About the day » Thursday January 21, 1909Calender converter

• A de Klijn, Waspik Zuid († 2002)
• Alfredo Back, São Martinho, Santa Catarina, Brasil
• Anke Wegman († 1988)
• Adriana Maria Termohlen, Ginneken en Bavel
• Anna (Annie) Gerritdina Eenschoten, Zwolle, Overijssel, Netherlands († 1983)
• Anke Weg van der, Middelstum, Groningen, Nederland († 1978)
• Adelaide Johanna Vatne, Gildeskaal, Nordland, Norway († 1996)
• Adriana Theresia van Ierlant, Tilburg
• Baukje Petrus de Jong, Osingahuizen
• Albert Frederik Pereira, Banjermasin, Borneo, Dutch East Indies († 1980)

• Albert Aldenkamp (68), Noord Eschmarke, Lonneker, Overijssel, Netherlands
• Alice Marie Lagaysse (1), Torhout
• Anna Voorting (70), Haarlem
• Abraham van Dartel (87), 's-Hertogenbosch, Noord-Brabant, Nederland
• Akke Symens Sikma (49), Giekerk
• Alfred Polycarpe Graaf van Hompesch-Rürich (82), Berlijn
• Antonius Johannes Beljaers (1), Hooge en Lage Zwaluwe
• Abraham Koole (0), Terneuzen, Terneuzen, Zeeland, Netherlands
• Arie de Kuijk (68), Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands
• Weggemans (0), Emmen, Drenthe, Nederland

• 1907 » Carlo Cavagnoli, Italian boxer († 1991)
• 1907 » Jānis Mendriks, Latvian Catholic priest († 1953)
• 1909 » Teofilo Spasojević, Serbian footballer († 1970)
• 1909 » Todor Skalovski, Macedonian composer and conductor († 2004)
• 1910 » Albert Rosellini, American lawyer and politician, 15th Governor of Washington († 2011)
• 1910 » Hideo Shinojima, Japanese footballer († 1975)
• 1910 » Károly Takács, Hungarian shooter († 1976)
• 1910 » Rosa Kellner, German athlete († 1984)
• 1911 » Dick Garrard, Australian wrestler († 2003)
• 1911 » Lee Yoo-hyung, Korean footballer and manager († 2003)

• 1891 » Calixa Lavallée, Canadian-American lieutenant and composer (b. 1842)
• 1901 » Elisha Gray, American engineer, co-founded Western Electric (b. 1835)
• 1914 » Theodor Kittelsen, Norwegian painter and illustrator (b. 1857)
• 1918 » Jan Drozdowski, Polish pianist and music teacher (b. 1857)
• 1919 » Ahmed Muhtar Pasha, Ottoman general and politician, 277th Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1839)
• 1919 » Gojong of Korea (b. 1852)
• 1924 » Vladimir Lenin, Russian lawyer and politician (b. 1870)
• 1926 » Camillo Golgi, Italian physician and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1843)
• 1928 » George Washington Goethals, American general and engineer (b. 1858)
• 1931 » Felix Blumenfeld, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1863)

• Koningin Wilhelmina (Huis van Oranje-Nassau) was from 1890 till 1948 sovereign of the Netherlands (also known as Koninkrijk der Nederlanden)
• In The Netherlands , there was from February 12, 1908 to August 29, 1913 the cabinet Heemskerk, with Mr. Th. Heemskerk (AR) as prime minister.
• The Netherlands had about 5.8 million citizens.
• January 23 » RMSRepublic, a passenger ship of the White Star Line, becomes the first ship to use the CQD distress signal after colliding with another ship, the SS Florida, off the Massachusetts coastline, an event that kills six people. The Republic sinks the next day.
• February 12 » New Zealand's worst maritime disaster of the 20th century happens when the SSPenguin, an inter-island ferry, sinks and explodes at the entrance to Wellington Harbour.
• March 31 » Serbia formally withdraws its opposition to Austro-Hungarian actions in the Bosnian Crisis.
• April 6 » Robert Peary and Matthew Henson become the first people to reach the North Pole; Peary's claim has been disputed because of failings in his navigational ability.
• August 19 » The first automobile race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
• December 4 » In Canadian football, the First Grey Cup game is played. The University of Toronto Varsity Blues defeat the Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club, 26–6.

The temperature on January 21, 1909 was between -3.0 °C and 0.2 °C and averaged -0.8 °C. The average windspeed was 3 Bft (moderate breeze) and was prevailing from the east-northeast.