Life In Good Measure

It is about people, history and your own place on the map

Data for 1813

The Philharmonic Society is founded in London (Jan 24), Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is published (Jan 28), Prussia declares war on France (Mar 17), American forces capture Fort George in Canada (May 27), the Carabinieri are founded in the Kingdom of Sardinia (Jul 13), Napoleon’s troops are victorious in Dresden (Aug 27), Simón Bolívar is given the title El Libertador in Venezuela (Oct 5), British soldiers burn Buffalo, New York (Dec 29), the Napoleonic Wars go on - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Data for 1838

In the year 1838, the first public demonstration of a new invention - telegraph - occurs in Morristown, New Jersey (Jan 6), the first known report about the lowest temperature on Earth is made, -60°C (-76°F) in Yakutsk, Siberia (Jan 21), the first East Indian immigrants arrive in British Guiana (May 5), several native tribes in the United States, there among Cherokee, Muscogee and Seminole, are forcefully relocated in what came to be known Trail of Tears (May 26), the coronation of Queen Victoria takes place at Westminster Abbey in London (Jun 28), Governor of Missouri declares Mormons to be enemies of state, leaving either extermination or exile their only option (Oct 27) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Data for 1840

In the year 1840, British colonists reach New Zealand, officially founding Wellington (Jan 22), Queen Victoria marries her cousin Prince Albert (Feb 10), Britain issues the Penny Black, the world’s first postage stamp (May 1), New Zealand is declared a British colony (May 21), the Province of Canada is created by the Act of Union (Jul 23), David Livingstone leaves Britain for Africa (to be located only 31 years later by Henry Morton Stanley) (Dec 7) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Data for 1873

In the year 1873, Japan adopts the Gregorian calendar (Jan 1), the world’s first kennel club is founded in the United Kingdom (Apr 4), barbed wire is exhibited at an Illinois county fair, and is soon being mass-produced (May), Levi Strauss and Co. begin manufacturing the famous Levi’s brand of jeans (May 20), Jesse James and his gang pull off the first successful train robbery in the American Old West (Jul 21), Heineken Brewery is founded in Amsterdam (Dec 16), the Long Depression that started in October lasts for many years, the American Indian Wars go on - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Data for 1906

In the year 1906, Rolls-Royce Ltd. is registered (Mar 15), Mount Vesuvius erupts, devastating Naples (Apr 7), the 1906 San Francisco earthquake takes place (Apr 18), the RMS Lusitania, the world’s largest ship, is launched in Glasgow (Jun 7), a magnitude 8.2 earthquake in Chile kills thousands (Aug 16), the first phonographic record player is manufactured (Aug 22), Mahatma Gandhi coins the term Satyagraha to characterize the Non-Violence movement in South Africa (Sep 11), the Grand Duchy of Finland becomes the first nation to adopt universal suffrage (Oct 1), SOS becomes an international distress signal (Nov 3), the world’s first submarine, the U-1, enters the German Navy (Dec 14), the world’s first feature film, The Story of the Kelly Gang, is released (Dec 26) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Data for 1904

In the year 1904, the first large scale bodybuilding competition takes place at Madison Square Garden (Jan 16), a surprise Japanese naval attack in Manchuria starts the Russo-Japanese War (Feb 8), the United States pays $10 million to gain control of the Panama Canal (Feb 23), the Mormons end officially the practice of polygamy (Apr 6), FIFA is established (May 21), the Dalai Lama signs the Anglo-Tibetan Treaty (Sep 7), the first underground line of the New York City Subway opens (Oct 27), the first successful caterpillar track is made (Nov 24), in New York City, the first New Year’s Eve celebration is held in Times Square (Dec 31) - and all these fine people were born: 1904-0101 1904-0103 Jeane Dixon* astrologer - Medford, WI USA (1997/93) 1904-0110 1904-0118 Cary Grant* (b Leach) British-American actor/to U. Continue reading

Data for 1902

In the year 1902, New Zealand becomes the first country in the world to require state registration of nurses (Jan 1), the Berlin U-Bahn** is opened** (Feb 15), a Circuit Court prevents Thomas Edison from having a monopoly on motion picture technology (Mar 10), the first movie theater in the United States opens in Los Angeles (Apr 2), Cuba gains independence from the United States (May 20), Edward VII is crowned King of the United Kingdom (Aug 9) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Data for 1920

In the year 1920, the Treaty of Versailles ends WWI (Jan 10), Turkey gives up the Ottoman Empire (Jan 28), Prohibition begins in the U.S. (Jan 16), the Tartu Peace Treaty recognizes Estonian independence (Feb 2), Adolf Hitler presents his National Socialist program in Munich (Feb 24), the 7th Summer Olympics open in Antwerp, Belgium (Apr 20), Joan of Arc is canonized in Rome (May 16), the first KLM fight takes place (May 17), Pancho Villa surrenders in Mexico (Jul 28), the 19th Amendment of the U. Continue reading

Data for 1932

[caption id=“attachment_1632” align=“alignleft” width=“330”]Radio City Music Hall (Courtesy of Stròlic Furlàn)[/caption] In the year 1932, Hattie Caraway becomes the first female U.S. Senator (Jan 12), ca 6 million people are unemployed in Germany (Jan 15), Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is published (Feb 1), Tarzan the Ape Man opens starring Johnny Weissmuller (Mar 25), following the end of Prohibition, the first Alko stores open in Finland (Apr 5), Nazis become the largest party in the Reichstag election (Jul 31), Forrest Mars produces the first Mars bar (Aug 1), the first Autobahn is opened in Germany (Aug 6), the Soviet Famine begins, millions starving to death (Sep 22), the first science fiction radio show, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, debuts on radio (Nov 7), Radio City Music Hall opens in New York City (Dec 27) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Data for 1968

[caption id=“attachment_476” align=“alignright” width=“283”]MLK Jr and RFK in 1968[/caption] In the year 1968, Viet Cong soldiers attack the U.S. Embassy in Saigon (Jan 31), Martin Luther King Jr. is shot dead in Memphis, Tennessee (Apr 4), The musical Hair officially opens on Broadway (Apr 29), Robert F. Kennedy is shot in Los Angeles (Jun 5) and dies day after, Warsaw Pact troops and tanks invade Czechoslovakia (Aug 20), the 19th Olympic Games begin in Mexico City (Oct 12) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Data for 1936

In the year 1936, Japanese Baseball League is founded (Feb 5), the first superhero to wear a skin-tight costume and mask, The Phantom, makes his appearance in U.S. newspapers (Feb 18), construction of the Hoover Dam is completed (Mar 1), Italia annexes Ethiopia (May 7), Queen Mary leaves Southampton on her maiden voyage (May 27), the first fully controllable helicopter makes its maiden flight (Jun 26), the Olympic Games open in Berlin (Aug 1), Stalin’s Great Purge begins in the Soviet Union (Oct), the weekly Life begins its publication (Nov 23), all German boys ages 10 to 18 are to join the Hitler Youth paramilitary organization (Dec 1), Edward III abdicates (Dec 10), stress is first recognized as a medical condition - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Data for 1951

In the year 1951, the comic strip Dennis the Menace appears in the U.S. newspapers for the first time (Mar 12), The King and I premiers on Broadway (Mar 29), the George Washington Carver National Monument in Joplin, Missouri becomes the first U.S. national monument to honor an African American (Jul 14), the first Volkswagen Beetle rolls off the plant in South Africa (Aug 31), the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty is signed, allowing American troops to be stationed in Japan (Sep 8), I Love Lucy debuts on CBS (Oct 15), the Marshall Plan expires (Dec 31), several sci-fi films premier, the Korean War goes on - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Data for 1919

[caption id=“attachment_2232” align=“alignright” width=“309”]The Thompson submachine gun in a violin case[/caption] In the year 1919, the League of Nations is founded (Jan 25), Benito Mussolini founds his Fascist political movement (Mar 23), after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the Turkish War of Independence begins (May 19), the Treaty of Versailles officially ends WW 1 (Jun 28), the American Communist Party is established (Aug 31), KLM is founded (Oct 7), Estonia nationalizes 97% of agrarian lands, mostly belonging to Baltic Germans (Oct 10), Adolf Hitler gives his first speech for the German Workers' Party, the future Nazi Party (Oct 16), John T. Continue reading

Data for 1918

In the year 1918, the Finnish Declaration of Independence is recognized by Russia, Sweden, Germany and France (Jan 4), the Finnish Civil War, lasting till May, begins (Jan 27), the first ever drone is test flown (Mar 6), Moscow becomes the capital of Soviet Russia (Mar 12), the German fighter pilot Red Baron dies in combat (Apr 21), Spanish Flu becomes pandemic, killing millions in the ensuing months (June), Allied forces break through the Hindenburg Line (Sep 29), with the failed test flight of another drone - the Kettering Bug - the use of drones in WW1 is abandoned (Oct 2), Czechoslovakia declares its independence from Austria-Hungary (Oct 28), the Red Army invades Estonia (Nov 28), the Second World War rages on - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

The 18th Century

Pick one year or decade between 1701 and 1800! If you have ancestors born during this time, you can have them added in the list by simply leaving a comment in the box below the year or decade in question. The individual years: 1701 - 1702 - 1703 - 1704 - 1705 - 1706 - 1707 - 1708 - 1709 - 1710 - 1711 - 1712 - 1713 - 1714 - 1715 - 1716 - 1717 - 1718 - 1719 - 1720 - 1721 - 1722 - 1723 - 1724 - 1725 - 1726 - 1727 - 1728 - 1729 - 1730 - 1731 - 1732 - 1733 - 1734 - 1735 - 1736 - 1737 - 1738 - 1739 - 1740 - 1741 - 1742 - 1743 - 1744 - 1745 - 1746 - 1747 - 1748 - 1749 - 1750 - 1751 - 1752 - 1753 - 1754 - 1755 - 1756 - 1757 - 1758 - 1759 - 1760 - 1761 - 1762 - 1763 - 1764 - 1765 - 1766 - 1767 - 1768 - 1769 - 1770 - 1771 - 1772 - 1773 - 1774 - 1775 - 1776 - 1777 - 1778 - 1779 - 1780 - 1781 - 1782 - 1783 - 1784 - 1785 - 1786 - 1787 - 1788 - 1789 - 1790 - 1791 - 1792 - 1793 - 1794 - 1795 - 1796 - 1797 - 1798 - 1799 - 1800 Updated 22. Continue reading

Data for 1810

[caption id=“attachment_1700” align=“alignleft” width=“352”]Strong Arm Contest at Oktoberfest in 2009[/caption] In the year 1810, Napoleon marries Marie-Louise of Austria (Mar 11), Beethoven composes his famous piano piece, Für Elise (Apr 27), Colombia declares its independence from Spain (Jul 20), Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France, is elected Crown Prince of Sweden (Aug 21), Munich in Bavaria, Germany holds its first Oktoberfest (Oct 12), the United States annexes West Florida from Spain (Oct 27) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Data for 1877

In the year 1877, the Satsuma Rebellion breaks out in Japan between disaffected samurai and the new imperial government (Jan 29), microphone is invented, and Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake debuts (Mar 4), Crazy Horse surrenders in Nebraska (May 6), Alexander Graham Bell installs the world’s first commercial telephone service in Hamilton, Canada (Jun 20), the Wimbledon tennis tournament is played for the first time (Jul 9), Deimos, the outer moon of Mars, is discovered (Aug 12) and days later its inner moon Phobos (Aug 18), Thomas Edison demonstrates his newest invention, the phonograph (Nov 29), American Indian Wars go on - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Data for 1987

In the year 1987, AZT is approved for use in the U.S. in the treatment of HIV/AIDS (Mar 20), The Bold & The Beautiful debuts on CBS (Mar 23), plans for Euro Disney are sealed (Mar 24), The Simpsons cartoon first appears on television (Apr 19), Mathias Rust lands his plane on Red Square in Moscow (May 28), Ronald Reagan holds his Tear down this wall speech in Berlin (Jun 12), according to UN, the world population has reached 5 billion people (Jul 11), Michael Jackson’s Bad is released (Aug 31) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Data for 1930

In the year 1930, the Mickey Mouse comic strip makes its first appearance (Jan 13), the 3M company markets Scotch Tape (Jan 31), Pluto is discovered (Feb 18), Salt March led by Mahatma Gandhi starts the Civil Disobedience Movement in India (Mar 12), the snack cake Twinkies are invented (Apr 6), neoprene is invented by DuPont (Apr 17), Looney Tunes, the first cartoon series, is released (Apr 19), the first FIFA World Cup starts (Jul 13), Haile Selassie is crowned emperor of Ethiopia (Nov 2), the chocolate chip cookie is invented - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Data for 1977

In the year 1977, Apple Computer is incorporated (Jan 3), Jimmy Carter becomes the 39th U.S President (Jan 20), Fleetwood Mac’s _Rumours _is released (Feb 4), the rings of Uranus are discovered (Mar 10), optical fiber is first used to carry live telephone traffic (Apr 22), Star Wars opens in cinemas (May 25), there is a blackout in New York City with resultant looting (Jul 13-14), Elvis Presley dies (Aug 16), Pelé plays his last pro football game (Oct 1) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading