Daniel L Irby (1956 - 2003)

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

In 1956, in the year that Daniel L Irby was born, 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 1961, by the time he was merely 5 years old, on August 13th, East Germany began erection of what would become the Berlin Wall between East and West Berlin. In one day, they installed barbed wire entanglements and fences (called Barbed Wire Sunday in Germany). On August 17th, the first concrete elements and large blocks were put in place.

In 1975, when he was 19 years old, in January, Popular Mechanics featured the Altair 8800 on it's cover. The Altair home computer kit allowed consumers to build and program their own personal computers. Thousands were sold in the first month.

In 1987, at the age of 31 years old, Daniel was alive when was the first time that a criminal in the United States - a serial rapist - was convicted through the use of DNA evidence.

In 1997, Daniel was 41 years old when on June 26th, the first Harry Potter book by J. K. Rowling was released. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" was an immediate success and spawned not only sequels but also movies, video games, plays, and amusement park attractions. J.K. Rowling, at the time of the first book a poor single mother, has become a multi-billionaire.