Mary Ella (Huddleston) Blankenbeker (1875 - 1949)

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

In 1875, in the year that Mary Ella (Huddleston) Blankenbeker was born, on February 21st, Jeanne Calment was born in southern France. Her father was a shipbuilder and her mother was from a family of millers. She died August 4th, 1997 of natural causes - the world's oldest documented person to have ever lived - at the age of 122 years and 164 days.

In 1884, at the age of just 9 years old, Mary was alive when on May 1st, the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions - a US association - first resolved that "eight hours shall constitute a legal day's labour from and after May 1, 1886, and that we recommend to labour organisations throughout this jurisdiction that they so direct their laws as to conform to this resolution by the time named." Previously, workdays would consist of 10 to 16 hours a day - 6 days a week. It would take years before the 8 hour workday became common practice - and longer before it became a law.

In 1902, when she was 27 years old, the Aswan Low Dam (the old Aswan Dam) began construction in Egypt in 1899 and was completed in 1902 - making it the largest masonry dam in the world at the time. The dam was built on the Nile River in order to conserve water and regulate flooding, allowing for population increase along the Nile.

In 1936, at the age of 61 years old, Mary was alive when on November 2nd, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) debuted the world's first regular high-definition television service. The channel had a short schedule - Monday through Saturday, 3:00p to 4:00p and 9:00p to 10:00p. The first broadcast was "Opening of the BBC Television Service".

In 1949, in the year of Mary Ella (Huddleston) Blankenbeker's passing, on April 4th, NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was established. Twelve nations originally signed the North Atlantic Treaty - the United States, Great Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Iceland, Canada, and Portugal. Greece, Turkey, and West Germany later joined. Today, there are 26 nations in NATO.