Annie Kelley (1889 - 1984)

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

In 1889, in the year that Annie Kelley was born, on March 31st, the Eiffel Tower was inaugurated. Because the elevators were not yet in operation, officials had to climb to the top of the tower - it took an hour. On May 15th, the Tower opened to the public - still without working elevators - but around 30,000 visitors still made the climb. The elevators went into operation on the 26th. The Tower wasn't considered aesthetically pleasing at the time but is now one of the most iconic structures in the world.

In 1896, at the age of merely 7 years old, Annie was alive when 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 1919, Annie was 30 years old when Indian lawyer Mahatma Gandhi initiated the Satyagraha campaigns, beginning the nonviolent resistance movement against British rule of India. Satyagraha means "holding onto truth" and the campaign for India independence, which was eventually obtained, called for "self-suffering" rather than inflicting suffering (i.e., violence) on others.

In 1929, by the time she was 40 years old, the St. Valentine's Day Massacre happened on February 14th. In Chicago, seven men from the North Side Irish gang were gunned down by Al Capone's South Side Italian gang at the garage at 2122 North Clark Street. Al Capone was making a successful move to take over Chicago's organized crime. But the St. Valentine's Day massacre also resulted in a public outcry against all gangsters.

In 1984, in the year of Annie Kelley's passing, on January 1, "Baby Bells" were created. AT&T had been the provider of telephone service (and equipment) in the United States. The company kept Western Electric, Bell Labs, and AT&T Long Distance. Seven new regional companies (the Baby Bells) covered local telephone service and were separately owned. AT&T lost 70% of its book value due to this move.