Joseph Mari (1890 - 1963)

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

In 1890, in the year that Joseph Mari was born, on December 29th, the Wounded Knee Massacre occurred in South Dakota on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation . The U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment said that they rode into the Lakota camp "trying to disarm" the inhabitants. One person, Black Coyote - who was deaf - held onto his rifle, saying that he paid a lot of money for it. Shots rang out and by the end at least 153 Lakota Sioux - some estimates say 300 - and 25 troops had died. The site of the massacre is a National Historic Landmark.

In 1916, by the time he was 26 years old, the Battle of Verdun was fought from February through December. It was the largest and longest battle of World War I, lasting 303 days. The original estimates were 714,231 casualties - 377,231 French and 337,000 German, an average of 70,000 casualties a month. Current estimates are even larger. The Battle of the Somme was also fought from July through September of the same year. Original estimates were 485,000 British and French casualties and 630,000 German casualties.

In 1935, he was 45 years old when on August 14, the Social Security Act was signed into law. The purpose was to "provide federal assistance to those unable to work". The law established the Social Security Administration whose primary focus was to "provide aid for the elderly, the unemployed, and children". The Act survived many Supreme Court challenges and the Administration continues until today.

In 1959, at the age of 69 years old, Joseph was alive when on August 8th, Hawaii became the 50th state of the United States. The US flag was changed to show 50 stars.

In 1963, in the year of Joseph Mari's passing, the British Secretary of War, 46 year old John Profumo ,was forced to resign when he lied about an affair with 19 year old Christine Keeler. Keeler was also involved with the Soviet naval attaché and charges of espionage were feared. No proof of spying was ever found.