 1978)
• May 15 – James Mason, British actor (d. 1984)
• May 15 – Clara Solovera, Chilean folk musician (d. 1992)
• May 17 – Karl Schäfer, Austrian figure skater (d. 1976)
• May 18 – Fred Perry, English tennis player (d. 1995)
• May 19 – Nicholas Winton, British humanitarian
• May 20 – Matt Busby, Scottish football manager (d. 1994)
• May 23 – Hugh E. Blair, American linguist (d. 1967)
• May 24 – Victoria Hopper, Canadian stage and film actress and singer (d. 2007)
• May 30 – Benny Goodman, American musician (d. 1986)
• June 3 – Ira D. Wallach, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2007)
• June 6 – Isaiah Berlin, Russian historian of ideas (d. 1997)
• June 7 – Jessica Tandy, English actress (d. 1994)
• June 12 – Archie Bleyer, American song arranger & band leader (d. 1989)
• June 14 – Burl Ives, American singer (d. 1995)
• June 19 – Osamu Dazai, Japanese novelist (d. 1948)
• June 20 – Errol Flynn, Australian-born actor (d. 1959)
• June 26 – Colonel Tom Parker, Dutch-born celebrity manager (d. 1997)

July–August

• July 11 – Fritz Leonhardt, German structural engineer (d. 1999)
• July 18
  • Mohammed Daoud Khan, President of Afghanistan (d. 1978)
  • Andrei Gromyko, Soviet Minister for Foreign Affairs (d. 1989)
• July 23 – John William Finn, American WWII hero
• July 28 – Malcolm Lowry, British novelist (d. 1957)
• July 30 – C. Northcote Parkinson, British historian and author (d. 1993)
• August 9 – Adam von Trott zu Solz, German lawyer and diplomat (d. 1944)
• August 10 – Leo Fender, American guitar inventor and manufacturer (d. 1991)
• August 25
  • Ruby Keeler, Canadian singer and actress (d. 1993)
  • Michael Rennie, English actor (d. 1971)
• August 26 – Jim Davis, American actor (d. 1981)
• August 31 – Ferenc Fejtő, Hungarian-born French journalist and political scientist (d. 2008)

September–October

• September 1 – E. Herbert Norman, Canadian diplomat (d. 1957)
• September 7 – Elia Kazan, Turkish-born film director (d. 2003)
• September 14 – Peter Scott, British ornithologist and painter (d. 1989)
• September 15 – Jean Batten, New Zealand-born aviator (d. 1982)
• September 19 – Ferdinand Anton Ernst Porsche, Austrian auto designer and businessman (d. 1998)
• September 21 – Kwame Nkrumah, Ghanaian politician (d. 1972)
• September 24 – Carl Sigman, American songwriter (d. 2000)
• September 28 – Al Capp, American cartoonist (d. 1979)
• October 4 – Murray Chotiner, American political consultant(d. 1974)
• October 7 – Herblock, American editorial cartoonist (d. 2001)
• October 10 – Robert F. Boyle, American production designer and art director
• October 14 – Bernd Rosemeyer, German race car driver (d. 1938)
• October 19 – Cozy Cole, American jazz drummer (d. 1981)
• October 24 – Bill Carr, American athlete (d. 1966)
• October 27 – Henry Townsend, American musician (d. 2006)
• October 28 – Francis Bacon, Irish painter (d. 1992)

November–December

• November 9 – Kay Thompson, American author and actress (d. 1998)
• November 10 – Pawel Jasienica, Polish historian (d. 1970)
• November 18 – Johnny Mercer, American songwriter (d. 1976)
• November 22 – Mikhail Mil, Russian helicopter manufacterer (d. 1970)
• November 23 – Nigel Tranter, Scottish historian and writer (d. 2000)
• November 24 – Gerhard Gentzen, German mathematician (d. 1945)
• November 26 – Eugene Ionesco, Romanian-born playwright (d. 1994)
• November 27 – James Agee, American writer (d. 1955)
• December 4 – Jimmy Jewel, English actor (d. 1995)
• December 9 – Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., American actor and Naval officer (d. 2000)
• December 14 – Edward Lawrie Tatum, American geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1975)
• December 20
  • Vakkom Majeed, Indian freedom fighter and politician (d. 2000)
  • Vagn Holmboe, Danish composer (d. 1996)
• December 21 – Seicho Matsumoto, Japanese writer and journalist (d. 1992)
• December 22 – Alan Carney, American actor (d. 1973)
• December 22 – Patricia Hayes, British character actress & comedian (d. 1998)
• December 23 – Giulio Racah, Israeli mathematician and physicist (d. 1965)

Deaths

January–June

• January 8 – Harry Seeley, British palaeontologist (b. 1839)
• January 10 – Charles Vernon Culver, American politician (b. 1830)
• January 12 – Hermann Minkowski, German mathematician (b. 1864)
• January 14 – Arthur William a Beckett, British journalist (b. 1844)
• January 15 – Saint Arnold Janssen, German Catholic priest (b. 1837)
• February 17 – Geronimo, Apache leader (b. 1829)
• March 16 – Wilbraham Egerton, 1st Earl Egerton of Tatton, chairman of the Manchester Ship Canal (b. 1832)
• March 24 – John Millington Synge, Irish playwright (b. 1871)
• April 10 – Algernon Charles Swinburne, English poet (b. 1837)
• April 28 – Frederick Holbrook, Vermont governor (b. 1813)
• May 10 – Futabatei Shimei, Japanese author and translator (b. 1864)
• May 17 – Helge Alexander Haugan, American banking executive (b. 1847)
• May 18
  • Isaac Albéniz, Spanish composer (b. 1860)
  • George Meredith, English novelist and poet (b. 1828)
• June 24 – Sarah Orne Jewett, American writer (b. 1849)

July–December

• July 18 – Carlos, Duke of Madrid (b. 1848)
• July 19 – Arai Ikunosuke, Japanese samurai (b. 1836)
• August 5 – Miguel Antonio Caro, Colombian political leader (b. 1843)
• August 14 – William Stanley, inventor and engineer (b. 1829)
• August 15 – Euclides da Cunha, Brazilian author (b. 1866)
• August 27 – Emil Christian Hansen, Danish fermentation physiologist (b. 1842)
• September 2 – Louis Delacenserie, Belgian architect (b. 1838)
• September 4 – Clyde Fitch, American dramatist (b. 1865)
• September 7 – Eugene Lefebvre, pioneer French aviator (b. 1878)
• September 22 – Captain Ferdinand Ferber, French Army officer and pioneer aviator (b. 1862)
• September 27 – Gyula Donáth, Hungarian sculptor (b. 1850)
• September 29 – Vladimir Vidrić, Croatian poet (b. 1875)
• October 26 – Ito Hirobumi, 1st Prime Minister of Japan (assassinated) (b. 1841)
• November 9 – William Powell Frith, English painter (b. 1819)
• November 18 – Renee Vivien Scottish/American poet (b.1877)
• December 10 – Red Cloud, Sioux warrior
• December 15 – Francisco Tárrega, Spanish guitarist and composer (b. 1852)
• December 17 – Leopold II of Belgium (b. 1835)
• December 26 – Frederic Remington, American cowboy artist and sculptor (b. 1864)
• date unknown – Gideon T. Stewart, American educator and politician (b. 1824)

Nobel Prizes

• Physics – Guglielmo Marconi, Karl Ferdinand Braun for the development of wireless telegraphy (radio).
• Chemistry – Wilhelm Ostwald for his work on catalysis, chemical equilibria, and reaction velocities.
• Medicine – Emil Theodor Kocher for his work on the physiology, pathology, and surgery of the thyroid gland.
• Literature – Selma Lagerlöf ("in appreciation of the lofty idealism, vivid imagination and spiritual perception that characterize her writings").
• Peace – Auguste Marie Francois Beernaert and Paul-Henri-Benjamin d'Estournelles de Constant.

See also

External links