Emma Valcourt (1870 - 1968)

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

In 1870, in the year that Emma Valcourt was born, on June 26th, Christmas was declared an official federal holiday in the United States. By 1860, 14 states had declared Christmas a legal holiday but the practice of celebrating Christmas was a local - and religious - choice previously.

In 1887, when she was 17 years old, on May 9th, Buffalo Bill's Wild West show opened in London. Founded in 1883, the show was attended - twice - by Queen Victoria and adored by audiences who thrilled to his fanciful acts portraying life in the "Wild West."

In 1907, she was 37 years old when in October, over a 3 week period, the New York stock exchange fell almost 50% from the previous year's high mark. Public panic ensued and there were runs on banks since the U.S. was in the middle of a recession. J.P. Morgan offered his own fortune to back the banks and he was followed by other financiers. This temporarily shored up the banking system, stopping the immediate panic. All of this led to the creation of the Federal Reserve.

In 1923, Emma was 53 years old when on September 1, an earthquake - the Great Kanto earthquake - destroyed one-third of Tokyo. Measuring 7.9 and with a reported duration of between 4 and 10 minutes, casualties totaled about 142,800 deaths, including about 40,000 who went missing and were presumed dead.

In 1968, in the year of Emma Valcourt's passing, on January 31st, the North Vietnamese launched the Tet Offensive, a turning point in the Vietnam War. 70,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces swarmed into South Vietnam. The South Vietnamese and US troops held off the offensive but it was such fierce fighting that the U.S. public began to turn against the war.