Abraham Lebensold (1882 - 1942)

Refresh this page to see various historical events that occurred during Abraham's lifetime.

In 1882, in the year that Abraham Lebensold was born, on January 5th, writer and lawyer Charles J. Guiteau was found guilty of the assassination of President Garfield. Guiteau was "offended" because his job applications had been rejected by Garfield's government. He was sentenced to death -although his lawyer plead insanity - and hanged five months later, on June 30th.

In 1899, Abraham was 17 years old when the meaning of Chinese "oracle bones" was rediscovered. Farmers in China had been turning up the bones in their fields for generations but most often they were ground up and sold as medicine. The chancellor of the Imperial Academy and a friend noticed, before they ground the bones, that they had writing. The bones had been used around the second millennium BC for divination.

In 1909, at the age of 27 years old, Abraham was alive when Polish physician and medical researcher Paul Ehrlich found a cure for syphilis, which was a prevalent (but undiscussed) disease. He found that an arsenic compound completely cured syphilis within 3 weeks.

In 1937, Abraham was 55 years old when on May 28th, the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge opened to cars. Taking 5 years to build, the 4,200-foot-long suspension bridge was an engineering marvel of its time - 11 men died during construction. The "international orange" color was chosen because it resisted rust and fading. To the present, it is the symbol of the City that is known throughout the world.

In 1942, in the year of Abraham Lebensold's passing, due to World War II, automobile production in the United States was stopped on February 1st. A tire rationing program had begun the month before. Detroit - the main hub of car manufacturing - was ordered to free up assembly lines for military production. The president of the Automobile Manufacturers Association said “The automotive industry is in this war all the way". Some dealerships had to close and others expanded their repair shops. The used car market boomed (as did a black market in used cars).