Irene R Durley (1905 - 2003)

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

In 1905, in the year that Irene R Durley was born, the Industrial Workers of the World was founded. An international labor union founded in Chicago, it was most often referred to as the "Wobblies" and had ties to the socialist movement and the anarchist movement. At its peak, it had 150,000 members.

In 1923, at the age of 18 years old, Irene was alive when the Teapot Dome scandal became the subject of an investigation by Senator Walsh and severely damaged the reputation of the Harding administration. Secretary of the Interior Albert Bacon Fall was convicted of accepting bribes from oil companies and became the first Cabinet member to go to prison. At the time, the Teapot Dome scandal was seen as "greatest and most sensational scandal in the history of American politics".

In 1951, she was 46 years old when on June 25th, CBS began broadcasting in color. There were well over 10 million televisions by that time. The first show in color was a musical variety special titled "Premiere". Hardly anyone had a color TV that could see the show.

In 1969, when she was 64 years old, on July 20th, the first men walked on the moon. Apollo 11 astronauts Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. both walked on the moon but it was Armstrong who first stepped on the moon. They fulfilled the promise of President Kennedy's commitment in 1961 to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade.

In 1972, by the time she was 67 years old, on November 7th, Richard Nixon won re-election, amidst the dawning knowledge of the Watergate scandal, by 60.7% to anti-war candidate George McGovern's 37.5%.