Major Events
- Jan 9 Ernest Shackleton as part of the British Nimrod Expedition reaches a record farthest southern 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 18 Joan of Arc receives beatification by the Roman Catholic Church at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican
- 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
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
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