Helen Hayes (1917 - 1976)
Helen Hayes Biography
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Helen Hayes Family Tree
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Helen Hayes Obituary
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1917 - 1976 World Events
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In 1917, in the year that Helen Hayes was born, in April, the U.S. entered World War I, declaring war against Germany. President Wilson had previously declared neutrality in the war - a position supported by the majority of Americans - but after Germany declared that they would sink all ships trading with Great Britain and sunk U.S. ships, public opinion began to change. Then the Lusitania was sunk, killing 1,201 - including 128 Americans - and more U.S. ships were sunk. The U.S. could stand aside no longer.
In 1923, at the age of just 6 years old, Helen was alive when on September 1, an earthquake - the Great Kanto earthquake - destroyed one-third of Tokyo. Measuring 7.9 and with a reported duration of between 4 and 10 minutes, casualties totaled about 142,800 deaths, including about 40,000 who went missing and were presumed dead.
In 1942, Helen was 25 years old when from January 7th through April 9th, the Battle of Bataan was fought in the Philippines. At the end of the battle, the U.S. and Filipino forces surrendered and a three-year occupation of the Philippines by Japan began. Between 60,000 and 80,000 American and Filipino soldiers surrendered and were marched around 60 to 69 miles - most were beaten, abused, or killed. Named the Bataan Death March, it was later declared to be a war crime.
In 1967, by the time she was 50 years old, on October 2nd, Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as the first black US Supreme Court justice. Marshall was the great-grandson of a slave and graduated first in his class at Howard University Law School. His nomination to the Supreme Court was approved by the Senate, 69 to 11.
In 1976, in the year of Helen Hayes's passing, on August 4th, a mysterious illness struck an American Legion convention in Philadelphia. Within a week, 25 people had died and 130 people had been hospitalized. It was the first known instance of what came to be called "Legionnaires Disease."
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