Francis O Wyly (1909 - 1999)

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

In 1909, in the year that Francis O Wyly was born, the New York Times published the first movie review. It was a report on D.W. Griffith's movie "Pippa Passes" also called "The Song of Conscience", a silent film. The review said that this work was moving away from "lurid material that attracted the wrath of censors and concerned citizens and toward more respectable ends. The movie was the story of a young female factory worker, on her day off, wandering and singing - thus changing the hearts of those around her towards good.

In 1924, by the time he was merely 15 years old, on January 21st, Vladimir Lenin, a leader of the Russian Revolution and the first leader of the Soviet Union died. He had survived two assassination attempts but had subsequent physical problems, suffering 3 strokes. He was in such great pain, it is said that he asked Stalin to poison him. The circumstances of his death are still disputed. He did oppose Stalin as the next leader - nonetheless, Stalin won a power struggle and ruled as a Soviet dictator until his death in 1953.

In 1936, Francis was 27 years old when on November 2nd, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) debuted the world's first regular high-definition television service. The channel had a short schedule - Monday through Saturday, 3:00p to 4:00p and 9:00p to 10:00p. The first broadcast was "Opening of the BBC Television Service".

In 1965, at the age of 56 years old, Francis was alive when the television show "I Spy" premiered in the fall season on NBC. The stars were Bill Cosby and Robert Culp, making Cosby the first African American to headline a television show. Four stations - in Georgia, Florida, and Alabama - refused to air the show.

In 1971, when he was 62 years old, on May 3rd, 10,000 federal troops, 5,100 officers of the D.C. Metropolitan Police, 2,000 members of the D.C. National Guard, and federal agents assembled in Washington DC to prevent an estimated 10,000 Vietnam War protesters from marching. President Nixon (who was in California) refused to give federal employees the day off and they had to navigate the police and protesters, adding to the confusion. By the end of a few days of protest, 12,614 people had been arrested - making it the largest mass arrest in US history.