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

* 1909 – Leila Danette, American actress

In 1908, Frankel sold the diamond for $ 400, 000 to a Salomon or Selim Habib, a wealthy Turkish diamond collector, reportedly in behalf of Sultan Abdul Hamid of Turkey ; however, on June 24, 1909, the stone was included in an auction of Habib's assets to settle his own debts, and the auction catalog explicitly stated that the Hope Diamond was one of only two gems in the collection which had never been owned by the Sultan.

Ferhunde Erkin ( née Ferhunde Remzi ) ( June 8, 1909 – July 11, 2007 ) was a Turkish pianist born in Istanbul.

The resulting Goudi coup on 15 August 1909 marked a watershed in modern Greek history: as the military conspirators were inexperienced in politics, they asked Venizelos, who had impeccable liberal credentials, to come to Greece as their political adviser.

By 1909, Liberia faced serious external threats to its sovereignty from the European colonial powers over unpaid foreign loans and annexation of its borderlands. http :// www. globalsecurity. org / military / ops / liberia. htm

Between 1909 and 1911 the Navy took advantage of huge strides in military development of aircraft, having a significant tradition in research and development and a strong regard to long-range navigation and reconnaissance.

In a 1909 article in The Times, Ward wrote that constitutional, legal, financial, military, and international problems were problems only men could solve.

Pascual Cervera y Topete ( February 18, 1839 – April 3, 1909 ) served as an admiral ( almirante ) of the Spanish Caribbean Squadron during the Spanish-American War, and prior to this served his country in a variety of military and political roles.

The Ottomans ' military capabilities were hampered by a number of factors, beginning with domestic strife, caused by the Young Turk Revolution and the counter-revolutionary coup several months later ( see Countercoup ( 1909 ) and 31 March Incident ).

On 15 May 1909, The Young Turks, continuing their former policy of denying the Albanians national rights, sent a military expedition to Kosovo to stop the growth of hostile attitudes to the government and break resistance of the peasants, who refused to pay taxes which Istanbul had introduced.

* Robert P. Taylor ( 1909 – 1997 ), American military officer and chaplain

Notable people include, Alexander Suvorov military commander, Andrei Chikatilo ( 1936 – 1994 ), a serial killer and Alexander Pechersky ( 1909 – 1990 ), a ringleader of the rebellion at the Sobibor extermination camp.

Retiring from military service in 1909, he received the title of danshaku ( baron ) and later hakushaku ( count ) under the kazoku peerage system.

* George Wheeler ( explorer ) ( 1842 – 1909 ), American military officer, explorer, and cartographer

He later was sent on a military mission to France, Switzerland, and Italy in 1909.

In 1909 he began advocating conscription but in 1912 troops were used for strike breaking and Blatchford turned against it: " Universal military service under the ( present ) ruling classes would result in slavery.

France began the first Air Service in 1909 and soon picked the traditional French cockade as the first national emblem, now usually termed a roundel, on military aircraft.

Reform was accelerated after the Goudi coup of 1909 ; the new government under Eleftherios Venizelos brought a French military mission to train the Hellenic Army.

In response to being left behind by Germany's Mauser rifle, the French military decided in 1909 to replace the Lebel and its rimmed cartridge by more advanced designs.

It was formed in 1909 as the Service Aéronautique, a service arm of the French Army, then was made an independent military arm in 1933.

The 1878 Congress of Berlin allowed Austro-Hungarian military garrisons to be positioned in Sandžak where they remained until 1909.

Fulton, a mechanical engineer from the Royal Field Artillery, had been an early enthusiast of military flying and had attended the world's first air show at Rheims in 1909.

On November 11, 1909, Major General John J. Pershing, the third and final military governor of Moro Province assumed his duties.

* György Pálffy ( 1909 ), Lieutenant General ( sentence deferred to military court, executed )

In early 1909, the Antoinette company worked with the French Army at Camp Châlons near Mourmelon-le-Grand to establish the first military aircraft trials, a flight school and a workshop.

His pupils in 1909 included Marie Marvingt, who became the first woman to fly combat missions as a bomber pilot and established air ambulance services throughout the world, and Infante Alfonso, Duke of Galliera, cousin of King Alfonso XIII of Spain and the first Spanish military pilot.