Anna Matthews (1866 - 1936)

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

In 1866, in the year that Anna Matthews was born, Swedish chemist, engineer, inventor, businessman, and philanthropist Alfred Nobel invented dynamite in Germany. During his lifetime he held 355 patents, of which dynamite was the most famous. He also established the Nobel Prizes in his will.

In 1875, at the age of only 9 years old, Anna was alive when on May 17th, Aristides was the first horse to win the Kentucky Derby. It was the first year of the "The Most Exciting Two Minutes In Sports" - begun by Col. Meriwether Lewis Clark, Jr., the grandson of William Clark, the explorer.

In 1917, by the time she was 51 years old, the U.S. Virgin Islands were purchased from Denmark in January. While they are U.S. citizens, Virgin Islanders are ineligible to vote for the President of the United States.

In 1923, at the age of 57 years old, Anna was alive when on September 1, an earthquake - the Great Kanto earthquake - destroyed one-third of Tokyo. Measuring 7.9 and with a reported duration of between 4 and 10 minutes, casualties totaled about 142,800 deaths, including about 40,000 who went missing and were presumed dead.

In 1936, in the year of Anna Matthews's passing, on November 2nd, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) debuted the world's first regular high-definition television service. The channel had a short schedule - Monday through Saturday, 3:00p to 4:00p and 9:00p to 10:00p. The first broadcast was "Opening of the BBC Television Service".