Mildred Swaney (1893 - 1972)

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

In 1893, in the year that Mildred Swaney was born, on February 1st, Thomas Edison's motion picture studio on his laboratory grounds in West Orange New Jersey was completed. The studio was called "Black Maria" and the first movie made and viewed in it was of 3 people pretending to be blacksmiths.

In 1907, she was merely 14 years old when in October, over a 3 week period, the New York stock exchange fell almost 50% from the previous year's high mark. Public panic ensued and there were runs on banks since the U.S. was in the middle of a recession. J.P. Morgan offered his own fortune to back the banks and he was followed by other financiers. This temporarily shored up the banking system, stopping the immediate panic. All of this led to the creation of the Federal Reserve.

In 1941, Mildred was 48 years old when on June 25th, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802, prohibiting racial discrimination in the defense industry. EO 8802 was the first federal action to prohibit employment discrimination - without prejudice as to "race, creed, color, or national origin" - in the U.S. Civil Rights groups had planned a march on Washington D.C. to protest for equal rights but with the signing of the Order, they canceled the March.

In 1957, by the time she was 64 years old, on October 4th, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik I, the first man made earth-orbiting satellite - and triggered the Space Race. Sputnik I was only 23 inches in diameter and had no tracking equipment, only 4 antennas, but it had a big impact.

In 1972, in the year of Mildred Swaney's passing, on June 17th, 5 men were arrested by police in an attempt to bug the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington D.C.’s Watergate hotel. The burglars were found to be paid by cash from a slush fund used by the Committee for the Re-Election of the President - the official organization of President Nixon's campaign.