Edgar Stephen Filmer (1857 - 1936)

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

In 1857, in the year that Edgar Stephen Filmer was born, on March 2nd, the largest slave auction in US history was begun. Called "The Weeping Time", the auction lasted 2 days. Slave owner Pierce M. Butler - who had inherited the slaves 20 years before but was now deeply in debt - sold 436 men, women, children, and infants, all of whom were kept in stalls at a racetrack in Savannah, Georgia. The people were held for weeks before the auction in the horse stalls.

In 1902, when he was 45 years old, 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 1917, when he was 60 years old, in April, the U.S. entered World War I, declaring war against Germany. President Wilson had previously declared neutrality in the war - a position supported by the majority of Americans - but after Germany declared that they would sink all ships trading with Great Britain and sunk U.S. ships, public opinion began to change. Then the Lusitania was sunk, killing 1,201 - including 128 Americans - and more U.S. ships were sunk. The U.S. could stand aside no longer.

In 1926, when he was 69 years old, on November 15th, NBC was founded. It was the U.S.'s first major broadcast network. Ownership of the network was split between RCA (a majority partner at 50%), its founding corporate parent General Electric (which owned 30%), and Westinghouse (which owned the remaining 20%).

In 1936, in the year of Edgar Stephen Filmer's passing, on November 3rd, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was reelected to a second term. He ran against Republican Governor Alf Landon (Kansas), defeating Landon in the popular vote by 60.8% to 36.5%. Vermont and Maine were the only two states in which Landon won. John Nance Garner IV became the Vice-President in this election.