April 1909
Encyclopedia
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The following events occurred in April
1909.
January 1909
January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - DecemberThe following events occurred in January 1909.-January 1, 1909 :...
– February
February 1909
January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in February 1909.-February 1, 1909 :...
– March
March 1909
January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in March, 1909.-March 1, 1909 :...
– April – May
May 1909
January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in May, 1909.-May 1, 1909 :...
– June
June 1909
January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in June 1909.-June 1, 1909 :...
– July
July 1909
January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in July 1909.-July 1, 1909 :...
– August
August 1909
January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in August 1909.-August 1, 1909 :...
– September
September 1909
January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in September 1909.-September 1, 1909 :...
– October
October 1909
January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in October 1909:-October 1, 1909 :...
– November
November 1909
January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in November 1909:-November 1, 1909 :...
– December
December 1909
January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in December 1909:-December 1, 1909 :...
April
April is the fourth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and one of four months with a length of 30 days. April was originally the second month of the Roman calendar, before January and February were added by King Numa Pompilius about 700 BC...
1909.
April 1, 1909 (Thursday)
- The day after the raising of the Cuban flag over Camp Columbia, the last American troops left Cuba.
- The Children's Charter went into effect in Great Britain, providing new rules for protection of children, including more severe penalties for the death of a child, and prohibitions against juvenile begging or smoking, and creation of reform schools
- A law banning the importing of opium into the United States went into effect.
- The New York Times reported that Rameses II, a toad "aged 1,000 years or more", died at the Bronx Zoo. Miners had discovered the toad in 1898 at inside a stone near Butte Montana.
- The six members of the polar expedition-- Robert PearyRobert PearyRobert Edwin Peary, Sr. was an American explorer who claimed to have been the first person, on April 6, 1909, to reach the geographic North Pole...
, Matthew HensonMatthew HensonMatthew Alexander Henson was an African American explorer and associate of Robert Peary during various expeditions, the most famous being a 1909 expedition which it was discovered that he was the the first person to reach the Geographic North Pole.-Life:Henson was born on a farm in Nanjemoy,...
, Ootah, Ooqueah, Egingwah, and Seegloo, set off from a point 153 miles (246.2 km) from the North Pole, and their last supply team turned back.
April 2, 1909 (Friday)
- The Jewish Territorialist OrganizationJewish Territorialist OrganizationThe Jewish Territorial Organization, known as the ITO, was a Jewish political movement which first arose in 1903 in response to the British Uganda Offer, but which was institutionalized in 1905....
released its report from its expedition to CyrenaicaCyrenaicaCyrenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya.Also known as Pentapolis in antiquity, it was part of the Creta et Cyrenaica province during the Roman period, later divided in Libia Pentapolis and Libia Sicca...
, concluding that the lack of water in the North African nation (now LibyaLibyaLibya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
) made it inhospitable as a Jewish homeland. - The last of the violent attacks in WyomingWyomingWyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
's "sheep wars", between cattlemen and sheep ranchers, took place near Tensleep CreekTensleep CreekTensleep Creek is a stream that originates in the Cloud Peak Wilderness Area in the U.S state of Wyoming. Lakes that are along the river are Misty Moon, Lake Marion and Lake Helen. Tensleep Creek is a tributary of the Nowood River which then flows into the Bighorn River....
when seven masked cowboys attacked the camp of rancher Joe Allemand, killing him and two of his men, along with several dogs and all 5,000 of his flock of sheep. The public uproar over the senseless crime brought a campaign that ended the feuding.
April 3, 1909 (Saturday)
- The "$10,000 Marathon Derby" was staged in New York, promoted as a pro race between the world's six greatest marathon runners. The 26 mile run took place at the Polo GroundsPolo GroundsThe Polo Grounds was the name given to four different stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used by many professional teams in both baseball and American football from 1880 until 1963...
, where 30,000 turned out to watch a rematch between Pietri Dorando and Johnny Hayes, but Henri St. Yves won the race and the prize money. - In Rome, the former home of poets John KeatsJohn KeatsJohn Keats was an English Romantic poet. Along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, he was one of the key figures in the second generation of the Romantic movement, despite the fact that his work had been in publication for only four years before his death.Although his poems were not...
and Percy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
was dedicated as a memorial to both poets. An international committee of writers had raised money to buy and renovate the home near the Scala di Spagna. - Died: Admiral Pascual Cervera, 70, commander of the Spanish fleet during the Spanish-American War
April 4, 1909 (Sunday)
- The first speed limits for automobiles took effect in New York City, with a speed limit of 12 miles per hour (5.4 m/s). On the first day, 19 people were arrested. The first person to be caught was William Hobby, the Police Commissioner for Mount Vernon, New YorkMount Vernon, New YorkMount Vernon is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. It lies on the border of the New York City borough of The Bronx.-Overview:...
, who was arrested after trying to elude bicycle patrolman Charles Silberbauer. - Sport Club InternacionalSport Club InternacionalSport Club Internacional is a Brazilian football team and multi-sport club from Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, founded on April 4, 1909, and are one of the only five clubs to have never been relegated, along with Santos, São Paulo, Flamengo and Cruzeiro. They play in red shirts, white shorts and...
was founded in Porto AlegrePorto AlegrePorto Alegre is the tenth most populous municipality in Brazil, with 1,409,939 inhabitants, and the centre of Brazil's fourth largest metropolitan area . It is also the capital city of the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The city is the southernmost capital city of a Brazilian...
, Rio Grande do SulRio Grande do SulRio Grande do Sul is the southernmost state in Brazil, and the state with the fifth highest Human Development Index in the country. In this state is located the southernmost city in the country, Chuí, on the border with Uruguay. In the region of Bento Gonçalves and Caxias do Sul, the largest wine...
, BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
.
April 5, 1909 (Monday)
- The Phoenix Gazette published a story on its front page, headlined "Explorations in Grand Canyon-- Mysteries of Immense Rich Cavern Being Brought to Light", claiming that archaeologists from the Smithsonian Institution had found an ancient Egyptian tomb within the canyon. The story is now popular with conspiracy theorists who believe that the government covered up the discovery.
April 6, 1909 (Tuesday)
- Robert E. Peary, Matthew HensonMatthew HensonMatthew Alexander Henson was an African American explorer and associate of Robert Peary during various expeditions, the most famous being a 1909 expedition which it was discovered that he was the the first person to reach the Geographic North Pole.-Life:Henson was born on a farm in Nanjemoy,...
, Ootah, Ooqueah, Egingwah, and Seegloo, reached the northernmost point of their expedition, and Peary planted the United States flag, along with four smaller flags (including one for the Delta Kappa EpsilonDelta Kappa EpsilonDelta Kappa Epsilon is a fraternity founded at Yale College in 1844 by 15 men of the sophomore class who had not been invited to join the two existing societies...
fraternity) at what Peary believed to be the North Pole, after measuring the angle of the sun and concluding that he was at 90 degrees north. He wrote in his diary "The Pole at last! My dream and goal for twenty years!" Henson recounted later that the four Eskimos said "Ting neigh tim ah ketisher", meaning in Inuit "We have got there at last." The six men stayed 30 hours at the Pole, spending the night, and then started back at . Upon his return to Canada, Peary telegraphed news of his discovery on September 6, only to learn that Frederick CookFrederick CookFrederick Albert Cook was an American explorer and physician, noted for his claim of having reached the North Pole on April 21, 1908. This would have been a year before April 6, 1909, the date claimed by Robert Peary....
had claimed on September 1 to have reached the North Pole the year before. Though Cook's claim was not substantiated, later studies concluded that the location where Peary planted his flags was not the actual Pole. In 1989, the National Geographic SocietyNational Geographic SocietyThe National Geographic Society , headquartered in Washington, D.C. in the United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational institutions in the world. Its interests include geography, archaeology and natural science, the promotion of environmental and historical...
released a study concluding that Peary had come within 8 kilometres (5 mi) of the North Pole. - Born: William M. BranhamWilliam M. BranhamWilliam Marrion Branham was a Christian minister, usually credited with founding the post World War II faith healing movement...
, American Christian minister and faith healer, in Cumberland County, KentuckyCumberland County, KentuckyCumberland County is a county located in the state of Kentucky in the United States. It was formed in 1799. As of 2000, the population was 7,147. Its county seat is Burkesville, Kentucky...
(killed in auto accident, 1965)
April 7, 1909 (Wednesday)
- U.S. President William Howard TaftWilliam Howard TaftWilliam Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
issued an executive order directing that deaf-mutes and deaf persons would not be barred from taking the civil service examination. - Born: Robert GrugeauRobert CharrouxRobert Charroux was the best-known pen-name of Robert Grugeau .-Early career:Robert Charroux worked for the French post office until becoming a full-time writer of fiction in the early 1940s...
(pen name for Robert Charroux), French writer and pioneer of the "ancient astronautsAncient astronautsSome writers have proposed that intelligent extraterrestrial beings have visited Earth in antiquity or prehistory and made contact with humans. Such visitors are called ancient astronauts or ancient aliens. Proponents suggest that this contact influenced the development of human cultures,...
" theory; in PayrouxPayrouxPayroux is a commune in the Vienne department in the Poitou-Charentes region in western France....
(d. 1978)
April 8, 1909 (Thursday)
- Great Britain and France announced they assented to the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Austrian Empire. Russia and Serbia had prepared to go to war against Austria-Hungary over the 1908 annexation, but accepted it in March. The acquiescence of the British and the French brought the crisis to a close.
- Japan's parliament, the Diet, passed a law providing for cooperative societies
- A. Leo Stevens announced a forerunner of the airphone, with a specially designed wireless telephone that weighed only 19½ pounds and had been installed on a balloon. "Wireless telephone stations will be established at the top of some high buildings in New York and Boston," Stevens said, "and we expect to be able to give a detailed account of our trip as we are sailing through the air."
- Born: John FanteJohn FanteJohn Fante was an American novelist, short story writer and screenwriter of Italian descent. He is perhaps best known for his work, Ask the Dust, a semi-autobiograpical novel about life in and around Los Angeles, California, which was the third in a series of four novels, published between 1938...
, Italian-American writer, in Denver (d. 1983)
April 9, 1909 (Friday)
- South DakotaSouth DakotaSouth Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
became the first U.S. state to officially recognize Mother's DayMother's DayMother's Day is a celebration honoring mothers and celebrating motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, yet most commonly in March, April, or May...
by proclamation of Governor Robert S. VesseyRobert S. VesseyRobert Scadden Vessey was the seventh Governor of South Dakota. Vessey, a Republican from Wessington Springs, served from 1909 to 1913.-Biography:...
. Governor Vessey designated "the second Sabbath in our national memorial month of May", a date that remains in the U.S. and many other nations. - April 9, 1909, is sometimes cited in error as the date that Robert Peary said that he had reached the North Pole, but April 6 was the date recorded in his diary.
April 10, 1909 (Saturday)
- Professor Ross G. Marvin of Cornell drowned in the Arctic Ocean as Robert PearyRobert PearyRobert Edwin Peary, Sr. was an American explorer who claimed to have been the first person, on April 6, 1909, to reach the geographic North Pole...
's crew returned from the North PoleNorth PoleThe North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...
. Marvin's demise was the only fatality of the expedition. - Cipriano CastroCipriano CastroJosé Cipriano Castro Ruiz was a high ranking member of the Venezuelan military, politician and the President of Venezuela from 1899 to 1908...
, ex-President of Venezuela, was forcibly expelled from MartiniqueMartiniqueMartinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
by the French government. When Castro refused to leave his hotel, gendarmes placed him on a stretcher and carried him out, then placed him on the ship Versailles to be sent to St. Nazaire. - The Russification of FinlandRussification of FinlandThe policy of Russification of Finland was a governmental policy of the Russian Empire aimed at limiting the special status of the Grand Duchy of Finland and possibly the termination of its political autonomy and cultural uniqueness...
continued as Tsar Nicholas II approved a recommendation for "laws of general Imperial interest concerning Finland" to be enacted by Russia's parliament rather than Finland's legislature. Finland's participation in the process would be limited to having one representative in the Duma and the Council of State. - Canada opened up the MétisMétis people (Canada)The Métis are one of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who trace their descent to mixed First Nations parentage. The term was historically a catch-all describing the offspring of any such union, but within generations the culture syncretised into what is today a distinct aboriginal group, with...
lands in Alberta to homesteaders, and 250 claims by French Canadians were registered on the first day. The Métis people, descended from intermarriage of European and Canadian Indians, had been provided a colony before the province of Alberta had been established. - Died: Algernon Charles SwinburneAlgernon Charles SwinburneAlgernon Charles Swinburne was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. He invented the roundel form, wrote several novels, and contributed to the famous Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica...
, 72, English poet and inventor of the roundel poemRoundel (poetry)A roundel is a form of verse used in English language poetry devised by Algernon Charles Swinburne . It is a variation of the French rondeau form. It makes use of refrains, repeated according to a certain stylized pattern...
April 11, 1909 (Sunday)
- A group of 100 settlers, living in the Ottoman-ruled city of JaffaJaffaJaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.-Etymology:...
in Palestine, founded a new community on a 5 hectare (12 acre) plot of sand dunes they had purchased and divided into 60 lots. Referred to at first as Ahuzzat Bayit as buildings and water lines were constructed, the settlement would be renamed on May 21, 1910May 1910January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in May, 1910:-May 1, 1910 :...
, for the Hebrew words for a burial mound and for a new spring, combining old and new, as the city of Tel AvivTel AvivTel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
.
April 12, 1909 (Monday)
- Doc PowersDoc PowersMichael Riley "Doc" Powers was an American Major League Baseball player who caught for four different teams from to . He played for the Louisville Colonels and Washington Senators of the National League, and the Philadelphia Athletics and New York Highlanders of the American League...
, the popular catcher for baseball's Philadelphia AthleticsOakland AthleticsThe Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....
, became seriously ill after the first game played at the new Shibe Park. In front of a record crowd of 30,162 the hometeam A's won 8–1. Over the next two weeks, Powers (who was a physician as well as a ballplayer), underwent three intestinal operations and died of peritonitisPeritonitisPeritonitis is an inflammation of the peritoneum, the serous membrane that lines part of the abdominal cavity and viscera. Peritonitis may be localised or generalised, and may result from infection or from a non-infectious process.-Abdominal pain and tenderness:The main manifestations of...
on April 26. Powers said at the time that his problems had happened as a result of eating a cheese sandwich prior to the game, while other observers thought he had been hurt while straining to catch a foul ball, or crashing into a wall.
April 13, 1909 (Tuesday)
- Following the assassination of newspaper editor Hassan Fehmi Effendi, a rebellion broke out31 March IncidentThe 31 March Incident was a 1909 rebellion of reactionaries in İstanbul against the restoration of constitutional monarchy that had taken place in 1908. It took place on 13 April 1909...
among thousands of troops in Constantinople, who surrounded the Parliament House and forced the resignation of the democratically elected Prime Minister, Grand Vizier Hüseyin Hilmi PashaHüseyin Hilmi PashaHüseyin Hilmi Pasha was a statesman and twice Grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire in the wake of the Second Constitutional Era and was also Co-founder and Head of the Turkish Red Crescent...
, and killing the Minister of Justice. Tewfik Pasha replaced Hilmi as Grand Vizier fo the Ottoman Empire. The revolution was funded by Sultan Abdul Hamid II, who sought to regain the absolute power that he had prior to democratic reforms, but would backfire on him before the end of the month. - Born: Eudora WeltyEudora WeltyEudora Alice Welty was an American author of short stories and novels about the American South. Her novel The Optimist's Daughter won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973. Welty was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, among numerous awards. She was the first living author to have her works published...
, American writer, in Jackson, MississippiJackson, MississippiJackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...
(d. 2001); and Stanislaw Ulam, Polish mathematician, in Lemberg, Austria-Hungary (now LvivLvivLviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
, UkraineUkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
) (d. 1984)
April 14, 1909 (Wednesday)
- After an uprising in the Ottoman city of Adana, the massacre of thousands of Armenians began, with the predominantly Moslem government troops beginning the killing of the predominantly Christian Armenians over a three day period. Later in the month, a second wave of killings began.
- The Anglo-Persian Oil CompanyAnglo-Persian Oil CompanyThe Anglo-Persian Oil Company was founded in 1908 following the discovery of a large oil field in Masjed Soleiman, Iran. It was the first company to extract petroleum from the Middle East...
was incorporated in order to exploit oil resources in Iran. The name was changed to the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company in 1935, and in 1954, the British Petroleum Company, now known worldwide as BPBPBP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
. - MinnesotaMinnesotaMinnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
outlawed the sale and distribution of cigarettes within the state, effective August 1.
April 15, 1909 (Thursday)
- Wilbur and Orville Wright demonstrated their airplane at the Centocelle military field near Rome, at the invitation of Mario Calderara and Umberto Savoia, whom they taught to fly. By the close of their visit on April 26, an Italian air force was Army launched and production of aircraft began at the Facciolli automobile factory later in the year.
April 16, 1909 (Friday)
- The TendaguruTendaguruThe Tendaguru Beds are a fossil-rich formation in Tanzania. It has been considered the richest of Late Jurassic strata in Africa. Continental reconstructions show Tendaguru to have been in the southern hemisphere during the Late Jurassic. Tendaguru is similar to the Morrison Formation except in...
expedition from Germany began excavation of one of the largest collection of dinosaur bones ever discovered. The location, in German East AfricaGerman East AfricaGerman East Africa was a German colony in East Africa, which included what are now :Burundi, :Rwanda and Tanganyika . Its area was , nearly three times the size of Germany today....
(later TanganyikaTanganyikaTanganyika , later formally the Republic of Tanganyika, was a sovereign state in East Africa from 1961 to 1964. It was situated between the Indian Ocean and the African Great Lakes of Lake Victoria, Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika...
and now part of TanzaniaTanzaniaThe United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
) was first spotted in 1907, and yielded 220 tons of fossils and bones from the Mesozoic Era, including a complete skeleton of a BrachiosaurusBrachiosaurusBrachiosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Jurassic Morrison Formation of North America. It was first described by Elmer S. Riggs in 1903 from fossils found in the Grand River Canyon of western Colorado, in the United States. Riggs named the dinosaur Brachiosaurus altithorax,...
on display at the Museum für Naturkunde in BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
.
April 17, 1909 (Saturday)
- In GlasgowGlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, a replay of the Scottish CupScottish Cup 1908–09The 1908–09 Scottish Cup was the 36th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The Cup was not awarded in this season due to serious riots in the replay of the final between Rangers and Celtic.-Calendar:-First round:...
between the RangersRangers F.C.Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...
and CelticCeltic F.C.Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
at Hampden ParkHampden ParkHampden Park is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The 52,063 capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland...
ended after a 1–1 draw. When the game did not go into extra time, thousands of angry fans poured out onto the pitch, and then began destroying the stadium. A force of 200 policemen finally dispersed the crowd, and though there were no fatalities, over 100 people required medical treatment. For the first time, the Scottish Football AssociationScottish Football AssociationThe Scottish Football Association is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA include clubs in Scotland, affiliated national associations as well as local associations...
did not award the Cup to any team. - American First LadyFirst LadyFirst Lady or First Gentlemanis the unofficial title used in some countries for the spouse of an elected head of state.It is not normally used to refer to the spouse or partner of a prime minister; the husband or wife of the British Prime Minister is usually informally referred to as prime...
Helen Taft and President William Howard TaftWilliam Howard TaftWilliam Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
opened West Potomac ParkWest Potomac ParkWest Potomac Park is a U.S. national park in Washington, D.C., adjacent to the National Mall. It includes the parkland that extends south of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, from the Lincoln Memorial to the grounds of the Washington Monument...
to the general public in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, and provided for concerts every Wednesday and Saturday. Mrs. Taft, who had lobbied for the opening of the park and the planting of cherry trees in the city, arrived with her husband in one of the earliest uses of a presidential automobile.
April 18, 1909 (Sunday)
- Joan of ArcJoan of ArcSaint Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" , is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the...
was beatified by decree of Pope Pius X, more than 475 years after her death, in a ceremony at St. Peter's Square that attracted 30,000 pilgrims and cardinals from around the world. Her canonization as a Catholic saint would take place on May 9, 1920.
April 19, 1909 (Monday)
- Jim "Killer" MillerJim Miller (outlaw)James Brown Miller , also known as "Killin' Jim", "Killer Miller" and "Deacon Jim", was an American outlaw and assassin of the American Old West credited with 12 kills during gunfights - perhaps the most of his era.. Miller was referred to by the alias Deacon Jim by some because he regularly...
had been a terror in the southwestern U.S. for 25 years. After Miller murdered former U.S. Marshal Gus Bobbitt in 1908, he and the three men who hired him were caught in March 1909, and placed in the Pontotoc CountyPontotoc County, OklahomaPontotoc County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2000, the population was 35,143. Its county seat is Ada.-Geography:According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,879 km²...
Jail in Ada, OklahomaAda, OklahomaAda is a city in and the county seat of Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 16,008 at the 2000 census. As of 2009, the city population was estimated at 17,019....
, to await trial. At on the 19th, the electric power was cut and more than 100 men broke into the jail, overpowered the guards, and took the four men to a nearby livery stable. Miller, along with Jess West, Joe Allen and B.B. Burwell, were hanged by their vigilante executioners. - William Howard TaftWilliam Howard TaftWilliam Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
became the first U.S. President to attend a major league baseball game, as he joined Vice-President Sherman in watching the Washington SenatorsMinnesota TwinsThe Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
host the Boston Red SoxBoston Red SoxThe Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
. Boston won 8–4.
April 20, 1909 (Tuesday)
- Gladys Smith, 16, of Toronto, was filmed for the first time, appearing in a small role for D.W. Griffith in Her First Biscuits as Mary PickfordMary PickfordMary Pickford was a Canadian-born motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
. Within five years, Pickford became the most popular film actress of the silent film era.
April 21, 1909 (Wednesday)
- Former U.S. President Theodore RooseveltTheodore RooseveltTheodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
arrived at Mombasa in British East Africa (now Kenya) to begin an eight-month long expedition and safari for the Smithsonian African Expedition. - St. Pius X issued the encyclical "Communion Rerum", praising Saint AnselmSaint AnselmSaint Anselm may be* Saint Anselm College - a Benedictine, Catholic liberal arts college in Goffstown, New Hampshire.* Saint Anselm of Canterbury* Saint Anselm of Lucca the Younger* Saint Anselm, Duke of Friuli...
of Canterbury, who had died 800 years earlier on April 21, 1109. - Sarah E. Thompson, who had spied for the United States Army during the Civil War and was the only American woman of her time to draw a soldier's pension, was struck by a trolley while walking in Washington, D.C. She died the next day, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full honors.
April 22, 1909 (Thursday)
- The first dictionary translating the ChoctawChoctawThe Choctaw are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States...
Native American language into EnglishEnglish languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
was completed by linguist Cyrus ByingtonCyrus ByingtonCyrus Byington was a White Christian missionary from Massachusetts who worked with the Choctaw in Mississippi and later in Indian Territory, later called Oklahoma, during 19th century. He set out to construct a lexicon of the Choctaw language in order to translate Christian prayers, hymns, and...
for the Bureau of American EthnologyBureau of American EthnologyThe Bureau of American Ethnology was established in 1879 by an act of Congress for the purpose of transferring archives, records and materials relating to the Indians of North America from the Interior Department to the Smithsonian Institution...
. - The remains of Pierre L'Enfant, who designed the city of Washington, D.C., were removed from the Green Hill, Maryland (where he had been since 1825), for reburial at Arlington National CemeteryArlington National CemeteryArlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
. - Schütte-LanzSchütte-LanzSchütte-Lanz is the name of a series of rigid airships designed and built by the Luftschiffbau Schütte-Lanz company from 1909 until the last LS22 was delivered in 1917. One research and four passenger airships were planned for post-war use, but were never built...
Luftschiffbau, manufacturer of German airships, was incorporated in Mannheim. - Born: Rita Levi-MontalciniRita Levi-MontalciniRita Levi-Montalcini , Knight Grand Cross is an Italian neurologist who, together with colleague Stanley Cohen, received the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of nerve growth factor...
, Italian neurologist, winner of Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1986, in TurinTurinTurin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
April 23, 1909 (Friday)
- William S. TaylorWilliam S. Taylor (politician)William S. Taylor was an American politician that served in the Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas State Legislatures, and was Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives briefly in the Seventh Texas Legislature. Taylor, at 62, is the oldest person to assume the office of Speaker of the Texas...
, the 33rd Governor of KentuckyGovernor of KentuckyThe Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the head of the executive branch of government in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Fifty-six men and one woman have served as Governor of Kentucky. The governor's term is four years in length; since 1992, incumbents have been able to seek re-election once...
, was pardoned by the 36th Governor Augustus E. WillsonAugustus E. WillsonAugustus Everett Willson was the 36th Governor of Kentucky. Orphaned at the age of twelve, Willson went to live with relatives in New England...
. In 1899, Republican Taylor had been declared winner of the gubernatorial electionKentucky gubernatorial election, 1899The Kentucky gubernatorial election of 1899 was held on November 7, 1899, to choose the 33rd governor of Kentucky. The incumbent, Republican William O'Connell Bradley, was term-limited and unable to seek re-election....
over Democrat William GoebelWilliam GoebelWilliam Justus Goebel was an American politician who served as the 34th Governor of Kentucky for a few days in 1900 after having been mortally wounded by an assassin the day before he was sworn in...
, but a Court challenge led to Goebel being declared the winner. Goebel was shot, and died shortly after being sworn in as the 34th Governor. Goebel's successor, 35th Governor J.C.W. Beckham, and Taylor both claimed to be Governor, before Taylor fled the state. Under indictment in Kentucky as an accused accessory to Goebel's murder, Taylor stayed in Indiana, which refused to extradite him. Governor Wilson, a Republican, pardoned Taylor and most of the other persons accused of conspiracy to murder. - The Gimbels Department Store signed a 105 year lease for property at New York's Herald Square, providing for rentals of $60,000,000 until 2014.
April 24, 1909 (Saturday)
- At the Centocelli field in Italy, a camera operator accompanied Wilbur Wright on an airplane flight and shot the first film ever taken from an airplane.
- At the Crystal Palace stadium in London, Manchester United defeated Bristol City on a goal by Sandy TurnbullSandy TurnbullAlexander "Sandy" Turnbull was a Scottish football player who played as a forward for both Manchester City and Manchester United in the early 20th century....
for a 1–0 win, giving the Manchester club its first of eleven FA CupFA CupThe Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
titles. Manchester won again in 1948, 1963, 1977, 1983, 1985, 1990, 1994, 1996, 1999, and 2004. - The National Library of ChinaNational Library of ChinaThe National Library of China or NLC in Beijing is the largest library in Asia, and one of the largest in the world with a collection of over 23 million volumes...
was founded in Beijing as the Capital Library. With more than 24,000,000 volumes, it is now the fifth largest library in the world.
April 25, 1909 (Sunday)
- A day after marching into Constantinople, the Young Turks under the command of Mahmud Şevket PashaMahmud Sevket PashaMahmud Shevket Pasha was an Ottoman general and statesman of Arab and Georgian descent. Some sources also note Chechen or Circassian ancestry. He was born in Baghdad where he finished his primary education before going on to the Military Academy in Constantinople. He joined the army in 1882 as...
entered the royal palace under terms of surrender negotiated with Sultan Abdul Hamid II. In return for having his life spared, the Sultan ordered his 4,000 Albanian guards to give up their weapons, and the disarmament took place at noon. - Born: William PereiraWilliam PereiraWilliam Leonard Pereira was an American architect from Chicago, Illinois, of Portuguese ancestry who was noted for his futuristic designs of landmark buildings such as the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco...
, American architect who designed San Francisco's Transamerica PyramidTransamerica PyramidThe Transamerica Pyramid is the tallest skyscraper in the San Francisco skyline and one of its most iconic. Although the building no longer houses the headquarters of the Transamerica Corporation, it is still strongly associated with the company and is depicted in the company's logo...
, in ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
(d. 1985)
April 26, 1909 (Monday)
- In HungaryHungaryHungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, part of the dual monarchy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Prime Minister Alexander Wekerle and his entire cabinet resigned in protest over the Vienna government's lack of support for universal suffrage for the Hungarians, extended use of the Magyar language in Army regiments, and independence for the two Hungarian banks. The crisis continued through the rest of the year until 1910, when a new cabinet took office. - California became the third American state to enact a eugenic sterilization law for the forced sterilization of mentally retarded persons. Similar laws had been enacted in Indiana in 1907, and in Washington earlier in 1909.
April 27, 1909 (Tuesday)
- Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid IIAbdul Hamid IIHis Imperial Majesty, The Sultan Abdülhamid II, Emperor of the Ottomans, Caliph of the Faithful was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire...
was deposed by unanimous vote of the Turkish parliament, which had assembled at 8:00 in the morning. No vote could be taken until a fatwaFatwaA fatwā in the Islamic faith is a juristic ruling concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar. In Sunni Islam any fatwā is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be considered by an individual as binding, depending on his or her relation to the scholar. The person who issues a fatwā...
could be approved by the Sheik ul Islam, second only to the Sultan as leader of the Islamic world. The fatwa, which declared that the Sultan had "squandered the wealth of the country", burned the books of the ShariaShariaSharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
, and "spilled blood and committed massacres", was delivered at , and five minutes later, the Sultan was dethroned. At 10:50, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies voted to invite the Abdul Hamid's younger brother, Rechad Effendi, to be the new Sultan, and at 4:00, the Sheik administered the oath and Rechad was proclaimed as Sultan Mehmed V. The new Sultan had been kept a virtual prisoner by his older brother since 1876.
April 28, 1909 (Wednesday)
- At 3:00 in Constantinople, the one-time absolute ruler of the Ottoman Empire was put on a train and sent to the city of Salonika, where he would remain under house arrest at the Beylerbeyi Palace. Abdul Hamid's harem was broken up, and executions began of the mutineers who had supported him; he lived until 1918.
- Died: Frederick HolbrookFrederick HolbrookFrederick Holbrook was an agriculturist, politician, and the 27th Governor of Vermont.-Early life:Holbrook was born in East Windsor, Connecticut, son of John and Sara Holbrook. He attended Berkshire Gymnasium, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, for two years, then visited Europe in 1833...
, 85, Governor of Vermont 1861–63
April 29, 1909 (Thursday)
- Tornadoes killed 125 people in the southeastern United States, including more than 50 in Tennessee.
- Russian troops under the command of General Snarski invaded Persia and occupied the city of TabrizTabrizTabriz is the fourth largest city and one of the historical capitals of Iran and the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. Situated at an altitude of 1,350 meters at the junction of the Quri River and Aji River, it was the second largest city in Iran until the late 1960s, one of its former...
in order to stop a rebellion by constitutionalists against the Shah. The troops remained for ten months.
April 30, 1909 (Friday)
- John Moore-Brabazon became the first British pilot to make an airplane flight in Great Britain.
- By order of U.S. President William Howard TaftWilliam Howard TaftWilliam Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
, the name of the town of "La Boca", on the Pacific side of the Canal ZonePanama Canal ZoneThe Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...
, was changed to BalboaBalboa, PanamaBalboa is a district of Panama City, located at the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal.- History :The town of Balboa, founded by the United States during the construction of the Panama Canal, was named after Vasco Núñez de Balboa, the Spanish conquistador credited with discovering the Pacific Ocean...
. The suggestion had been made by Peru's minister to Panama, Federico Alfonso Pezet, to honor the Spanish explorer. - Palm Beach County was created in FloridaFloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
after being split off from Dade County, and West Palm Beach was named the county seat. The county had only 5,000 residents at the time, and now has . - A patent application (U.S. Patent No. 932,604) for the first practical paint sprayer was filed, by Thomas A. DeVilbiss of Toledo, Ohio, who had begun manufacture at the DeVilbiss CompanyDeVilbiss Air Power CompanyDeVilbiss Air Power Company is an American company that manufactures air compressors, pneumatic tools, generators, pressure washers, and accessories for them. It is a subsidiary of Stanley Black & Decker, having been purchased from Pentair in 2004 by Black & Decker.- External links :*...
. Using compressed air and the technology for atomizers manufactured by DeVilbiss, the spray system made painting move more quickly. - Born: Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, who reigned from 1948 to 1980, at The HagueThe HagueThe Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
. The only child of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina was named for Juliana of StolbergJuliana of StolbergJuliana, Countess of Stolberg-Wernigerode was the mother of William the Silent, the leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish in the 16th century....
, the mother of William the SilentWilliam the SilentWilliam I, Prince of Orange , also widely known as William the Silent , or simply William of Orange , was the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish that set off the Eighty Years' War and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648. He was born in the House of...
. Queen Juliana would reign over the Netherlands from 1948 to 1980, abdicating in favor of her daughter, Queen Beatrix, and would live until 2004. - Born: F. E. McWilliamF. E. McWilliamF.E. McWilliam , was a British surrealist sculptor, born in Banbridge, County Down. He worked in stone, wood and bronze chiefly.-Biography:...
, Northern Irish sculptor, in BanbridgeBanbridgeBanbridge is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Bann and the A1 road. It was named after a bridge built over the Bann in 1712. The town grew as a coaching stop on the road from Belfast to Dublin and thrived from Irish linen manufacturing...
, County Down (d. 1992)