Barnett Fine (1871 - 1962)

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

In 1871, in the year that Barnett Fine was born, on March 29th, Royal Albert Hall in London was officially opened by Queen Victoria. Construction had begun in 1867 and the hall was named after Queen Victoria's husband, who had died in 1861 - 10 years before.

In 1885, by the time he was merely 14 years old, on February 16th, the first Dow Jones Industrial Average was published by Charles Dow, who also founded the Wall Street Journal. The index was 62.76. It represented 12 stocks - American Cotton Oil, American Sugar, American Tobacco, Chicago Gas, Distilling & Cattle Feeding, General Electric, Laclede Gas, National Lead, North American, Tennessee Coal and Iron, U.S. Leather pfd. and U.S. Rubber.

In 1913, when he was 42 years old, ratified in February the 16th Amendment, establishing a Federal income tax, became law. Previously, customs duties (tariffs) and excise taxes were the primary sources of federal revenue. With the passage of the 16th Amendment, incomes of couples exceeding $4,000, as well as those of single persons earning $3,000 or more, were subject to a 1% Federal tax (that would be about $98,000 and $74,000 now). Rates rose to 7% for incomes over half a million dollars. Less than 1% of the population was subject to income tax.

In 1920, Barnett was 49 years old when the Volstead Act became law. Formally called the National Prohibition Act, the Volstead Act enabled law enforcement agencies to carry out the 18th Amendment. It said that "no person shall manufacture, sell, barter, transport, import, export, deliver, or furnish any intoxicating liquor except as authorized by this act" and defined intoxicating liquor as any beverage containing more than 0.5% alcohol by volume.

In 1962, in the year of Barnett Fine's passing, on August 5th, actress and sex symbol Marilyn Monroe died in Brentwood California. She was ruled to have died from suicide due to a drug overdose. There has been controversy regarding the circumstances ever since, due to her relationships with Jack and Bobby Kennedy.