Minnie Ann Alice (Amelang) Skinner (1887 - 1969)

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

In 1887, in the year that Minnie Ann Alice (Amelang) Skinner was born, on May 9th, Buffalo Bill's Wild West show opened in London. Founded in 1883, the show was attended - twice - by Queen Victoria and adored by audiences who thrilled to his fanciful acts portraying life in the "Wild West."

In 1893, when she was merely 6 years old, on November 7th, the women of Colorado were given the right to vote via a state referendum. Fifty-five percent of voters turned out and the referendum passed with 35,798 voting in favor and 29,551 voting against.

In 1910, by the time she was 23 years old, Thomas Edison introduced his kinetophone, which he hoped would make "talkies" a reality. But the sound wasn't synchronized to the pictures and only 45 Kinetophones were made.

In 1938, by the time she was 51 years old, on October 30th, a Sunday, The Mercury Theatre on the Air broadcast Orson Welles' special Halloween show The War of the World's. A clever take on H.G. Wells' novel, the show began with simulated "breaking news" of an invasion by Martians. Because of the realistic nature of the "news," there was a public outcry the next day, calling for regulation by the FCC. Although the current story is that many were fooled and panicked, in reality very few people were fooled. But the show made Orson Welles' career.

In 1969, in the year of Minnie Ann Alice (Amelang) Skinner's passing, on July 20th, the first men walked on the moon. Apollo 11 astronauts Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. both walked on the moon but it was Armstrong who first stepped on the moon. They fulfilled the promise of President Kennedy's commitment in 1961 to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade.