Timeline of America
Other Books by Floyd M. Orr
The Last Horizon: Feminine Sexuality & the Class System (2002)
Ker-Splash! Recreational Power Boaters Guide (2002)
Plastic Ozone Daydream: The Corvette Chronicles (2000)
Also by Floyd M. Orr
“Stangworld” & “Magical Days”, featured only in
Mustang Legends: The Power, the Performance, the Passion
(Voyageur Press, 2004)
“Vetteworld”, reprinted from Daydream in
This Old Corvette: The Ultimate Tribute to America’s Sports Car
(Voyageur Press, 2003)
2010: Timeline for a Psychotic Nation
(Tentatively scheduled for release in 2009)
Timeline of America
Sound Bytes from the Consumer Culture
Floyd M. Orr
All Rights Reserved. Copyright © 2006 Floyd M. Orr
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the publisher.
Smashwords Edition
Print version published by iUniverse, Inc.
Printed in the United States
ISBN: 0-595-40004-3
This book is a work of nonfiction. Any and all facts and figures presented herein are accurate to the best of our knowledge. The publisher and author disclaim responsibility for any misprints, math errors, or other inaccuracies presented. Any and all celebrity and trademark names are mentioned for identification purposes only. This is not an official publication sponsored or endorsed by any corporate entity mentioned herein. The entire content of this publication should be considered solely as the opinion of the author.
Cover Design & Photo by Floyd M. Orr
© 2006 Floyd M. Orr
Dedication
Timeline of America is dedicated to Miss Pamela, who suggested that I write it in the first place, and who diligently and lovingly helped me complete the massive project. It is also dedicated to Mike Mathews, of whom I was constantly reminded as I researched the history of baseball, a game of deep American history for most, but a boring snooze to me, and who will probably like this book better than anything I shall ever write.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Interpreting the Timelines in This Book
Chapter 1: The Timeline
Good for Us, Bad for the Indians
The Timeline of Hysterical Events
Chapter 2: The Comfort Zone
Beginnings, Firsts, Inventions, Food & Other Items
The Comfort Zone Timeline
Chapter 3: Cars
The Automobile Timeline 1859 – 1959
Babyhood, Childhood, & Adolescence on Wheels
The Automobile Timeline 1960 – 1970
Those Muscular Sixties: The Teenage Years
The Automobile Timeline 1971-2006
Chapter 4: The Toy Store
The Politically Incorrect Cap Pistol
Toys Defined for Boys & Girls of All Ages
The Toy Timeline
Chapter 5: Movies
The Movie Theater Experience
The Movie Timeline
Chapter 6: Television
The Boob Tube Conquers America
The Television Timeline
The Louie Martin Ernest T. Helper Story
Chapter 7: Music
Introduction: Forty Rocky Years
Rock & Roll Is Born in The Fifties
Elvis the Pelvis, a Retrospective
The Sixties – Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll
The Seventies Music Explosion
The Eighties – A Time of Transition
The Last Days of Real Rock & Roll
Chapter 8: The Nerd Channel
Publications, Computers & Playboy Interviews
The Nerd Timeline
Chapter 9: Sports Monkey Business
The Monkey Business of Sports
The Sports Timeline
Chapter 10: The National Inquisition
Introduction to American Nosiness
The Gossip Timeline
Chapter 11: The Great Big Trivia Quiz
Cars (Chapter 3)
Comfort (Chapter 2)
Events (Chapter 1)
Gossip (Chapter 10)
Movies (Chapter 5)
Music (Chapter 7)
Nerds (Chapter 8)
Sports (Chapter 9)
Television (Chapter 6)
Toys (Chapter 4)
Appendix
Live in Concert: I was There!
Quiz Answers & Scoring
Bibliography
About the Author
Introduction: Interpreting the Timelines in This Book
We are standing on the precipice of what we have always known as American culture. The unknown is ahead of us. The other stuff is mentioned in the timelines of this book. There have been so many things that we wish never to forget, and there have been a few that we so desperately wish we could blank out of our mind’s eye forever. This is a nonfiction story of the images that have reflected us, the sound bytes that have echoed us, and the concepts that have inspired us. Everything but the kitchen sink wanted to be included, but the limits of space defined those elements that made the cut.
If something is simply mentioned, without any associated descriptive words or phrases, you can assume that to be the first introduction. A product can be invented, created, patented, copyrighted, introduced, sold, or marketed. The selection of the particular year in which to mention the item, event, or product was often a very difficult process. The final decision was based on the year that would seem to be the most appropriate to most readers. Throughout the ten timelines, you may perceive the cars seeming to arrive a little late, while everything else seems to appear too early.
The phrasing and sentence structure varies in a predictable pattern throughout the timelines. The items included within each year vary from single words to whole sentences. Some of the items are composed of a few words that might be called a phrase that is not quite a whole sentence, and some of the items are simply nouns with their attendant adjectives. This book can be read in two distinctly different ways, and the preference for the reader is probably mutually exclusive for each method. The person who is reading Timeline cover-to-cover will probably prefer to read many complete sentences that flow smoothly from one to the next. The reader who is skipping around through the chapters, looking for specific items, or using the book in a referential manner, will feel as if the items are buried within the text. No index has been provided for this second category of reader simply because the index would be nearly as long as the book text itself. A carefully constructed, yet seemingly random, compromise in the text structure has been accomplished. The shortest and simplest statements of items (nouns and events) open each timeline year. The longer phrases that resemble newspaper headlines or sound bytes are listed next. Complete sentences with periods at the ends instead of dashes separating them are placed at the end of each year.
There is also a general content pattern that has been utilized in every timeline. The most obvious items and issues are listed first. The most boring and depressing items are also listed first. The most unusual, little known, and entertaining items are always listed last. Some of the most significant events in American history are mentioned in the briefest manner because Timeline is not intended to be a factually descriptive history book. Many items include subjective comments that have caused them to be moved further away from the opening of the year. This also means items that do not have additional comments have been moved up toward the opening of the listed year. The order of the list within each year has absolutely nothing to do with the chronological order of the actual events as they unfolded within that year. When two items have been mentioned within a compound sentence, those two items may or may not be related in any manner whatsoever. Many compound sentences have been developed from the listings of items simply to break up the obvious monotony of a million simple, declarative sentences strung together. The risk in the structure of this book is that it appeals to no single type of reader, that it compounds its compromises with confusion. The reward is that it appeals to a broad spectrum of reader types who are seeking original entertainment more than factual information. There are no rules.
Cars: All years pertaining to cars refer to model year unless otherwise noted. In some cases, the year stated could go either way: the exact introductory time is not clearly stated or not available. For the purposes of this rose-colored look at our nostalgic memories, the Sixties are considered the zenith of the American car culture and mystique. We had no idea how low the prices were until we looked back at them decades later. We thought gas was high-priced when we encountered 40-cents for premium. The car chapter will hit the highlights of our love affair, from its birth at the beginning of the last century to the present day.
The Comfort Zone: This chapter will cover the many inventions and product introductions that have conspired to make our lives more comfortable. Practically any and all references to food items and branding are included here. All years pertaining to food items and products refer to the initial year of creation of the item or the marketing of the product. As with movies and music, many of the stated years may seem to be premature. Most, but not all, of the brands discussed in this book are in this chapter. Some items that do not quite fit into the comfort category are listed in the timeline of hysterical events chapter. Many items fit more appropriately within the toy chapter. All the rest can be found here.
Gossip: The headlines you would ordinarily read at the checkout stand are included in this timeline. These cover a broad field of facts concerning the deaths, divorces, and marriages of celebrities, as well as natural and unnatural disasters. Many of the more entertaining issues are included in this chapter as well. The depressing facts are always listed first and the entertaining material follows.
Hysterical Events contains all the historic events that are not included in the other timelines. Things that relate to cars, music, toys, inventions, food items, etc., are listed within their own categories. Although most of the listings in Chapter 1 could be called events, many non-event items that did not fit within other categories have been included here. Two examples of these are guns and medical achievements. Although some of these could certainly be loosely defined as comfort items, and I know some of you Bambi murderers would rather see guns in the toy department, placing these items within the parameters of the miscellaneous timeline made just a bit more sense. Believe me when I say that I am not being sarcastic here. The placement of these two categories was a very difficult decision. I want this very densely packed material to be as pleasantly accessible to as many readers as possible.
Movies: All movie titles are in italics. All movies are listed under the year they were officially introduced, which can be confusing as you near the end of the year. For instance, most of us think of The Graduate as a 1968 movie because that is when we first saw or heard of it, but its earliest screenings were at the very end of 1967. Most sequels are ignored, not listed, or deleted from the timeline and the text. A few exceptions are listed, especially one or two quality follow-ups to a very good movie. All of the Elvis and James Bond movies are listed simply because they contribute to the cult of America when considered as whole entities. I hope not many readers miss the deletion of the zillions of pathetic, money-hogging sequels. It’s time to halt the celebrity obsession that allows such gross volumes of cash to be made on bad movies. If you insist on reading about Friday the 13th Part 13, certainly there are many more complete sources than this one. I offer my apologies to all you Trekkies for not listing all the Star Treks of theatre and television. The numerous later iterations stand out as the line I had to draw in the sand just to restrain the size and depth of the timeline. Elvis and Bond, yes, Captain Kirk, Skywalker, and Harry Potter, no: the pioneers of yesterday get the nod.
Music: The listing of artists includes the most significant names that we heard first in that year. This is a very selective, subjective short list that includes artists whose first album was released that year, as well as artists we first noticed during that year. The attention could have been brought by the artist’s first hit single, a highly publicized live performance, or extensive touring. In most cases, the band had been formed in an earlier year, but national exposure was unavailable until the year noted. All song titles are in “quotation marks”. All album titles are in italics. The albums included tend to be either the ones with musical innovation, long-lasting quality, or exceptionally high popularity ratings. The list within each year always includes these three categories in reverse order.
Please take note that many artists, particularly through the Seventies, repeatedly produced album releases of very high quality. These consecutive releases were very often superior to the one or two quality album releases by lesser-known artists. Purely for the sake of brevity, only the most innovative, bestselling, or influential of these albums have been listed. I have tried to keep the total number per artist as small as possible, leaving space for as many different artists as possible to make the cut. I can only apologize if your favorite has not been included. Bear in mind that the album in question was not forgotten. It is simply that a football team cannot have fifty players on the field at the same time.
The name of the artist may have been omitted from the list if the artist’s name is obvious because it has been included in the album title. The artist’s name is more likely to have been omitted for brevity when the name of the album and/or artist is long. The name of the artist may also be omitted occasionally in a reference within the text if the name is obvious, such as in a reference to the songs, “Blowin’ in the Wind” or “I Want to Hold Your Hand”. Other examples would be with reference to albums, such as Dark Side of the Moon or Electric Ladyland. Minimal overlap of the artist, tune, and album listings has been employed whenever possible. Among the entries selected for each year, the order of the list is significant. Each list of artists, tunes, and albums is in the same order. The Top 40, popular, simple, hits with wide appeal are always listed first. The most exotic, groundbreaking music with influence into the future is always last. Every item is listed along this continuum in what obviously must be a very subjective order.
The Nerd Channel includes all published matter and computer related issues. The first items are always books, with the author’s name listed first and the book titles in italics. All other published matter is listed next. Magazines are in italics and all stories, articles, poems, etc. are in quotation marks. A random sampling of the highlights of the development of computer hardware and software are listed next. Computer games are not listed here. These can be found in the toy timeline in Chapter 4. The P.I. (Playboy Interviews) section notes many of the more recognizable or poignant names of the Playboy interview subjects within the year of original publication. All interview subjects are listed by the stated year of the issue. Unlike the information in all the other timelines, the order within each year represents the chronological order of the original publication dates. The only exception to this is Ted Turner the recorder stomper.
Sports: Only the tip of the iceberg of traditional sports has been included. The sports obsessions of America are so huge that the detailed statistics of any popular sport have repeatedly been included in many books. A few unusual events from the sports genre have been listed instead. Within each year in the sports timeline, baseball is listed first, football second, miscellaneous traditional events third, and the lesser-known facts are listed last. The opening words and numbers of each year are the World Series scores. The next set of words and numbers are the Super Bowl scores. These two sets of facts always precede any other sports comments. Yes, I know that football is bigger than baseball in this country, but the World Series is much older than the Super Bowl, so it gets listed first.
Television: All television programs are in italics. The year under which any program is listed is the first year the program premiered. Unlike the car timeline, if the first run of the first episode of a television series was shown in December, then that series will be listed in that year. This is the case even if the show gained the bulk of its audience during the following year, or even the year after that.
Toys: Traditional children’s toys are always listed first and toys for adults are listed last. Within the teenage or adult category, miscellaneous items are listed after the kid stuff, followed by electronics, then motorized toys of a non-automotive nature. All things relating to cars are listed in the car timeline. Similar items such as motorcycles, ATV’s, watercraft, etc., are listed last in the toy department. Ya’ll go have fun now, ya heah?
Chapter 1: The Timeline
Good for Us, Bad for the Indians
Important stuff like history and geography is not as routinely taught in the fourth and fifth grades of schools today as it was when the baby boomers began their public educations in the Fifties. I don’t think kids grow up with the same sense of historical significance that we were given. Although many of us know that the stories of the Indian Wars have been told from the viewpoints of John Wayne and General Custer, at least we grew up with a sense of our national origins. One of the better episodes of The Andy Griffith Show is the one in which Opie and his buddies show no interest in learning American history. Andy and Barney tell the boys the story of the founding of the nation in a manner that appeals to ten-year-old boys.
You will not be required to recite the Preamble to the Constitution or explain the Emancipation Proclamation after completing this study of American history, but there is a test at the end. The test is much like a book report. You must read the book first in order to learn many of the answers. Most of the questions and answers in the test can be found within the timelines or text; however, a few of the questions and their respective answers cannot be located within the content of the book. The subject matter of these questions, although not specifically discussed in the book, is closely related to its content. The good news is that this book was written by taking a full set of encyclopedias down to the auto-wrecking yard and placing all the volumes into the crusher. The resulting squished book was then examined thoroughly and a Cliff Notes version was transcribed. The Cliff Notes version was run through a team of for Dummies book editors, who transcribed the surviving facts to me. What did I do? I wrote the comic book you are now holding in your hands.
Timeline of America is the version written for wide appeal to kids of all ages who now reside in the 21st Century, but grew up in the last one. In order to fully comprehend the ramifications of the details presented in the later timelines, we first have to get a firm grip on our historical past. Instead of Andy and Barney telling the story, just imagine that you are sitting in a circle in the basement with Eric, Donna, Hyde, Kelso, and Fez, or that foreign kid, as he is commonly referred to by Red Foreman. This is the story of America that we all want to hear, just like we wanted to think the Indian Wars resembled Sitting Bull more than they did Soldier Blue.
The timeline of this first chapter begins with the many facts, issues, events, and things that happened before any of us were born. Most of us will fondly remember most of the material presented in the later chapters, but like Andy Taylor said, history has a valid importance to us all, whether we were there or not. The following dates are not to be taken too seriously. The specific year may be off by a digit or two, but if it is, get a grip. This is not the American Hysterical Society. It’s just me, the self-appointed psychoanalyst of the consumer culture representing the Baby Boomer Generation. References to particular corporate entities were sourced from the companies’ own websites. We begin with a vacation to The Bahamas….
The Timeline of Hysterical Events
1492 – Christopher Columbus lands in The Bahamas.
1493 – Juan Ponce de Leon was a crewmember on Columbus’ ship that landed in Puerto Rico.
1503 – Queen Isabella of Spain bans violence against Indians.
1506 – Columbus dies believing he had discovered an island off Asia, not America.
1508 – Ponce de Leon begins the colonization of Puerto Rico.
1513 – Ponce de Leon lands in Florida.
1521 – Francisco de Gordillo sails northward up the eastern coast to South Carolina.
1524 – Giovanni de Verrazano discovered the Hudson River and New York Bay, and was later eaten by the natives.
1528 – The Spanish fleet sinks in a Florida hurricane. Don Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca lands on the Texas coast.
1538 – The word America is first used.
1540 – Hernando de Alarcon discovers the Colorado River and California. Hernando De Soto enters Georgia. Garcia Lopez de Cardenas explores the Grand Canyon.
1541 – Hernando de Soto discovers and crosses the Mississippi River. Francisco Vasquez de Coronado discovers New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Kansas.
1542 – A law is passed in Spain prohibiting the enslavement of American Indians.
1543 – Bartoleme Ferrelo discovers San Francisco Bay.
1544 – The first rats come to North America on ships from Europe.
1550 – Mt. St. Helens begins eruptions that last throughout the next century.
1565 – St. Augustine, FL, becomes the first established city in the U.S.
1587 – Virginia Dare is the first child born in the U.S. of English parents.
1602 – Martha’s Vineyard is discovered by Captain Bartholomew Gosnold.
1607 – Jamestown, Virginia, is founded.
1608 – Bowling is banned in Jamestown.
1609 – Henry Hudson discovers Manhattan Island.
1611 – The authorized version of The King James Bible is released.
1612 – Etienne Brule, the first European to live among the Indians, discovers the Great Lakes.
1619 – The first legislative assembly convenes in Jamestown. The first Thanksgiving Day is observed. The first election in America is held.
1620 – The first public library is established. The Mayflower gets blown off course and lands in Massachusetts. The Mayflower crew leaves the remaining Pilgrims in MA because the crew does not have enough beer on board to take the passengers to Virginia, and then sail back to England!
1621 – The Plymouth, MA, colonists sign the first treaty with the Indians and everyone pigs out at the first Thanksgiving.
1623 – The word cowboy is first used.
1624 – The first submarine is tested in London.
1626 – Manhattan is purchased from Native Americans for $24.
1628 – The first orgy with Indian women is held in Quincy, MA. Thomas Morton is the first person deported from the U.S.
1630 – John Billington, who had arrived on The Mayflower, is the first American executed for murder.
1634 – The first tavern opens in Boston.
1635 – The first public school in America opens.
1636 – Harvard College is founded. The first town library is established in Boston.
1638 – The first recorded U.S. earthquake occurs in Plymouth, MA. New Haven, CT, becomes the first planned city in the U.S.
1639 – The first log cabin in the U.S. is built. The first printing press in America is set up. The first colonial post office opens.
1641 – The first law in America against wife beating is passed.
1642 – York, Maine, becomes the first U.S. city to incorporate (as Georgeana).
1643 – Ann Radcliffe establishes the first scholarship at Harvard University.
1644 – The first reported UFO sighting happens in Boston.
1647 – The first compulsory school attendance law is passed in MA.
1648 – The first volunteer fire department in the U.S. is established.
1651 – Massachusetts institutes a dress code for the poor.
1652 – Rhode Island declares slavery illegal. The first speed limit is imposed in New York City.
1653 – New York City is incorporated.
1657 – The first autopsy is performed in Maryland.
1658 – The first city police force in The Colonies is established.
1659 – Tennis playing is forbidden during religious services.
1663 – The Bible is published in Algonquian.
1664 – The First Baptist Church is founded in Boston. Wealthy non-church members in Massachusetts are given the right to vote.
1665 – The first play is performed in Virginia.
1667 – The first divorce law is passed in Connecticut.
1668 – The first horse race in America is staged. Three Baptists are expelled from Massachusetts.
1670 – Christian blacks arriving in the colonies could not be enslaved in Virginia.
1672 – The first copyright law is established in Massachusetts.
1680 – The first confirmed tornado in the U.S. touches down in Cambridge MA.
1688 – The Pennsylvania Quakers protest slavery.
1690 – The first American paper money is issued in MA to pay soldiers.
1700 – The white-only population is 250,000.
1704 – The first successful American newspaper is printed and the first newspaper ad later appears.
1706 – The First Presbyterian Church is founded in Philadelphia.
1712 – Pennsylvania bans the importation of slaves.
1716 – The first U.S. lighthouse is erected in Boston Harbor.
1718 – New Orleans is founded by the French.
1720 – The white population reaches 475,000.
1721 – The first smallpox inoculation is given in Boston.
1729 – Baltimore, Maryland, is founded.
1731 – Ben Franklin opens the first public library in which members could borrow books.
1733 – The Molasses Act is passed. The Freemasons are founded in Boston.
1737 – Richmond, Virginia, is founded.
1738 – The Methodist Church is established.
1747 – The first stand-up comedian starts his routine in America.
1748 – Jews are given the right to colonize. The First United Lutheran Church is founded.
1750 – The first modern shoe factory is established in Massachusetts. The population reaches 18,000,000.
1752 – The first general hospital is founded in Philadelphia. The Liberty Bell is built. Ben Franklin flies a kite.
1753 – The first St. Patrick’s Day is observed. The first steam engine is built in the U.S.
1755 – The French & Indian Wars begin.
1758 – The first Indian reservation is established.
1760 – The white population is 1,500,000. The Great Fire of Boston wipes out much of the city. The first Jewish prayer books are printed in the U.S.
1764 – Parliament bans the colonies from printing paper money. “Taxation without representation” becomes the battle cry.
1765 – The Stamp Act, the first direct tax the British levied on the colonists, is passed.
1766 – The Stamp Act is declared unconstitutional in Virginia. Britain repeals The Stamp Act. The first U.S. dentist opens for business.
1767 – Parliament taxes common products in the Townshend Act.
1768 – The first U.S. Chamber of Commerce is established in NYC.
1770 – The white population is 2,210,000. The Boston Massacre occurs.
1772 – The first licensing of doctors occurs in New Jersey.
1773 – We throw the tea in the lake (Boston Tea Party, for you airheads). The first public museum in America opens in Charleston, SC. The Tea Act is passed.
1774 – The First Continental Congress is established. The Second Boston Tea Party occurs. Britain closes the Port of Boston to all commerce. Yet another Tea Party happens in NYC.
1775 – William Dawes, Samuel Prescott, and Paul Revere ride, but popular history gives all the credit to the latter, who was captured by the British, who confiscated his horse. Revere probably said “the regulars are out”, not “the British are coming”. Ben Franklin is appointed Postmaster General of the first Post Office. The U. S. Navy and Marines are established. Patrick Henry says, “Give me liberty or give me death.” George Washington is appointed Supreme Commander. The United States officially begins. Daniel Boone blazes The Cumberland Gap through Kentucky. We all sing “Yankee Doodle Dandy”.
1776 – The nation is officially founded. The Declaration of Independence is signed. The statue of King George III in NYC is pulled down.
1777 – San Jose is founded as California’s first town. The Stars & Stripes is adopted as the first national flag.
1778 – The $ symbol is first used. The first treaty is made between the U.S. and the Indian tribes.
1779 – Benedict Arnold is court-martialed.
1780 – The American Academy of Arts & Science is founded.
1782 – The Bank of North America, the first commercial U.S. bank, opens in Philadelphia. The eagle is adopted as the official U.S. symbol. The first Purple Heart is presented to a soldier.
1783 – The Revolutionary War officially ends with a peace treaty.
1784 – Ben Franklin invents bifocals and wants the turkey to be the symbol of the U.S. instead of the eagle.
1785 – The first Fourth of July parade is held in Bristol, RI. The Land Grant Act of 1785 sets aside land for schools.
1786 – The first astronomical expedition in the U.S. occurs.
1787 – The U.S. Constitution is finally completed.
1788 – The Constitution is ratified. New Orleans is almost destroyed by fire.
1789 – The U.S. Army is officially established and the first U.S. Presidential Election is held. The Constitution goes into effect and the first House of Representatives is established. Fletcher Christian tells Captain Bligh where he can stuff it.
1790 – The population reaches four million. The first State of the Union Address is given. The U.S. Coast Guard is established. U.S. copyright law is passed. The Episcopal Church is founded.
1791 – The U.S. mint is established. The first one-way street is opened in New York City.
1792 – The U.S. Post Office is established. Columbus Day is first observed.
1793 – The first manned balloon flight in the U.S. is accomplished.
1794 – The first American silver dollar is minted. The first U.S. Senate session opens to the public.
1796 – The first elephant arrives in the U.S. from India.
1798 – The first serious fistfight breaks out in Congress. The first large U.S. bank robbery occurs in Philadelphia. Stonemasons whitewash the walls of the building that will house President Adams in 1800.
1799 – The first printed ballot is presented in Pennsylvania.
1800 – The population numbers five million. The Library of Congress is founded. Washington, D.C. is established as the U.S. capital.
1801 – Dueling is banned in Kentucky.
1802 – Washington, D.C., is incorporated. West Point Military Academy is founded.
1803 – The Louisiana Territory is purchased from The French for $15 million. The first U.S. public library is established in Connecticut.
1804 – John Deere is founded. Lewis & Clark take a little trip.
1806 – Pike’s Peak is discovered to be tall.
1807 – The first steamboat is built. The U.S. Congressional Cemetery is established.
1808 – The first land-grant university is founded in Ohio. Slave trading in the U.S. finally ends.
1809 – Wearing masks at balls is banned in Boston.
1810 – The U. S. population is seven million.
1811 – The first steam-powered ferryboat is built.
1812 – The War of 1812 obviously occurs. The Bank of America is founded in New York City.
1813 – The first federal vaccination legislation is passed. The Office of the Surgeon General of the U.S. Army is established. The Royal Philharmonic plays its first concert.
1814 – The Star Spangled Banner is composed.
1815 – The first New England missionaries arrive on Maui.
1816 – The first savings bank in the U. S. is established.
1817 – The first American school for the deaf opens. The Seminole War begins in Florida. The New York Stock Exchange is established.
1818 – The 49th Parallel establishes the U.S./Canadian border.
1820 – The population has reached 9.5 million.
1821 – The first pharmacy college in the U.S. opens in Philadelphia. The first U.S. public high school is established in Boston.
1823 – The first state birth registration law is passed in Georgia.
1824 – John Quincy Adams becomes the only bald-headed president, as well as the first to be president after his father held the office. Rhode Island Reds, chickens that lay brown eggs, are first bred.
1825 – The first college fraternity, Kappa Alpha Society, is established. The first Northern California vineyards are planted.
1826 – The American Temperance Society is founded.
1827 – The First Mardi Gras is celebrated and the first official gambling casino opens in New Orleans.
1829 – The first modern hotel opens in Boston. The first passenger railroad line is established.
1830 – The population is 12.8 million. The first locomotive in the U. S. loses a nine-mile race to a horse.
1831 – The first recorded U.S. bank robbery occurs on Wall Street. “America” is first sung in Boston. The first U.S. steam engine train begins its run. The Skull & Bones society is founded at Yale. Copyright protection is established for musical compositions. Cincinnati is nicknamed “Porkopolis” for its meat packing industry.
1832 – The first railroad accident in the U. S. occurs.
1833 – The Boston Academy of Music is established. Oberlin College in Ohio becomes the first coed college.
1834 – “Turkey in the Straw” is composed.
1835 – P. T. Barnum’s circus begins its run. The Liberty Bell gets its first big crack. The first sugar cane plantation is established in Hawaii. The Texas Rangers are founded as a mounted police force.
1836 – Santa Ana makes his 13-day siege of the Alamo with 3000 Mexicans against 182 Texans. The first Mormon temple is established in Ohio.
1837 – The Supreme Court is increased from seven to nine members. The first women’s college is founded.
1838 – Fire destroys half of Charleston, NC. A major earthquake shakes the California Bay Area.
1839 – OK becomes the abbreviation for oll correct.
1840 – The population is seventeen million. White lace wedding dresses become popular after Queen Victoria wears one in her wedding. President Van Buren is attacked during his campaign for his second term for “wallowing lasciviously in raspberries”.
1841 – The U. S. Senate has its first continuous filibuster. The first steam fire engine is built. The first wagon train arrives in California.
1842 – The New York Philharmonic plays its first concert.
1843 – The first advertising agency opens in Philadelphia. The NYC population is 350,000. The first major wagon train follows The Oregon Trail.
1844 – Nitrous oxide is first used by a dentist.
1845 – The U.S. Naval Academy is established. Bathing is outlawed in Boston except by a doctor’s order. The religious community tries to block the introduction of button-fly pants.
1846 – The Smithsonian Institution is established. The Donner Party does lunch.
1847 – The population of San Francisco is 462. The American Medical Association is founded. Colt Manufacturing Company is founded in Hartford, CT.
1848 – The California Gold Rush begins. The first women’s rights convention convenes in NY. The Associated Press is established.
1849 – Pfizer Drug Company is founded.
1850 – The population is 23 million. Los Angeles and San Francisco are incorporated and American Express is founded. The Allan Pinkerton Agency is founded. 50,000 Irish prostitutes are in NYC. Only 2% of the population lives past age 65.
1851 – The Young Men’s Christian Association is established.
1852 – Smith & Wesson and Wells Fargo are founded. Emma Snodgrass is arrested in Boston for wearing pants.
1853 – The first salaried firefighters are paid in Cincinnati. Levi Strauss & Company is founded in San Francisco.
1854 – The Republican Party is founded to abolish slavery. Metal bullet cartridges are first used.
1855 – A train crosses the Mississippi River the first time.
1856 – The first Republican National Convention is organized.
1858 – The first photo is taken of a comet. Central Park and Macy & Company dry goods store open in NYC. Stanford University is founded.
1859 – The first insanity plea is pled. Radical abolitionist John Brown is hanged.
1860 – The population reaches thirty-one million. The Pony Express begins its brief gallop and the U. S. Secret Service begins its long history. South Carolina secedes from The Union.
1861 – The Civil War begins. Jefferson Davis is elected President of the Confederate States of America. The Pinkerton Agency discovers a plot to assassinate President Lincoln in Baltimore before he can take office, so Lincoln slips into Washington at night to avoid detection. Lincoln appoints General George B. McClellen, a pro-slavery Democrat, as head of the Army. The Gatling Gun is patented. The first income tax is levied. Some of us sing “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”.
1862 – The U.S. Mint is established. Part 1 of The Emancipation Proclamation is written.
1863 – President Lincoln issues Part 2 of The Emancipation Proclamation and makes his legendary Gettysburg Address.
1864 – Lincoln appoints Ulysses S. Grant to head the Union Army. The first travel accident insurance policy is sold. “In God We Trust” comes into use. The first hunting license fee is paid in NY. Sherman’s troops set fire to Atlanta. A federal law permits any woman to divorce a husband in the military. The Sand Creek Massacre of 300 Cheyenne women and children later inspires the movies Soldier Blue and (to a lesser extent) Little Big Man.
1865 – President Lincoln is assassinated. Robert E. Lee is appointed Commander in Chief of the bunch below the Mason Dixon Line. MIT is established. Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox.
1866 – Jesse James pulls his first bank job. The ASPCA & Ku Klux Klan are founded.
1867 – The Reconstruction Act is passed. The Department of Education is founded. The U.S. buys Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million in gold. The first Belmont Stakes is run in Elmont, New York. The Bank of California is established. The first trainload of cattle is shipped from Abilene, KS, to the Chicago stockyards. The yellow fever epidemic breaks out.10,000 divorces are recorded in the U.S.
1868 – The eight-hour workday is established for federal employees. President Andrew Johnson is impeached, but he is acquitted by one Senate vote. The first parade with floats in the U.S. is seen at Mardi Gras in Mobile, AL. The University of California system is founded in Oakland. The Great Train Robbery in Marshfield, IN, nets $96,000 for the Reno Gang. Memorial Day is observed. A tax stamp is required on cigarettes.
1869 – The American Museum of Natural History is established. Gambling is legalized in Nevada. The Pacific Lumber Company is founded.
1870 – The population is just under forty million. The donkey is adopted as a symbol of the Democratic Party. The U.S. National Weather Service is established. A Republican Senator from MS becomes the first black member of Congress. The first U.S. National Wildlife Preserve is established in Oakland, CA. The Department of Justice is formed. Atlantic City builds a boardwalk. The first woman graduates from law school.
1871 – The income tax is repealed. The Civil Service is founded. The nation’s worst forest fire kills 1200 in Wisconsin and Michigan. The Great Chicago Fire kills 300. The first human cannonball does his thing. The National Rifle Association is founded. We all went to see “The Greatest Show on Earth”.
1872 – Yellowstone National Park is established. Susan B. Anthony is fined $100 for trying to vote in a presidential election. Boston burns again. A cask of molasses breaks open on the loading dock at a Memphis warehouse, creating a sticky eight-foot wave that crashes over twelve pedestrians.
1874 – The first U.S. zoo opens in Philadelphia. The army plays “Taps”.
1875 – The first Kentucky Derby is run. A Nebraska grasshopper swarm 1800 miles long and 110 miles wide invades the state.
1876 – Johns Hopkins University is founded. General Custer ceases operations at Little Big Horn.
1877 – Chief Crazy Horse fights his last battle with the cavalry in Montana and later surrenders, while Sitting Bull moves his tribe to Canada.
1878 – The first U.S. bicycle race is pedaled in Boston. The Salvation Army and The American Bar Association are founded. Boot Hill opens for business in Tombstone, Arizona.
1879 – The first telephone is installed in the White House. The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers is organized. San Francisco police arrest a dancer for indecent exposure by failing to keep her skirt covering her ankles.
1880 – The population is fifty million. Folsom Prison opens.
1881 – Barnum & Bailey Circus is founded. Billy the Kid shoots two guards and escapes from jail in New Mexico. Clara Barton founds the American Red Cross. President James Garfield is assassinated. Sheriff Pat Garrett shoots Billy the Kid. Things get shot up at The Gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone, AZ. San Francisco has 233,959 residents, 428 restaurants, 342 oyster saloons, 90 coffee saloons, and 1400 bars.
1882 – The Edmunds Act outlaws polygamy. The Knights of Columbus are founded. Jesse James is shot in the back by one of his own gang members for a $5000 reward. The Chinese Exclusion Act bars Chinese immigrants for ten years. Labor Day is first observed.
1883 – The modern machine gun is invented. The first vaudeville theater opens in Boston. Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show entertains the city slickers. The Brooklyn Bridge is built. A rumor that the Brooklyn Bridge is collapsing causes a panic and stampede that tramples twelve people.
1884 – Mississippi State College for Women (now MUW) opens as the first state-supported college for women. The Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is founded. The first roller coaster opens at Coney Island with a top speed of 6 mph. The first bullfight is seen in Dodge City, KS. The first known photograph of a tornado is taken in South Dakota. The National Cash Register Company is founded.
1885 – The Washington Monument and the first steel skeleton skyscraper are erected. The Salvation Army, the Boston Pops Orchestra, and American Telephone & Telegraph are established. The first photograph of a meteor is taken. The first recorded serial murders occur in Austin, TX.
1886 – Geronimo surrenders. An earthquake kills 110 in Charleston, SC. President Grover Cleveland dedicates the Statue of Liberty.
1887 – Pearl Harbor is leased as a naval base. William Randolph Hearst founds The Hearst Corporation. The groundhog makes his first appearance in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.
1888 – The National Geographic Society, Eastman Kodak, and the Moose Lodge are founded. The first, official, annual rodeo is held in Prescott, AZ.
1889 – The Great Seattle Fire destroys the city.
1890 – The population reaches 63 million. Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks and the U.S. Weather Bureau are established. A German immigrant releases forty pair of European starlings in Central Park. The starling population in the U.S. is now over 200 million.
1891 – The Great Blizzard of 1891 blows. American Express introduces traveler’s checks.
1892 – General Electric Company and the Sierra Club are founded. The Pledge of Allegiance is recited in public school. The word homosexual appears in print for the first time. Voting machines are first used. Abercrombie & Fitch is founded. The first immigrant enters the U.S. through Ellis Island.
1893 – Flag Day is observed. A hurricane kills 1800 in Mississippi. The San Andreas Fault is discovered. Sears, Roebuck & Company is founded.
1894 – The first state dog license is issued in New York.
1895 – It snows in New Orleans. The Flip Flap in Brooklyn is the first roller coaster with a vertical loop, but its atrocious safety record brings it a neck-snappingly short life.
1896 – The Klondike Gold Rush stirs up Alaska. Wyatt Earp works as a boxing referee.
1897 – We begin to sing about the duck that may be somebody’s mother in the “Stars and Stripes Forever”.
1898 – The Spanish-American War happens. The first amusement pier opens in Atlantic City. Guam becomes a U.S. territory. Hawaii is formally annexed to the U.S. Jazz music is born and Storyville is legalized as a brothel district in New Orleans.
1899 – Mount Rainier National Park is established. The Gideon Society places Bibles in hotel rooms. A federal law against dumping any waste in any U.S. body of water is passed. The first Juvenile Court is established in Chicago.
1900 – The population is 76 million. 250 grave robbers are shot to death. Galveston is devastated by a hurricane. The NYC subway opens. Temperance agitator Carrie Nation smashes the first bar with her hatchet in Wichita, KS. The Dallas Symphony Orchestra is organized. Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid, and their Wild Bunch pose for photos at a Fort Worth studio. The first Salvation Army Santas are arrested for creating a public nuisance.
1901 – President McKinley is assassinated and President Theodore Roosevelt names The White House.
1902 – The Carnegie Institute and the Ralston-Purina Company are founded. The U.S. Secret Service is first utilized to protect the President.
1903 – Niagara Falls runs out of water due to a drought. The Wright Brothers fly in Kitty Hawk, NC. The Wild West Show stars Cole Younger and Frank James.
1904 – A Baltimore fire causes $80 million in damages. The U.S. buys the Panama Canal Zone for $10 million. Helen Keller graduates with honors from Radcliffe College. Mounted police are first used in NYC. A woman is arrested for smoking a cigarette on Fifth Avenue in NYC. St. Louis police use fingerprints to solve a crime in the U.S. for the first time. The NYC subway opens.
1905 – The Rotary Club is founded in Chicago. Einstein’s Theory of Relativity is presented. The U.S. Forest Service is founded and the first forest fire lookout tower is built. President Grover Cleveland publishes an article in Ladies’ Home Journal describing why sensible women should not want to vote.
1906 – The first long-distance radio program is broadcast. Harry Houdini comes to fame as an escape artist. The first federal prison is built in Leavenworth, KS. Fraternity hazing is banned in Ohio. The Devil’s Tower in Wyoming becomes the first U.S. National Monument. President Theodore Roosevelt is awarded the first Nobel Peace Prize. The Fuller Brush Company is founded and the Pure Food & Drug Act is passed.
1907 – President Roosevelt shakes 8513 hands in one day. 600,000 tons of grain is shipped to Russia to relieve famine. United Pacel Service is established and Ringling Brothers Circus buys Barnum & Bailey. Christmas seals are invented. New York City gets taxis and a ball is dropped in Times Square on New Year’s Eve the first time. The first black American Rhodes Scholar is named.
1908 – Women are barred from smoking in public facilities. Postage stamps are sold in rolls. The first passenger airplane takes flight. The first federal workmen’s compensation law is passed. Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid are killed in Bolivia.
1909 – The University of Minnesota opens the first university school of nursing. Lincoln head pennies become the first coin with the likeness of a president. Sophie Tucker sings in the Ziegfeld Follies. The Metropolitan Life Insurance Tower of fifty stories is erected in NYC. The first honeymoon happens in a balloon. (Is this the origin of The Mile High Club?) Dinosaur bones are discovered in Utah. The oval office is added to the West Wing.
1910 – The population is 92 million. There are eight Harvard MBA graduates. The Mann Act forbids the transporting of women across state lines for immoral purposes. The first state fair is organized. The tobacco industry produces nine billion cigarettes. Gambling is banned in Nevada. Father’s Day and Hallmark Cards are established. Genes and chromosomes are discovered to control inherited traits.
1911 – Roosevelt Dam is constructed in Phoenix. Gold is discovered in Alaska. The first black policeman is hired in New York City. The Goodyear blimp takes flight. The first time sex appeal is used in advertising is “The Skin You Love to Touch” Woodbury Soap ad in Ladies’ Home Journal.
1912 – The Titanic sinks. Massachusetts enacts the first minimum wage law in the U.S. Joseph Pulitzer donates $2 million to found the Columbia School of Journalism in NYC. A brave soul takes the first in-flight parachute jump. The first woman becomes a detective and the first Girl Scout troop is organized.
1913 – The federal income tax is re-established. Grand Central Terminal and the New York Times building are built in NYC. The sixty-story Woolworth building becomes the tallest building in the world. The first boat traverses the Panama Canal. “Nude Descending a Staircase” is painted. The first avant-garde art show happens in NYC (where else?). Interior decorating becomes a profession. President Wilson holds the first open presidential news conference and declares that the U.S. will never attack another country.
1914 – The Federal Trade Commission is established. Mother’s Day is made official after many years in practice. WWI begins and the NewYork Stock Exchange is closed for 4½ months. ASCAP is founded for music publishing. Brothels are banned in Washington, D.C. A crazed servant kills the mistress of Frank Lloyd Wright and six children with an axe at Taliesin.
1915 – Rocky Mountain National Park is established. The Kiwanis Club is founded in Detroit. AT&T becomes the first corporation with a million stockholders. The National Baptist Convention is organized. 25,000 women march for suffrage in NYC.
1916 – Two airborne planes communicate by radio. The first woman is elected to the U.S. Congress. The U.S. buys the Danish Virgin Islands (St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John) for $25 million. ROTC, The National Park Service, and the San Diego Zoo are established.
1917 – The U.S. enters WWI. Congress levies a tax on the excess profits of corporations. J. Edgar Hoover joins the Justice Department. Denali National Park is established in Alaska. 20,000 women participate in a parade for suffrage in NYC. Forty-one suffragettes are arrested for protesting outside the White House. NY allows women to vote. The Uncle Sam poster is created. Sophie Tucker’s version of W. C. Handy’s “Saint Louis Blues” sells a million copies. The Pulitzer Prize is established. The Storyville brothel district of New Orleans is closed to protect the large numbers of WWI soldiers stationed in the city.
1918 – The U.S. Naval boat Cyclops disappears in the Bermuda Triangle. Airmail and airmail stamps come into use. The first woman D.A. is elected. An iron lung is first used at Boston Children’s Hospital. A tornado hits Codell, KS, May 20th, 1916, 1917, and 1918.
1919 – The first Miss America is married with two kids. The League of Nations is founded. U.S. air passenger service begins with the first airport site near Atlantic City. The American Legion is established. Prohibition legislation passes. Halliburton Corporation is founded. An explosion in Boston breaks open a two-million-gallon tank of molasses that knocks down ten buildings and oozes into the streets, killing 21 and injuring 50.
1920 – The population is 105 million. Women finally get the right to vote with the 19th Amendment. Prohibition begins. The first radio station is founded. Italian immigrant Charles Ponzi is caught in various scams and deported to Italy, leaving his namesake. The U.S.P.O. rules that children may not be sent by parcel post
1921 – The first Miss America is crowned in Atlantic City. A hurricane hits Washington and Oregon. The first radio weather report airs in St. Louis. The first state sales tax is levied in West Virginia. Hitler becomes president of the Nazi Party. Crop dusting from an airplane is done in Troy, OH. White Castle becomes the first fast-food hamburger chain. Striking milk truck drivers dump thousands of gallons of milk on NYC streets.
1922 – Radio commercials are first aired and the first aircraft carrier is launched. The Hays Office declares that two people cannot be filmed in the same bed, spawning the popularity of twin beds.
1923 –The Disney Company is founded. President Coolidge makes the first presidential radio address. The Hollywood sign is erected. A National Oil Reserve is established in Alaska. The U. S. Attorney General declares that it is legal for women to wear pants anywhere.
1924 – J. Edgar Hoover is appointed head of the FBI. The Giant Dipper roller coaster opens in Santa Cruz, CA. Congress grants citizenship to all American Indians. The first woman is elected governor. Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and Simon & Schuster Publishing are established. Edwin Hubble demonstrates the existence of other galaxies.
1925 – The National Better Business Bureau is established. Bing Crosby makes his first recording and Al Capone takes over Chicago.
1926 – The first radio network is organized. RCA founds NBC and Walt Disney Studios is established. The White House gets an electric refrigerator.
1927 – The first woman is elected to the NYSE. Charles Lindbergh flies his Spirit of St. Louis from NYC to Paris, the first solo, nonstop, transatlantic flight. Pan Am Airways is founded and the Holland Tunnel links NY and NJ. The play Showboat features the song, “Ol’ Man River”. The Cyclone roller coaster opens at Coney Island.
1928 – Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. The Three Musketeers musical premiers in NYC and “Amos & Andy” premiere on the radio. Gene Autry makes his first cowboy recording.
1929 – The Stock Market Crash sets off The Great Depression of the Thirties. Lucky Strike launches a $12.3 million ad campaign to sell cigarettes. Popeye is born and Chicago hosts The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. The first trade show opens in Atlantic City. The Museum of Modern Art opens in NYC. “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” debuts and “Auld Lang Syne” is played on New Year’s Eve for the first time by Guy Lombardo’s orchestra.
1930 – The population is 122 million. Eastern Airlines is founded and the first U.S. planetarium opens in Chicago. The first fatality by hail happens in Lubbock, TX. 123 billion cigarettes are produced. Grant Wood paints “American Gothic”. Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico becomes a national park. A study in 2000 states that the AIDS virus may have been transmitted from primate to human in 1930.
1931 – Hundreds of farmers storm a small town in AR demanding food. The Star Spangled Banner is officially adopted as the national anthem from the melody of an old English drinking song. The 102-story Empire State Building is completed. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is introduced as a children’s poem in Monkey Ward stores.
1932 – The Lindbergh baby is kidnapped. Rock City opens on Lookout Mountain overlooking Chattanooga, TN and seven states. Radio City Music Hall opens. Jack Benny and Groucho Marx become radio stars.
1933 – Roosevelt premieres his New Deal and Fireside Chats. The FDIC is established. Prohibition is repealed and the Gallo Winery is founded.
1934 – Alcatraz Prison opens for business. Bonnie & Clyde go on a rampage. John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, and Baby Face Nelson are shot by federal agents in three separate incidents.
1935 – Lie detector evidence is introduced in court in WI and blood-test evidence is used in court in NY. Airplane flights over the White House are banned because they disturb President Roosevelt’s sleep. NYC bans organ grinders from the streets to reduce noise. Persia is renamed Iran. Alcoholics Anonymous is founded in Akron, OH. Louisiana Senator Huey Long gives the longest Senate speech on record of fifteen hours. President Roosevelt signs a bill to prohibit the sale of U.S. arms to foreign belligerents. Morgan Stanley is founded. George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess opera opens in Boston. Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra debut.
1936 – The Ford Foundation is incorporated. Hoover Dam opens as Boulder Dam on the Colorado River. The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opens as the longest bridge ever attempted. A wild camel was seen in Nevada for the last time and the first giant panda in the U.S. arrives in San Francisco from China. Edger Bergen takes control of Charlie McCarthy’s mouth.
1937 – The Hindenburg zeppelin crashes and burns in NJ. Amelia Earhart and her plane disappear. The Golden Gate Bridge is completed. The first Santa Claus Training School opens in NY.
1938 – The March of Dimes is founded. Thornton Wilder’s Our Town wins the Pulitzer Prize. A 500-ton meteorite lands near Pittsburgh. The Federal Housing Authority is established. Howard Hughes makes the first passenger flight around the world. Firearm sales to known felons are banned. The Hewlett-Packard Company builds its first product, an audio oscillator that measures sound used in the film, Fantasia. Seabiscuit, Superman, and Bugs Bunny become national heroes.
1939 – The Mayor of NYC orders the city’s nude dancers to wear what would later become known as G-strings while the New York World’s Fair was in town. Benny Goodman and Kate Smith become famous and Frank Sinatra releases his first recording. The first FM station begins broadcasting from Alpine, NJ, and “You Are My Sunshine” is a new tune. Zip the frog sets a new single-jump record in CA of 15’10”. The 4.4-second chicken-plucking record is set in Wisconsin.
1940 – The population is 131 million. A helicopter completes its first successful flight. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is founded and President Roosevelt wins a third term. A 9400-year-old mummy is discovered in Nevada. Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” is a new song and Glenn Miller’s big band is making noise.
1941 – The U.S. enters WWII after Pearl Harbor is bombed. The first U.S.O. is established. Mount Rushmore is completed and the Manhattan Project begins to develop the atomic bomb. Jimmy Dorsey & Orchestra are making big-band sounds.
1942 – Count Basie & His Orchestra is the new band in town. “Chattanooga Choo Choo” is the first gold record (selling a million copies) and Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” is the top-selling single until 1997.
1943 – Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! opens on Broadway. Duke Ellington, David Brinkley, and Jimmy Durante are the new celebrities.
1944 – D-Day is the big day. Stanley Kubrick becomes a photographer for Look magazine and Roy Rogers sings “Don’t Fence Me In”. Smokey the Bear is born. Paul Harvey begins his radio commentary in Chicago.
1945 – Hiroshima is big news. The first U.S. atomic test explosion is done in Alamogordo, NM. Hitler commits suicide. The United Nations is founded. Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie opens on Broadway. A medium-priced home costs $7500.