WHAT ALL HAPPENED JANUARY TO APRIL 1909
Find out what all happened January to April 1909

The U.S. Congress passes the Payne–Aldrich Tariff Act. (9. April 1909)

Theodore Roosevelt leaves New York for a post-presidency safari in Africa. The trip is sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society. (23. March 1909)

The Turkish military reverses the Ottoman countercoup of 1909 to force the overthrow of Sultan Abdul Hamid II. (13. April 1909)

Richard Strauss's opera Elektra receives its debut performance at the Dresden State Opera. (25. January 1909)

Drilling begins on the Lakeview Gusher. (1. January 1909)

New Zealand's worst maritime disaster of the 20th century happens when the SS Penguin, an inter-island ferry, sinks and explodes at the entrance to Wellington Harbour. (12. February 1909)

U.S. President William Taft used what became known as a Saxbe fix, a mechanism to avoid the restriction of the U.S. Constitution's Ineligibility Clause, to appoint Philander C. Knox as U.S. Secretary of State (4. March 1909)

The Queensboro Bridge opens, linking Manhattan and Queens. (30. March 1909)

RMS Republic, a passenger ship of the White Star Line, becomes the first ship to use the CQD distress signal after colliding with another ship, the SS Florida, off the Massachusetts coastline, an event that kills six people. The Republic sinks the next day. (23. January 1909)

A massacre is organized by Ottoman Empire against Armenian population of Cilicia. (14. April 1909)

The sixteen battleships of the Great White Fleet, led by USS Connecticut, return to the United States after a voyage around the world. (22. February 1909)

The Flores Theater fire in Acapulco, Mexico kills 250. (15. February 1909)

United States troops leave Cuba with the exception of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base after being there since the Spanish–American War. (28. January 1909)

Sultan of Ottoman Empire Abdul Hamid II is overthrown, and is succeeded by his brother, Mehmed V. (27. April 1909)

The Young Left is founded in Norway. (27. January 1909)

Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. (5. January 1909)

Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland announces the creation of Bakelite, the world's first synthetic plastic. (5. February 1909)

Robert Peary and Matthew Henson reach the North Pole. (6. April 1909)

Kinemacolor, the first successful color motion picture process, is first shown to the general public at the Palace Theatre in London. (26. February 1909)

Joan of Arc is beatified in Rome. (18. April 1909)