John Ribbe (1907 - 1965)

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

In 1907, in the year that John Ribbe was born, in October, over a 3 week period, the New York stock exchange fell almost 50% from the previous year's high mark. Public panic ensued and there were runs on banks since the U.S. was in the middle of a recession. J.P. Morgan offered his own fortune to back the banks and he was followed by other financiers. This temporarily shored up the banking system, stopping the immediate panic. All of this led to the creation of the Federal Reserve.

In 1917, John was only 10 years old when Russian government offices were seized and the Romanov's Winter Palace was stormed in the Russian February and October Revolutions. The February revolution resulted in the abdication of Tsar Nicholas and a coalition of the Parliament and workers parties taking control of the government. The October revolution resulted in Lenin and the Bolsheviks taking complete control.

In 1924, when he was 17 years old, J. Edgar Hoover, at the age of 29, was appointed the sixth director of the Bureau of Investigation by Calvin Coolidge (which later became the Federal Bureau of Investigation). The Bureau had approximately 650 employees, including 441 Special Agents. A former employee of the Justice Department, Hoover accepted his new position on the proviso that the bureau was to be completely divorced from politics and that the director report only to the attorney general.

In 1945, at the age of 38 years old, John was alive when on May 8th, World War II in Europe ended when Germany surrendered. Hitler had committed suicide a week before.

In 1965, in the year of John Ribbe's passing, from August 11 to 16, riots broke out in Watts, a Black section of Los Angeles. An allegedly drunk African-American driver was stopped by LA police and, after a fight, police brutality was alleged - and the riots began. 34 people died in the rioting and over $40 million in property damage occurred. The National Guard was called in to help the LA police quell rioting.