Harley Rhodes (1898 - 1976)

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

In 1898, in the year that Harley Rhodes was born, on March 24th, Robert Allison of Pennsylvania became the first person to buy an American-built car. He bought a Winton, which he had seen in an advertisement in Scientific American. The Winton, built in Ohio, was made by hand and came with a leather roof, padded seats, gas lamps, and tires made by B.F. Goodrich.

In 1901, by the time he was merely 3 years old, John Pierpont "J. P." Morgan created U.S. Steel. J.P. Morgan was an American banker and financier who dominated U.S. business at this time. He had previously overseen the creation of General Electric, as well as International Harvester and AT&T. He has been referred to as America's greatest banker. U.S. Steel was the first billion dollar company in the world, worth $1.4 billion in 1901.

In 1929, Harley was 31 years old when on October 29th (Black Tuesday), the stock market crashed in the United States. Billions of dollars were lost and some investors committed suicide as a result, having lost their fortunes. This ushered in the 12 year, worldwide Great Depression.

In 1945, Harley was 47 years old when on December 5th, Flight 19 was lost in the Bermuda Triangle. All five planes and 14 airmen disappeared, as did 13 crew on a plane that was dispatched to find them. The official Navy reported the disappearance as "cause unknown".

In 1976, in the year of Harley Rhodes's passing, The United States celebrated the Bicentennial of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. It was a year long celebration, with the biggest events taking place on July 4th.