Jacob Tate (1989 - 2011)

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

In 1989, in the year that Jacob Tate was born, on March 24th, the Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker, struck a reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound and oil began spilling out of the hold. The oil would eventually contaminate more than a thousand miles of coastline. It is estimated that over 10.8 million gallons of crude oil spilled into the Sound - killing 100,000 to 250,000 seabirds, over 2,800 sea otters, about 12 river otters, 300 harbor seals, 247 bald eagles, and 22 orcas - as well as an unknown number of salmon and herring.

In 1992, when he was merely 3 years old, in April, Bosnia-Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia. The newly created Bosnian Serb army then began a campaign against Muslim Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats - killing, raping, torturing, beating and robbing - and resulting in the deaths of over 100,000.

In 1994, Jacob was only 5 years old when on May 6th, the Channel Tunnel or "Chunnel" was officially opened. The Chunnel is a railway tunnel beneath the English Channel that connects Great Britain to mainland France. Original plans for such a tunnel were developed in 1802 and approved by Napoleon Bonaparte but the British rejected the plan fearing that Napoleon would use the railway to invade.

In 1995, he was only 6 years old when on September 3rd, eBay was founded in San Jose California. Beginning as simply a place for Pierre Omidyar's girlfriend (now wife) to share her Pez passion and collection online, the site has become a multibillion-dollar business and operates in 30 countries.

In 1998, Jacob was just 9 years old when on December 19th, the House of Representatives initiated impeachment charges against U.S. President Bill Clinton. He was subsequently acquitted of these charges by the Senate on February 12th.