From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base
1909
1909
British supercentenarian Ethel Caterham is the last surviving person who was born in 1909.
Events
January–February
Main article: January 1909, February 1909
- January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama.
- January 9 – The British Nimrod Expedition to the South Pole, led by Ernest Shackleton, arrives at the farthest south reached by any prior expedition, at 88°23' S, prior to turning back due to diminishing supplies.
- January 11 – The International Joint Commission on US-Canada boundary waters is established.
- January 16 – Members of the Nimrod Expedition claim to have found the magnetic South Pole (but the location recorded may be incorrect).
- January 24 – The White Star Liner RMS Republic sinks the day after a collision with SS Florida off Nantucket. Almost all of the 1,500 passengers are rescued.
- January 28 – The last United States troops leave Cuba, after being there since the Spanish–American War of 1898.
- February 2 – The Paris Film Congress opens. It is an attempt to create a cartel of leading European producers similar to the MPPC in the United States.
- February 5 – Leo Baekeland announces the creation of bakelite hard thermosetting plastic.
March–April
Main article: March 1909, April 1909
- March 10 – The Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909 is signed in Bangkok.
- March 18 – Einar Dessau uses a shortwave radio transmitter in Denmark.
- March 21 – The remains of the Báb are placed in the Baháʼí Shrine of the Báb on Mount Carmel in Haifa, at this time within the Ottoman Empire.
- March 31 – Serbia accepts Austrian control over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- March 31 – Construction begins on the RMS Titanic, at the Harland and Wolff Shipyard in Belfast.
- April 4 – The association football team Sport Club Internacional is founded in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
- April 6 – Robert Peary, Matthew Henson and four Inuit explorers – Ootah, Ooqueah, Seegloo and Egigingwah – come within a few miles of the North Pole.
- April 9 – The Payne–Aldrich Tariff Act is passed in the United States Congress.
- April 11 – The city of Tel Aviv (known in its first year as Ahuzat Bayit) is founded by the Jewish community, on the outskirts of Jaffa (at this time in the Ottoman Empire).
- April 13 (March 31 by Eastern reckoning) – A countercoup begins in the Ottoman Empire.
- April 14 – Adana massacre: Ottoman Turks kill 15,000–30,000 Armenian Christians, in the Adana Vilayet.
- April 18 – Joan of Arc is beatified in Rome.
- April 19 – The Anglo-Persian Oil Company (modern-day BP) is incorporated.
- April 23 – In Portugal, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake strikes near Lisbon, killing at least 60 people.
- April 27 – Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Abdul Hamid II is overthrown and succeeded by his brother, Mehmed V.
May–June
Main article: May 1909, June 1909
- May 19 – Russian ballet is brought to the Western world when the Ballets Russes opens a tour produced by Sergei Diaghilev at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, with 55 dancers, including Vaslav Nijinsky.
- June 2 – French forces capture Abéché, capital of the Wadai Empire in central Africa.
- June 15 – Representatives from England, Australia and South Africa meet at Lord's Cricket Ground in London and form the Imperial Cricket Conference.
July–August
Main article: July 1909, August 1909
- July 1 – In London, Indian nationalist student Madan Lal Dhingra assassinates Curzon Wyllie, political aide to the Secretary of State for India.
- July 16 – A revolution forces Mohammad Ali Shah of the Qajar dynasty to abdicate in favor of his son Ahmad Shah Qajar. He proceeds to leave Persia for the Russian Empire, reportedly seeking the assistance of Nicholas II of Russia in regaining the throne.
- July 25 – Louis Blériot 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 – "Tragic Week" (La Semana Trágica/la Setmana Tràgica): The city of Barcelona experiences a workers' uprising.
- July 26 – Blue Anchor Line passenger/cargo liner , on her second voyage from Australia to Britain, leaves Durban and is lost without trace with all 211 aboard.
- August 2 – The United States Army Signal Corp Division purchases the world's first military airplane, a Wright Military Flyer, from the Wright brothers.
- August 8 – Max Heindel formally founds the Rosicrucian Fellowship in Seattle, Washington.
September–October
Main article: September 1909, October 1909
- September 4 – Japan and China sign the Gando Convention, which gives Japan a way to receive railroad concessions in Manchuria.
- October – Suzuki Weaving Machine Manufacturing, predecessor of the Suzuki motorbike and compact car brand in Japan, is founded in Shizuoka Prefecture.
- October 8 – An earthquake in the Zagreb area leads Andrija Mohorovičić to identify the Mohorovičić discontinuity.
- October 12 – The association football team Coritiba is founded in Curitiba, Brazil.
- October 13 – An agreement by Germany, Italy and Switzerland gives the Germans and Italians access to the Gotthard Rail Tunnel.
- October 26 – Itō Hirobumi, four time Prime Minister of Japan (the 1st, 5th, 7th and 10th) and Resident-General of Korea, is assassinated by An Jung-geun, an activist of the Korean independence movement, at the Harbin railway station in Manchuria.
November–December
Main article: November 1909, December 1909
- November 18 – In Nicaragua, 500 revolutionaries (including 2 Americans) are executed by order of dictator José Santos Zelaya. The United States responds by sending 2 warships.
- November 28 – Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 is premièred in New York City with the composer as soloist.
- December 4 – Montreal Canadiens, a well known professional ice hockey club in Canada, is founded.
- December 14 – New South Wales Premier Charles Wade signs the Seat of Government Surrender Act 1909, formally completing the transfer of State land to the Commonwealth, to create the Australian Capital Territory.
- December 19 – The association football team Borussia Dortmund is founded in Dortmund, Germany.
- December 23 – King Albert I of Belgium succeeds his uncle, Leopold II (died December 17), on the throne.
- December 28 – The first manned heavier-than-air powered flight in South Africa is made at East London, by French aviator Albert Kimmerling, in a Voisin 1907 biplane.
Undated
- Karl Landsteiner, Constantin Levaditi and Erwin Popper first isolate the poliovirus.
Births
January to April
January


.jpg)
- January 1
- January 2 – Barry Goldwater, American politician (d. 1998)
- January 3 – Victor Borge, Danish-born American entertainer (d. 2000)
- January 5 – Stephen Cole Kleene, American mathematician (d. 1994)
- January 9
- January 13 – Marinus van der Lubbe, Dutch communist convicted of setting fire to the German Reichstag building in 1933 (executed 1934)
- January 15
- January 19 – Hans Hotter, German bass-baritone (d. 2003)
- January 22
- January 24 – Martin Lings, British Islamic scholar (d. 2005)
- January 25 – Robert Rex, 1st Premier of Niue (d. 1992)
- January 28 – Colin Munro MacLeod, Canadian-American geneticist (d. 1972)
- January 30 – Saul Alinsky, American community organizer (d. 1972)
February

.jpg)
-
February 1 – George Beverly Shea, American gospel singer, songwriter (d. 2013)
-
February 3 – Simone Weil, French philosopher (d. 1943)
-
February 7 – Amedeo Guillet, Italian army officer (d. 2010)
-
February 9
-
February 11
-
February 12 – Zoran Mušič, Slovene painter (d. 2005)
-
February 14 – Yeom Dong-jin, Korean militant (d. )
-
February 15
-
February 16
-
February 18
-
February 19 – Enrico Donati, Italian-born American painter (d. 2008)
-
February 20 – Heinz Erhardt, German comedian, musician, entertainer, actor and poet (d. 1979)
-
February 21 – Hans Erni, Swiss painter, sculptor (d. 2015)
-
February 24 – August Derleth, American writer (d. 1971)
-
February 25 – Geoffrey Dummer, English electrical engineer (d. 2002)
-
February 26 – King Talal of Jordan (d. 1972)
-
February 28 – Stephen Spender, English writer (d. 1995)
March


- March 7 – Roger Revelle, American scientist, scholar (d. 1991)
- March 11 – Jules Engel, Hungarian-born American filmmaker, painter, sculptor, graphic artist, set designer, animator, film director and teacher (d. 2003)
- March 19 – Louis Hayward, South African-born actor (d. 1985)
- March 22 – Gabrielle Roy, Canadian author (d. 1983)
- March 24 – Clyde Barrow, American outlaw, member of Barrow Gang (d. 1934)
- March 26
- March 27 – Golo Mann, German historian (d. 1994)
- March 28 – Nelson Algren, American author (d. 1981)
April


- April 6 – William M. Branham, American Christian minister (d. 1965)
- April 8
- April 13
- April 22
- April 24 – Bernhard Grzimek, German zoo director, zoologist (d. 1987)
- April 26 – Marianne Hoppe, German actress (d. 2002)
- April 27 – Guillermo León Valencia, 21st President of Colombia (d. 1971)
- April 30 – Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (d. 2004)
May to August
May

.jpg)

- May 1 – Yiannis Ritsos, Greek poet and activist (d. 1990)
- May 4 – Howard Da Silva, American actor (d. 1986)
- May 7 – Edwin H. Land, American camera inventor (d. 1991)
- May 10 – Maybelle Carter, American country musician (d. 1978)
- May 15 – James Mason, British actor (d. 1984)
- May 16 – Margaret Sullavan, American actress (d. 1960)
- May 17 – Karl Schäfer, Austrian figure skater (d. 1976)
- May 18 – Fred Perry, English tennis player (d. 1995)
- May 19 – Nicholas Winton, British humanitarian (d. 2015)
- May 26
- May 27
- May 30 – Benny Goodman, American swing clarinetist and bandleader (d. 1986)
June

- June 6 – Isaiah Berlin, Russian-born British historian of ideas (d. 1997)
- June 7 – Jessica Tandy, English actress (d. 1994)
- June 14 – Burl Ives, American folk singer (d. 1995)
- June 19 – Osamu Dazai, Japanese novelist (d. 1948)
- June 20 – Errol Flynn, Australian-born American actor (d. 1959)
- June 22
- June 23 – Li Xiannian, President of the People's Republic of China (d. 1992)
- June 24 – William Penney, Baron Penney, English mathematician, physicist (d. 1991)
- June 26
- June 28 – Eric Ambler, British author (d. 1998)
- June 30 – Juan Bosch, 43rd President of the Dominican Republic (d. 2001)
July

.jpg)
- July 5 – Douglas Dodds-Parker, British politician and administrator (d. 2006)
- July 6 – Eric Reece, 32nd Premier of Tasmania (d. 1999)
- July 7
- July 9 – Pavle Đurišić, Montenegrin Serb army commander (d. 1945)
- July 11 – Irene Hervey, American actress (d. 1998)
- July 12 – Motoichi Kumagai, Japanese photographer, illustrator (d. 2010)
- July 13 – Souphanouvong, 1st President of Laos (d. 1995)
- July 14 – Alejandro Morera, Costa Rican footballer (d. 1995)
- July 15 – Hendrik Casimir, Dutch physicist (d. 2000)
- July 16 – Aruna Asaf Ali, Indian independence activist (d. 1996)
- July 18
- July 19 – Balamani Amma, Indian poet (d. 2004)
- July 22 – Licia Albanese, Italian-born American operatic soprano (d. 2014)
- July 24
- July 26 – Vivian Vance, American actress (d. 1979)
- July 28 – Malcolm Lowry, English novelist (Under the Volcano) (d. 1957)
- July 30 – C. Northcote Parkinson, British historian, author (d. 1993)
- July 31 – Olivér Halassy, Hungarian water polo player and freestyle swimmer (d. 1946)
August
- August 8
- August 9 – Adam von Trott zu Solz, German lawyer, diplomat, anti-Nazi (k. 1944)
- August 10 – Leo Fender, American guitar inventor, manufacturer (d. 1991)
- August 13 – Brian Lawrance, Australian bandleader (d. 1983)
- August 18 – Gordon Gunter, American marine biologist, fisheries scientist (d. 1998)
- August 21 – Ethel Caterham, English supercentenarian, oldest living person, last surviving person born in 1909, last surviving subject of King Edward VII
- August 25 – Michael Rennie, English actor (d. 1971)
- August 26 – Jim Davis, American actor (d. 1981)
September to December
September

.jpg)
- September 1 – E. Herbert Norman, Canadian diplomat (d. 1957)
- September 7 – Elia Kazan, Turkish-born American film director (d. 2003)
- September 14 – Peter Scott, British ornithologist and painter (d. 1989)
- September 15
- September 19 – Ferry Porsche, Austrian auto designer, businessman (d. 1998)
- September 21 – Kwame Nkrumah, Ghanaian politician, 1st president of Ghana (d. 1972)
- September 28 – Al Capp, American cartoonist (d. 1979)
October


- October 1 – Everett Sloane, American actor (d. 1965)
- October 4 – Murray Chotiner, American political consultant (d. 1974)
- October 8 – Piotr Jaroszewicz, Polish politician, 49th Prime Minister of Poland (d. 1992)
- October 10 – Robert F. Boyle, American production designer, art director (d. 2010)
- October 13 – Herblock, American editorial cartoonist (d. 2001)
- October 14 – Bernd Rosemeyer, German race car driver (d. 1938)
- October 18 – Norberto Bobbio, Italian philosopher of law and political sciences (d. 2004)
- October 24 – Bill Carr, American track and field athlete (d. 1966)
- October 25 – Whit Bissell, American actor (d. 1996)
- October 28 – Francis Bacon, Irish-born British painter (d. 1992)
November
- November 9 – Kay Thompson, American author, actress (d. 1998)
- November 10 – Paweł Jasienica, Polish historian (d. 1970)
- November 16 – Mirza Nasir Ahmad, Indian Islamic leader (d. 1982)
- November 18 – Johnny Mercer, American songwriter (d. 1976)
- November 23 – Nigel Tranter, Scottish historian and novelist (d. 2000)
- November 24 – Gerhard Gentzen, German mathematician (d. 1945)
- November 26 – Eugène Ionesco, Romanian-born French playwright (d. 1994)
- November 27 – James Agee, American writer (d. 1955)
December

- December 2 – Marion Dönhoff, German journalist (d. 2002)
- December 5 – Bobbie Heine Miller, South African tennis player (d. 2016)
- December 7 – Arch Oboler, American actor, playwright, screenwriter, novelist, producer and director (d. 1987)
- 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
- December 21 – Seichō Matsumoto, Japanese writer, journalist (d. 1992)
- December 22
- December 27 – Henryk Jabłoński, President of Poland (d. 2003)
- December 29 – Thomas Beck, American actor (d. 1995)
- December 31 – Jonah Jones, American jazz trumpeter (d. 2000)
Deaths
January


- January 1 – Mollie Evelyn Moore Davis, American poet, writer and editor (b. 1844)
- January 2 – Marta Abreu, Cuban philanthropist (b. 1845)
- January 6 – George Dixon, Canadian-born American boxer (b. 1870)
- January 8 – Harry Seeley, British palaeontologist (b. 1839)
- January 10
- January 11 – Joseph Wharton, American industrialist and educationist. (b. 1826)
- January 12 – Hermann Minkowski, German mathematician (b. 1864)
- January 14
- January 15 – Arnold Janssen, German Roman Catholic priest and saint (b. 1837)
- January 22 – Hattie Tyng Griswold, American author (b. 1842)
- January 24 – Petre S. Aurelian, 19th Prime Minister of Romania (b. 1833)
- January 29 – Felice Beato, Italian British photographer (b. 1832)
- January 30 – Martha Finley, American teacher, author (b. 1828)
February

- February 5 – Alexandre Saint-Yves d'Alveydre, French occultist (b. 1842)
- February 8 – Catulle Mendès, French poet (b. 1841)
- February 13 – Hans Peter Jørgen Julius Thomsen, Danish chemist (b. 1826)
- February 17
- February 20 – Paul Ranson, French painter (b. 1864)
- February 26
March

- March 6 – Gustaf af Geijerstam, Swedish novelist (b. 1858)
- March 13 – William Jackson Palmer, American founder of Colorado Springs (b. 1836)
- March 16 – Wilbraham Egerton, 1st Earl Egerton, chairman of the Manchester Ship Canal (b. 1832)
- March 24 – John Millington Synge, Irish playwright (b. 1871)
- March 25 – Ruperto Chapí, Spanish composer (b. 1854)
April

- April 1 – Sir Marshal Clarke, British colonial administrator (b. 1841)
- April 3 – Pascual Cervera y Topete, Spanish admiral (b. 1839)
- April 8 – Helena Modjeska, Polish actress (b. 1840)
- April 10 – Algernon Charles Swinburne, English poet (b. 1837)
- April 13 – Sir Donald Currie, British shipping magnate (b. 1825)
- April 14 – Miguel Ángel Juárez Celman, 10th President of Argentina (b. 1844)
- April 19 – Signe Rink, Greenland-born Danish writer, ethnologist (b. 1836)
- April 28 – Frederick Holbrook, Vermont governor (b. 1813)
May

- May 2 – Manuel Amador Guerrero, 1st President of Panama (b. 1833)
- May 4 – Helen Marr Hurd, American teacher and poet (b. 1839)
- May 7 – Alexis Toth, Russian Orthodox church leader and saint (b. 1853)
- May 9 – Augusta Jane Evans, American author of Southern literature (b. 1835)
- May 10 – Futabatei Shimei, Japanese author, translator (b. 1864)
- May 12
- May 17 – Helge Alexander Haugan, American banking executive (b. 1847)
- May 18
- May 20 – Ernest Hogan, African-American dancer, musician and comedian (b. 1865)
June

- June 10
- June 14 – Afonso Pena, 6th President of Brazil (b. 1847)
- June 24 – Sarah Orne Jewett, American writer (b. 1849)
July
- July 8 – Gaston, Marquis de Galliffet, French general (b. 1830)
- July 9 – Kasimir Felix Graf von Badeni, 13th Minister-President of Cisleithania (b. 1846)
- July 11 – Simon Newcomb, Canadian-American astronomer, mathematician (b. 1835)
- July 18 – Carlos, Duke of Madrid (b. 1848)
- July 19 – Arai Ikunosuke, Japanese samurai (b. 1836)
- July 20 – Johanna Mestorf, German archaeologist (b. 1828)
- July 22 – Detlev von Liliencron, German poet (b. 1844)
- July 23 – Sir Frederick Holder, 19th Premier of South Australia (b. 1850)
August

- August 5 – Miguel Antonio Caro, Colombian political leader (b. 1843)
- August 8 – Mary MacKillop, Australian Roman Catholic nun and saint (b. 1842)
- August 14 – William Stanley, British inventor, engineer (b. 1829)
- August 15 – Euclides da Cunha, Brazilian author (b. 1866)
- August 22 – Henry Radcliffe Crocker, English dermatologist (b. 1846)
- August 25 – Besarion Jughashvili, Georgian cobbler, father of Joseph Stalin (b. 1850)
- August 27 – Emil Christian Hansen, Danish fermentation physiologist (b. 1842)
September
- September 2 – Louis Delacenserie, Belgian architect (b. 1838)
- September 4 – Clyde Fitch, American dramatist (b. 1865)
- September 5 – Louis Bouveault, French chemist (b. 1864)
- September 7 – Eugène Lefebvre, pioneer French aviator (b. 1878)
- September 18 – Grigore Tocilescu, Romanian historian, archaeologist, epigrapher and folklorist (b. 1850)
- September 22 – Ferdinand Ferber, French Army officer, pioneer aviator (b. 1862)
- September 27 – Gyula Donáth, Hungarian sculptor (b. 1850)
- September 29 – Vladimir Vidrić, Croatian poet (b. 1875)
October

- October 7 – William Thomas Pipes, Canadian politician, 6th Premier of Nova Scotia (b. 1850)
- October 9 – Heinrich Gudehus, German tenor (b. 1842)
- October 13 – Francisco Ferrer, Spanish anarchist (executed) (b. 1859)
- October 17 – Sagen Ishizuka, Japanese physician and dietitian (b. 1850)
- October 19 – Cesare Lombroso, Italian criminologist, physician (b. 1835)
- October 24 – Rufus W. Peckham, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (b. 1838)
- October 26 – Itō Hirobumi, 1st Prime Minister of Japan (assassinated) (b. 1841)
- October – George Smart (skater), English Fen skater (industrial accident)
November

- November 9 – William Powell Frith, English painter (b. 1819)
- November 14 – Joshua Slocum, Canadian-born American seaman and adventurer (b. 1844)
- November 18 – Renée Vivien, British-born American poet (b. 1877)
December

- December 10 – Red Cloud, Sioux warrior (b. 1822)
- December 14 – Agustí Querol Subirats, Spanish sculptor (b. 1860)
- December 15 – Francisco Tárrega, Spanish guitarist, composer (b. 1852)
- December 17 – King Leopold II of Belgium (b. 1835)
- December 16
- December 18 – Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich, Russian royal (b. 1832)
- December 26 – Frederic Remington, American cowboy artist, sculptor (b. 1864)
Date unknown

- Martha Foster Crawford, American writer and missionary in China (b. 1830)
Nobel Prizes

- Physics – Guglielmo Marconi and Karl Ferdinand Braun
- Chemistry – Wilhelm Ostwald
- Medicine – Emil Theodor Kocher
- Literature – Selma Lagerlöf
- Peace – Auguste Marie François Beernaert and Paul-Henri-Benjamin d'Estournelles de Constant
References
References
- Morris, Charles. (1909). "Finding the North Pole". W. E. Scull.
- "The Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909".
- "The Magnetic South Pole". [[Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution]], Magnetics Group, Ocean Bottom Magnetology Laboratory.
- (2013-03-18). "First Broadcast by Ham Radio Operator". The Story of Information.
- [http://www.explorers.org/index.php/about/history/north_pole "North Pole."] {{Webarchive. link. (February 21, 2014 ''The Explorer's Club.'' Accessed 5 Feb 2014.)
- National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS). (1972). "Significant Earthquake Database". [[National Geophysical Data Center]], [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
- Eksteins, Modris. (2000). "Rites of Spring: The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age". Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
- "History". Suzuki.
- "1909-1910 Season - Description, pictures, highlights and more {{!}} Historical Website of the Montreal Canadiens".
- "King Albert I".
- [http://www.sapfa.org.za/history/1910-1920-early-flying-south-africa South African Power Flying Association - 1910 to 1920 - Early Flying in South Africa] {{Webarchive. link. (August 20, 2015 (Accessed on 26 November 2016))
- (15 May 2009). "Fred Perry: Hero from the wrong side of the tracks".
- "Malcolm Lowry, British Novelist".
- [[The National Archives (United Kingdom). The National Archives]]; Kew, London, England; [[1939 Register]]; Reference: RG 101/464K
- "Homepage".
- Lane, Nancy. (1994). "Understanding Eugène Ionesco". University of South Carolina Press.
- "George Dixon | American boxer | Britannica".
- (1998). "Spreadin' rhythm around : Black popular songwriters, 1880-1930". Schirmer Books, Prentice Hall International.
- "Itō Hirobumi {{!}} prime minister of Japan".
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
Ask Mako anything about 1909 — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.
Research with MakoFree with your Surf account
Create a free account to save articles, ask Mako questions, and organize your research.
Sign up freeThis content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.
Report