Jane Nelson (born 1861)

In 1861, in the year that Jane Nelson was born, on March 4th, Abraham Lincoln became the 16th President of the United States. Winning by a plurality of the popular vote, 39.8% - there were many candidates, Douglas was the strongest - he decisively won the electoral college with 180 votes. He was the first President to emerge from the newly created Republican Party.

In 1878, on June 15th, photographer Eadweard Muybridge - at the request of Leland Stanford - produced the first sequence of stop-motion still photographs. Stanford contended that a galloping horse had all four feet off the ground. Only photos of a horse at a gallop would settle the question and, using 12 cameras and a series of photos, Muybridge settled the question: Stanford was right. Muybridge's use of several cameras and stills led to motion pictures.

In 1920, on January 1, over 6000 people were arrested and put in prison because they were suspected of being communists. . Many had to be released in a few weeks and only 3 guns were found in their homes. The U.S. Department of Justice "red hunt" netted thousands of "radicals" and suspected "communists" and aliens were deported. But the "hunt" ended after Attorney General Palmer forecast a massive radical uprising on May Day and the day passed without incident.

In 1961, on August 13th, East Germany began erection of what would become the Berlin Wall between East and West Berlin. In one day, they installed barbed wire entanglements and fences (called Barbed Wire Sunday in Germany). On August 17th, the first concrete elements and large blocks were put in place.

In 1971, in March, Congress passed the Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which lowered the voting age to 18 (from 21). It was a response to the criticism that men could fight at 18, but not vote for the policies and politicians who sent them to war. The states quickly ratified the Amendment and it was signed into law on July 1st by President Richard Nixon.