Henry's immediate relatives including parents, siblings, partnerships and children in the Geissel family tree.

Henry's Family

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

In 1858, in the year that Henry Geissel was born, on October 28th, Macy's department store opened in New York City. Founded by Rowland Hussey Macy, it was at first a dry goods store - essentially a store that sold textiles, ready-to-wear clothing, and sundries

In 1861, he was merely 3 years old when on April 12th, the Civil War began with shots fired at Fort Sumter, South Carolina. The Confederate Army attacked the Fort a little over a month after the inauguration of President Abraham Lincoln. Fort Sumter surrendered the next day.

In 1872, at the age of just 14 years old, Henry was alive when on May 22nd, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Amnesty Act of 1872. The Act restored full civil rights to secessionists, including about 150,000 former slaves who had fought in the Confederate Army. About 500 former Confederate sympathizers were not allowed their full civil rights.

In 1891, he was 33 years old when James Naismith, at the Springfield Massachusetts YMCA, invented the game of basketball. Originally using two peach baskets and a soccer ball, he created the game to keep his students active during the long, harsh New England winters.

In 1926, in the year of Henry Geissel's passing, on October 31st, Harry Houdini died in Michigan. Houdini was the most famed magician of his time and perhaps of all time, especially for his acts involving escapes - from handcuffs, straitjackets, chains, ropes slung from skyscrapers, and more. He was president of the Society of American Magicians and stringently upheld professional ethics. He died of complications from a ruptured appendix. Although he had received a blow to the area a couple of days previously, the connection between the blow and his appendicitis is disputed.