WHAT HAPPENED IN 1909?

Dover-Sherborn Press
Sept 16 2009

What happened in 1909?

Here are some of the key events of 1909, as recorded on suite101.com:

Popular novels of the time included "The Wonderful World of Oz,"
by Frank Baum, and Jack London’s "Call of the Wild."

Leisure time was spent in family get-togethers, baseball, picnics
and long Sunday drives (mostly by horse and buggy). In the evenings,
families gathered for sing-alongs around the piano.

These 1909 events made headlines:

· German researcher Paul Ehrlich found a cure for syphilis.

· Shackleton’s expedition reported finding the magnetic South Pole.

· The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
was founded.

· Construction on the Titanic was begun.

· The Roman Catholic Church named Joan of Arc a saint.

· William Howard Taft took over from Teddy Roosevelt as President
of the United States.

· The first credit union in the U.S. was established.

· The first event was held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

· Construction was begun on the modern city of Tel Aviv, Israel.

· In the Ottoman Empire, thousands of Armenian Christians were
slaughtered.

· In 1909, life expectancy was under age 50, and the average worker
made $12.98 per week for 59 hours.

· The Model "T" Ford (or "Tin Lizzy") was starting to roll off the
assembly lines, and people could buy homes from the Sears Catalog of
Modern Homes.

· In addition to Mary McCarthy, other notable births from 1909
included Benny Goodman, Burl Ives, Katharine Hepburn, Douglas Fairbanks
Jr., Barry Goldwater, Gene Krupa, Simone Weil, Carmen Miranda, Queen
Juliana (of the Netherlands) and Al Capp.