* 1909 – Robert Peary and Matthew Henson reach the North Pole.

* 1909 – William M. Branham, American evangelist ( d. 1965 )

* 1909 – Hermann Lang, German race car driver ( d. 1987 )

* 1909 – Juliana of the Netherlands ( d. 2004 )

* 1909 – F. E. McWilliam, Irish sculptor ( d. 1992 )

* 1909 – Sylvère Maes, Belgian cyclist ( d. 1966 )

* 1909 – Lester Young, American saxophonist ( d. 1959 )

* 1909 – V. K. Gokak, Indian writer ( d. 1992 )

* 1909 – Adam von Trott zu Solz, German diplomat ( d. 1944 )

Monty Noble led Australia to victory in both 1907 – 08 and 1909.

* 1909 – Walter Van Tilburg Clark, American novelist ( d. 1971 )

* 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.

* 1909 – Bill Voce, England cricketer ( d. 1984 )

* 1871 – John Millington Synge, Irish writer ( d. 1909 )

* 1909 – Hugo Winterhalter, American composer and bandleader ( d. 1973 )

* 1909 – Paul Callaway, American organist and conductor ( d. 1995 )

* 1909 – Bruce Matthews, Canadian army officer and businessman ( d. 1991 )

* 1909 – First automobile race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway takes place.

* 1909 – Nikolay Bogolyubov, Russian mathematician ( d. 1992 )

* 1829 – Carlo Acton, Italian composer and pianist ( d. 1909 )

* 1909 – Michael Rennie, English actor ( d. 1971 )

* 1909 – The Turkish military reverses the Ottoman countercoup of 1909 to force the overthrow of Sultan Abdul Hamid II.

* 1909 – Syd Buller, English cricketer ( d. 1970 )

* 1909 – Leila Danette, American actress

He was first elected to Parliament as a Liberal in a 1908 by-election, and was re-elected by acclamation in a 1909 by-election following his appointment as the first-ever Minister of Labour.

He welcomed The Indian Councils Act, popularly known as Minto-Morley Reforms, which had been passed by British Parliament in May 1909, terming it as " a marked increase of confidence between the Rulers and the Ruled ".

Asquith had to apologise to the King ’ s adviser Lord Knollys for a Churchill speech calling for a Dissolution and rebuked Churchill at the Cabinet Meeting ( 21 July 1909 ) telling him to keep out of “ matters of high policy ” ( no election was due until 1913, and the Monarch ’ s permission was needed to dissolve Parliament prematurely ).

Conflict between the two Houses of Parliament over Lloyd George's 1909 People's Budget eventually resulted in a reduction in the power of the peers in the Parliament Act 1911.

* South Africa Act 1909, passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom creating the Union of South Africa, is sometimes referred to as the Act of Union

Svinhufvud's parliamentary opening speeches, in which he laid emphasis on legality, led to the Tsar dissolving Parliament in both 1909 and 1910.

* In 1909, the UK House of Lords voted against the " People's Budget ", precipitating two general elections and the Parliament Act 1911, which limited the power of the Lords.

The University of Queensland ( UQ ) was established on 10 December 1909 by the Queensland Parliament to mark the 50th anniversary of Queensland ’ s independence from New South Wales.

Smuts and Botha took the constitution to London, where it was passed by Parliament, and signed into law by Edward VII in December 1909.

In opposition Law continued to argue for tariff reform, both in Parliament and within his party, largely avoiding the constitutional crisis surrounding the People's Budget in 1909.

The next year, he was made secretary of the Nobel Committee of the Norwegian Parliament and, although he gave up the position in 1909, he would play a key role in the early days of the Norwegian Nobel Institute.

On 24 December 1909 he resigned from Parliament ( he was the first Member to have resigned twice ), however his seat was left vacant until the 1910 election.

* William Nicholson ( distiller ) ( 1825 – 1909 ), British Member of Parliament for Petersfield, 1866 – 1874 and 1880 – 1885, cricketer and cricket benefactor

In 1909, after much argument, the Parliament decided that the new capital would be in the southern part of New South Wales, on the site which is now Canberra.

Nicknamed " Queen of the Mob ", she was jailed again in 1907 in Parliament Square and 1909 after the " Rush Trial " at Bow Street.

Following an Act of Parliament in 1904, a foundation stone was laid for the new hospital, designed by William Pite, in 1909 at its present site at Denmark Hill, south of the River Thames.

* Charles Stuart Parker ( 1829 – 1909 ), British Member of Parliament for Perth, 1878 – 1892

Russell Rea, father of the first Baron, was also a Member of Parliament and had been admitted to the Privy Council in 1909.

The Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire Railway, from the West End of Glasgow along the north shore of the River Clyde, to Dumbarton, was vested in the Caledonian Railway on 1 August 1909 by Act of Parliament.

The Union of South Africa was created on 31 May 1910 by the South Africa Act 1909, an act of the Imperial Parliament.

The Labour Exchanges Bill was rushed through Parliament and passed in September 1909 and, after months of planning and recruitment of clerks, 62 Labour Exchanges were opened on February 1, 1910.

He was Member of Parliament for Nuneaton from 1892 to 1906, and for Tamworth from 1909 to 1917.