- January 17
- Ferdinand IV, ruler of Toscane, dies at age 72. [1]
- January 23
- US and Great Britain demand end of abuses in Congo. [1]
- January 24
- General Baden-Powell starts Boy Scouts. [1]
- February 1
- King Carlos I of Portugal (1889-1908), is assassinated by mob at age 44. [1]
- February 11
- Heemskerk's government begins in Holland. [1]
- February 12
- New York to Paris auto race (via Alaska and Siberia) begins in New York City, New York, USA. [1]
- February 28
- Failed assassination attempt on Shah Mohammed Ali in Teheran, Iran. [1]
- February 29
- Dutch scientists produce solid helium. [1]
- March 5
- First ascent of Mount Erebus, Antarctica. [1]
- March 8
- Collingwood Elementary school (Cleveland, Ohio) burns, killing 173 kids and two teachers. [1]
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- March 17
- Quickest world heavyweight title fight (Tommy Burns knocks out Jem Roche in 88 seconds). [1]
- March 29
- Daily newspaper comic strip Mr. A. Mutt adds character Jeff, creating popular Mutt & Jeff. [55.42]
- April 2
- Mills Committee declares baseball was invented by Abner Doubleday. [1]
- April 5
- British premier Henry Campbell-Bannerman resigns. [1]
- April 8
- Lord Herbert Henry Asquith succeeds Henry Campbell-Bannerman as British Prime Minister. [1]
- April 12
- David Lloyd George becomes British chancellor of the Exchequer. [618.77]
- Fire makes 17,000 homeless in Chelsea, Massachusetts, USA. [1]
- April 23
- Denmark, Germany, England, France, Netherlands and Sweden sign North Sea accord. [1]
- May 1
- World's most intense rain shower (2.47 inches in 3 minutes) at Portobelo, Panamá. [1]
- May 9
- Dirk Fock becomes Governor of Suriname. [1]
- May 10
- First official Mother's Day service is held, at the Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia, organized by Anna Jarvis. [1] [404.82]
- May 12
- Wireless Radio Broadcasting is patented by Nathan B Stubblefield. [1]
- May 14
- First passenger flight, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, by Wilbur Wright as pilot, with Charles Furnas as passenger. [1193.1092]
- May 21
- First horror movie (Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde) premieres in Chicago, Illinois, USA. [1]
- May 23
- Dirigible explodes over San Francisco Bay, California; 16 passengers fall, none die. [1]
- May 25
- The Teatro Colón opera house opens in Buenos Aires, Argentina. [223.48]
- May 26
- British geologist George Bernard Reynolds finally strikes major oil deposit in Persia, after searching for seven years. First big oil find in the Middle East. [1491.9]
- May 31
- Miss Pottelsberghe de la Pottery is first airplane passenger (Belgium). [1]
- June 10
- First flying club, Aeronautical Society of New York, opens. [1]
- June
- German Kaiser Wilhelm tells his council at Potsdam: "Even now I rule supreme in the United States, where three million voters do my bidding at the Presidential elections." [919.41]
- June 30
- A bright fireball is seen shooting over Vanavara on the Stony Tunguska River in central Siberia, Russia, exploding 5-10km above the forest, knocking trees flat over 2150km2 area, burning an area 1000km2, sucking ash 20km into the atmosphere, incinerating many herds of reindeer and killing a few people. The explosion is heard 1000km away. The object, likely a comet or asteroid fragment, is estimated to have been 1-5 tons, 156m diameter. [1] [521] [523.183] [526.3]
- July 30
- Around the World Automobile Race ends in Paris, France. [1]
- August 17
- The film Fantasmagorie is shown in Paris, France, the first animated film to tell a story. The film is 2 minutes long, made by Emile Cohl for Léon Gaumont. [55.64]
- August 20
- Congo Free State becomes the Belgian Congo. [1]
- September 9
- Orville Wright makes first one-hour airplane flight, in Fort Myer, Virginia. [1]
- September 16
- General Motors is founded by William C Durant. [1] [5]
- September 17
- Thomas Selfridge becomes first fatality of powered flight. [1]
- October 1
- Henry Ford introduces the Model T car in the US (costs $825). [1] [5]
- October 5
- Emperor Ferdinand I declares Bulgaria an independent kingdom, with himself as czar. [1] [442.92]
- October 6
- Austria annexes Bosnia and Herzegovina. [1]
- October 7
- Crete revolts against Turkey and aligns with Greece. [1]
- October 18
- Belgium annexes Congo Free State. [1]
- November 14
- Albert Einstein presents his quantum theory of light. [5]
- November 28
- 154 men die in coal mine explosion at Marianna, Pennsylvania, USA. [1]
- December 2
- Pu Yi (Hsuan-T'ung) becomes China's (last) emperor at age 3. [1]
- December 4
- Haiti's President General Alexis Nord flees from military coup. [1]
- December 28
- Messina, Italy struck by an earthquake (nearly 80,000 dead). [1]
- December 29
- Patent granted for a 4-wheel automobile brake, Clintonville, Wisconsin. [1]
1909
- January 5
- Colombia recognizes Panamá's independence. [1]
- January
- White Star liner Republic (15,000 tons) collides with Italian passenger ship Florida near New York. The Republic sends the first "SOS" radio distress call. All but four of the passengers and crew (of over 2000) are saved. The ship sinks the next day. [260.94]
- January 16
- British explorer Ernest Shackleton finds magnetic south pole. [1]
- David, Mawson and Mackay reach south magnetic pole. [1]
- January 22
- Vassily Kandinsky forms Künstlerverein in Munich, Germany. [1]
- January 23
- RMS Republic passenger liner collides with off-course freighter SS Florida. 8 deaths, 750 survivors of Republic are transferred to SS Baltic. The Republic sinks 35 hours later, 55 miles southeast of Nantucket Island, possibly holding 3 million American gold eagle coins. [866.36]
- January 28
- US military forces leave Cuba for second time. [1]
- February 2
- Italian writer Marinetti publishes Futurist Manifest in Paris, France. [1]
- February 8
- France and Germany sign treaty about Morocco. [1]
- February 12
- Netherlands' SDAP suspends Marxist Tribune group (Gorter and Wijnkoop). [1]
- February 16
- First subway car with side doors goes into service (New York City, New York). [1]
- Serbia mobilizes against Austria-Hungary. [1]
- February 22
- Great White Fleet, first US fleet to circle the globe, returns to Virginia. [1]
- February 23
- In Nova Scotia, Canada, a Silver Dart aerodome aircraft flies a half mile, the first airplane flight in the country. [476.58]
- Russian tsar Nicolas II dissolves Finnish Diet. [1]
- February 26
- First public paid audience of presentation of color film (Kinemacolor), at Palace Theatre, in Brighton, England. 21 short films are shown. [55.66]
- March 2
- Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy ask Serbia to set no territorial demands. [1]
- March 4
- President Taft inaugrated as 27th US President during 10-inch snowstorm. [1] [472.67]
- March 14
- Amsterdam Social-Democratic Party (SDP) forms. [1]
- March 18
- Einar Dessau of Denmark uses a short-wave radio transmitter, becoming the first radio broadcaster. [1] [5]
- March 31
- In Belfast, Ireland, the keel of the Titanic is laid down at Harland and Wolff Shipyard. [117.39]
- April 6
- United States Navy commander Robert Peary, assistant Matthew Henson, and four Inuit men reach the North Pole, the first documented men to reach the pole. [1] [486.70]
- April 14
- Anglo-Persian Oil Company forms in London, England. [1]
- April 18
- Joan of Arc is beatified, declared a saint, in Rome. [1] [5]
- April 27
- Sultan Abdul Hamid II of Turkey is overthrown. [1]
- May 1
- Netherlands begins unity with Belgium. [1]
- May 7
- Construction begins on first 100 houses in Ahuzat Bayit (Tel Aviv). [1]
- May 13
- Christian National Labor Workers (CNV) party begins in Netherlands. [1]
- May
- Cape Colony, Natal, Orange Free State, and Transvaal unite as Union of South Africa. [152.18]
- May 24
- Bristol University granted Royal Charter. [1]
- May 30
- Reuben Siegel lays cornerstone of first home in Tel-Aviv. [1]
- June 1
- (to October 16) The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition is held in Seattle, Washington. [1] [498.84]
- June 26
- The Science Museum in London comes into existence as an independent entity. [5]
- June 28
- First French air show, Concours d'Avation opens. [1]
- (month unknown)
- British researchers from Oxford discover world's oldest coins, at the base of the temple of Artemis in Ephesus, inscribed with legend translated to "I am the sign of Phanes" above a stag. [1098.958]
- July 25
- Louis Blériot of France makes the first flight across the English Channel (Calais to Dover) in a heavier-than-air machine in 37 minutes. [1] [5]
- August 2
- The US Mint releases the Lincoln cent to circulation. [1] [421.68] [465.62] [471.56] [755.28]
- August 11
- Morse code distress signal "SOS" first used by an American ship, Arapahoe, off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. [1]
- August 24
- Workers start pouring concrete for the Gatun locks of the Panama Canal. [1] [150.61]
- August 29
- AH Latham of France sets world airplane altitude record of 155 metres. [1]
- World's first airplane race held in Rheims, France. Glenn Curtis (USA) wins. [1]
- September
- The Lusitania ocean liner crosses the Atlantic westbound in a record 4 days, 11 hours, 40 minutes. [274.13]
- October
- Secret Service Bureau begins operations in the United Kingdom. [1458.40]
- October 16
- The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, held in Seattle, Washington, closes. 3.75 million visitors attended. [498.84]
- October 18
- Comte de Lambert of France sets airplane altitude record of 300 metres. [1]
- October 22
- First solo flight of a woman, Elise Deroche in Voisin biplane at Chalans, France. [1321.10]
- October 26
- Prince Ito of Japan is assassinated by a Korean. [1]
- November 13
- 259 miners die in a fire at Saint Paul Mine at Cherry, Illinois, USA. [1]
- November 18
- US invades Nicaragua. [1]
- December 1
- First Israeli kibbutz founded, in Deganya Alef. [1]
- December 7
- Leo Baekeland, of Yonkers, New York, patents first thermosetting plastic (Bakelite). [1]
- December 9
- First US monoplane flown (Henry W Walden, in Long Island, New York). [1]
- December 11
- Colored moving pictures demonstrated at Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York. [1]
- December 16
- US pressure forces Nicaraguan President José Santos Zelaya from office. [1]
- December 17
- King Leopold II of Belgium dies. [1]
- December 23
- Albert becomes king of Belgium. [1]
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