Louis Breaux (1911 - 2004)

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

In 1911, in the year that Louis Breaux was born, the United States Supreme Court broke up Standard Oil in May. John D. Rockefeller established Standard Oil in 1870 and it was the largest oil refinery at the time. The Supreme Court found that Standard Oil of New Jersey (one of the many iterations of Standard Oil) was guilty of "monopolizing the petroleum industry through a series of abusive and anticompetitive actions". The Court broke up the several entities that comprised Standard Oil and they eventually became competing firms.

In 1939, at the age of 28 years old, Louis was alive when on the 1st of September, Nazi Germany invaded Poland. On September 17th, the Soviet Union invaded Poland as well. Poland expected help from France and the United Kingdom, since they had a pact with both. But no help came. By October 6th, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany held full control of the previously Polish lands. Eventually, the invasion of Poland lead to World War II.

In 1978, Louis was 67 years old when on July 25th, Louise Brown, the first "test-tube baby", was born at Oldham Hospital in London. Louise was conceived through IVF (in vitro fertilization), a controversial and experimental procedure at the time.

In 1989, by the time he was 78 years old, on March 24th, the Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker, struck a reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound and oil began spilling out of the hold. The oil would eventually contaminate more than a thousand miles of coastline. It is estimated that over 10.8 million gallons of crude oil spilled into the Sound - killing 100,000 to 250,000 seabirds, over 2,800 sea otters, about 12 river otters, 300 harbor seals, 247 bald eagles, and 22 orcas - as well as an unknown number of salmon and herring.

In 1994, at the age of 83 years old, Louis was alive when on May 6th, the Channel Tunnel or "Chunnel" was officially opened. The Chunnel is a railway tunnel beneath the English Channel that connects Great Britain to mainland France. Original plans for such a tunnel were developed in 1802 and approved by Napoleon Bonaparte but the British rejected the plan fearing that Napoleon would use the railway to invade.