1909

Events in 1909 51

• 1828 – 1909 George Meredith (1828-1909) Died 18 May 1909, aged 81 George Meredith was an English novelist and poet celebrated for works including The Egoist and Diana of the Crossways, which explored psychological realism and social satire. He also served as an influential publisher's reader who encouraged younger writers. He died at his home in Box Hill, Surrey, on 18 May 1909.
• 1829 – 1909 Geronimo (1829-1909) Died 17 February 1909, aged 79 Geronimo was a leader and medicine man of the Chiricahua Apache who led resistance against Mexican and American expansion into Apache lands for decades. He surrendered to the United States Army in 1886 and spent the rest of his life as a prisoner of war. He died of pneumonia at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, on 17 February 1909.
• 1835 – 1909 Leopold II of Belgium (1835-1909) Died 17 December 1909, aged 74 Leopold II reigned as King of the Belgians from 1865 until his death and personally owned the Congo Free State as a private colonial venture. His administration there was marked by forced labour and mass killing that drew international condemnation, forcing Belgium to annex the territory in 1908. He died at Laeken on 17 December 1909.
• 1841 – 1909 Itō Hirobumi (1841-1909) Died 26 October 1909, aged 68 Itō Hirobumi was Japan's first Prime Minister and the principal architect of the Meiji Constitution, later serving as Resident-General of Korea. He was assassinated by Korean independence activist An Jung-geun at Harbin railway station on 26 October 1909. His death intensified tensions ahead of Japan's annexation of Korea the following year.
• 1859 – 1909 Francisco Ferrer (1859-1909) Died 13 October 1909, aged 50 Francisco Ferrer was a Catalan educator and anarchist who founded Barcelona's secular Escuela Moderna, promoting rationalist, non-religious schooling. Spanish authorities accused him of instigating the Tragic Week riots of July 1909 and executed him by firing squad on 13 October despite thin evidence. His death sparked international protests and made him a symbol for secular education and anti-clerical movements.
• 1860 – 1909 Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909) Died 18 May 1909, aged 48 Isaac Albéniz was a Spanish pianist and composer best known for his piano suite Iberia, a cornerstone of Spanish nationalist classical music. He achieved acclaim across Europe as both a virtuoso performer and composer before ill health curtailed his career. He died in Cambo-les-Bains, France, on 18 May 1909.
• 1909 – 1956 Art Tatum (1909-1956) Died 5 November 1956, aged 47 American jazz pianist widely regarded as one of the greatest and most technically accomplished pianists in jazz history. Nearly blind from childhood, he developed a virtuosic solo style admired by classical and jazz musicians alike. He died of kidney failure in Los Angeles.
• 1909 – 1955 Carmen Miranda (1909-1955) Died 5 August 1955, aged 46 Carmen Miranda was a Portuguese-born Brazilian singer and actress famed for her flamboyant fruit-hat costumes in Hollywood films. She became one of the highest-paid entertainers in the United States during the 1940s. She died of a heart attack in Beverly Hills shortly after a live television performance.
• 1909 – 1934 Clyde Barrow (1909-1934) Died 23 May 1934, aged 25 American outlaw who led the Barrow Gang during the Depression. He and Bonnie Parker were shot dead in a police ambush in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.
• 1909 – 1959 Errol Flynn (1909-1959) Died 14 October 1959, aged 50 Flynn was an Australian-American actor who became one of Hollywood's leading swashbuckling stars, famous for roles in The Adventures of Robin Hood and Captain Blood. His off-screen reputation for hard living was as well known as his film career. He died of a heart attack at age 50.
• 1909 – 1972 Kwame Nkrumah (1909-1972) Died 27 April 1972, aged 62 Nkrumah led Ghana to independence in 1957, becoming its first prime minister and later president, and was a leading voice for Pan-Africanism. He was overthrown in a 1966 coup and died in exile in Romania. He remains one of the most influential figures of African decolonization.
• 1909 – 1958 Mike Todd (1909-1958) Died 22 March 1958, aged 48 The film producer won the Academy Award for Best Picture for "Around the World in 80 Days" and was married to actress Elizabeth Taylor. He died when his private plane crashed in New Mexico.
• 1909 NAACP founded NAACP founded The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was founded in New York on 12 February 1909, the centenary of Lincoln's birth, by Black and white activists including W. E. B. Du Bois and Ida B. Wells. It fought segregation and lynching primarily through the courts. Its legal campaign produced Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.
• 1909 – 1943 Simone Weil (1909-1943) Died 24 August 1943, aged 34 Simone Weil was a French philosopher, mystic and political activist whose writings include Gravity and Grace and The Need for Roots. She limited what she ate in solidarity with people in occupied France. She died of tuberculosis and heart failure in Ashford, Kent.
• 1909 – 1974 U Thant (1909-1974) Died 25 November 1974, aged 65 U Thant was a Burmese diplomat who served as the third Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1961 to 1971. His tenure spanned the Cuban Missile Crisis and much of the Vietnam War.
• 1909 – 1992 Dana Andrews (1909-1992) American actor, a leading man of 1940s film noir and war films, from Laura to The Best Years of Our Lives.
• 1909 1st Elfstedentocht Winner: Minne Hoekstra — 13h 50m The first official Elfstedentocht started at 5:20 AM on 2 January 1909 in Leeuwarden with 22 participants. Minne Hoekstra won in a time of 13 hours and 50 minutes. The event covered 189 km of natural Frisian ice. The Koninklijke Vereniging De Friesche Elf Steden was founded shortly after to organise future editions.
• 1909 – 2000 Victor Borge (1909-2000) Died 23 December 2000, aged 91 Victor Borge was a Danish-American pianist and humorist billed as the "Clown Prince of Denmark", who fled the Nazis and rebuilt his career in the United States. His act blended classical piano with verbal and physical comedy, including the "phonetic punctuation" routine. His Broadway show Comedy in Music ran for a record 849 performances.
• 1909 Shackleton's expedition reaches Farthest South Nimrod Expedition comes within 180 km of the South Pole On 9 January 1909, Ernest Shackleton and three companions reached latitude 88°23' S, further south than anyone had travelled before, during the British Antarctic Expedition. They turned back roughly 180 kilometres short of the South Pole to ensure their survival on the return march. The expedition also located the approximate position of the South Magnetic Pole.
• 1909 – 2001 Ann Sothern (1909-2001) American actress, MGM's Maisie and star of TV's Private Secretary.
• 1909 RMS Republic sinks after collision First maritime rescue coordinated by wireless distress call The liner RMS Republic collided with the Italian ship SS Florida in fog off Nantucket on 23 January 1909 and sank the next day. Its wireless operator's CQD distress calls brought other ships to rescue nearly all 1,500 passengers and crew, in one of the first uses of radio to save lives at sea. Six people died in the initial collision.
• 1909 Leo Baekeland unveils Bakelite First fully synthetic plastic announced to chemists Belgian-American chemist Leo Baekeland presented his new synthetic resin, Bakelite, to the American Chemical Society on 5 February 1909. Made from phenol and formaldehyde, it was the first plastic manufactured entirely from synthetic components rather than modified natural materials. Bakelite's durability and moldability made it widely used in electrical and consumer goods for decades.
• 1909 – 2010 Miep Gies (1909-2010) Died 11 January 2010, aged 100 Gies was one of the Dutch citizens who hid Anne Frank and her family from the Nazis in an Amsterdam attic during the Second World War. After the family's arrest, she preserved Anne's diary and later gave it to Anne's father, Otto Frank, leading to its publication. She was among the last surviving helpers of the Frank family.
• 1909 Selfridges department store opens in London American-style retailing arrives on Oxford Street American businessman Harry Gordon Selfridge opened his flagship department store on Oxford Street, London, on 15 March 1909. Its open displays, extensive advertising and customer-focused layout departed sharply from conventional British retailing of the era. The store became a landmark of London shopping and a model for department stores worldwide.
• 1909 Peary claims the North Pole Still disputed Robert Peary announces that he reached the pole with Matthew Henson and four Inuit companions — Ootah, Egingwah, Seegloo and Ooqueah. Frederick Cook claims to have got there a year earlier, and the resulting public row damages both men. Peary's navigation records and the speeds he reported over the final march have never fully satisfied later analysts, and the first undisputed surface journey is Ralph Plaisted's in 1968. Henson, who was Black and spoke Inuktitut better than Peary, was not publicly honoured for another forty-five years.
• 1909 Ottoman countercoup and deposition of Abdulhamid II Conservative uprising crushed, sultan removed from power On 13 April 1909 conservative soldiers and religious students revolted in Istanbul against the Young Turk government, an episode known as the 31 March Incident. Loyalist troops from Salonica suppressed the rising, and on 27 April 1909 the parliament deposed Sultan Abdulhamid II, replacing him with his brother Mehmed V. The event cemented the Committee of Union and Progress's control over the Ottoman Empire.
• 1909 Adana massacre Mass killing of Armenians in Ottoman Cilicia Beginning on 14 April 1909, mobs and irregular troops killed an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 Armenians and Assyrians in and around Adana in the Ottoman Empire. The violence erupted amid political instability following the Young Turk countercoup and continued for roughly two weeks. It is regarded as a major precursor to the Armenian Genocide of 1915.
• 1909 – 2012 Rita Levi-Montalcini Nobel Neurologist Awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for her discovery of nerve growth factor.
• 1909 – 1991 Edwin Land (1909-1991) Died 1 March 1991, aged 81 Inventor and Polaroid founder Edwin Land died in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He developed instant photography and held over 500 patents during his career. His Polaroid cameras made instant pictures a fixture of consumer life for decades.
• 1909 – 1984 James Mason (1909-1984) English actor with a famous voice, who moved from British melodramas to Hollywood roles in A Star Is Born, North by Northwest and Lolita.
• 1909 – 1960 Margaret Sullavan (1909-1960) American actress with a distinctive husky voice, star of The Shop Around the Corner.
• 1909 – 2015 Nicholas Winton (1909-2015) Died 1 July 2015, aged 106 Nicholas Winton was a British humanitarian who organized the rescue of 669 mostly Jewish children from Czechoslovakia on the eve of the Second World War, in an operation later dubbed the 'British Schindler' effort. His actions remained largely unknown for nearly 50 years until they were revealed on a British television program in 1988. He was knighted in 2003 for his services to humanity.
• 1909 – 1986 Benny Goodman (1909-1986) Died 13 June 1986, aged 77 American clarinetist and bandleader known as the King of Swing, who helped popularize big-band jazz in the 1930s. His 1938 Carnegie Hall concert is regarded as a landmark in bringing jazz to a mainstream concert audience. He continued performing internationally into his final years.
• 1909 – 1994 Jessica Tandy (1909-1994) Died 11 September 1994, aged 85 Jessica Tandy, the British-American actress who won an Academy Award for Driving Miss Daisy, died of ovarian cancer in Connecticut. Her stage and screen career spanned more than six decades.
• 1909 – 1995 Burl Ives (1909-1995) Died 14 April 1995, aged 85 Burl Ives was an American actor and folk singer known for his rendition of Frosty the Snowman and for his Academy Award-winning role in The Big Country. He also played Big Daddy in the film adaptation of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. His deep voice made him one of the most recognizable performers of mid-20th-century America.
• 1909 Constitutionalist forces capture Tehran Shah Mohammad Ali deposed, constitution restored in Persia Constitutionalist militias from Gilan and Isfahan seized Tehran on 16 July 1909, ending Shah Mohammad Ali Qajar's suspension of Persia's constitution. The shah was deposed and exiled to Russia, and his young son Ahmad Shah was installed on the throne under a restored parliament. The episode marked a decisive phase of the Persian Constitutional Revolution.
• 1909 – 1988 Andrei Gromyko (1909-1988) Died 2 July 1988, aged 78 Andrei Gromyko served as the Soviet Union's foreign minister for nearly three decades and later as its head of state. He was a central figure in Soviet diplomacy throughout the Cold War, including arms control negotiations with the United States. He died in Moscow shortly after retiring from politics.
• 1909 – 1989 Andrei Gromyko (1909-1989) Died 2 July 1989, aged 79 Andrei Gromyko served as Soviet Foreign Minister for 28 years, becoming one of the most prominent diplomats of the Cold War. Western officials nicknamed him 'Mr. Nyet' for his frequent use of the veto at the United Nations. He later served as Chairman of the Presidium, a ceremonial head-of-state role.
• 1909 – 1990 Andrei Gromyko (1909-1990) Died 2 July 1990, aged 80 Andrei Gromyko was the Soviet Union's foreign minister for nearly three decades and later served as head of state. He was a central figure in Soviet diplomacy throughout the Cold War, including arms control negotiations with the United States. He died in Moscow on 2 July 1990.
• 1909 First flight across the English Channel Louis Blériot completes the crossing in a monoplane French aviator Louis Blériot flew his Blériot XI monoplane from Calais to Dover on 25 July 1909, completing the first heavier-than-air crossing of the English Channel. The flight took about 37 minutes and won a £1,000 prize offered by the Daily Mail. It demonstrated the practicality of powered flight and intensified public interest in aviation.
• 1909 Tragic Week riots in Barcelona Anti-conscription unrest turns into anticlerical violence From 26 July to 2 August 1909, workers in Barcelona rioted against the mobilisation of reservists for Spain's war in Morocco, burning churches and convents across the city. Spanish authorities declared martial law and suppressed the uprising by force, killing well over a hundred people. The unrest led to the controversial execution of educator Francisco Ferrer that October.
• 1909 – 1991 Leo Fender (1909-1991) Died 21 March 1991, aged 81 Leo Fender, founder of Fender Musical Instruments, died in Fullerton, California. His Telecaster and Stratocaster guitars, along with the Fender Precision Bass, became standard instruments of modern popular music. Despite his enormous influence on music, Fender himself was not a proficient musician.
• 1909 – 1993 Ruby Keeler (1909-1993) Canadian-born American dancer and actress, star of 42nd Street.
• 1909 – 2003 Elia Kazan (1909-2003) Died 28 September 2003, aged 94 Elia Kazan was a stage and film director who co-founded the Actors Studio and directed 'A Streetcar Named Desire', 'On the Waterfront' and 'East of Eden'. His decision to name former Communist associates before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1952 divided Hollywood for the rest of his life.
• 1909 South Africa Act passed by British Parliament Legislation creating the Union of South Africa The British Parliament passed the South Africa Act on 20 September 1909, uniting the Cape Colony, Natal, Transvaal and Orange River Colony into a single self-governing dominion. The act received royal assent that month and took effect on 31 May 1910, when the Union of South Africa formally came into being. It excluded Black South Africans from most political rights under the new constitution.
• 1909 – 1979 Al Capp (1909-1979) Died 5 November 1979, aged 70 American cartoonist Al Capp, creator of the long-running comic strip Li'l Abner, died in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His satirical strip ran in newspapers for 43 years and introduced characters and expressions that entered American popular culture. He died on 5 November 1979.
• 1909 – 1992 Francis Bacon Expressionism · Ireland Francis Bacon (October 28, 1909 – April 28, 1992) was an Irish-born British painter whose raw, visceral depictions of the human figure are among the most disturbing and powerful in 20th-century art.
• 1909 – 1973 Robert Ryan (1909-1973) American actor, a Dartmouth boxing champion who excelled as intense villains in film noir.
• 1909 – 2000 Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (1909-2000) American actor, son of Douglas Fairbanks, a swashbuckling star who became a war hero and an honorary British knight.
• 1909 – 1934 Albert I King during World War I Albert I became a symbol of Belgian resistance during the German invasion of Belgium in World War I.
• 1909 Manhattan Bridge opens in New York City New suspension bridge links Manhattan and Brooklyn The Manhattan Bridge across the East River opened to traffic on 31 December 1909, becoming the third fixed crossing between Manhattan and Brooklyn. Designed with innovative deflection theory suspension engineering, it added crucial subway, rail, and road capacity to the growing city. It remains one of New York's major East River crossings today.