February 1909
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The following events occurred in February 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 – 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
April 1909
January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in April 1909.-April 1, 1909 :...
– 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 :...
February 1, 1909 (Monday)
- In Fort Wayne, IndianaFort Wayne, IndianaFort Wayne is a city in the US state of Indiana and the county seat of Allen County. The population was 253,691 at the 2010 Census making it the 74th largest city in the United States and the second largest in Indiana...
, Dr. Herman G. Niermann died four days after having part of his digestive tract removed to prove a theory. Dr. Niermann had theorized that a portion of the tract "serves as the cesspool of poisons of the body and becomes the culture bed of certain diseases", and persuaded a surgeon to operate upon him on January 28. Peritonits set in and killed Dr. Niermann. - Born: George Beverly SheaGeorge Beverly SheaGeorge Beverly "Bev" Shea is a Grammy Award-winning Canadian-born American gospel singer and hymn composer. Shea has often been described as "America's beloved Gospel singer" and is considered "the first international singing 'star' of the gospel world," as a consequence of his solos at Billy...
, gospel singer and songwriter, in Winchester, Ontario (still alive in 2011)
February 2, 1909 (Tuesday)
- Francisco I. MaderoFrancisco I. MaderoFrancisco Ignacio Madero González was a politician, writer and revolutionary who served as President of Mexico from 1911 to 1913. As a respectable upper-class politician, he supplied a center around which opposition to the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz could coalesce...
challenged Porfirio DiazPorfirio DíazJosé de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori was a Mexican-American War volunteer and French intervention hero, an accomplished general and the President of Mexico continuously from 1876 to 1911, with the exception of a brief term in 1876 when he left Juan N...
, Mexico's president since 1884, to allow a free presidential election. Madero, author of the bestseller La sucesión presidencial en 1910, sent a copy of the book to President Diaz and then "began the greatest practical lesson that anyone had ever attempted in the history of Mexico". What followed was the Mexican RevolutionMexican RevolutionThe Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution...
of 1910; Madero toppled Diaz, but served only briefly until being assassinated himself.
February 3, 1909 (Wednesday)
- A measure in California to forbid foreign ownership of land failed 48–28 in that state's House of Representatives.
- Born: Simone WeilSimone WeilSimone Weil , was a French philosopher, Christian mystic, and social activist.-Biography:Weil was born in Paris to Alsatian agnostic Jewish parents who fled the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany. She grew up in comfortable circumstances, and her father was a doctor. Her only sibling was...
, French philosopher, in ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
(d. 1943)
February 4, 1909 (Thursday)
- Edgeworth DavidEdgeworth DavidSir Tannatt William Edgeworth David KBE, DSO, FRS, was a Welsh Australian geologist and Antarctic explorer. A household name in his lifetime, David's most significant achievements were discovering the major Hunter Valley coalfield in New South Wales and leading the first expedition to reach the...
and his crew successfully rendezvoused with the ship Nimrod. - The California House of Representatives voted 46–28 to pass a school segregation bill to "establish separate schools for Indian children and for children of Mongolian or Japanese or Chinese descent" to block Asian-Americans from attending school with White students. Bills prohibiting Asian-Americans from serving on corporate boards or from living outside districts both failed. The segregation bill moved on to the State Senate.
February 5, 1909 (Friday)
- At a meeting of the American Chemical SocietyAmerican Chemical SocietyThe American Chemical Society is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 161,000 members at all degree-levels and in all fields of chemistry, chemical...
at the Chemists' Club at 108 W. 55th Street in New York, Dr. Leo BaekelandLeo BaekelandLeo Hendrik Baekeland was a Belgian chemist who invented Velox photographic paper and Bakelite , an inexpensive, nonflammable, versatile, and popular plastic, which marks the beginning of the modern plastics industry.-Career:Leo Baekeland was born in Sint-Martens-Latem near Ghent, Belgium,...
announced his synthesis of a new chemical, obybenzyl-methylenglycolanhydride, which he called Bakelite. The polymer that Baekeland had created was "the first commercially useful artificial substance", and the first plastic. - Clark County, NevadaClark County, Nevada-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 1,375,765 people, 512,253 households, and 339,693 families residing within the MSA. The racial makeup of the MSA was 71.6% White , 9.1% Black, 5.7% Asian, 0.8% American Indian and 12.8% of other or mixed race. 22.0% were Hispanic of any race...
, including Las VegasLas Vegas, NevadaLas Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, was created from the southern half of Lincoln CountyLincoln County, NevadaLincoln County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2000 census, the population was 4,165. Its county seat is Pioche.-History:...
, by legislative action effective July 1, 1909 - Germany's legation (embassy) in ChileChileChile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
was destroyed by fire, and a charred body, thought to be that of Chancellor Wilhelm Beckert, was found in the ruins. After an investigation showed that a large amount of money had been embezzled, and that the corpse was not Beckert's, a manhunt for the diplomat began. Beckert was caught one week later in ChillánChillánChillán is a city in the Biobío Region of Chile located about south of the country's capital, Santiago, near the geographical center of the country. It is the capital of Ñuble Province and, with a population of approximately 170,000 people , the most populated urban center of this province...
, and the victim turned out to be Exequiel Tapia, a Chilean porter employed at the legation. Germany turned its former diplomat to the Chilean justice system, court, and Beckert was executed on July 5, 1910.
February 6, 1909 (Saturday)
- The Great White FleetGreat White FleetThe Great White Fleet was the popular nickname for the United States Navy battle fleet that completed a circumnavigation of the globe from 16 December 1907 to 22 February 1909 by order of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. It consisted of 16 battleships divided into two squadrons, along with...
passed Gibraltar from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean.
February 7, 1909 (Sunday)
- The Namibian village of SchuckmannsburgSchuckmannsburgSchuckmannsburg is an African village in the Caprivi Strip in northeastern Namibia with a population of about 800. It belongs to the Kabbe electoral constituency of the Caprivi Region...
was established by Captain Kurt Streitwolf in order to claim the Caprivi StripCaprivi StripCaprivi, sometimes called the Caprivi Strip , Caprivi Panhandle or the Okavango Strip and formally known as Itenge, is a narrow protrusion of Namibia eastwards about , between Botswana to the south, Angola and Zambia to the north, and Okavango Region to the west. Caprivi is bordered by the...
, a 280 mile long buffer zone between the Portuguese and British colonies. - Born: Wilhelm FreddieWilhelm FreddieWilhelm Frederik Christian Carlsen Freddie was a Danish painter and sculptor. Initially working along a somewhat abstract line, he soon turned towards a more realistic surrealism, only to later return to abstract art...
, Danish painter, in CopenhagenCopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
(d. 1995)
February 8, 1909 (Monday)
- At his lawyer's office, Hiram Percy MaximHiram Percy MaximHiram Percy Maxim was an American radio pioneer and inventor, and co-founder of the American Radio Relay League . He originally had the amateur call signs SNY, 1WH, 1ZM, 1AW, and later W1AW, which is now the ARRL Headquarters club station call sign...
, son of machine gunMaxim gunThe Maxim gun was the first self-powered machine gun, invented by the American-born British inventor Sir Hiram Maxim in 1884. It has been called "the weapon most associated with [British] imperial conquest".-Functionality:...
inventor Hiram Maxim, demonstrated to reporters his new invention, the "Maxim silencer", a firearms sound suppressorSuppressorA suppressor, sound suppressor, sound moderator, or silencer, is a device attached to or part of the barrel of a firearm which reduces the amount of noise and flash generated by firing the weapon....
. "I shall make war absolutely noiseless", he told the press.
February 9, 1909 (Tuesday)
- 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...
signed into law a bill prohibiting the importation of opium into the United States. Importation would remain legal until April 1. - Senator Philander C. KnoxPhilander C. KnoxPhilander Chase Knox was an American lawyer and politician who served as United States Attorney General , a Senator from Pennsylvania and Secretary of State ....
, 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...
's nominee for U.S. Secretary of State, was found to be constitutionally ineligible for the office because the salary for the post had been increased during his term. Article 1, Section 6, Paragraph 2 of the U.S. Constitution provided that "No Senator or Representative shall, during the term for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office ... which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time.". The problem was eventually solved by what would later be called the Saxbe fixSaxbe fixThe Saxbe fix, or salary rollback, is a mechanism by which the President of the United States, in appointing a current or former member of the United States Congress whose elected term has not yet expired, can avoid the restriction of the United States Constitution's Ineligibility Clause...
(although it would not so named until 1973), by rolling back the salary for the position until March 3, 1911, when Knox's term would expire. - The Maldivian island of MinicoyMinicoyMinicoy, locally known as Maliku is a census town in the Indian union territory of Lakshadweep and was formerly a part of Maldive Islands.-Etymology:...
was signed over by its ruler, Imbicchi Ali-Adi Raja Bibi, to the Dominion of India. - Born: Carmen MirandaCarmen MirandaCarmen Miranda, GCIH was a Portuguese-born Brazilian samba singer, Broadway actress and Hollywood film star popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was, by some accounts, the highest-earning woman in the United States and noted for her signature fruit hat outfit she wore in the 1943 movie The Gang's...
, Portuguese-born actress and singer, in Marco de CanavesesMarco de CanavesesMarco de Canaveses is a city and municipality of the Porto district, in northern Portugal. The city itself has a population of 9,042.It is the birth place of Carmen Miranda.- Geography :...
(d. 1955); Dean RuskDean RuskDavid Dean Rusk was the United States Secretary of State from 1961 to 1969 under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Rusk is the second-longest serving U.S...
, U.S. Secretary of State from 1961 to 1969, in Cherokee County, GeorgiaCherokee County, GeorgiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 141,903 people, 49,495 households, and 39,200 families residing in the county. The population density was 335 people per square mile . There were 51,937 housing units at an average density of 123 per square mile...
(d. 1994); and Harald GenzmerHarald GenzmerHarald Genzmer was a German composer of contemporary classical music.-Biography:Born in Blumenthal, near Bremen, Germany, he studied composition with Paul Hindemith at the Berlin Hochschule für Music beginning in 1928.From 1938 he taught at the Volksmusikschule Berlin-Neukölln...
, German classical composer, in BremenBremenThe City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
(d. 2007)
February 10, 1909 (Wednesday)
- The "Saxbe fixSaxbe fixThe Saxbe fix, or salary rollback, is a mechanism by which the President of the United States, in appointing a current or former member of the United States Congress whose elected term has not yet expired, can avoid the restriction of the United States Constitution's Ineligibility Clause...
" for Philander C. KnoxPhilander C. KnoxPhilander Chase Knox was an American lawyer and politician who served as United States Attorney General , a Senator from Pennsylvania and Secretary of State ....
's constitutional problems was sponsored by Senator HaleEugene HaleEugene Hale was a Republican United States Senator from Maine.Born at Turner, Maine, he was educated in local schools and at Maine's Hebron Academy. He was admitted to the bar in 1857 and served for nine years as prosecuting attorney for Hancock County, Maine. He was elected to the Maine...
of Maine. After passing the Senate, the bill passed the House 173–112 and it was signed the next day. - The California State SenateCalifornia State SenateThe California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature. There are 40 state senators. The state legislature meets in the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The Lieutenant Governor is the ex officio President of the Senate and may break a tied vote...
defeated the anti-Asian segregation bill that had passed the state House, but by a narrow margin, 41–37.
February 11, 1909 (Thursday)
- With three weeks left until his inauguration, President-elect 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...
arrived back in the United States from his trip to PanamaPanamaPanama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
to cheering crowds at New Orleans. After arriving on the cruiser U.S.S. North Carolina, Taft boarded the U.S.S. BirminghamUSS Birmingham (CL-2)USS Birmingham , named for the city of Birmingham, Alabama, was a laid down by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company at Quincy, Massachusetts on 14 August 1905; launched on 29 May 1907; sponsored by Mrs L...
to sail up the Mississippi River. - Born: Max Baer, American heavyweight boxer (world champion 1934-1935) and film actor, in Omaha, NebraskaOmaha, NebraskaOmaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
(d. 1959); and Joseph Mankiewicz, American filmmaker (All About Eve), in Wilkes-Barre, PennsylvaniaWilkes-Barre, PennsylvaniaWilkes-Barre is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, the county seat of Luzerne County. It is at the center of the Wyoming Valley area and is one of the principal cities in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area, which had a population of 563,631 as of the 2010 Census...
(d. 1993)
February 12, 1909 (Friday)
- As the centennial of Abraham LincolnAbraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
's birth was celebrated across the United States, 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...
appeared at Hodgenville, KentuckyHodgenville, KentuckyHodgenville is a city in and the county seat of LaRue County, Kentucky, United States. It sits along the North Fork of the Nolin River. The population was 2,874 at the 2000 census...
, for the laying of the cornerstone for a building to house a log cabinAbraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic SiteAbraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park preserves two farm sites where Abraham Lincoln lived as a child.In the fall of 1808, Thomas and Nancy Lincoln settled on Sinking Spring Farm. Two months later on February 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln was born there in a one-room log cabin. Today...
in which Lincoln was born. - The New York Academy of SciencesNew York Academy of SciencesThe New York Academy of Sciences is the third oldest scientific society in the United States. An independent, non-profit organization with more than members in 140 countries, the Academy’s mission is to advance understanding of science and technology...
celebrated the centennial of the birth of Charles DarwinCharles DarwinCharles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
. - The National Association for the Advancement of Colored PeopleNational Association for the Advancement of Colored PeopleThe National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, usually abbreviated as NAACP, is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909. Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to...
(NAACP) was founded on the centennial of President Abraham Lincoln's birth. - The ferry SS PenguinSS PenguinSS Penguin was a New Zealand 824 ton inter-island ferry steamer that sank off Cape Terawhiti near the entrance to Wellington Harbour in poor weather on 12 February 1909, and subsequently exploded as cold sea water flooded into the red-hot boiler room. Of the 105 passengers and crew on board, only...
began sinking off of Cape TerawhitiCape TerawhitiCape Terawhiti is the southwesternmost point of the North Island of New Zealand.The cape is located 16 kilometres to the west of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand...
enroute to WellingtonWellingtonWellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
, New Zealand, then exploded when the sea's waters flooded the boilers.
February 13, 1909 (Saturday)
- At a dinner in New York for his financial backers, Lee De ForestLee De ForestLee De Forest was an American inventor with over 180 patents to his credit. De Forest invented the Audion, a vacuum tube that takes relatively weak electrical signals and amplifies them. De Forest is one of the fathers of the "electronic age", as the Audion helped to usher in the widespread use...
announced "I have succeeded in combining the wireless telegraph and telephone in one instrument ... Some day the news and even advertising will be sent out to the public over the wireless telephone." De Forest would on demonstrate the technologyBirth of public radio broadcastingBirth of public radio broadcasting is credited to Lee de Forest. A 1907 Lee De Forest company advertisement said, -Date:On January 13, 1910, the first public radio broadcast was an experimental transmission of a live Metropolitan Opera House performance of several famous opera...
on January 12, 1910.
February 14, 1909 (Sunday)
- In AcapulcoAcapulcoAcapulco is a city, municipality and major sea port in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific coast of Mexico, southwest from Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semi-circular bay and has been a port since the early colonial period of Mexico’s history...
, Mexico, more than 250 persons were killed in a fire at the Flores Theatre. An estimated 1,000 persons were watching an exhibition of "moving pictures" when a film caught fire and the blaze spread to some bunting. With three narrow exits from the theatre, hundres were either trampled or burned to death.
February 15, 1909 (Monday)
- The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill for statehood for the territories of Arizona and New Mexico. The Senate Territories Committee tabled the bill on February 27 after Minnesota's Senator Knute NelsonKnute NelsonKnute Nelson was an Norwegian American politician. A Republican, he served in the Wisconsin Legislature and Minnesota Legislature, in the U.S. House of Representatives, as the 12th Governor of Minnesota, and as a U.S...
charged that New Mexican officials were corrupt. The two states would be admitted in 1912. - Park County, Wyoming, was created.
- Born: Miep GiesMiep GiesMiep Gies was one of the Dutch citizens who hid Anne Frank, her family and several family friends in an attic annex above Anne's father's place of business from the Nazis during World War II...
, Austrian-born Dutch humanitarian, who helped hide Anne Frank and preserved her diary, in ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
(d. 2010)
February 16, 1909 (Tuesday)
- At the West Stanley Colliery in Stanley, County DurhamStanley, County DurhamStanley is a former colliery town and civil parish in County Durham, England. Centred on a hilltop between Chester-le-Street and Consett, the town lies south west of Gateshead....
, England, 160 coal miners were killed. - Born: Hugh BeaumontHugh Beaumont (actor)Eugene Hugh Beaumont was an American actor and television director. He was also licensed to preach by the Methodist church...
, American TV actor who portrayed Ward Cleaver on Leave It to Beaver, in Eudora, KansasEudora, KansasEudora is a city in Douglas County, Kansas, United States. It is part of the Lawrence, Kansas Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is located along the Kansas and Wakarusa Rivers. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 6,136.- History :...
(d. 1982)
February 17, 1909 (Wednesday)
- GeronimoGeronimoGeronimo was a prominent Native American leader of the Chiricahua Apache who fought against Mexico and the United States for their expansion into Apache tribal lands for several decades during the Apache Wars. Allegedly, "Geronimo" was the name given to him during a Mexican incident...
, ChiricahuaChiricahuaChiricahua are a group of Apache Native Americans who live in the Southwest United States. At the time of European encounter, they were living in 15 million acres of territory in southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona in the United States, and in northern Sonora and Chihuahua in Mexico...
ApacheApacheApache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
war chief who led the Apaches for twenty years in wars against white invaders of the Southwest United States, died of pneumonia at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Six days earlier, the man born as Goyaałé, had gone to Lawton, got drunk, fell off of his horse into a creek, and was not found until hours later, by which time illness had set in.
February 18, 1909 (Thursday)
- 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...
convened at the White House the first North American Conservation Conference, with delegates from the United States, Canada, and Mexico meeting at the East Room of the White House to discuss the conservation of the natural resources of the continent. - Born: Wallace StegnerWallace StegnerWallace Earle Stegner was an American historian, novelist, short story writer, and environmentalist, often called "The Dean of Western Writers"...
, American author, in Lake Mills, IowaLake Mills, IowaLake Mills is a city in Winnebago County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,140 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Lake Mills is located at ....
(d. 1993)
February 19, 1909 (Friday)
- In New York, Clifford Beers convened the first meeting of the National Committee for Mental Hygiene, marking the beginning of the mental hygiene movement. The Committee, later called the National Mental Health Association, and today Mental Health America, set as its mission the improvement of care for mental illness, as well as its prevention.
- Born: Enrico DonatiEnrico DonatiEnrico Donati was an American Surrealist painter and sculptor of Italian birth.-Life and work:Enrico Donati studied economics at the Università degli Studi, Pavia, and in 1934 moved to the USA, where he attended the New School for Social Research and the Art Students League of New York...
, Italian-born American surrealist sculptor and painter, in MilanMilanMilan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
(d. 2008)
February 20, 1909 (Saturday)
- The Futurist ManifestoFuturist ManifestoThe Futurist Manifesto, written by the Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, was published in the Italian newspaper Gazzetta dell'Emilia in Bologna on 5 February 1909, then in French as "Manifeste du futurisme" in the newspaper Le Figaro on 20 February 1909...
, written by Filippo Marinetti, was published in the Paris newspaper Le FigaroLe FigaroLe Figaro is a French daily newspaper founded in 1826 and published in Paris. It is one of three French newspapers of record, with Le Monde and Libération, and is the oldest newspaper in France. It is also the second-largest national newspaper in France after Le Parisien and before Le Monde, but...
, launching the art form of futurismFuturismFuturism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century.Futurism or futurist may refer to:* Afrofuturism, an African-American and African diaspora subculture* Cubo-Futurism* Ego-Futurism...
. http://www.cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/T4PM/futurist-manifesto.html - The Hudson Motor Car CompanyHudson Motor Car CompanyThe Hudson Motor Car Company made Hudson and other brand automobiles in Detroit, Michigan, from 1909 to 1954. In 1954, Hudson merged with Nash-Kelvinator Corporation to form American Motors. The Hudson name was continued through the 1957 model year, after which it was dropped.- Company strategy...
was incorporated by Roy D. Chapin and seven other Detroit businessmen. Producing such vehicles as the EssexEssex (automobile)The Essex was a brand of automobile produced by the Essex Motor Company from 1918–1922 and Hudson Motor Company of Detroit, Michigan between 1922 and 1932.-Corporate strategy:...
and the TerraplaneTerraplaneThe Terraplane was a car brand and model built by the Hudson Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan between 1932 and 1938. In its maiden year, the car was branded as the Essex-Terraplane; in 1934 the car became simply the Terraplane...
, Hudson Motors lasted until January 14, 1954, when it merged with Nash-Kelvinator CorporationNash-Kelvinator CorporationNash-Kelvinator Corporation was the result of a merger between Nash Motors and Kelvinator Appliance Company. The union of these two companies was brought about as a result of a condition made by George W...
to form American Motors (AMC), which in turn merged with Chrysler in 1987.
February 21, 1909 (Sunday)
- Rioting broke out in OmahaOmahaOmaha may refer to:*Omaha , a Native American tribe that currently resides in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Nebraska-Places:United States* Omaha, Nebraska* Omaha, Arkansas* Omaha, Georgia* Omaha, Illinois* Omaha, Texas...
, Nebraska, as a mob of 3,000 men and boys smashed buildings in the Greek section of town, centred at 26th and Q Streets. Italians and Rumanians. After a Greek resident had killed an Omaha policeman on Friday, a local attorney reportedly told a gathered crowd, "The blood of an American is on the hands of those Greeks, and some method should be adopted to avenge his death and rid the city of this class of persons." - President Roosevelt'sTheodore 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...
nephew, Stewart Douglas Robinson, was killed after falling from the sixth floor of a dormitory room at Harvard University's Hampden Hall. Robinson, 19, was a sophomore at Harvard. - Born: Hans ErniHans ErniHans Erni is a Swiss painter, designer and sculptor. Born in Lucerne, he is known in particular for illustrating postage stamps, activism, lithographs for the Swiss Red Cross, and participation on the Olympic Committee. The Hans Erni Museum, situated in the grounds of the Swiss Museum of...
, Swiss painter and sculptor, in LucerneLucerneLucerne is a city in north-central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of that country. Lucerne is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne and the capital of the district of the same name. With a population of about 76,200 people, Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland, and...
(still living in 2011)
February 22, 1909 (Monday)
- With the USS ConnecticutUSS Connecticut (BB-18)USS Connecticut , the fourth United States Navy ship to be named after the state of Connecticut, was the lead ship of her class of six. Her keel was laid on 10 March 1903; launched on 29 September 1904, Connecticut was commissioned on 29 September 1906 as the most advanced ship in the U.S...
as the flagship, the Great White FleetGreat White FleetThe Great White Fleet was the popular nickname for the United States Navy battle fleet that completed a circumnavigation of the globe from 16 December 1907 to 22 February 1909 by order of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. It consisted of 16 battleships divided into two squadrons, along with...
finished its round the world voyage. At 11:00 in the morning, the sixteen battleships and their escorts arrived at Hampton RoadsHampton RoadsHampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
, VirginiaVirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, where the fleet had departed more than a year earlier on December 16, 1907. President Roosevelt almost fell when his foot slipped while climbing up to a barbetteBarbetteA barbette is a protective circular armour feature around a cannon or heavy artillery gun. The name comes from the French phrase en barbette referring to the practice of firing a field gun over a parapet rather than through an opening . The former gives better angles of fire but less protection...
on the USS Mayflower to address the Navy men as "the first battle fleet that has ever circumnavigated the globe". - Born: Edmund BerkeleyEdmund BerkeleyEdmund Callis Berkeley was an American computer scientist who co-founded the Association for Computing Machinery in 1947. He was also a social activist who worked to achieve conditions that might minimize the threat of nuclear war.-Biography:Berkeley received a BA in Mathematics and Logic from...
, American computer scientist, in New York City (d. 1988)
February 23, 1909 (Tuesday)
- Canada's first airplane flight was accomplished when the Silver DartAEA Silver Dart-References:NotesBibliography* Aerial Experimental Association . Aerofiles. . Retrieved: 19 May 2005.* Green, H. Gordon. The Silver Dart: The Authentic Story of the Hon. J.A.D. McCurdy, Canada's First Pilot. Fredericton, New Brunswick: Atlantic Advocate Book, 1959.* Milberry, Larry. Aviation in...
, piloted by John McCurdyJohn Alexander Douglas McCurdyJohn Alexander Douglas McCurdy was a Canadian aviation pioneer and the 19th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia from 1947 to 1952. -Early years:...
, took off from the ice covered Bras d'Or LakeBras d'Or LakeBras d'Or Lake is a large body of salt water dominating the centre of Cape Breton Island in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. Bras d'Or Lake is sometimes referred to as the Bras d'Or Lakes or the Bras d'Or Lakes system, however its official geographic name is Bras d'Or Lake as it is a singular...
at Baddeck, Nova ScotiaBaddeck, Nova ScotiaBaddeck is a Canadian village in Victoria County, Nova Scotia.It is the county's shire town and is situated on the northern shore of Bras d'Or Lake on Cape Breton Island...
.
February 24, 1909 (Wednesday)
- An international crisis began when the Kingdom of SerbiaKingdom of SerbiaThe Kingdom of Serbia was created when Prince Milan Obrenović, ruler of the Principality of Serbia, was crowned King in 1882. The Principality of Serbia was ruled by the Karađorđevic dynasty from 1817 onwards . The Principality, suzerain to the Porte, had expelled all Ottoman troops by 1867, de...
announced that it opposed Austria-Hungary's annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that the area should be part of a Greater Serbia. The Austro-Hungarian Empire prepared to go to war with Serbia, which backed down at the end of March. - The United States SenateUnited States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
ratified the Ship Canal treaty that had been signed with ColombiaColombiaColombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
on January 9. - Grant County, Washington, was established from the southern section of Douglas County, and named in honor of Ulysses S. GrantUlysses S. GrantUlysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
. - Born: August DerlethAugust DerlethAugust William Derleth was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first publisher of the writings of H. P...
, American writer, in Sauk City, WisconsinSauk City, WisconsinSauk City is a village in Sauk County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,109 at the 2000 census. The first incorporated village in the state, the community was founded by Agoston Haraszthy and his business partner, Robert Bryant...
(d. 1971)
February 25, 1909 (Thursday)
- Adventurer Hubert LathamHubert LathamArthur Charles Hubert Latham was a French aviation pioneer. He was the first person to attempt to cross the English Channel in an aeroplane...
accepted the challenge of flying the Antoinette IV, France's most advanced airplane to that time, to be the first person to fly a heavier-than-air machine across the English ChannelEnglish ChannelThe English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
. The future of the Antoinette Company (led by Leon Levavasseur and Jules Gastambide) would turn upon the airplane's success in competition, and though Latham made the attempt, it was Louis BlériotLouis BlériotLouis Charles Joseph Blériot was a French aviator, inventor and engineer. In 1909 he completed the first flight across a large body of water in a heavier-than-air craft, when he crossed the English Channel. For this achievement, he received a prize of £1,000...
who would be the first to cross the channel, on July 27. - Curry County, New MexicoCurry County, New MexicoCurry County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Mexico. The population was approximately 45,044 at the 2000 census. Its county seat is Clovis. It is named in honor of George Curry, territorial governor of New Mexico from 1907 to 1910...
, was established and named for George Curry, who was Territorial Governor at the time.
February 26, 1909 (Friday)
- Cinemagoers saw the first color films, at the Palace Theatre in London, starting at , in what was billed as "The First Presentation of KinemacolorKinemacolorKinemacolor was the first successful color motion picture process, used commercially from 1908 to 1914. It was invented by George Albert Smith of Brighton, England in 1906. He was influenced by the work of William Norman Lascelles Davidson. It was launched by Charles Urban's Urban Trading Co. of...
", with 21 short subjects. - The London Declaration concerning the Laws of Naval War was signed.
- The International Opium CommissionInternational Opium CommissionThe International Opium Commission was a meeting convened in 1909 in Shanghai that represented one of the first steps toward international drug prohibition. Dr. Hamilton Wright and Episcopal Bishop Charles Henry Brent headed the U.S. delegation...
completed its hearings in Shanghai and resolved that "the use of opium in any form otherwise than for medical purposes is hel by almoste every participating country to be a matter for prohibition or for careful regulation". - The Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman EmpireOttoman EmpireThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
signed an agreement, whereby Turkey renounced all claims to Bosnia and HerzegovinaBosnia and HerzegovinaBosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
in return for payment of Turkish pounds, and Italy renounced all claims to the Sanjak of Novi PazarSanjak of Novi PazarThe Sanjak of Novi Pazar was an Ottoman sanjak that existed until the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913 in the territory of present day Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo.-History:It was part of the Bosnia Vilayet and later Kosovo Vilayet and included...
(in present day SerbiaSerbiaSerbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
and MontenegroMontenegroMontenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
). Both Empires lost the territory following the end of World War I. - Harding CountyHarding County, South DakotaAs of the census of 2000, there were 1,353 people, 525 households, and 352 families residing in the county. The population density was 0.5 people per square mile . There were 804 housing units at an average density of 0.3 per square mile...
and Perkins County, South DakotaPerkins County, South DakotaAs of the census of 2000, there were 3,363 people, 1,429 households, and 937 families residing in the county. The population density was 1.2 people per square mile . There were 1,854 housing units at an average density of 0.6 per square mile...
, were established. - Born: King Talal of JordanTalal of JordanTalal I bin Abdullah 26 February 1909 – 7 July 1972) was the second King of Jordan from 20 July 1951 until forced to abdicate in favour of his son Hussein due to health reasons on 11 August 1952....
, who ruled from 1951 to 1952 until forced to abdicate because of mental illness, in MeccaMeccaMecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
(d. 1972)
February 27, 1909 (Saturday)
- After more than 40 years of silence, William H. Flood gave an interview to the New York Times about the night that Lincoln was assassinated. Flood had been the first person to render aid to Lincoln after the shooting. "I always thought he was a bit 'cracked'", Flood said of John Wilkes Booth, "and I was sure of it as I saw him that night, looking pale and crazy like."
February 28, 1909 (Sunday)
- 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,...
and 22 other men set off from Ellesmere IslandEllesmere IslandEllesmere Island is part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. Lying within the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, it is considered part of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, with Cape Columbia being the most northerly point of land in Canada...
on the expedition to 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...
. The final group would be Peary, Henson, and four Inuit men who would claim the Pole on April 6, though the dispute remains whether Peary or 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....
were first to reach the pole. - International Women's DayInternational Women's DayInternational Women's Day , originally called International Working Women’s Day, is marked on March 8 every year. In different regions the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political and...
was celebrated for the first time, a creation of the Socialist Party of AmericaSocialist Party of AmericaThe Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization...
. The day, now observed annually on March 8, has been sponsored by the United NationsUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
since 1975. - President 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...
broke a 120 year old tradition "when he not only trod on foreign territory, but accepted the hospitality of a foreign power". Roosevelt walked into the Austrian Embassy on Connecticut Avenue to have lunch with Baron Hengelmuller, the ambassador.