What Happened in August 1909

Historical Events

Sports History

Aug 3 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

Aug 6 Alice Ramsey and three friends become the first women to complete a transcontinental auto trip
Aug 11 SOS 1st used by an American ship, Arapahoe, off Cape Hatteras, NC
Aug 11 Warren Bardsley (136 & 130) 1st to get twin tons in a Test

Historic Event

Aug 18 Mayor of Tokyo Yukio Ozaki presents Washington, D.C. with 2,000 cherry trees, which President William Howard Taft decides to plant near the Potomac River.

Aug 19 Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of automobile race Indianapolis 500, opens in Speedway, Indiana
Aug 24 Workers start pouring concrete for Panama Canal
Aug 26 Frank Tarrant scores cricket 145 & 13-67 for Middlesex v Gloucester
Aug 26 Middlesex beat Gloucester (Bristol) at cricket by an innings & 31 runs in a single day
Aug 27 Future Baseball HOF pitcher Jack Chesbro's final game for NY Highlanders; 17-6 loss to the Tigers at Bennett Park, Detroit
Aug 27 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Newport, RI: William Larned beats William Clothier 6-1, 6-2, 5-7, 1-6, 6-1 for his 3rd straight & 5th overall US singles title
Aug 29 AH Latham of France sets world airplane altitude record of 155 m
Aug 29 World's 1st air race held in Rheims France. Glenn Curtiss (USA) wins
Aug 30 Burgess Shale fossils discovered by Charles Doolittle Walcott
Aug 31 A J Reach Co patents cork-centered baseball
Aug 31 Swedish runner Thure Johansson runs world record marathon (2:40:34.2) in Stockholm

Famous Birthdays

Aug 1 Nigel Henderson, British Royal Navy admiral (d. 1993)
Aug 2 Lord Benson [Henry Alexander], British accountant (Coopers & Lybrand), born in Johannesburg, South Africa (d. 1995)
Aug 2 Ace Gutowsky, Russian/American football fullback (Portsmouth Spartans, Brooklyn Dodgers; NFL C'ship 1935, Detroit Lions), born in Komolty, Russian Empire (d. 1976)
Aug 4 Glenn Cunningham, American middle distance runner (1930's), born in Atlanta, Kansas (d. 1988)
Aug 4 Roberto Burle Marx, Brazilian landscape gardener, born in São Paulo, Brazil (d. 1994)
Aug 4 Saunders Mac Lane, American mathematician (co-founded category theory), born in Taftville, Connecticut (d. 2005)
Aug 5 Ernestine "Tiny" Davis, American jazz vocalist and trumpeter (International Sweethearts of Rhythm), born in Memphis, Tennessee (d. 1994)
Aug 8 Bill Voce, cricketer (England left-arm bodyline bowler)
Aug 9 John Baur, American museum director and author (American Paintings in 19th Century), born in Woodbridge, Connecticut (d. 1987)
Aug 9 Adam von Trott zu Solz, German lawyer and diplomat, born in Potsdam, Germany (d. 1944)
Aug 10 Brian Easdale, composer

Aug 10 Claude Thornhill, American pianist, arranger (Andre Kostelanetz; Tony Bennett), composer ("Snowfall"), and bandleader ("A Sunday Kind of Love"), born in Terre Haute, Indiana (d. 1965)
Aug 10 George W Crockett Jr, (Rep-D-MI, 1980- )
Aug 10 Julio A Abraham, president (Democratic Party Bonaire)
Aug 10 Leo Fender, American inventor, and electric guitar designer (Telecaster; Stratocaster; Precision Bass), born in Anaheim California (d. 1991)
Aug 10 Mohammed V ibn Yusuf, King of Morocco (1953, 1955-61)
Aug 11 Gaston Gilbert Litaize, composer
Aug 11 Hugo Buchthal, art historian
Aug 11 Jean Lancaster, director (WRNS)
Aug 12 Maurice Heath, air marshal
Aug 12 Richard Bare, American director
Aug 13 John Beal [James Andrew Bliedung], American actor (10 Who Dare, I Am the Law, Les Misérables), born in Joplin, Missouri (d. 1997)
Aug 13 Wilhelmina Von Bremen, American 4X100 relay sprinter (Olympic gold 1932), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1976)
Aug 13 Dave Willock, American actor (Queen of Outer Space), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1990)
Aug 14 Len Darling, Australian cricketer (South Australian & Test batsman of 30's), born in South Yarra, Victoria, Australia (d. 1992)
Aug 14 Hezekiah "Stuff" Smith, American jazz violinist & composer (It's Wonderful), born in Portsmouth, Ohio (d. 1967)
Aug 15 Raymond O'Malley, English teacher
Aug 16 Paul Smith Callaway, American organist, conductor and composer (Great Organ of Washington Cathedral), born in Atlanta, Illinois (d. 1995)
Aug 17 Larry Clinton, American trumpeter and bandleader (d. 1985)
Aug 18 Miliza Korjus, Polish actress (Great Waltz), born in Warsaw, Poland (d. 1980)
Aug 19 Jerzy Andrzejewski, Polish writer (Ashes and Diamonds), born in Warsaw, Kingdom of Poland (d. 1983)
Aug 20 Alby Roberts, New Zealand cricket fast bowler (5 Tests, 7 wickets; Canterbury, Otago), born in Christchurch, New Zealand (d. 1978)
Aug 20 André Morell [Cecil André Mesritz], British actor (Ben-Hur, The Message, Hound of the Baskervilles), born in London, England (d. 1978)
Aug 21 C. Dillon Douglas, US Secretary of Treasury (1961-65), born in Geneva, Switzerland (d. 2003)
Aug 21 John William Haussermann Jr., American composer, born in Manila, Philippines (d. 1986)
Aug 21 Nikolay Bogolyubov, Russian mathematician, born in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia (d. 1992)

Mel Hein

Aug 22 Mel Hein, American NFL center (NY Giants), born in Redding, California (d. 1992)

Aug 22 Sergius Kagen, American pianist and composer, born in Saint Petersburg, Russia (d. 1964)
Aug 22 Stojan Daskalov, Bulgarian writer (A Farm), born in Liljac, Vraca, Bulgaria (d. 1985)
Aug 22 Julius J. Epstein, American screenwriter (Casablanca), born in NYC, New York (d. 2000)
Aug 22 Vitya Vronsky, Russian-American concert pianist (Vronsky & Babin), and educator (Cleveland Institute), born in Yevpatoria, Russia (d. 1992)
Aug 23 Syd Buller, English cricket umpire (33 Tests 1956-69), born in Leeds, England (d. 1970)
Aug 24 Ronnie Grieveson, South African cricket wicket-keeper/batsman (2 Tests v Eng 1939), born in Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa (d. 1998)
Aug 25 Arwel Hughes, Welsh composer, born in Rhosllannerchrugog, Wales (d. 1988)
Aug 25 Michael Rennie, British actor (The Day the Earth Stood Still), born in Idle, West Yorkshire, England (d. 1971)
Aug 25 Ruby Keeler, Canadian actress, singer, and dancer (Dames, 42nd Street), born in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia (d. 1993)
Aug 26 Eric Davies, South African cricket fast bowler (5 Tests, 7 wickets; East Province, Transvaal), born in King William's Town, South Africa (d. 1976)
Aug 26 Frank Gasparro, US chief engraver (1965-81), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Aug 26 Jim Davis, American actor (Dallas), born in Edgerton, Missouri (d. 1981)
Aug 26 Gene Moore, American MLB player, born in Lancaster, Texas (d. 1978)
Aug 27 Lester Young, American jazz saxophonist, born in Woodville, Mississippi (d. 1959)
Aug 27 Sidney R. Yates, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2000)
Aug 27 Sylvère Maes, Belgian cyclist (Tour de France 1936, 39), born in Gistel, Belgium (d. 1966)
Aug 29 Roy Reuther, American labor leader, born in Wheeling, West Virginia (d. 1968)
Aug 30 Barry Appleby, British cartoonist (The Gambols), born in Birmingham (d. 1996)
Aug 31 Marie-Louise Grog-Carven, French fashion designer (Ma Griffe perfume), born in Châtellerault, Poitou-Charentes (d. 2015)

Famous Deaths

Aug 8 William Miller, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 89
Aug 15 Euclides da Cunha, Brazilian writer and sociologist (b. 1866)
Aug 17 Richard Hoffman, English-American composer, dies at 78
Aug 19 Rembt Tobias Hugo Pieter Liebrecht Alexander of Boneval Faure, Dutch lawyer and Member of parliament, dies at 83
Aug 29 Emil Christian Hansen, Danish physiologist, dies at 67