Ethel Baldus (1892 - 1978)

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

In 1892, in the year that Ethel Baldus was born, on October 12th, the "Pledge of Allegiance" was first recited in unison by students in U.S. public schools. Composed the previous August by Francis Bellamy, it was to be recited in 15 seconds and originally read: "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." "Under God" was added in the 1950's.

In 1945, by the time she was 53 years old, on April 12th, President Roosevelt died of natural causes and Harry S. Truman, his Vice-President, became the 33rd President of the United States.

In 1951, Ethel was 59 years old when on June 25th, CBS began broadcasting in color. There were well over 10 million televisions by that time. The first show in color was a musical variety special titled "Premiere". Hardly anyone had a color TV that could see the show.

In 1967, at the age of 75 years old, Ethel was alive when between June 5th and 10th, Israeli and Egypt, Jordan, and Syria fought what came to be called the "Six-Day War". The hostilities began when Israel launched "preemptive" strikes against Egypt, destroying nearly its entire air force. It ended with Israel occupying the Sinai Peninsula, Golan Heights, Gaza Strip and West Bank.

In 1978, in the year of Ethel Baldus's passing, on July 25th, Louise Brown, the first "test-tube baby", was born at Oldham Hospital in London. Louise was conceived through IVF (in vitro fertilization), a controversial and experimental procedure at the time.