Gladys Elizabeth Vercheak (1922 - 2008)

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

In 1922, in the year that Gladys Elizabeth Vercheak was born, on James Joyce's 40th birthday, his book Ulysses was published in France. The book covers the experiences of an Irishman in Dublin on an ordinary day, 16 June 1904. Now considered a classic, it was controversial at the time. Due to some sexual content, the book was banned in the U.S. during the 1920's and the U.S. Post Office destroyed 500 copies of the novel.

In 1945, when she was 23 years old, on April 12th, President Franklin D. Roosevelt died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Georgia. At 1p, he was sitting for a portrait when he complained that he had a "terrific pain" in the back of his head and collapsed. A doctor was summoned and the doctor gave him a shot of adrenaline into his heart. It didn't help and he was pronounced dead at 3:30 p.m. A slow moving train took him back to Washington D.C. while thousands of mourners lined the tracks. He was buried at his home in Hyde Park, New York.

In 1951, she was 29 years old when on April 5th, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (husband and wife) were sentenced to death for treason. They were executed on June 19th. American citizens, they were convicted of spying for the Soviet Union. Their two young sons were adopted by a high school teacher and his wife.

In 1966, when she was 44 years old, on September 8th, the first Star Trek episode, "The Man Trap," was broadcast on NBC. The plot concerned a creature that sucked salt from human bodies. The original series only aired for 3 seasons due to low ratings.

In 1973, by the time she was 51 years old, on January 28th, the Paris Peace Accord was signed - supposedly ending the Vietnam War. Hostilities continued between North and South Vietnam and the U.S. continued to bomb. But by August 15, 1973, 95% of American troops had left Vietnam. The war ended in 1975 with the fall of Saigon.