Maria Picella (1879 - 1919)

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

In 1879, in the year that Maria Picella was born, on October 22nd, Thomas Edison tested the first practical electric light bulb. Lasting 13½ hours before burning out, it used a "a carbon filament or strip coiled and connected to platina contact wires". He applied for a patent on November 4th, receiving the patent in January 1880.

In 1880, Maria was only 1 year old when in October, the "Blizzard of 1880" began in North America - considered the most severe winter ever known in the US. Many areas were snowbound throughout the whole winter, which was made famous in Laura Ingalls Wilder's book The Long Winter.

In 1893, when she was merely 14 years old, on November 7th, the women of Colorado were given the right to vote via a state referendum. Fifty-five percent of voters turned out and the referendum passed with 35,798 voting in favor and 29,551 voting against.

In 1909, Maria was 30 years old when the NAACP was founded by W. E. B. Du Bois. The organization focused on legal strategies designed to confront the critical civil rights issues of the day - which included lynching and segregation in schools. The goal was to secure for all people the rights guaranteed in the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the United States Constitution.

In 1919, in the year of Maria Picella's passing, in the summer and early autumn, race riots erupted in 26 U.S. cities, resulting in hundreds of deaths and even more people being badly hurt. In most cases, African-Americans were the victims. It was called the "Red Summer". Men who were returning from World War I needed jobs and there was competition for those jobs among the races. Tension was heightened by the use by many companies of blacks as strikebreakers.