Historical Events
- Jan 9 Ernest Shackleton as part of the British Nimrod Expedition reaches a record farthest South latitude (88°23' south)
- Mar 26 In support of Mohammed Ali Shah's coup d'etat against the constitutional government in Persia, a Russian military force invades northern Persia to relieve the siege of Tabriz
- Apr 19 Joan of Arc receives beatification by the Roman Catholic Church
- Sep 6 New York Times headline announces American explorer Robert Peary had discovered the North Pole 5 months earlier
- Sep 7 Eugene Lefebvre becomes first pilot to die in an airplane craft, while test piloting new French-built Wright biplane at Juvisy
- Sep 12 World's first patent for synthetic rubber granted to German chemist Fritz Hofmann
- Dec 7 Inventor Leo Baekeland patents the first thermo-setting plastic, Bakelite, sparking the birth of the plastics industry
- More Historical Events
1909 in Sport
- Jun 16 Jim Thorpe makes his pro baseball pitching debut for Rocky Mount (ECL) with 4-2 win, this will cause him to forfeit his Olympic gold medals
- Aug 19 Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of automobile race Indianapolis 500, opens in Speedway, Indiana
Did You Know?
Victor Borge
Clyde Barrow
Edwin Land
Eduard Wirths
Kwame Nkrumah
Johnny MercerFamous People in 1909
Claude MonetWorld Leaders in 1909
H. H. Asquith
Nicholas II
Wilhelm II
William Howard Taft
Would You Believe?
MLB umpire Tim Hurst instigates a riot by spitting in the face of A's 2nd baseman Eddie Collins who had questioned a call; 2 weeks later Hurst banned for life
On August 3, 1909
Famous Weddings
- Apr 15 Mien Wenneker, Dutch prince Henry's lover, weds Uncle Cornelis Abbo
- Oct 2 American Playwright Eugene O'Neill (20) marries 1st wife Kathleen Jenkins
Geronimo
Clyde Fitch
Itō Hirobumi