Denton Smith (1877 - 1973)

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

In 1877, in the year that Denton Smith was born, on January 8th, the Battle of Wolf Mountain occurred in southern Montana Territory. Crazy Horse, Two Moon, and their warriors fought the United States Cavalry. The battle was a tactical draw and by May, Crazy Horse and his followers had surrendered at Camp Robinson.

In 1890, by the time he was just 13 years old, on June 1st, the U.S. Census Bureau started tabulating census returns with punch cards. Herman Hollerith's "tabulating machine" used punch cards to more quickly compute census information, taking the time to get census results from 8 years in 1880 to 6 years for the 1890 census. Hollerith's company eventually became IBM.

In 1917, at the age of 40 years old, Denton was alive when Russian government offices were seized and the Romanov's Winter Palace was stormed in the Russian February and October Revolutions. The February revolution resulted in the abdication of Tsar Nicholas and a coalition of the Parliament and workers parties taking control of the government. The October revolution resulted in Lenin and the Bolsheviks taking complete control.

In 1925, by the time he was 48 years old, on November 28th, radio station WSM broadcast the Grand Ole Opry for the first time. Originally airing as “The WSM Barn Dance”, the Opry (a local term for "opera") was dedicated to honoring country music and in its history has featured the biggest stars and acts in country music.

In 1973, in the year of Denton Smith's passing, on January 28th, the Paris Peace Accord was signed - supposedly ending the Vietnam War. Hostilities continued between North and South Vietnam and the U.S. continued to bomb. But by August 15, 1973, 95% of American troops had left Vietnam. The war ended in 1975 with the fall of Saigon.