1909

1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar, the 1909th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 909th year of the 2nd millennium, the 9th year of the 20th century, and the 10th and last year of the 1900s decade. As of the start of 1909, the Gregorian calendar was 13 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.

Ethel Caterham is the last surviving person born in 1909.

Events

January–February

January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escapes death by fleeing across ice floes.
January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama.
January 9 – The British Nimrod Expedition to the South Pole, led by Ernest Shackleton, arrives at the farthest south reached by any prior expedition, at 88°23' S, prior to turning back due to diminishing supplies.
January 11 – The International Joint Commission on US-Canada boundary waters is established.
January 16 – Members of the Nimrod Expedition claim to have found the magnetic South Pole (but the location recorded may be incorrect).
January 24 – The White Star Liner RMS Republic sinks the day after a collision with SS Florida off Nantucket. Almost all of the 1,500 passengers are rescued.
January 28 – The last United States troops leave Cuba, after being there since the Spanish–American War of 1898.
February 2 – The Paris Film Congress opens. It is an attempt to create a cartel of leading European producers similar to the MPPC in the United States.
February 5 – Leo Baekeland announces the creation of bakelite hard thermosetting plastic.

March–April

March 10 – The Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909 is signed in Bangkok.
March 18 – Einar Dessau uses a shortwave radio transmitter in Denmark.
March 21 – The remains of the Báb are placed in the Baháʼí Shrine of the Báb on Mount Carmel in Haifa, at this time within the Ottoman Empire.
March 31 – Serbia accepts Austrian control over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
March 31 – Construction begins on the RMS Titanic, at the Harland and Wolff Shipyard in Belfast.
April 4 – The association football team Sport Club Internacional is founded in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
April 6 – Robert Peary, Matthew Henson and four Inuit explorers – Ootah, Ooqueah, Seegloo and Egigingwah – come within a few miles of the North Pole.
April 11 – The city of Tel Aviv (known in its first year as Ahuzat Bayit) is founded by the Jewish community, on the outskirts of Jaffa (at this time in the Ottoman Empire).
April 13 (March 31 by Eastern reckoning) – A countercoup begins in the Ottoman Empire.
April 14 – Adana massacre: Ottoman Turks kill 15,000–30,000 Armenian Christians, in the Adana Vilayet.
April 18 – Joan of Arc is beatified in Rome.
April 19 – The Anglo-Persian Oil Company (modern-day BP) is incorporated.
April 23 – In Portugal, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake strikes near Lisbon, killing at least 60 people.
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

May 19 – Russian ballet is brought to the Western world, when the Ballets Russes opens a tour produced by Sergei Diaghilev at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, with 55 dancers, including Vaslav Nijinsky.
June 2 – French forces capture Abéché, capital of the Wadai Empire in central Africa.
June 15 – Representatives from England, Australia and South Africa meet at Lord's Cricket Ground, and form the Imperial Cricket Conference.

July–August

July 1 – In London, Indian nationalist student Madan Lal Dhingra assassinates Curzon Wyllie, political aide to the Secretary of State for India. This is a notable early escalation of violence in the Indian nationalist movement overseas.
July 16 – A revolution forces Mohammad Ali Shah of the Qajar dynasty to abdicate in favor of his son Ahmad Shah Qajar. He proceeds to leave Persia for the Russian Empire, reportedly seeking the assistance of Nicholas II of Russia in regaining the throne.
July 25 – Louis Blériot 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" (La Semana Trágica/la Setmana Tràgica): The city of Barcelona experiences a workers' uprising.
July 26 – Blue Anchor Line passenger/cargo liner SS Waratah, on her second voyage from Australia to Britain, leaves Durban and is lost without trace with all 211 aboard.
August 2 – The United States Army Signal Corp Division purchases the world's first military airplane, a Wright Military Flyer, from the Wright brothers.
August 8 – Max Heindel formally founds the Rosicrucian Fellowship in Seattle, Washington.

September–October

September 4 – Japan and China sign the Gando Convention, which gives Japan a way to receive railroad concessions in Manchuria.
October – Suzuki Weaving Machine Manufacturing, predecessor of the Suzuki motorbike and compact car brand in Japan, is founded in Shizuoka Prefecture.
October 8 – An earthquake in the Zagreb area leads Andrija Mohorovičić to identify the Mohorovičić discontinuity.
October 12 – The association football team Coritiba is founded in Curitiba, Brazil.
October 13 – An agreement by Germany, Italy and Switzerland gives the Germans and Italians access to the Gotthard Rail Tunnel.
October 16 – The Pittsburgh Pirates defeat the Detroit Tigers to win the 1909 World Series.
October 26 – Itō Hirobumi, four time Prime Minister of Japan (the 1st, 5th, 7th and 10th) and Resident-General of Korea, is assassinated by An Jung-geun, an activist of the Korean independence movement, at the Harbin railway station in Manchuria.

November–December

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.
November 28 – Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 is premièred in New York City with the composer as soloist.
December 4 – Montreal Canadiens, a well known professional ice hockey club in Canada, is founded.
December 14 – New South Wales Premier Charles Wade signs the Seat of Government Surrender Act 1909, formally completing the transfer of State land to the Commonwealth, to create the Australian Capital Territory.
December 19 – The association football team Borussia Dortmund is founded in Dortmund, Germany.
December 23 – King Albert I of Belgium succeeds his uncle, Leopold II (died December 17), on the throne.
December 28 – The first manned heavier-than-air powered flight in South Africa is made at East London, by French aviator Albert Kimmerling, in a Voisin 1907 biplane.

Undated

Karl Landsteiner, Constantin Levaditi and Erwin Popper first isolate the poliovirus.

Births

January to April

January

January 1
- Dana Andrews, American actor (d. 1992)
- Stepan Bandera, Ukrainian nationalist leader (d. 1959)
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, 1st President of Malta (d. 2008)
- Patrick Peyton, American priest, saint (d. 1992)
January 13 – Marinus van der Lubbe, Dutch communist convicted of setting fire to the German Reichstag building in 1933 (d. 1934)
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
- Porfirio Rubirosa, Dominican diplomat, race-car driver, and polo player (d. 1956)
- 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 25 – Robert Rex, 1st Premier of Niue (d. 1992)
January 28 – Colin Munro MacLeod, Canadian-American geneticist, medical researcher (d. 1972)
January 30 – Saul Alinsky, American community organizer (d. 1972)

February

February 1 – George Beverly Shea, American gospel singer, songwriter (d. 2013)
February 3 – Simone Weil, French philosopher (d. 1943)
February 6 – Aino Talvi, Estonian actress (d. 1992)
February 7
- Wilhelm Freddie, Danish painter (d. 1995)
- Amedeo Guillet, Italian army officer (d. 2010)
- Silvio Zavala, Mexican historian (d. 2014)
February 9
- Marjorie Ogilvie Anderson, Scottish historian (d. 2002)
- Harald Genzmer, German composer (d. 2007)
- Carmen Miranda, Portuguese-born Brazilian actress, singer (d. 1955)
- Giulio Racah, Israeli mathematician, physicist (d. 1965)
- Dean Rusk, American politician (d. 1994)
February 11
- Max Baer, American boxer, actor (d. 1959)
- Joseph Mankiewicz, American filmmaker (d. 1993)
- Saturnino de la Fuente García, Spanish supercentenarian, world's oldest living man from 2021 to 2022 (d. 2022)
February 12 – Zoran Mušič, Slovene painter (d. 2005)
February 14
- Beatrice Miller, American singer, actress (d. 1999)
- Yeom Dong-jin, Korean militant (d. c. 1950)
February 15
- Miep Gies, Austrian-born Dutch humanitarian (d. 2010)
- Guillermo Gorostiza Paredes, Spanish footballer (d. 1966)
February 16
- Hugh Beaumont, American actor (d. 1982)
- Jeffrey Lynn, American actor, film producer (d. 1995)
February 18
- Matti Järvinen, Finnish athlete (d. 1985)
- Wallace Stegner, American writer (d. 1993)
February 19 – Enrico Donati, Italian-born American painter (d. 2008)
February 20 – Heinz Erhardt, German comedian, musician, entertainer, actor, and poet (d. 1979)
February 21 – Hans Erni, Swiss painter, sculptor (d. 2015)
February 22 – Edmund Berkeley, American scientist (d. 1988)
February 24 – August Derleth, American writer (d. 1971)
February 25 – Geoffrey Dummer, English electrical engineer (d. 2002)
February 26 – King Talal of Jordan (d. 1972)
February 28 – Stephen Spender, English writer (d. 1995)

March

March 4 – Harry Helmsley, American real estate entrepreneur (d. 1997)
March 7 – Roger Revelle, American scientist, scholar (d. 1991)
March 10 – Henrietta Buckmaster, American activist, journalist, and author (d. 1983)
March 11 – Jules Engel, American filmmaker, painter, sculptor, graphic artist, set designer, animator, film director and teacher (d. 2003)
March 12 – Virginia McLaurin, American community service volunteer (d. 2022)
March 19
- Jean Brachet, Belgian chemist (d. 1988)
- Louis Hayward, South African-born actor (d. 1985)
March 22
- Milt Kahl, American animator (d. 1987)
- Gabrielle Roy, Canadian author (d. 1983)
March 24 – Clyde Barrow, American outlaw, member of Barrow Gang (d. 1934)
March 26
- Héctor José Cámpora, Argentine Peronist politician, 38th President of Argentina (d. 1980)
- Chips Rafferty, Australian actor (d. 1971)
March 27 – Golo Mann, German historian (d. 1994)
March 28 – Nelson Algren, American author (d. 1981)
March 29 – Moon Mullican, American country music singer (d. 1967)

April

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)
- John P. Metras, American coach of Canadian football (d. 1982)
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)
- Spyros Markezinis, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2000)
- Indro Montanelli, Italian journalist (d. 2001)
April 24
- Bernhard Grzimek, German zoo director, zoologist (d. 1987)
April 25 – William Pereira, American architect (d. 1985)
April 26
- Marianne Hoppe, German actress (d. 2002)
- Rodney Collin, British writer (d. 1956)
April 27 – Guillermo León Valencia, 21st President of Colombia (d. 1971)
April 27 – Tom Ewell, American actor and producer (d. 1994)
April 30
- Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (d. 2004)
- F. E. McWilliam, Northern Irish sculptor (d. 1992)

May to August

May

May 1 – Yiannis Ritsos, Greek poet, 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 16 – Margaret Sullavan, American actress (d. 1960)
May 17 – Karl Schäfer, Austrian figure skater (d. 1976)
May 18 – Fred Perry, English tennis player (d. 1995)
May 19 – Nicholas Winton, British humanitarian (d. 2015)
May 23 – Hugh E. Blair, American linguist (d. 1967)
May 24 – Victoria Hopper, Canadian stage, film actress and singer (d. 2007)
May 26
- Matt Busby, Scottish football manager (d. 1994)
- Adolfo López Mateos, 48th President of Mexico (d. 1969)
- Papa Charlie McCoy, American Delta blues musician, songwriter (d. 1950)
- Maria Ripamonti, Italian Roman Catholic and a professed religious from the Ancelle della carità (d. 1954)
May 27
- Dolores Hope, American singer, philanthropist (d. 2011)
- Guillermo León Valencia, President of Colombia (d. 1971)
- Donald Trumbull, American special effects artist (d. 2004)
- Juan Vicente Pérez Mora, Venezuelan farmer and supercentenarian, last surviving man born in the 1900s decade (d. 2024)
May 30 – Benny Goodman, American musician (d. 1986)
May 31 – John Spencer-Churchill, English painter, sculptor and a stockbroker (d. 1992)

June

June 1 – Yechezkel Kutscher, Slovakian-born Israeli philologist, Hebrew linguist (d. 1971)
June 3 – Ira D. Wallach, American businessman, philanthropist (d. 2007)
June 6 – Isaiah Berlin, Russian historian of ideas (d. 1997)
June 7 – Jessica Tandy, English actress (d. 1994)
June 10 – Mary Field, American film actress (d. 1996)
June 12
- Archie Bleyer, American song arranger, band leader (d. 1989)
- Tom Steele, Scottish-born actor, stuntman (d. 1990)
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)
- Robb White, American writer (d. 1990)
June 21 – Pok Shau-fu, Chinese journalist and politician (d. 2000)
June 22
- Infanta Beatriz of Spain (d. 2002)
- Katherine Dunham, American dancer, choreographer, and songwriter (d. 2006)
June 23 – Li Xiannian, President of the People's Republic of China (d. 1992)
June 24 – William Penney, Baron Penney, English mathematician, physicist (d. 1991)
June 25 – Marguerite Viby, Danish actress (d. 2001)
June 26
- Mavis Thorpe Clark, Australian novelist, writer (d. 1999)
- Colonel Tom Parker, Dutch-born celebrity manager (d. 1997)
- Wolfgang Reitherman, German animator, director and producer (d. 1985)
June 27 – Giuseppe Ballerio, Italian football player (d. 1999)
June 28 – Eric Ambler, British author (d. 1998)
June 30 – Juan Bosch, 43rd President of the Dominican Republic (d. 2001)