Fred Rhodes (1831 - 1893)

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

In 1831, in the year that Fred Rhodes was born, on August 21st, in the United States, Nat Turner's slave rebellion broke out in Southampton County, Virginia. Rebel slaves, led by Nat Turner, killed from 55 to 65 people - the largest and deadliest slave uprising in U.S. history. The rebellion was suppressed after a few days and Virginia executed 56 slaves accused of being part of the rebellion although many were innocent. Nat Turner was captured on October 30th, tried, and hung on November 11th.

In 1840, at the age of only 9 years old, Fred was alive when on February 6th, Māori chiefs and the British parliament signed the Treaty of Waitangi. The Treaty created a British governor of New Zealand and gave the Maori people the rights of British citizens.

In 1852, Fred was 21 years old when on February 11th, the first women's public toilet was opened in London. Paris had public toilets much sooner and Berlin had opened one in 1820.

In 1879, he was 48 years old when on October 22nd, Thomas Edison tested the first practical electric light bulb. Lasting 13½ hours before burning out, it used a "a carbon filament or strip coiled and connected to platina contact wires". He applied for a patent on November 4th, receiving the patent in January 1880.

In 1893, in the year of Fred Rhodes's passing, on May 5th, a crash on the New York Stock Exchange started a depression that lasted 4 years. It was the beginning of the Panic of 1893.