Mabel L Durley (1914 - 2006)

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

In 1914, in the year that Mabel L Durley was born, President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation designating Mother's Day, the second Sunday in May, as a national holiday to honor mothers. Anna Jarvis had championed a Mother's Day for years but Congress had joked a few years earlier that then they would have to proclaim a "Mother-in-law's Day" as well. The President who championed a woman's right to vote also created a day in their honor.

In 1922, at the age of merely 8 years old, Mabel was alive when from October 22nd - 29th, 3,000 men of Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party marched on Rome. (Mussolini waited in Milan, he did not participate in the March.) The day after the March Mussolini went to Rome and the King of Italy handed over power to Mussolini, in part because he was supported by the military, the business class, and the right-wing factions of Italy.

In 1967, by the time she was 53 years old, on November 7th, President Johnson signed legislation passed by Congress that created the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which would later become PBS and NPR. The legislation required CPB to operate with a "strict adherence to objectivity and balance in all programs or series of programs of a controversial nature".

In 1977, Mabel was 63 years old when on May 25th, Star Wars premiered in theaters. Eventually, it became the highest-grossing film of all time - until E.T. surpassed it a few years later. It was an immediate hit with theatergoers.

In 1984, she was 70 years old when on January 1, "Baby Bells" were created. AT&T had been the provider of telephone service (and equipment) in the United States. The company kept Western Electric, Bell Labs, and AT&T Long Distance. Seven new regional companies (the Baby Bells) covered local telephone service and were separately owned. AT&T lost 70% of its book value due to this move.