Carmelo Lopinto (1883 - 1967)

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

In 1883, in the year that Carmelo Lopinto was born, on June 16th, children at a children's variety show in Victoria Hall began rushing the stage area and lobby for promised prizes. In the stampede, 183 children of the 1100 present - most of them 3 to 4 years old - were crushed and asphyxiated.

In 1921, he was 38 years old when on November 11th, the first burial was held at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. The body of an unknown soldier - selected by Army Sgt. Edward F. Younger who was highly decorated for valor and received the Distinguished Service Cross in "The Great War" - was brought back from France (World War 1) and placed in the newly completed tomb. President Warren G. Harding officiated at the interment ceremonies.

In 1943, Carmelo was 60 years old when on September 3rd, the Armistice of Cassibile was signed in Sicily. Under the terms of the Armistice, Italy surrendered to the Allied Powers. After the Armistice was made public on September 8th, Germany attacked and occupied Italy. It took 20 months of fighting for the Allies to reach the northern borders of Italy.

In 1951, he was 68 years old when on June 25th, CBS began broadcasting in color. There were well over 10 million televisions by that time. The first show in color was a musical variety special titled "Premiere". Hardly anyone had a color TV that could see the show.

In 1967, in the year of Carmelo Lopinto's passing, on November 7th, President Johnson signed legislation passed by Congress that created the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which would later become PBS and NPR. The legislation required CPB to operate with a "strict adherence to objectivity and balance in all programs or series of programs of a controversial nature".