February 2, 1909 (Tuesday)
- Francisco I. Madero challenged Porfirio Diaz, Mexico's president since 1884, to allow a free presidential election. Madero, author of the bestseller La sucesión presidencial en 1910, sent a copy of the book to President Diaz and then "began the greatest practical lesson that anyone had ever attempted in the history of Mexico". What followed was the Mexican Revolution of 1910; Madero toppled Diaz, but served only briefly until being assassinated himself.
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