What Happened in 1909

Major Events

  • 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 1909 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?

A. J. Reach Co. patents cork-centered baseball

August 31, 1909


More People Born in 1909

Fun Fact About 1909

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

August 3, 1909


More 1909 Deaths

Famous Weddings in 1909

  • 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