Mignonne Wilson (1918 - 1999)

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

In 1918, in the year that Mignonne Wilson was born, in July, Russian revolutionaries executed the former Tzar Nicholas II and his immediate family. While it was rumored that two of the children had survived, it was later proven through DNA analysis - when their bodies were found - that the entire family had been killed.

In 1923, at the age of merely 5 years old, Mignonne was alive when on September 1, an earthquake - the Great Kanto earthquake - destroyed one-third of Tokyo. Measuring 7.9 and with a reported duration of between 4 and 10 minutes, casualties totaled about 142,800 deaths, including about 40,000 who went missing and were presumed dead.

In 1937, at the age of 19 years old, Mignonne was alive when on May 28th, the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge opened to cars. Taking 5 years to build, the 4,200-foot-long suspension bridge was an engineering marvel of its time - 11 men died during construction. The "international orange" color was chosen because it resisted rust and fading. To the present, it is the symbol of the City that is known throughout the world.

In 1962, this person was 44 years old when lasting from October 16th - 28th, the Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest that the United States and the Soviet Union came to nuclear war. The Soviet Union had been installing a nuclear missile base in Cuba. The United States established a blockade to stop the base from being completed. Through secret negotiations, war was averted: the Soviet Union agreed to dismantle their weapons in Cuba and the United States agreed to never invade Cuba and to dismantle weapons in Turkey and Italy.

In 1974, this person was 56 years old when on August 9th, Gerald R. Ford became the 38th President of the United States. He had been Vice President for 8 months when he became President due to the resignation of President Nixon.