Matilde Dernier (1891 - 1967)

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

In 1891, in the year that Matilde Dernier was born, James Naismith, at the Springfield Massachusetts YMCA, invented the game of basketball. Originally using two peach baskets and a soccer ball, he created the game to keep his students active during the long, harsh New England winters.

In 1919, by the time she was 28 years old, Indian lawyer Mahatma Gandhi initiated the Satyagraha campaigns, beginning the nonviolent resistance movement against British rule of India. Satyagraha means "holding onto truth" and the campaign for India independence, which was eventually obtained, called for "self-suffering" rather than inflicting suffering (i.e., violence) on others.

In 1934, she was 43 years old when on July 22nd, gangster John Dillinger was killed in Chicago. His gang had robbed banks and police stations, among other charges, and he was being hunted by J. Edgar Hoover, head of the FBI - although many in the public saw him as a "Robin Hood". A madam from a brothel in which he was hiding became an informer for the FBI and, after a shootout with FBI agents, Dillinger was shot and died.

In 1959, at the age of 68 years old, Matilde was alive when on January 3rd, Alaska became the 49th state of the United States and the first state not a part of the contiguous United States. The flag was changed to display 49 stars.

In 1967, in the year of Matilde Dernier's passing, on October 2nd, Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as the first black US Supreme Court justice. Marshall was the great-grandson of a slave and graduated first in his class at Howard University Law School. His nomination to the Supreme Court was approved by the Senate, 69 to 11.