Cyril Johson (1849 - 1976)

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

In 1849, in the year that Cyril Johson was born, on April 22nd, Patrick Kennedy - great-grandfather of President John Kennedy - arrived in the United States. He was the 3rd born son of an Irish farmer and he knew that he wouldn't be given the chance to run the family farm. So he emigrated to Massachusetts and became a cooper. After only 10 years in the US, he died of cholera at age 35.

In 1895, Cyril was 46 years old when on September 3rd, in Latrobe, PA, the first professional football game was played. The game was between the Latrobe YMCA and the Jeannette Athletic Club. Latrobe won 12 - 0.

In 1903, by the time he was 54 years old, the first World Series of American baseball was played between October 1st and 13th. The Boston Americans of the American League played the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League. Boston came back from a three game to one deficit, winning the final four games to capture the title - such a large comeback wouldn't be repeated by a team until 1925. (A total of eight games were played.)

In 1956, at the age of 107 years old, Cyril was alive when on May 20th, the U.S. tested the first hydrogen bomb dropped from a plane over Bikini Atoll. Previously, hydrogen bombs had only been tested on the ground. The Atomic Age moved forward.

In 1976, in the year of Cyril Johson's passing, on August 4th, a mysterious illness struck an American Legion convention in Philadelphia. Within a week, 25 people had died and 130 people had been hospitalized. It was the first known instance of what came to be called "Legionnaires Disease."