John Corr (1845 - 1931)

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

In 1845, in the year that John Corr was born, on December 29th, Texas was admitted as the 28th state. Formerly part of Mexico, then an independent Republic, Texas consisted mainly of American settlers - English speaking - in the north and former Mexican citizens - Spanish speaking - in the south and west when admitted to the Union.

In 1853, at the age of only 8 years old, John was alive when in October, the Crimean War began. Allies the Ottoman Empire, France, Britain and Sardinia fought the Russian Empire in a war that began as a religious conflict but ended up being an effort to curb the expansion of the Russian Empire. The war ended in 1856.

In 1893, at the age of 48 years old, John was alive when on February 1st, Thomas Edison's motion picture studio on his laboratory grounds in West Orange New Jersey was completed. The studio was called "Black Maria" and the first movie made and viewed in it was of 3 people pretending to be blacksmiths.

In 1921, he was 76 years old when hugely popular Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, silent film star, was arrested for rape and manslaughter after an actress died following a party at his house. He was acquitted after three trials and the jury wrote a formal letter apologizing for the charges, but his career never recovered. His films were at first banned - the ban was lifted after a year - and he was mostly ostracized by the community. He died at 46..

In 1931, in the year of John Corr's passing, on May 1st, the Empire State Building opened in New York City. At 1,454 feet (including the roof and antenna), it was the tallest building in the world until the World Trade Center's North Tower was built in 1970. (It is now the 34th tallest.) Opening at the beginning of the Great Depression, most of the offices in the Empire State Building remained unoccupied for years and the observation deck was an equal source of revenue and kept the building profitable.