Mae Finn (1886 - 1977)

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

In 1886, in the year that Mae Finn was born, on May 4th, a general strike began in Chicago. Workers were striking for an 8 hour workday and in protest of the killing - by police - of several workers the day before. When an unknown person threw a dynamite bomb, the strike became violent. Seven policemen were killed as well as 4 civilians. It became known as the Haymarket Riot and eventually resulted in an 8 hourwork day as well as commemorations on May 1st for worker's rights.

In 1898, Mae was merely 12 years old when on March 24th, Robert Allison of Pennsylvania became the first person to buy an American-built car. He bought a Winton, which he had seen in an advertisement in Scientific American. The Winton, built in Ohio, was made by hand and came with a leather roof, padded seats, gas lamps, and tires made by B.F. Goodrich.

In 1948, by the time she was 62 years old, on May 14th, the State of Israel was proclaimed by David Ben-Gurion, who became Israel's first Premier, and the U.S. officially recognized Israel. That evening, Egypt launched an air assault on Israel.

In 1967, when she was 81 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, in the year of Mae Finn's passing, on January 21st, President Carter pardoned "draft dodgers" - men who avoided the draft during the Vietnam War. He fulfilled a campaign promise with the pardon. But it only applied to civilian evaders - the estimated 500,000 to 1 million active-duty personnel who went AWOL were not included.