February 1909 - February 28, 1909 (Sunday)

February 28, 1909 (Sunday)

• Robert Peary, Matthew Henson and 22 other men set off from Ellesmere Island on the expedition to the North Pole. The final group would be Peary, Henson, and four Inuit men who would claim the Pole on April 6, though the dispute remains whether Peary or Frederick Cook were first to reach the pole.
• International Women's Day was celebrated for the first time, a creation of the Socialist Party of America. The day, now observed annually on March 8, has been sponsored by the United Nations since 1975.
• President Roosevelt broke a 120 year old tradition "when he not only trod on foreign territory, but accepted the hospitality of a foreign power". Roosevelt walked into the Austrian Embassy on Connecticut Avenue to have lunch with Baron Hengelmuller, the ambassador.