1909

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• In April, the Young Turks, an Islamic nationalist movement calling for constitutional rule, rebel against the Ottoman empire's Sultan Abdul Hamid II and force him to abdicate.

• In Nicaragua, the United States forces the liberal dictator Jose Santos Zelaya to resign because he acts independently of Washington. When chaos results, US troops occupy the country in 1912 (until 1933).

• In Armenia, Turkish troops massacre Armenian civilians in a genocidal attack.

• The British Anglo-Persian Oil Company begins to drill for oil in Persia (Iran).

• On 25 July, French aviator Louis Blériot makes the first flight across the English Channel.

• Russian ballet producer Serge Diaghilev brings the Ballets Russes (Russian Ballets), a dance group starring Vaslav Nijinsky, to Paris, and introduces modern ballet to Europe.

• In Paris, Italian poet Filippo Marinetti begins the Futurist art movement, which celebrates modern ideas about fragmentation, speed and novelty.

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