British supercentenarian Ethel Caterham is the last surviving person who was born in 1909.
Events
January–February
March–April
- March 10 – The Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909 is signed in Bangkok.
- March 18 – Einar Dessau uses a shortwave radio transmitter in Denmark.
- March 21 – The remains of the Báb are placed in the BaháüàShrine of the Báb on Mount Carmel in Haifa, at this time within the Ottoman Empire.
- March 31 – Serbia accepts Austrian control over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- March 31 – Construction begins on the RMS Titanic, at the Harland and Wolff Shipyard in Belfast.
- April 4 – The association football team Sport Club Internacional is founded in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
- April 6 – Robert Peary, Matthew Henson and four Inuit explorers â Ootah, Ooqueah, Seegloo and Egigingwah â come within a few miles of the North Pole.
- April 9 – The PayneâÂÂAldrich Tariff Act is passed in the United States Congress.
- April 11 – The city of Tel Aviv (known in its first year as Ahuzat Bayit) is founded by the Jewish community, on the outskirts of Jaffa (at this time in the Ottoman Empire).
- April 13 (March 31 by Eastern reckoning) – A countercoup begins in the Ottoman Empire.
- April 14 – Adana massacre: Ottoman Turks kill 15,000âÂÂ30,000 Armenian Christians, in the Adana Vilayet.
- April 18 – Joan of Arc is beatified in Rome.
- April 19 – The Anglo-Persian Oil Company (modern-day BP) is incorporated.
- April 23 – In Portugal, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake strikes near Lisbon, killing at least 60 people.
- April 27 – Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Abdul Hamid II is overthrown and succeeded by his brother, Mehmed V.
May–June
July–August
September–October
- September 4 – Japan and China sign the Gando Convention, which gives Japan a way to receive railroad concessions in Manchuria.
- October – Suzuki Weaving Machine Manufacturing, predecessor of the Suzuki motorbike and compact car brand in Japan, is founded in Shizuoka Prefecture.
- October 8 – An earthquake in the Zagreb area leads Andrija MohoroviÃÂiÃÂ to identify the MohoroviÃÂiÃÂ discontinuity.
- October 12 – The association football team Coritiba is founded in Curitiba, Brazil.
- October 13 – An agreement by Germany, Italy and Switzerland gives the Germans and Italians access to the Gotthard Rail Tunnel.
- October 26 – ItÃ
 Hirobumi, four time Prime Minister of Japan (the 1st, 5th, 7th and 10th) and Resident-General of Korea, is assassinated by An Jung-geun, an activist of the Korean independence movement, at the Harbin railway station in Manchuria.
November–December
Undated
Births
January to April
January
- January 1
- Dana Andrews, American actor (d. 1992)
- Stepan Bandera, Ukrainian nationalist leader (d. 1959)
- January 2 – Barry Goldwater, American politician (d. 1998)
- January 3 – Victor Borge, Danish-born American entertainer (d. 2000)
- January 5 – Stephen Cole Kleene, American mathematician (d. 1994)
- January 9
- Anthony Mamo, 1st President of Malta (d. 2008)
- Patrick Peyton, Irish-born American priest, saint (d. 1992)
- January 13 – Marinus van der Lubbe, Dutch communist convicted of setting fire to the German Reichstag building in 1933 (executed 1934)
- January 15
- Jean Bugatti, German-born automobile designer (d. 1939)
- Gene Krupa, American jazz drummer (d. 1973)
- January 19 – Hans Hotter, German bass-baritone (d. 2003)
- January 22
- Porfirio Rubirosa, Dominican diplomat, race-car driver and polo player (d. 1965)
- Ann Sothern, American actress (d. 2001)
- U Thant, Burmese United Nations Secretary General (d. 1974)
- January 24 – Martin Lings, British Islamic scholar (d. 2005)
- January 25 – Robert Rex, 1st Premier of Niue (d. 1992)
- January 28 – Colin Munro MacLeod, Canadian-American geneticist (d. 1972)
- January 30 – Saul Alinsky, American community organizer (d. 1972)
February
- February 1 – George Beverly Shea, American gospel singer, songwriter (d. 2013)
- February 3 – Simone Weil, French philosopher (d. 1943)
- February 7 – Amedeo Guillet, Italian army officer (d. 2010)
- February 9
- Harald Genzmer, German composer (d. 2007)
- Carmen Miranda, Portuguese-born Brazilian actress, singer (d. 1955)
- Dean Rusk, American politician (d. 1994)
- February 11
- Max Baer, American boxer, actor (d. 1959)
- Joseph L. Mankiewicz, American filmmaker (d. 1993)
- February 12 – Zoran MuÃ
¡iÃÂ, Slovene painter (d. 2005)
- February 14 – Yeom Dong-jin, Korean militant (d. )
- February 15
- Miep Gies, Austrian-born Dutch humanitarian (d. 2010)
- Guillermo Gorostiza Paredes, Spanish footballer (d. 1966)
- February 16
- Hugh Beaumont, American actor (d. 1982)
- Jeffrey Lynn, American actor, film producer (d. 1995)
- February 18
- Matti Järvinen, Finnish javelin thrower (d. 1985)
- Wallace Stegner, American writer (d. 1993)
- February 19 – Enrico Donati, Italian-born American painter (d. 2008)
- February 20 – Heinz Erhardt, German comedian, musician, entertainer, actor and poet (d. 1979)
- February 21 – Hans Erni, Swiss painter, sculptor (d. 2015)
- February 24 – August Derleth, American writer (d. 1971)
- February 25 – Geoffrey Dummer, English electrical engineer (d. 2002)
- February 26 – King Talal of Jordan (d. 1972)
- February 28 – Stephen Spender, English writer (d. 1995)
March
- March 7 – Roger Revelle, American scientist, scholar (d. 1991)
- March 11 – Jules Engel, Hungarian-born American filmmaker, painter, sculptor, graphic artist, set designer, animator, film director and teacher (d. 2003)
- March 12 – Virginia McLaurin, American social worker and supercentenarian (d. 2022)
- March 19 – Louis Hayward, South African-born actor (d. 1985)
- March 22 – Gabrielle Roy, Canadian author (d. 1983)
- March 24 – Clyde Barrow, American outlaw, member of Barrow Gang (d. 1934)
- March 26
- Héctor José Cámpora, Argentine Peronist politician, 38th President of Argentina (d. 1980)
- Chips Rafferty, Australian actor (d. 1971)
- March 27 – Golo Mann, German historian (d. 1994)
- March 28 – Nelson Algren, American author (d. 1981)
April
- April 6 – William M. Branham, American Christian minister (d. 1965)
- April 8
- John Fante, Italian-American writer (d. 1983)
- John P. Metras, American coach of Canadian football (d. 1982)
- April 13
- Stanislaw Ulam, Polish-born American mathematician (d. 1984)
- Eudora Welty, American author (d. 2001)
- April 22
- Rita Levi-Montalcini, Italian neurologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2012)
- Spyros Markezinis, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2000)
- Indro Montanelli, Italian journalist (d. 2001)
- April 24 – Bernhard Grzimek, German zoo director, zoologist (d. 1987)
- April 26 – Marianne Hoppe, German actress (d. 2002)
- April 27 – Guillermo León Valencia, 21st President of Colombia (d. 1971)
- April 30 – Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (d. 2004)
May to August
May
- May 1 – Yiannis Ritsos, Greek poet and activist (d. 1990)
- May 4 – Howard Da Silva, American actor (d. 1986)
- May 7 – Edwin H. Land, American camera inventor (d. 1991)
- May 10 – Maybelle Carter, American country musician (d. 1978)
- May 15 – James Mason, British actor (d. 1984)
- May 16 – Margaret Sullavan, American actress (d. 1960)
- May 17 – Karl Schäfer, Austrian figure skater (d. 1976)
- May 18 – Fred Perry, English tennis player (d. 1995)
- May 19 – Nicholas Winton, British humanitarian (d. 2015)
- May 26
- Matt Busby, Scottish-born football manager (d. 1994)
- Adolfo López Mateos, 48th President of Mexico (d. 1969)
- May 27
- Guillermo León Valencia, President of Colombia (d. 1971)
- Juan Vicente Pérez, Venezuelan farmer and supercentenarian, last surviving man born in the 1900s decade (d. 2024)
- May 30 – Benny Goodman, American swing clarinetist and bandleader (d. 1986)
June
- June 6 – Isaiah Berlin, Russian-born British historian of ideas (d. 1997)
- June 7 – Jessica Tandy, English actress (d. 1994)
- June 14 – Burl Ives, American folk singer (d. 1995)
- June 19 – Osamu Dazai, Japanese novelist (d. 1948)
- June 20 – Errol Flynn, Australian-born American actor (d. 1959)
- June 22
- Infanta Beatriz of Spain (d. 2002)
- Katherine Dunham, American dancer, choreographer, and songwriter (d. 2006)
- June 23 – Li Xiannian, President of the People's Republic of China (d. 1992)
- June 24 – William Penney, Baron Penney, English mathematician, physicist (d. 1991)
- June 26
- Colonel Tom Parker, Dutch-born celebrity manager (d. 1997)
- Wolfgang Reitherman, German-born American animator, director and producer (d. 1985)
- June 28 – Eric Ambler, British author (d. 1998)
- June 30 – Juan Bosch, 43rd President of the Dominican Republic (d. 2001)
July
- July 5 – Douglas Dodds-Parker, British politician and administrator (d. 2006)
- July 6 – Eric Reece, 32nd Premier of Tasmania (d. 1999)
- July 7
- Billy Herman, American baseball player and manager (d. 1992)
- Gottfried von Cramm, German tennis player (d. 1976)
- July 9 – Pavle ÃÂuriÃ
¡iÃÂ, Montenegrin Serb army commander (d. 1945)
- July 11 – Irene Hervey, American actress (d. 1998)
- July 12 – Motoichi Kumagai, Japanese photographer, illustrator (d. 2010)
- July 13 – Souphanouvong, 1st President of Laos (d. 1995)
- July 14 – Alejandro Morera, Costa Rican footballer (d. 1995)
- July 15 – Hendrik Casimir, Dutch physicist (d. 2000)
- July 16 – Aruna Asaf Ali, Indian independence activist (d. 1996)
- July 18
- Andrei Gromyko, Soviet Minister for Foreign Affairs (d. 1989)
- Mohammed Daoud Khan, 5th Prime Minister of Afghanistan and 1st President of Afghanistan (d. 1978)
- July 19 – Balamani Amma, Indian poet (d. 2004)
- July 22 – Licia Albanese, Italian-born American operatic soprano (d. 2014)
- July 24
- Theodore J. Conway, American four-star general, commander STRICOM (d. 1990)
- John William Finn, American WWII hero (d. 2010)
- July 26 – Vivian Vance, American actress (d. 1979)
- July 28 – Malcolm Lowry, English novelist (Under the Volcano) (d. 1957)
- July 30 – C. Northcote Parkinson, British historian, author (d. 1993)
- July 31 РOliv̩r Halassy, Hungarian water polo player and freestyle swimmer (d. 1946)
August
- August 8
- Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham, English cricketer, politician and 9th Governor-General of New Zealand (d. 1977)
- Jack Renshaw, Australian politician, Premier of New South Wales (d. 1987)
- August 9 – Adam von Trott zu Solz, German lawyer, diplomat, anti-Nazi (k. 1944)
- August 10 – Leo Fender, American guitar inventor, manufacturer (d. 1991)
- August 13 â Brian Lawrance, Australian bandleader (d. 1983)
- August 18 – Gordon Gunter, American marine biologist, fisheries scientist (d. 1998)
- August 21 – Ethel Caterham, English supercentenarian, oldest living person, last surviving person born in 1909, last surviving subject of King Edward VII
- August 25 – Michael Rennie, English actor (d. 1971)
- August 26 – Jim Davis, American actor (d. 1981)
September to December
September
- September 1 – E. Herbert Norman, Canadian diplomat (d. 1957)
- September 7 – Elia Kazan, Turkish-born American film director (d. 2003)
- September 14 – Peter Scott, British ornithologist and painter (d. 1989)
- September 15
- Jean Batten, New Zealand aviator (d. 1982)
- Jan van Aartsen, Dutch politician (d. 1992)
- September 19 – Ferry Porsche, Austrian auto designer, businessman (d. 1998)
- September 21 – Kwame Nkrumah, Ghanaian politician, 1st president of Ghana (d. 1972)
- September 28 – Al Capp, American cartoonist (d. 1979)
October
- October 1 – Everett Sloane, American actor (d. 1965)
- October 4 – Murray Chotiner, American political consultant (d. 1974)
- October 8 – Piotr Jaroszewicz, Polish politician, 49th Prime Minister of Poland (d. 1992)
- October 10 – Robert F. Boyle, American production designer, art director (d. 2010)
- October 13 – Herblock, American editorial cartoonist (d. 2001)
- October 14 – Bernd Rosemeyer, German race car driver (d. 1938)
- October 18 – Norberto Bobbio, Italian philosopher of law and political sciences (d. 2004)
- October 24 – Bill Carr, American track and field athlete (d. 1966)
- October 25 – Whit Bissell, American actor (d. 1996)
- October 28 – Francis Bacon, Irish-born British painter (d. 1992)
November
December
- December 2 РMarion D̦nhoff, German journalist (d. 2002)
- December 5 – Bobbie Heine Miller, South African tennis player (d. 2016)
- December 7 – Arch Oboler, American actor, playwright, screenwriter, novelist, producer and director (d. 1987)
- December 9 – Douglas Fairbanks Jr., American actor and naval officer (d. 2000)
- December 14 – Edward Tatum, American geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1975)
- December 20 – Vagn Holmboe, Danish composer (d. 1996)
- December 21 – SeichÃ
 Matsumoto, Japanese writer, journalist (d. 1992)
- December 22 – Patricia Hayes, British character actress, comedian (d. 1998)
- December 27 – Henryk JabÃ
ÂoÃ
Âski, President of Poland (d. 2003)
Deaths
January
- January 1 – Mollie Evelyn Moore Davis, American poet, writer and editor (b. 1844)
- January 2 – Marta Abreu, Cuban philanthropist (b. 1845)
- January 6 – George Dixon, Canadian-born American boxer (b. 1870)
- January 8 – Harry Seeley, British palaeontologist (b. 1839)
- January 10
- Julia Colman, American temperance educator, activist, editor and writer (b. 1828)
- Charles Vernon Culver, American politician (b. 1830)
- January 11 – Joseph Wharton, American industrialist and educationist. (b. 1826)
- January 12 – Hermann Minkowski, German mathematician (b. 1864)
- January 14
- Arthur William ÃÂ Beckett, British journalist (b. 1844)
- Zinovy Rozhestvensky, Russian admiral (b. 1848)
- January 15 – Arnold Janssen, German Roman Catholic priest and saint (b. 1837)
- January 22 – Hattie Tyng Griswold, American author (b. 1842)
- January 24 – Petre S. Aurelian, 19th Prime Minister of Romania (b. 1833)
- January 29 – Felice Beato, Italian British photographer (b. 1832)
- January 30 – Martha Finley, American teacher, author (b. 1828)
February
March
April
May
- May 2 – Manuel Amador Guerrero, 1st President of Panama (b. 1833)
- May 4 – Helen Marr Hurd, American teacher and poet (b. 1839)
- May 7 – Alexis Toth, Russian Orthodox church leader and saint (b. 1853)
- May 9 – Augusta Jane Evans, American author of Southern literature (b. 1835)
- May 10 – Futabatei Shimei, Japanese author, translator (b. 1864)
- May 12
- Sir Hugh Gough, British general, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1833)
- Bertha Townsend, American tennis champion (b. 1869)
- May 17 – Helge Alexander Haugan, American banking executive (b. 1847)
- May 18
- Isaac Albéniz, Spanish composer (b. 1860)
- George Meredith, English novelist, poet (b. 1828)
- May 20 – Ernest Hogan, African-American dancer, musician and comedian (b. 1865)
June
July
- July 8 – Gaston, Marquis de Galliffet, French general (b. 1830)
- July 9 – Kasimir Felix Graf von Badeni, 13th Minister-President of Cisleithania (b. 1846)
- July 11 – Simon Newcomb, Canadian-American astronomer, mathematician (b. 1835)
- July 18 – Carlos, Duke of Madrid (b. 1848)
- July 19 – Arai Ikunosuke, Japanese samurai (b. 1836)
- July 20 – Johanna Mestorf, German archaeologist (b. 1828)
- July 22 – Detlev von Liliencron, German poet (b. 1844)
- July 23 – Sir Frederick Holder, 19th Premier of South Australia (b. 1850)
August
September
- September 2 – Louis Delacenserie, Belgian architect (b. 1838)
- September 4 – Clyde Fitch, American dramatist (b. 1865)
- September 5 – Louis Bouveault, French chemist (b. 1864)
- September 7 РEug̬ne Lefebvre, pioneer French aviator (b. 1878)
- September 18 – Grigore Tocilescu, Romanian historian, archaeologist, epigrapher and folklorist (b. 1850)
- September 22 – Ferdinand Ferber, French Army officer, pioneer aviator (b. 1862)
- September 27 – Gyula Donáth, Hungarian sculptor (b. 1850)
- September 29 – Vladimir VidriÃÂ, Croatian poet (b. 1875)
October
- October 7 – William Thomas Pipes, Canadian politician, 6th Premier of Nova Scotia (b. 1850)
- October 9 – Heinrich Gudehus, German tenor (b. 1842)
- October 13 – Francisco Ferrer, Spanish anarchist (executed) (b. 1859)
- October 17 – Sagen Ishizuka, Japanese physician and dietitian (b. 1850)
- October 19 – Cesare Lombroso, Italian criminologist, physician (b. 1835)
- October 24 – Rufus W. Peckham, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (b. 1838)
- October 26 – ItÃ
 Hirobumi, 1st Prime Minister of Japan (assassinated) (b. 1841)
- October – George Smart (skater), English Fen skater (industrial accident)
November
December
- December 10 – Red Cloud, Sioux warrior (b. 1822)
- December 14 – AgustÃÂ Querol Subirats, Spanish sculptor (b. 1860)
- December 15 – Francisco Tárrega, Spanish guitarist, composer (b. 1852)
- December 17 – King Leopold II of Belgium (b. 1835)
- December 16
- Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, Queen consort of Portugal (b. 1831)
- Lina Morgenstern, German writer, educator, feminist and pacifist (b. 1830)
- December 18 – Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich, Russian royal (b. 1832)
- December 26 – Frederic Remington, American cowboy artist, sculptor (b. 1864)
Date unknown
Nobel Prizes
References
Primary sources and year books
Further reading
- Gilbert, Martin. A History of the Twentieth Century: Volume 1 1900-1933 (1997); global coverage of politics, diplomacy and warfare; pp 185 â 205.