Catherine Finlay (1830 - 1914)

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

In 1830, in the year that Catherine Finlay was born, on August 31st, Edwin Beard Budding was granted a patent for the invention of the lawn mower. Budding invented the lawn mower to cut the grass on sports grounds and extensive gardens - it was intended to be a superior alternative to the scythe. His mower was 19 inches wide with a frame made of wrought iron and looked much like a modern push mower.

In 1859, by the time she was 29 years old, from August 28th through September 2nd, the largest solar storm recorded - the solar storm of 1859 - occurred. The Northern lights were seen as far south as Cuba and it knocked out telegraph communications.

In 1889, she was 59 years old when on February 22nd, President Cleveland signed a bill allowing North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington to become states. North and South Dakota became the 39th and 40th states on November 2nd, Montana became the 41st state on November 8th, and Washington became the 42nd state on November 11th.

In 1902, Catherine was 72 years old when the Bureau of the Census was established. This was the government department that was a boon to family historians - it, even now, is responsible for taking the census and provides demographic information and analyses about the population of the United States.

In 1914, in the year of Catherine Finlay's passing, in August, the world's first red and green traffic lights were installed at the corner of East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue in Cleveland Ohio. The electric traffic light had been invented by a policeman in Salt Lake City Utah in 1912.