World Events in 1909
Blériot crosses the English Channel
On 25 July, French aviator Louis Blériot flew his monoplane from Calais to Dover in 36 minutes and 30 seconds, winning the Daily Mail's £1,000 prize. The flight demonstrated that the English Channel was no longer a defensive barrier and accelerated military interest in aviation.
Peary claims the North Pole
American explorer Robert Peary claimed to have reached the North Pole on 6 April with his assistant Matthew Henson and four Inuit companions. His claim was disputed by Frederick Cook, who said he had reached the Pole a year earlier. Modern analysis suggests neither may have reached the exact Pole.
People's Budget
Chancellor David Lloyd George introduced a radical budget proposing land taxes and higher income tax to fund social welfare programmes and naval expansion. The House of Lords rejected the budget, triggering a constitutional crisis that would ultimately curtail the Lords' power.
NAACP founded
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was founded on 12 February (Abraham Lincoln's centennial) in New York City. Co-founders included W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells, and Mary White Ovington, and the organisation became the leading force in the American civil rights movement.
Young Turks depose Sultan Abdul Hamid II
Following a counter-revolution attempt, the Committee of Union and Progress deposed Sultan Abdul Hamid II and replaced him with his brother Mehmed V. This consolidated the Young Turks' control over the Ottoman Empire.
First kibbutz founded
Degania Alef, widely considered the first kibbutz, was founded on the shores of the Sea of Galilee in Ottoman Palestine. These collective agricultural communities would play a central role in the development of the future State of Israel.
Music in 1909
"I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside"
Mark Sheridan
First performed by Mark Sheridan in 1909, this became one of the most enduring British songs of the Edwardian era. It captured the growing popularity of seaside holidays among the working class.
"I've Got Rings on My Fingers (Mumbo Jumbo Jijiboo J. O'Shea)"
Blanche Ring (performed), Ada Jones (recorded)
A comic novelty song from the Broadway musical The Midnight Sons. It was one of the top-selling records and sheet music of 1909.
#1 Film of 1909
A Corner in Wheat
Box Office: N/A
Directed by D.W. Griffith, this 14-minute film about a wheat speculator who corners the market while the poor starve was a landmark in social commentary cinema. Griffith's innovative use of cross-cutting between rich and poor was highly influential.
Born in 1909
Barry Goldwater
US Senator and 1964 Republican presidential candidate who reshaped American conservatism
Errol Flynn
Australian-American swashbuckling film star of The Adventures of Robin Hood
James Mason
English actor, star of A Star Is Born and North by Northwest
Kwame Nkrumah
First President of Ghana and pan-African independence leader
Stephen Spender
English poet and literary critic of the Auden Generation
Lost in 1909
Geronimo
Apache leader who resisted American expansion in the Southwest
Age 79
Leopold II of Belgium
King of Belgium whose personal rule of the Congo caused millions of deaths
Age 74
George Meredith
English novelist and poet of the Victorian era
Age 81
Ito Hirobumi
First Prime Minister of Japan, assassinated by a Korean independence activist
Age 68
Technology in 1909
Louis Blériot flew across the English Channel in 37 minutes. The first commercial Bakelite products appeared. Instant coffee was commercially introduced. The first newsreel service began, bringing world events to cinema audiences.
- ● Louis Blériot flies across the English Channel
- ● First commercial Bakelite products manufactured
- ● Instant coffee introduced commercially by George Washington Coffee Company
- ● First purpose-built newsreel service launched by Pathé
Cost of Living in 1909
| Item | UK | US |
|---|---|---|
| Average house price | £175 | $3,200 |
| Average salary | £62 | $500 |
| Pint of milk | 1½d | 4¢ |
| Loaf of bread | 3d | 6¢ |
| Dozen eggs | 10d | 18¢ |
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The Zeitgeist of 1909
The Edwardian era was entering its final years with a growing sense of political and social tension. Lloyd George's 'People's Budget' provoked a constitutional crisis between the Commons and the Lords. Suffragettes were being force-fed in prison. In America, the NAACP was founded to fight racial injustice. Early jazz was emerging in New Orleans, and the tango was scandalising polite society.
In the News in 1909
Louis Blériot's cross-Channel flight proved that Britain was no longer an island fortress. Robert Peary claimed to have reached the North Pole, though the claim remained disputed. The 'People's Budget' battle convulsed British politics. The first kibbutz was founded in Palestine.