August 1909

August 1, 1909 (Sunday)

• The "Semana Tragica" or "tragic week" ended as the Spanish government restored order in Barcelona and other areas of Catalonia. In seven days that began on July 26 with anti-war protests and a strike in Barcelona, hundreds of people were killed in fighting.

  August 2, 1909 (Monday)

• The United States Army accepted the delivery of the Wright Military Flyer as "Army Aeroplane Number 1", and hired Wilbur and Orville Wright to train the first two pilots in operation of the machine. Lts. Frank P. Lahm and Frederick E. Humphreys began instruction in October.
• The first Lincoln cents were put into circulation by the U.S. Mint.

  August 3, 1909 (Tuesday)

• General Ramón González Valencia was selected as the 12th President of Colombia, to fill the remaining year of the term of Rafael Reyes. González had been Reyes's Vice-President, but had been fired in 1905 by Reyes, who then abolished the office.
• The Silver Dart, Canada's first airplane, was destroyed when it crashed into a hill.

  August 4, 1909 (Wednesday)

• In Sweden, a lockout began of 80,000 workers in the paper industry, and the iron and steel industries. The Swedish Labor Federation called for a strike of 124,000 workers, and after a secondary strike, 285,000 of the nation's 460,000 non-agricultural workers were off the job. The Federation called off the secondary strike on September 11; the lockout of ironworkers lasted until November.
• Born:
• *Glenn Cunningham, American track star, who overcame a childhood injury and held the world record for running the mile ; in Atlanta, Kansas
• *Saunders Mac Lane, American mathematician and co-creator of category theory; in Taftville, Connecticut
• *Roberto Burle Marx, Brazilian architect; in São Paulo

  August 5, 1909 (Thursday)

• The Payne–Aldrich Tariff Act was signed into law by President William Taft at, after passing the Senate 54–38. The new rules for a federal corporate tax would take effect at midnight. In a statement, Taft said "The corporation tax is a just and equitable excise measure, which it is hoped will produce a sufficient amount to prevent a deficit", and that the law provided "that degree of publicity and regulation which the tendency in corporate enterprises in the last twenty years has shown to be necessary", and added that the law "will constitute an important and which incidentally will secure valuable statistics and information".
• The British steamer sank in the New Zealand bay of the same name, killing 32 people, although most of the passengers and crew were able to evacuate to shore. One hundred years later, the wreckage is still popular for scuba divers.
• The first public execution in Paris in 15 years attracted a large crowd despite being held at with short notice. M. Duchemin, who had murdered his mother in 1906, was guillotined in front of the Sante Prison.
• In Atlanta, the Georgia State Senate voted 37–2 against considering the proposed 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which would authorize an income tax. Georgia ratified the amendment the following year.
• Died: Miguel Antonio Caro, 65, President of Colombia, 1894–1898

  August 6, 1909 (Friday)

• Vincenzo Sabatassae, leader of the "Black Hand Gang" of Connecticut, was sentenced to 28 years in prison, and his fellow gangmembers were handed jail terms ranging from 3 to 25 years. The gang, which had terrorized the Italian-American residents in and around New Haven for three years, was caught after kidnapping a man in Wallingford. In pronouncing sentence, the New Haven judge described Sabatassae as the worst criminal with whom he ever came in contact.
• Alice Huyler Ramsey arrived in San Francisco to become the first woman to drive across the United States, having left New York on June 18.

  August 7, 1909 (Saturday)

• U.S. President William Howard Taft arrived at the "Summer White House" in Beverly, Massachusetts, on the presidential train car Olympia which traveled as part of the "Federal Express" from Washington to Boston. The rest of the government went on vacation as well, with Vice-President Sherman going home to Utica, New York, House Speaker Cannon home at Danville, Illinois, and all but two Cabinet officials staying in Washington.

  August 8, 1909 (Sunday)

• Mary MacKillop, the co-founder of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, died in North Sydney, Australia, following a stroke. On January 19, 1995, she became the first native Australian to be beatified by the Roman Catholic Church.
• Lumber magnate George Van Dyke and his chauffeur, Frederick B. Hodgdon, were killed in a freak accident at Riverside, Massachusetts. Van Dyke had directed Hodgdon to drive to a cliff overlooking the Connecticut River, to watch logs being shipped. When they prepared to leave, Hodgdon pulled the wrong lever and the car went over the precipice.
• Born: Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham, British cricketer and Governor-General of New Zealand, 1957–1962; in Kensington, London

  August 9, 1909 (Monday)

• Alabama became the first state to ratify the proposed Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, when the state senate unanimously approved the resolution for a federal income tax. The state house had unanimously approved the proposal on August 2. Governor Comer signed the resolution on August 17, making the process complete.
• One week after the Lincoln cent had been released to the public, the U.S. Mint halted production of the so-called "V.D.B. pennies", which had the initials of designer Victor David Brenner. An estimated 22,350,000 of the pennies had been put into circulation. The San Francisco Mint made 500,000 such pennies and the 1909-S VDB Lincoln Head Cent can sell for more than $2,000.
• Born:
• *Yūji Koseki, Japanese composer active term from 1930 to 1989, known for the 1937 military march "Roei no Uta, the 1964 Tokyo Olympic March, and Nagasaki no Kane, said to have written 5,000 songs; in Fukushima City, Honshu
• *Adam von Trott zu Solz, German lawyer, diplomat and opponent of Adolf Hitler; in Potsdam.
• *V. K. Gokak, author of the epic Bharatha Sindhu Rashmi and recipient of India's Jnanpith Award; in Savanur State, British India

  August 10, 1909 (Tuesday)

• Howard R. Hughes, Sr. was granted two patents for the Sharp-Hughes Rock Bit, a dual-cone rotary drill bit that revolutionized well-drilling and created the fortune that would be inherited by his billionaire son, Howard Hughes.
• The town of Clay Center, Kansas, was panicked by eleven elephants owned by the Hagenbach-Wallace Circus. For two hours, the beasts moved through the streets and alleys of the town before being recaptured.
• Born:
• *Mohammed V, Sultan of Morocco 1927–1953 and King of Morocco 1957–1961; in Rabat
• *Leo Fender, electric guitar inventor and amp manufacturer; in Anaheim, California
• Died: Bob Womack, 65, who discovered the richest vein of gold in Colorado, but died penniless

  August 11, 1909 (Wednesday)

• SOS, the international Morse code signal for distress, was first used to call for rescue. The S.S. Arapahoe lost power off of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and was rescued 36 hours later. Wireless operator R.J. Vosburgh alternated the new signal with the former distress call, CQD.

  August 12, 1909 (Thursday)

• Harry K. Thaw, whose 1906 murder of Stanford White created a national sensation, was kept in custody after a judge rejected his bid to be released from a hospital for the criminally insane. Justice Mills of the court in White Plains, New York, concluded that Thaw continued to suffer from paranoia and delusions. Thaw would remain in asylums until 1924, and lived until 1947.
• The Briggs & Stratton Company began producing its first engines.
• Died: Besarion Jughashvili, 59, father of Joseph Stalin, died of cirrhosis of the liver

  August 13, 1909 (Friday)

• Juan Vicente Gómez was sworn in as the 38th President of Venezuela. As Vice-President, Gomez had been governing the nation since December 19, when President Cipriano Castro had gone to Europe for medical treatment.
• The towns of Tehachapi, California, and Twisp, Washington, were both incorporated.

  August 14, 1909 (Saturday)

• In San Juan County, Utah, the Rainbow Bridge was located by the United States government in an expedition guided by Jim Mike, a Paiute Indian, who had disclosed its existence to William B. Douglas of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. At in length, the Rainbow is the world's longest natural bridge.
• The first motor race took place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with motorcycles rather than automobiles. Seven races were held in one day, sanctioned by the Federation of American Motorcyclists. A.G. Chapple won the first race, a five-mile handicap limited to private owners.

  August 15, 1909 (Sunday)

• A Celtic cross was raised by the Ancient Order of Hibernians in memory of thousands of Irish immigrants who had died on the island after being quarantined there.
• Isidore Bakanja died in Busira, in the Belgian Congo, six months after severe beating, later described as "the remarkable if not unique case of a native-born African killed by a European and declared a martyr" beatified on April 24, 1994.
• Pius X became the first Roman Catholic Pope to ride in an automobile. The motor car had been the gift of American Catholics.
• Died: Euclides da Cunha, 43, Brazilian author known for Os Sertões, was shot and killed in an altercation

  August 16, 1909 (Monday)

• The Law of Associations was decreed as part of the Young Turk Revolution within the Ottoman Empire, and it became part of the Constitution five days later. The law provided in part that in order to prevent "the sowing of political division between the various Ottoman communities", "It is forbidden to form political associations based on national or other communal particularity, or whose names contain references thereto". The revival of Ottomanism, with an emphasis on making Turkish the national language and Islam the official religion, was resisted by Christians in the Balkans and by Moslems in the Middle East and North Africa.
• The towns of Alamo, Manchester, and Swords were all incorporated in the U.S. state of Georgia.
• Niels Neergaard resigned as Council President of Denmark and was succeeded by Count Ludvig Holstein-Ledreborg, the Finance Minister, as head of government.
• Baseball player Red Murray of the Giants made a memorable game saving catch at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, leaping for the ball and reeling it in as lightning lit up the sky.