Emma Mclaughlin (1881 - 1969)

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

In 1881, in the year that Emma Mclaughlin was born, on April 28th, Billy the Kid escaped from the Lincoln County Jail in New Mexico. He killed James Bell and Robert Ollinger in the escape and then stole a horse and rode out of town. On July 14th, Pat Garrett shot and killed Billy the Kid in Billy's friend's home near Fort Sumner, New Mexico.

In 1898, Emma was 17 years old when on February 15th, the USS Maine exploded and sank in Havana harbor. The reason for the explosion has never been found, but it killed 266 men. "Remember the Maine" became a rallying cry and precipitated the United States' declaration of war on Spain two months later - the beginning of the Spanish-American War. On December 10th, the war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. The Treaty gave the U.S. Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Guam - for $20 million - and, temporarily, Cuba.

In 1904, Emma was 23 years old when the "Teddy's Bear" was first produced. After seeing a political cartoon of President Teddy Roosevelt refusing to kill a clubbed and tied up bear, Jewish Russian immigrant Morris Michtom - who owned a candy shop and sold stuffed animals that he and his wife made at night at the store - made a "Teddy's Bear" and put it in his shop's window. The stuffed bears were an immediate success and Michtom and his wife went on to found the Ideal Novelty and Toy Co.

In 1922, she was 41 years old when on December 6th, the Irish Free State, a self-governing dominion of the British Empire, was officially proclaimed. While establishing some independence for the people of Ireland, it did not create a fully independent Ireland and the fighting continued.

In 1969, in the year of Emma Mclaughlin's passing, on January 20th, Richard M. Nixon became the 37th President of the United States. Previously the Vice President to President Eisenhower, Nixon was the only President to resign in office - in his second term.