WHAT ALL HAPPENED APRIL TO DECEMBER 1909
Find out what all happened April to December 1909

Eugene Lefebvre crashes a new French-built Wright biplane during a test flight at Juvisy, south of Paris, becoming the first 'pilot' in the world to lose his life in a powered heavier-than-air craft. (7. September 1909)

Manhattan Bridge opens. (31. December 1909)

The National Negro Committee, forerunner to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, convenes for the first time. (31. May 1909)

The Science Museum in London comes into existence as an independent entity. (26. June 1909)

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

The Montreal Canadiens ice hockey club, the oldest surviving professional hockey franchise in the world, is founded as a charter member of the National Hockey Association. (4. December 1909)

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

Alice Huyler Ramsey and three friends become the first women to complete a transcontinental auto trip, taking 59 days to travel from New York, New York to San Francisco, California. (7. August 1909)

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

The first Giro d'Italia starts from Milan. Italian cyclist Luigi Ganna will be the winner. (13. May 1909)

The first automobile race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway takes place. (19. August 1909)

The Parliament of the United Kingdom passes the South Africa Act 1909, creating the Union of South Africa from the British Colonies of the Cape of Good Hope, Natal, Orange River Colony, and the Transvaal Colony. (20. September 1909)

Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity is founded at Boston University. (2. November 1909)

Two United States warships are sent to Nicaragua after 500 revolutionaries (including two Americans) are executed by order of José Santos Zelaya. (18. November 1909)

Alfred Deakin becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the third time. (2. June 1909)

Mary Pickford made her screen debut at the age of 16. (7. June 1909)

Representatives from England, Australia and South Africa meet at Lord's and form the Imperial Cricket Conference. (15. June 1909)

The Phantom of the Opera (original title: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra), a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux, is first published as a serialization in Le Gaulois. (23. September 1909)

New South Wales Premier Charles Wade signs the Seat of Government Surrender Act 1909, formally completing the transfer of State land to the Commonwealth to create the Australian Capital Territory. (14. December 1909)

Selma Lagerlöf becomes the first female writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature (10. December 1909)