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Year 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Thursday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar.

Events [edit]

January–February [edit]

• 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 may be incorrect.^[1]
• January 28 – The last United States troops leave Cuba after being there since the Spanish-American War.
• February 5 – Leo Baekeland announces the creation of Bakelite hard thermosetting plastic.

March–April [edit]

• 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 21 – The remains of the Báb were placed in his Shrine of the Báb on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel.
• March 31 – Serbia accepts Austrian control over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• April 4 – Sport Club Internacional was 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–June [edit]

July–August [edit]

• 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 – "Tragic Week": The city of Barcelona experiences a workers' uprising.
• August 2 – The United States Army Signal Corp Division purchases the world's first military airplane, a Wright Military Flyer, from the Wright Brothers.

September–October [edit]

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

• 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.
• December 17 – King Albert I of Belgium succeeds his uncle, Leopold II, on the throne.

Date unknown [edit]

• Karl Landsteiner develops a system of blood grouping.
• Max Heindel founds the Rosicrucian Fellowship.
• Ottoman Empire slaughters thousands of Armenian Christians.^{[citation needed]}

Births [edit]

January–February [edit]

• January 1
  • Stepan Bandera, Ukrainian nationalist leader (d. 1959)
  • Dana Andrews, American actor (d. 1992)
• January 2 – Barry Goldwater, American politician (d. 1998)
• 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)
• January 30 – Saul Alinsky, American community organizer (d. 1972)
• February 1 – George Beverly Shea, American gospel singer and songwriter (d. 2013)
• February 3 – Simone Weil, French philosopher (d. 1943)
• February 7
  • Wilhelm Freddie, Danish painter (d. 1995)
  • Amedeo Guillet, Italian army officer (d. 2010)
  • 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 (d. 2010)
• 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 [edit]

• 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)
  • Eudora Welty, American author (d. 2001)
• April 22
  • Rita Levi-Montalcini, Italian neurologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2012)
  • Indro Montanelli, Italian journalist (d. 2001)

• 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 [edit]

• May 1 – Yannis Ritsos, Greek poet and activist (d. 1990)
• May 4 – Howard da Silva, American actor (d. 1986)
• May 6 – Loyd Sigmon, American amateur radio broadcaster (d. 2004)
• May 7 – Edwin H. Land, American camera inventor (d. 1991)
• May 10 – Maybelle Carter, American musician (d. 1978)
• May 15
  • James Mason, British actor (d. 1984)
  • 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 27 – Dolores Hope, American singer and philanthropist (d. 2011)
• May 30 – Benny Goodman, American musician (d. 1986)
• June 1 – Yechezkel Kutscher, Slovakian-born Israeli philologist and Hebrew linguist (d. 1971)
• 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 23 – Li Xiannian, President of the People's Republic of China (d. 1992)
• June 26 – Colonel Tom Parker, Dutch-born celebrity manager (d. 1997)

July–August [edit]

• 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 (d. 2010)
• July 26 – Vivian Vance, American actress (I Love Lucy) (d. 1979)
• 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 [edit]

• 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)
  • Phil Arnold, American actor (d. 1968)
• 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 1 – Everett Sloane, American actor (d. 1965)
• 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 (d. 2010)
• October 14 – Bernd Rosemeyer, German race car driver (d. 1938)
• October 18 – Norberto Bobbio, Italian philosopher of law and political sciences (d. 2004)
• October 19 – Cozy Cole, American jazz drummer (d. 1981)
• October 20 – Carla Laemmle, American actress
• 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 [edit]

• November 5 – Edward Lawrie Tatum, American geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1975)
• November 9 – Kay Thompson, American author and actress (d. 1998)
• November 10 – Pawel Jasienica, Polish historian (d. 1970)
• November 16 – Mirza Nasir Ahmad, Indian Islamic leader(d. 1982)
• November 18 – Johnny Mercer, American songwriter (d. 1976)
• November 22 – Mikhail Mil, Russian helicopter manufacturer (d. 1970)
• November 23 – Nigel Tranter, Scottish historian and novelist (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 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)
  • Patricia Hayes, British character actress & comedian (d. 1998)
• December 23 – Giulio Racah, Israeli mathematician and physicist (d. 1965)
• December 27 – Henryk Jablonski, President of Poland (d. 2003)

Deaths [edit]

January–June [edit]

• 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 8 – Catulle Mendès, French poet (b. 1841)
• February 17 – Geronimo, Apache leader (b. 1829)
• February 20 – Paul Ranson, French painter (b. 1864)
• 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)
• March 25 – Ruperto Chapí, Spanish composer (b. 1854)
• 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 14 – Miguel Ángel Juárez Celman, 10th President of Argentina (b. 1844)
• 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 [edit]

• July 9 – Kasimir Felix Graf von Badeni, 13th Minister-President of Cisleithania (b. 1846)
• 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 8 – Mary MacKillop, Australian saint (b. 1842)
• 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 – King Leopold II of Belgium (b. 1835)
• December 26 – Frederic Remington, American cowboy artist and sculptor (b. 1864)

Date unknown [edit]

• Gideon T. Stewart, American educator and politician (b. 1824)

Nobel Prizes [edit]

• Physics – Guglielmo Marconi, Karl Ferdinand Braun
• Chemistry – Wilhelm Ostwald
• Medicine – Emil Theodor Kocher
• Literature – Selma Lagerlöf
• Peace – Auguste Marie Francois Beernaert and Paul-Henri-Benjamin d'Estournelles de Constant

References [edit]