Alexander Batchen (1881 - 1963)

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

In 1881, in the year that Alexander Batchen was born, on October 26th, the "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" happened in Tombstone, Arizona. The gunfight lasted only 30 seconds - the Earps and Doc Holliday on one side and the "Cowboys" on the other side. The McLaury brothers and Billy Clanton of the Cowboys were killed. Two of the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday were wounded.

In 1925, Alexander was 44 years old when in July, the Scopes Trial - often called the Scopes Monkey Trial - took place, prosecuting a substitute teacher for teaching evolution in school. Tennessee had enacted a law that said it was "unlawful to teach human evolution in any state-funded school". William Jennings Bryan headed the prosecution and Clarence Darrow headed the defense. The teacher was found guilty and fined $100. An appeal to the Supreme Court of Tennessee upheld the law but overturned the guilty verdict.

In 1935, he was 54 years old when on September 8th, Louisiana Senator Huey Long was shot by Dr. Carl Weiss. Weiss was shot and killed immediately by Long's bodyguards - Long died two days later from his injuries. Long had received many death threats previously, as well as threats against his family. He was a powerful and controversial figure in Louisiana politics (and probably gained power through multiple criminal acts). His opponents became frustrated with their attempts to oust him and Dr. Weiss was the son-in-law of one of those opponents. His funeral was attended by 200,000 mourners.

In 1949, at the age of 68 years old, Alexander was alive when comedian Milton Berle hosted the first telethon show. It raised $1,100,000 for cancer research and lasted 16 hours. The next day, newspapers, in writing about the event, first used the word "telethon."

In 1963, in the year of Alexander Batchen's passing, on November 22nd, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson became the 36th President of the United States when President John Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas, Texas. Johnson was sworn in on the plane carrying Kennedy's body back to Washington D.C.