Alice Kathleen (Mallet) Brown (1859 - 1899)

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

In 1859, in the year that Alice Kathleen (Mallet) Brown was born, from August 28th through September 2nd, the largest solar storm recorded - the solar storm of 1859 - occurred. The Northern lights were seen as far south as Cuba and it knocked out telegraph communications.

In 1862, by the time she was just 3 years old, on January 30th, the USS Monitor - an iron hulled steamship - was launched. It was the first of its kind in the United States and was built in response to the rumor that the Confederate states were building an ironclad ship - the CSS Virginia.

In 1879, she was 20 years old when on November 10th, Bell Telephone and Western Union reached an agreement. Bell Telephone would keep out of the telegraphy business and Western Union would stay out of the telephone business - leading to success for both.

In 1888, by the time she was 29 years old, on July 25th, a court stenographer from Salt Lake City - Frank Edward McGurrin - decisively beat the competition in a typing contest in Ohio. He was supposedly the only person who used touch typing and is believed to have invented the method. Touch typing is ubiquitous now - but Frank's win is what convinced everyone that the method was good!

In 1899, in the year of Alice Kathleen (Mallet) Brown's passing, on February 4th, the Philippine–American War began. The Philippines objected to the Treaty of Paris, signed in 1898, that transferred possession of the Philippines from Spain to the U.S. Filipinos began a fight for independence and fighting between U.S. forces and those of the Philippine Republic broke out. On June 2nd, the Philippines officially declared war on the United States.