Anna Riddick (1896 - 1974)

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

In 1896, in the year that Anna Riddick was born, on May 18th, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson. By a vote of 7 to 1, the Court upheld state racial segregation laws, introducing the idea of "separate but equal" facilities for races.

In 1908, she was just 12 years old when unemployment in the U.S. was at 8.0% and the cost of a first-class stamp was 2 cents while the population in the United States was 88,710,000. The world population was almost 4.4 billion.

In 1925, by the time she was 29 years old, gangster Al "Scarface" Capone took over the Chicago bootlegging racket at age 26. Previously right hand man to boss Johnny Torrio, Capone took over when Torrio was shot and severely injured and decided to resign. The bootlegging and brothel organization was massive and when asked what he did, Capone often replied "I am just a businessman, giving the people what they want".

In 1931, at the age of 35 years old, Anna was alive when in March, “The Star Spangled Banner” officially became the national anthem by congressional resolution. Other songs had previously been used - among them, "My Country, 'Tis of Thee", "God Bless America", and "America the Beautiful". There was fierce debate about making "The Star Spangled Banner" the national anthem - Southerners and veterans organizations supported it, pacifists and educators opposed it.

In 1974, in the year of Anna Riddick's passing, on August 9th, Gerald R. Ford became the 38th President of the United States. He had been Vice President for 8 months when he became President due to the resignation of President Nixon.