Edwin Rhodes (1882 - 1974)

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

In 1882, in the year that Edwin Rhodes was born, on August 3rd, President Chester Arthur signed the 1882 Immigration Act. "Criminals, the insane, or any person unable to take care of him or herself" were not allowed in the U.S. according to the Act. It also imposed a "head tax" on non-citizens entering the U.S.

In 1908, when he was 26 years old, unemployment in the U.S. was at 8.0% and the cost of a first-class stamp was 2 cents while the population in the United States was 88,710,000. The world population was almost 4.4 billion.

In 1916, when he was 34 years old, in June, the U.S. Congress authorized a plan to expand the armed forces over the next five years. Called the National Defense Act of 1916, the national law expanded the National Guard and Army (the Army added an aviation unit), created the Reserves, and gave the President expanded authority to federalize the National Guard. It also allowed the government to stockpile, in advance, materiel to be used in wartime.

In 1945, he was 63 years old when on January 20th, Franklin D. Roosevelt was sworn in to his fourth term as President of the United States. He died 82 days into his term and his new Vice-President, Harry Truman, became President.

In 1974, in the year of Edwin Rhodes's passing, on February 5th, Patty Hearst, age 19 - granddaughter of William Randolph Hearst and daughter of publisher of the San Francisco Examiner Randolph Hearst - was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army, a left wing terrorist group. She was found, alive, 19 months later.