Lawrence Peralta (1917 - 1979)

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

In 1917, in the year that Lawrence Peralta was born, "I Want You" became famous. James Montgomery Flagg's poster, featuring Uncle Sam and based on a 1914 British poster, attracted thousands of U.S. recruits to WWI duty. Over 4 million posters were printed in 1917 and 1918.

In 1922, by the time he was just 5 years old, on November 4th, British Egyptologists George Carnarvon and Howard Carter unearthed the first step leading to King Tutankhamen's tomb in the Valley of the Kings. By the end of the month they had unearthed the steps and broken through the door into the intact tomb. This was the only tomb that had remained unlooted that had been found (and is, to date). Filled with gold, jewels, and ancient everyday items, the find was priceless - in terms of money and history.

In 1942, by the time he was 25 years old, on June 17th, Roosevelt approved the Manhattan Project, which lead to the development of the first atomic bomb. With the support of Canada and the United Kingdom, the Project came to employ more than 130,000 people and cost nearly $2 billion. Julius Robert Oppenheimer, a nuclear physicist born in New York, led the Los Alamos Laboratory that developed the actual bomb. The first artificial nuclear explosion took place near Alamogordo New Mexico on July 16, 1945.

In 1969, when he was 52 years old, one hundred countries, along with the United States and the Soviet Union signed the nuclear nonproliferation treaty (NPT). It called for stopping the spread of nuclear weapons, the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and the goal of nuclear disarmament.

In 1979, in the year of Lawrence Peralta's passing, on November 4th, Iranian militant students seized the US embassy in Teheran and held 52 American citizens and diplomats hostage for 444 days. They were released at the end of the inauguration speech of the newly elected Ronald Reagan.