October 1909
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The following events occurred in October 1909:


October 1, 1909 (Friday)

* Bhupinder Singh, the Maharaja of the Sikh princely state of Patiala, assumed full power upon attaining his 18th birthday. A Council of Regency had ruled in his name when he had assumed the throne at the age of 9. Bhupinder Singh ruled until his death in 1938.


October 2, 1909 (Saturday)

*In Berlin, Orville Wright became the first person to fly an airplane to an altitude of , and eventually reached . The same day, Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany became the first member of royalty to fly in an airplane, as Orville's passenger on a ten-minute flight. * Twickenham Stadium, Britain's second largest stadium and the London home of the
Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...
, hosted its first rugby match.
Harlequin F.C. Harlequins (officially Harlequin Football Club) is a professional rugby union club that plays in Premiership Rugby, the top level of English rugby union. Their home ground is the Twickenham Stoop, located in Twickenham, south-west London. Foun ...
defeated
Richmond F.C. Richmond Football Club is a rugby union club from Richmond, London. It is a founding member of the Rugby Football Union, and is one of the oldest football clubs (of any code). It fields teams in both men's and women's rugby; the men's first t ...
14–10. *Born:
Alex Raymond Alexander Gillespie Raymond Jr. (October 2, 1909 – September 6, 1956) was an American cartoonist who was best known for creating the '' Flash Gordon'' comic strip for King Features Syndicate in 1934. The strip was subsequently adapted into m ...
, creator of
Flash Gordon Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established ''Buck Rogers'' adve ...
; in New Rochelle,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
(d. 1956 following automobile accident)


October 3, 1909 (Sunday)

*James Reid Moore of Ipswich, East Anglia, discovered what he believed to be flint tools dating from the Pliocene era, and evidence of the first human habitation of Britain. The flint objects, dubbed
eolith An eolith (from Greek "''eos''", dawn, and "''lithos''", stone) is a knapped flint nodule. Eoliths were once thought to have been artifacts, the earliest stone tools, but are now believed to be geofacts (stone fragments produced by fully natur ...
s, were later determined to have been natural phenomena created by erosion of flint. *The cornerstone for the Saskatchewan Legislative Building was laid by the Earl Grey, Governor General of Canada, who placed a time capsule inside.


October 4, 1909 (Monday)

*As Dr. Frederick Cook's claim of being first to reach the North Pole, was being questioned, his claim to have made the first ascent of Mount McKinley was called into doubt. Cook had stated in his book, ''To the Top of the Continent'', that he had reached the summit of the Alaskan mountain on September 16, 1906. His mountain guide, Edward N. Barrill, swore out an affidavit that he and Cook had never been closer than to Mount McKinley, and that Cook had ordered him to alter his diary entries. The October 4 affidavit was published ten days later in a New York newspaper, the '' Globe and Commercial Advertiser''. *Born:
Murray Chotiner Murray M Chotiner (October 4, 1909 – January 30, 1974) was an American political strategist, attorney, government official, and close associate and friend of President Richard Nixon during much of the 37th President's political career. He ...
, American political advisor to Richard Nixon; in Pittsburgh (d. 1974)


October 5, 1909 (Tuesday)

* Henry Ford and
William C. Durant William Crapo Durant (December 8, 1861 – March 18, 1947) was a leading pioneer of the United States automobile industry and co-founder of General Motors and Chevrolet. He created a system in which a company held multiple marques – each s ...
reached an agreement whereby Ford Motor Company would be acquired by
General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
for eight million dollars. Durant was unable to obtain the financing to make the agreed upon down payment of $2,000,000. *The first classes were conducted at
East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university, public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a Normal school, teacher training school, East ...
, as 104 women and 19 men began their studies at the East Carolina Teachers Training School in Greenville, North Carolina. *Born: Tony Malinosky, oldest living MLB player after the death of
Bill Werber William Murray Werber (June 20, 1908 – January 22, 2009) was a third baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Yankees (1930, 1933), Boston Red Sox (1933–1936), Philadelphia Athletics (1937–1938), Cincinnati Reds (1939– ...
in 2009; in Collinsville, Illinois (d. 2011) (
Connie Marrero Conrado Eugenio Marrero Ramos (April 25, 1911 – April 23, 2014), nicknamed "Connie", was a Cuban professional baseball pitcher. The right-handed Marrero pitched in Major League Baseball from to for the Washington Senators. Marrero made his m ...
, born April 25, 1911, would be considered the oldest until his death on April 23, 2014)


October 6, 1909 (Wednesday)

*An explosion at the Wellington Colliery at
Nanaimo Nanaimo ( ) is a city on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, it had a population of 99,863, and it is known as "The Harbour City." The city was previously known as the "H ...
, British Columbia, killed 32 coal miners. Twenty-two years earlier, 150 miners had died at the company's mines. * Martha Rendell was executed at Fremantle Prison in Perth, Western Australia for the murder of three children. * Born: Robert Potter, English architect noted for his work on church buildings.


October 7, 1909 (Thursday)

*
William H. Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
became the last American president to ride in a stagecoach (as opposed to an open horse-drawn carriage). President Taft and naturalist John Muir rode for ten hours on a trip through the Yosemite National Park from El Portal to
Wawona, California Wawona (formerly Big Tree Station, Clark's Station, Clarks Station, Wah-wo-nah, and Clark's Ranch) is a census-designated place in Mariposa County, California, United States. The population was 111 at the 2020 census. It is located entirely with ...
. *Born: Herblock, (Herbert Lawrence Block) American editorial cartoonist; in Chicago; (d. 2001)


October 8, 1909 (Friday)

*
Seismologist Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or through other ...
Andrija Mohorovičić of Zagreb obtained laboratory data from an earthquake that struck to the southeast of the Croatian city. By analyzing the behavior of the seismic waves from different locations, Mohorovičić established the existence of a layer between the
Earth's crust Earth's crust is Earth's thin outer shell of rock, referring to less than 1% of Earth's radius and volume. It is the top component of the lithosphere, a division of Earth's layers that includes the crust and the upper part of the mantle. The ...
and its Mantle (geology). The layer, more than 20 miles (30 km) underground, is now referred to as
Mohorovičić discontinuity The Mohorovičić discontinuity ( , ), usually referred to as the Moho discontinuity or the Moho, is the boundary between the Earth's crust and the mantle. It is defined by the distinct change in velocity of seismic waves as they pass through ch ...
or the " Moho". *Lt.
Frank Lahm Frank Purdy Lahm (November 17, 1877 – July 7, 1963) was an American aviation pioneer, the "nation's first military aviator", and a general officer in the United States Army Air Corps and Army Air Forces. Lahm developed an interest in flying f ...
became the first person to receive flight instruction from the U.S. Army, as Wilbur Wright showed him how to pilot the Wright Flyer at College Park, Maryland. 2nd Lt.
Frederic E. Humphreys Frederick Erastus Humphreys (September 16, 1883 – January 20, 1941) was one of the original three military pilots trained by the Wright brothers and the first to fly solo. Biography Frederick was born on September 16, 1883 in Summit, New Jerse ...
began instruction later that day.


October 9, 1909 (Saturday)

* William James Sidis of
Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton, A ...
, became the youngest student ever admitted into Harvard University. The 11-year-old son of two Russian physicians began studies in mathematics. *In college football, Kentucky defeated Illinois, 6–2. At a chapel service following the game, ROTC Commandant Philip Carbusier noted that the team "fought like wildcats", inspiring the team's nickname.


October 10, 1909 (Sunday)

*Backed by American businessmen, General Juan José Estrada began a revolution in Nicaragua to overthrow President José Santos Zelaya. Under pressure from the United States, Zelaya resigned in December, and Estrada became president in August with American support. An observer later noted, "The overthrow of President Zelaya in Nicaragua was the first real American coup."


October 11, 1909 (Monday)

*The ''Convention Internationale Relative à la Circulation des Automobiles'' was signed in Paris by 17 European nations, establishing common rules for rules of the road in the signatory nations. The treaty included the first four universal traffic signs (intersection, railroad crossing, curve and ditch), rules on passing and overtaking, and letter symbols for a car's nation of origin (A-Austria, B-Belgium, CH-Switzerland, D-Germany, E-Spain, F-France, GB-Great Britain, GR-Greece, H-Hungary, I-Italy, MC-Monaco, MN-Montenegro, NL-Netherlands, P-Portugal, R-Russia, RM-Romania, S-Sweden, SB-Serbia).


October 12, 1909 (Tuesday)

*The Amish bishops of
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Lancaster County (; Pennsylvania Dutch: Lengeschder Kaundi), sometimes nicknamed the Garden Spot of America or Pennsylvania Dutch Country, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the south central part of Pennsylvania. ...
, denied a request by 35 families—one-fifth of the community—to ease a ban on use of electricity and telephones. The "Schism of 1910" followed in February and the group, dubbed the "Peachey Church" separated from the Old Order Amish church. *The association football team Coritiba was founded in Curitiba, Brazil.


October 13, 1909 (Wednesday)

*Professor Francisco Ferrer was executed by a firing squad in Barcelona after a military court convicted him of inciting the Catalan uprising against the Kingdom of Spain. Outrage over Ferrer's execution led to riots outside Spain's embassies in Paris and other European capitals. *The Ontario Provincial Police was created in Toronto. *Born: Art Tatum, American jazz pianist; in Toledo, Ohio; (d.1956)


October 14, 1909 (Thursday)

*The first Provincial Assemblies were opened in China, followed a year later by a National Assembly. *In Game 6 of the
1909 World Series The 1909 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1909 season. The sixth edition of the World Series, it featured the National League champion Pittsburgh Pirates against the American League champion Detroit Tiger ...
, the
Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...
tied the best-of-7 series by beating the
Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...
5–4. *The Federación Española de Clubes de Fútbol (FECF), the first national Spanish football federation, was founded in Spain on October 14, 1909. In 1913, the circuit was superseded by the
Real Federación Española de Fútbol The Royal Spanish Football Federation ( es, Real Federación Española de Fútbol; RFEF) is the governing body of football in Spain. It is based in La Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas, a municipality near Madrid. It was founded on 14 October 1909 ...
(RFEF). *Born: Bernd Rosemeyer, German race car driver; in Lingen (killed in auto accident, 1938).


October 15, 1909 (Friday)

*The Dover Harbour was opened as a suitable port for the British Navy after eleven years and $20,000,000 worth of improvements. The Prince of Wales dedicated the harbor, which could now accommodate the largest British dreadnoughts. *Born: Margie Hines, American voice actress, in Glendale, Queens, New York (d. 1985)


October 16, 1909 (Saturday)

*The world's first passenger airline, DELAG (DEutsche Luftschiffahrt AktienGesellschaft), was founded in Frankfurt, Germany. *The
Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...
beat the
Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...
8–0 to win Game 7 of the
1909 World Series The 1909 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1909 season. The sixth edition of the World Series, it featured the National League champion Pittsburgh Pirates against the American League champion Detroit Tiger ...
and baseball's world championship. *The Board of Directors of
General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
approved a plan to buy the Ford Motor Company for eight million dollars. The deal fell through when GM could not obtain financing. *
William H. Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
, the President of the United States, met
Porfirio Díaz José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori ( or ; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915), known as Porfirio Díaz, was a Mexican general and politician who served seven terms as President of Mexico, a total of 31 years, from 28 November 1876 to 6 Decem ...
, the President of Mexico, at the Chamber of Commerce in El Paso, Texas. That evening, Taft became the first American President to visit a foreign nation when he crossed over to
Ciudad Juárez Ciudad Juárez ( ; ''Juarez City''. ) is the most populous city in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It is commonly referred to as Juárez and was known as El Paso del Norte (''The Pass of the North'') until 1888. Juárez is the seat of the Ju ...
for a banquet hosted by Diaz. "An interesting incident of the day was the declaration of neutrality over the El Chamizal territory", wrote ''The New York Times''. Both nations agreed that the area, which had been south of the
Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...
until a rerouting of that river, should be considered neutral territory. *In Seattle, the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition world's fair closed after 4 months. * Stanley Ketchel fought heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson in a match at Colma, California. In the 12th round, Ketchel knocked the champ down with his first punch. Enraged, Johnson struck back with a right uppercut that broke Ketchel's front teeth and knocked out the challenger.


October 17, 1909 (Sunday)

*Lt. George Sweet became the first U.S. Navy officer to fly in an aircraft, as a passenger of Orville Wright. *Died: Sagen Ishizuka, Japanese physician and nutritionist, proponent of macrobiotic diet.


October 18, 1909 (Monday)

*The Australian State of New South Wales formally surrendered of its land to the Commonwealth to serve as the Australian Capital Territory, with
Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
to serve as the federal capital. The agreement included a right of way across the state to Jervis Bay, which was ceded to the Commonwealth in 1913. *A woman watching an airshow at Juvisy, France, became the first person on the ground to be killed by a falling airplane. A Blériot machine, flown by
Alfred Leblanc Alfred Leblanc (13 April 1869 – 22 November 1921) was a pioneer French aviator. Biography He was born on 13 April 1869 in Paris. In 1888, he became the technical director of the Victor Bidault metal foundry. A keen sportsman, he was an ener ...
, plunged into a crowd, injuring more than a dozen people, and killing the woman. *Charles Lambert became the first person to fly an airplane over Paris and around the Eiffel Tower.


October 19, 1909 (Tuesday)

* Nannie Helen Burroughs founded the
National Training School for Women and Girls The Nannie Helen Burroughs School, formerly known as National Training School for Women and Girls, was a private coeducational elementary school at 601 50th Street NE in Washington, D.C. The school was founded in 1909 by Nannie Helen Burroughs as T ...
in Washington, D.C., one of the first institutions of higher learning for African-American women. * William Friese-Greene was granted U.S. patent No. 937,367 for a process he called "Biocolour", which alternated between blue, green and red frames of film to create an illusion of color and a stereoscopic 3-D image. *Simon Ter-Petrossian, better known as "Kamo" was returned to Tbilisi on extradition from Germany, to face execution for a 1907 bank robbery that raised funds for the Bolsheviks. Kamo survived to become part of the Soviet government until being murdered in 1922. *Born: Cozy Cole, American jazz drummer; in
East Orange, New Jersey East Orange is a City (New Jersey), city in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 69,612. The city was List of municipalities in ...
; (d. 1981) *Died:
Cesare Lombroso Cesare Lombroso (, also ; ; born Ezechia Marco Lombroso; 6 November 1835 – 19 October 1909) was an Italian criminologist, phrenologist, physician, and founder of the Italian School of Positivist Criminology. Lombroso rejected the establis ...
, 74, Italian criminologist


October 20, 1909 (Wednesday)

*The entire town of Shipton, Kansas, was sold at public auction. William Irwin had owned the site and Fred Warnow was the high bidder at $2,620. Located in Saline County, Kansas, Shipton had been a farming community until 1895, when the post office and the railroad station were closed, and the citizens moved closer to nearby Salina.


October 21, 1909 (Thursday)

*The
Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
Aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...
, the first in India was opened as part of the government museum in Madras (now Chennai). The aquarium was emptied of its contents in 1942, when the city was evacuated due to a threatened invasion by Japan.


October 22, 1909 (Friday)

*The British Indian government legally recognized the Anand Karaj, the Sikh marriage ceremony, with the passage of the Anand Marriage Act 1909. *The Baronne de Laroche became the first woman to pilot an airplane alone. The Baronne took off from an airfield at
Chalon-sur-Saône Chalon-sur-Saône (, literally ''Chalon on Saône'') is a city in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. It is the largest city in the department; h ...
and flew to an altitude of , flew for , then landed. *The town of
Gore, Oklahoma Gore is a town in western Sequoyah County, Oklahoma, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 977 at the 2010 census, an increase of 15 percent over the figure of 850 recorded ...
, was incorporated. *Died:
Thomas Coman Thomas Coman (August, 1836 – October 22, 1909) was President of the New York City Board of Aldermen from 1868 to 1871, and Acting Mayor of New York City, Mayor of New York for several weeks at the end of 1868 and beginning of 1869. Biography C ...
, New York City official who made millions from graft and eluded conviction; Acting Mayor, 1868.


October 23, 1909 (Saturday)

*An Arbitral Tribunal, of the International Court of Justice at The Hague, issued its ruling in the ''Grisbadarna'' case, delimiting the maritime frontier between Norway and Sweden, and setting out a legal principle still followed in international law: "a state of things which actually exists and has existed for a long time should be changed as little as possible".


October 24, 1909 (Sunday)

*At the Italian city of
Racconigi Racconigi ( pms, Racunis) is a town and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Italy. It is located in the province of Cuneo, south of Turin, and north of Cuneo by rail. History The town was founded in medieval times. It was a possession of the marquisses of ...
, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia was hosted by King Victor Emmanuel III. The foreign ministers the two nations, Tomasso Tittoni and Aleksandr Izvolsky, exchanged diplomatic notes on an informal agreement for Russia and Italy to support each other's interests in the Balkans and in the Ottoman Empire. *The sorority Alpha Epsilon Phi was founded by seven Jewish students, with its first chapter at Barnard College. *Born:
Bill Carr William "Bill" Arthur Carr (October 24, 1909 – January 14, 1966) was an American athlete and double Olympic champion in 1932. Called the "Arkansas flyer," Carr never lost a race during his college and Olympic career. Early life and educati ...
, American track star, Olympic gold medalist 1932; in Pine Bluff, Arkansas; (d. 1966) *Died:
Rufus Peckham Rufus W. Peckham (November 8, 1838 – October 24, 1909) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1895 to 1909, and is the most recent Democratic nominee approved by a Republican-majorit ...
, 70, U.S. Supreme Court Justice 1896–1909


October 25, 1909 (Monday)

*In the city of Empúries in Spain, a bust of
Asklepios Asclepius (; grc-gre, Ἀσκληπιός ''Asklēpiós'' ; la, Aesculapius) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Religion in ancient Greece, Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis (lover of ...
, the Greek god of medicine, was discovered. Empuries, also called Ampurias, was on the site of the Greek settlement of Emporion. * Fort Meade, Florida, was incorporated for the second time as a city, after having been disincorporated in 1903.


October 26, 1909 (Tuesday)

* Itō Hirobumi, who had served as Prime Minister of Japan and later as Japan's Governor-General in the protectorate of Korea, was assassinated while waiting to change trains at a station in
Harbin Harbin (; mnc, , v=Halbin; ) is a sub-provincial city and the provincial capital and the largest city of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, as well as the second largest city by urban population after Shenyang and largest ...
, China. Dressed in Western clothing, An Chung-gun walked past the Russian security officers assigned to guard Hirobumi, then fired three shots at the Japanese statesman. Struck in the liver, Hirobumi died fifteen minutes later. An, a Korean nationalist, was executed on March 25, 1910, and Japan annexed Korea later that year. *U.S. Army Lieutenant
Frederick E. Humphreys Frederick Erastus Humphreys (September 16, 1883 – January 20, 1941) was one of the original three military pilots trained by the Wright brothers and the first to fly solo. Biography Frederick was born on September 16, 1883 in Summit, New Jerse ...
became the first military pilot to fly an airplane solo, after three weeks of instruction by Wilbur Wright. *The Rockefeller Sanitary Commission for the Eradication of Hookworm Disease, more popularly known as the "Hookworm Commission" was created, with Dr.
Charles Wardell Stiles Charles Wardell Stiles (May 15, 1867 – January 24, 1941) was an American parasitologist born in Spring Valley, New York. He was notable for working on a campaign against hookworm infestation in the American South, where it had been found to cau ...
as its chairman. Over a five-year period, the Commission reduced the number of cases of the disease in the United States. In 1915, the
International Health Commission The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Car ...
extended the campaign throughout the world. *The sinking of the British steamer ''Hestia'' killed 35 of the 41 people aboard after the ship struck a reef off of the island of Grand Manan in the Canadian province of New Brunswick.


October 27, 1909 (Wednesday)

*Sir Oliver Lodge published an article in the ''
Journal of the British Astronomical Association The ''Journal of the British Astronomical Association'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of astronomy published by the British Astronomical Association since October 1890. It is currently edited by Philip Jennings and publishes original re ...
'' theorizing that if there had been intelligent life on Mars, it had been destroyed by a catastrophe two months earlier. Lodge based his theory on observations that suggested that the polar caps of Mars had fractured in August. *Sarah Van Deman flew as a passenger on an airplane at the Signal Corps grounds at College Park, Maryland, becoming the first woman to fly in a plane in America. She was the fifth woman to fly, the first four having flown in Europe. *Born: Henry Townsend, American blues musician; in
Shelby, Mississippi Shelby is a city in Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 2,229 at the 2010 census, down from 2,926 in 2000. The town of Shelby was established in 1853 by Tom Shelby, who had purchased a block of land there from the feder ...
; (d. 2006)


October 28, 1909 (Thursday)

* Menelik II, the
Emperor of Ethiopia The emperor of Ethiopia ( gez, ንጉሠ ነገሥት, nəgusä nägäst, "King of Kings"), also known as the Atse ( am, ዐፄ, "emperor"), was the hereditary monarchy, hereditary ruler of the Ethiopian Empire, from at least the 13th century ...
, suffered a massive stroke from which he never fully recovered. Over the next few months, Menelik's wife, the Empress Taytu Betul, set about replacing government officials until army officers stopped her in March. *The city of Eatonville, Washington, was incorporated. *Born: Francis Bacon, Irish painter; in Dublin; (d. 1992)


October 29, 1909 (Friday)

*The Dani people of the mountains of Papua New Guinea had their first encounter with European people, and vice versa, as an expedition led by
Hendrikus Albertus Lorentz Hendrikus Albertus Lorentz (18 September 1871 – 2 September 1944) was a Dutch explorer in New Guinea and diplomat in South Africa. He was born to Theodorus Apolonius Ninus Lorentz, a tobacco grower in East Java who had returned to the ...
reached people who referred to themselves as the Pesegem and the Horip tribes. *The first
Boy Scout A Scout (in some countries a Boy Scout, Girl Scout, or Pathfinder) is a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split ...
troop in the United States was organized, created in Barre, Vermont.


October 30, 1909 (Saturday)

*Eugene Byrne, a left tackle for the Army Cadets football team, was fatally injured in a game against the visiting Harvard Crimson. Two weeks earlier, Edwin Wilson, the quarterback for the
Navy Midshipmen The Navy Midshipmen are the athletic teams that represent the United States Naval Academy. The academy sponsors 33 varsity sports teams and 12 club sport teams.Villanova. Army cancelled the remainder of its schedule, including the annual
Army–Navy Game The Army–Navy Game is an American college football rivalry game between the Army Black Knights of the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York, and the Navy Midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy (USNA) at Annapo ...
. * Arkansas defeated
LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...
16–0 in a football game, and coach
Hugo Bezdek Hugo Francis Bezdek (April 1, 1884 – September 19, 1952) was a Czech American athlete who played American football and was a coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He was the head football coach at the University of Oregon (1906, 1913– ...
remarked that the players were like "a wild band of Razorback hogs". The school's teams, formerly known as the Cardinals, were thereafter known as the Razorbacks. *Count Louis von Vetsera, who had been a suspect in the 1889 deaths of Austria-Hungary's Crown Prince Rudolf and Baroness Mary Vetsera at Mayerling, died in Denver. *Born:
Homi J. Bhabha Homi Jehangir Bhabha, (30 October 1909 – 24 January 1966) was an Indian nuclear physicist, founding director, and professor of physics at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). Colloquially known as "Father of Indian nuclear pro ...
,
nuclear physicist Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...
and father of India's nuclear program; in Bombay (Mumbai) (d. 1966)


October 31, 1909 (Sunday)

*The Royal University of Ireland, founded in 1880, was dissolved by terms of the
Irish Universities Act 1908 The Royal University of Ireland was founded in accordance with the ''University Education (Ireland) Act 1879'' as an examining and degree-awarding university based on the model of the University of London. A Royal Charter was issued on 27 Apri ...
, and replaced by the
National University of Ireland The National University of Ireland (NUI) ( ga, Ollscoil na hÉireann) is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called ''university college, constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under t ...
and the
Queen's University of Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...
. *French architectural engineer Albert Gisclard, who designed a cable-stayed bridge for the Pyrenees mountain railway, was killed during a test of the railroad. The train, which was not equipped with an adequate brake system, derailed and plunged into a valley."Le Train Jaune"
hhfrance.com website.
*Born: Frank Bateson, New Zealand astronomer and specialist on variable stars; in Wellington (d. 2007)


References

{{Events by month links
1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Januar ...
*1909-10 *1909-10