Felix Sawicki (1903 - 1964)

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

In 1903, in the year that Felix Sawicki was born, the silent film, The Great Train Robbery opened. Although it was filmed in Milltown, New Jersey, it was a Western. Twelve minutes long, the film used a lot of innovative techniques - some scenes were hand colored and composite editing, on-location shooting, and frequent camera movement were used. Its budget was $150 (about $4000 currently) and was the most popular film until 1915 when Birth of a Nation was released.

In 1917, he was just 14 years old when the U.S. Virgin Islands were purchased from Denmark in January. While they are U.S. citizens, Virgin Islanders are ineligible to vote for the President of the United States.

In 1925, Felix was 22 years old when on November 28th, radio station WSM broadcast the Grand Ole Opry for the first time. Originally airing as “The WSM Barn Dance”, the Opry (a local term for "opera") was dedicated to honoring country music and in its history has featured the biggest stars and acts in country music.

In 1952, by the time he was 49 years old, on July 2, Dr. Jonas E. Salk tested the first dead-virus polio vaccine on 43 children. The worst epidemic of polio had broken out that year - in the U.S. there were 58,000 cases reported. Of these, 3,145 people had died and 21,269 were left with mild to disabling paralysis.

In 1964, in the year of Felix Sawicki's passing, in June, three young civil rights workers - Andrew Goodman and Mickey Schwerner from New York City, and James Chaney from Meridian, Mississippi - were kidnapped and murdered in Mississippi. Working with "Freedom Summer", they were registering African-Americans to vote in the Southern states. Their bodies were found two months later. Although it was discovered that the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, the Neshoba County Sheriff's Office and the Philadelphia, Mississippi Police Department were involved, only 7 men were convicted and served less than six years.