Melvin Calendar (1872 - 1958)

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

In 1872, in the year that Melvin Calendar was born, on May 10th, Victoria Woodhull became the first woman to be nominated for President of the United States. She was too young to qualify for President - a year under the minimum age, 35 - and women couldn't vote but she was nominated by the Equal Rights Party, which supported equal rights and suffrage for women. She didn't appear on the official ballot.

In 1880, Melvin was just 8 years old when on August 14th Cologne Cathedral, in Germany, was finally completed. Construction began in 1248, was halted in 1473, and then begun again in the 1800's - completed after 632 years.

In 1895, at the age of 23 years old, Melvin was alive when on May 18th, Italy's first motor race was held. The race was 58 miles long - from Turin to Asti and back. Five cars started but only three completed the race. It was won by Simone Federman who drove a Daimler Omnibus - his average speed was 9.6 mph.

In 1900, at the age of 28 years old, Melvin was alive when a massive hurricane, known as the Great Galveston hurricane, hit Galveston Texas. Winds hit up to 145 miles an hour (category 4) and it remains the single most deadly event in U.S. history. Between 6,000 and 12,000 died (most estimates are around 8,000 dead). The population of Galveston at the time was about 36,000 people in 1900.

In 1958, in the year of Melvin Calendar's passing, on January 31st, Explorer I, the United States' answer to Sputnik I (and 2,) was launched. America had entered the Space Race. The first spacecraft to detect the Van Allen radiation belt, it remained in orbit until 1970.