Edward Smithies (1890 - 1949)
Edward Smithies Biography
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Edward Smithies Obituary
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1890 - 1949 World Events
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In 1890, in the year that Edward Smithies was born, on December 29th, the Wounded Knee Massacre occurred in South Dakota on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation . The U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment said that they rode into the Lakota camp "trying to disarm" the inhabitants. One person, Black Coyote - who was deaf - held onto his rifle, saying that he paid a lot of money for it. Shots rang out and by the end at least 153 Lakota Sioux - some estimates say 300 - and 25 troops had died. The site of the massacre is a National Historic Landmark.
In 1907, at the age of 17 years old, Edward was alive when the second Hague peace conference was called by Russia in the Netherlands. While nothing was settled regarding the matter of peace among nations, many resolutions were passed (and accepted by many nations) about the conventions of war - especially the protection of noncombatants.
In 1918, by the time he was 28 years old, in July, Russian revolutionaries executed the former Tzar Nicholas II and his immediate family. While it was rumored that two of the children had survived, it was later proven through DNA analysis - when their bodies were found - that the entire family had been killed.
In 1934, at the age of 44 years old, Edward was alive when on November 11th 1933, an extremely strong dust storm hit South Dakota, stripping topsoil. Other strong dust storms had occurred during 1933. Severe droughts continued to hit the Great Plains and the dust storms devastated agricultural production as well as people's' lives for several years. The Roosevelt administration and scientists eventually determined that farming practices had caused the conditions that led to the dust storms and the changes they implemented in farming stopped the Dust Bowl.
In 1949, in the year of Edward Smithies's passing, comedian Milton Berle hosted the first telethon show. It raised $1,100,000 for cancer research and lasted 16 hours. The next day, newspapers, in writing about the event, first used the word "telethon."
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