by Amanda & Jeanine

1900   1901   1902   1903   1904   1905   1906   1907   1908   1909

• On February 12 the National Negro Committee is formed. It would later be called The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Among the founders is W.E.B. DuBois.
• On March 4 William Howard Taft is inaugurated 27th President.
• On March 16 the Bureau of Investigation was founded as part of the  Justice Department. It would later come to be know as the Federal Bureau of Investigation or FBI.
• "Reached North Pole April 6, 1909," says a wire received September 1 by the International Bureau for Polar Research at Copenhagen from Brooklyn, N.Y., surgeon Frederick A. Cook, 44, whose steamer Hans Egede has put in at Lerwick in the Shetland Islands. "I have the Pole April 6, 1909." says a wire received September 6 by the New York Times from U.S. Navy engineer Robert E. Peary, 52. Neither will ever prove that he reached latitude 90° north.
• Walter Reed Army Medical Center opens at Washington, D.C. The hospital was authorized and it was admitted its first patients on May 1, 1909. Named in Major Walter Reed's honor, the medical center was founded on principles that would integrate patient care, teaching and research. World War I saw the hospital's capacity grow from 80 patient beds to 2,500 in a matter of months.
• The success of the Wright Brothers wins them acceptance by the US Army. In July the army buys Airplane No. 1 from the Wright Brothers newly formed American Wright Company.
• On July 29, Henry M. Leland sells Cadillac to General Motors for 5.5 million dollars. In the automotive industry the Cadillac has something unusual, interchangeable parts.
• At Reims, France on August 23, the International Aviation Races are held. The cup was offered by a New York publisher James Bennett. Glen Hammond Curtis who was 31 at the time won an airplane and a motor that he designed.
• The New York's Amsterdam News starts publishing their newspaper on December 4. The newspaper circulation went up to 100,000, the largest black weekly newspaper that was non religious. James H. Anderson was the founder.
• On December 31 the New York Manhattan Bridge opens. This bridge carries traffic from Manhattan to Brooklyn. This was the first important double deck suspension bridge. This bridge cost 31 million dollars.
• Thomas Hunt Morgan a zoologist at the Columbia University comes up with new gene theory and the study of heredity.
• Phoebus Theodore Levene discovers RNA and DNA.
• A popular song at the time was "Meet me Tonight" by Leo Friedman and lyrics by Beth Slater.
• The United States new Copyright Law secures exclusive rights to composers and publishers to print, publish, copy, vend, arrange, and record by means of gramophone, any other mechanical device, and perform publicly for profit original musical compositions. The protection against infringement is for a period of 28 years and a renewal period of 28 years as well.
• Congress bans the import of opium for anything but medical purposes. Opium derivatives are widely used in the anodyne codeine and morphine as they were in the earlier anodyne laudanum and a tincture of opium is effective in treating some intestinal disorders.
• The celluloid  Kewpie Doll with a head that comes to a point is patented by New York author-illustrator Rose Cecil O’Neill, 35. The doll earned $1.5 million for O’Neill, who wears a toga at her Greenwich Village salons.l
• And women's skirts began to shorten to the ankle. This allows women be more active. Elaborate planning for social functions such as open houses, and teas occupied chapter discussions. "Spreads" for one purpose or another and regular Saturday evening suppers together were highlights of chapter life. Tales of summertime house parties with boating, hay rides, walks and drives, accompanied by mandolin music were reported. Women began to enjoy live much more.
• The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company is located towards the southeast side, with the New York Life Building. This 50-story building was the world's tallest from 1909 ­ 1913, when NY's Woolworth Building surpassed it.
• The Pittsburgh Pirates defeat the Detroit Tigers for 4 to 3 games to become the 1909 World Series champions.

1900   1901   1902   1903   1904   1905   1906   1907   1908   1909

1900s   1910s   1920s   1930s   1940s   1950s   1960s   1970s   1980s   1990s

e-mail us at thongell@pocanticohills.org 
last updated 12/04/05