Parker Ford (1920 - 1974)

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

In 1920, in the year that Parker Ford was born, in September, a bomb exploded in the J.P. Morgan bank building in New York City, killing 30 people immediately - 8 later died due to their injuries - and injuring another 200. Killing more people than the 1910 bombing of the LA Times (the deadliest terrorist act up until then), no one took responsibility and the perpetrators were never found. Italian anarchists were suspected of the bombing.

In 1944, by the time he was 24 years old, on June 6th, the largest amphibious invasion in history was launched - the Normandy landing (called D-Day). Soldiers from the United States, Britain, Canada, and the Free French landed on Normandy Beach and were later joined by Poland, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece, and the Netherlands. Almost 5,000 landing and assault craft, 289 escort vessels, and 277 minesweepers were involved. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on D-Day - Allied casualties on the first day were at least 10,000. 4,414 were confirmed dead.

In 1959, by the time he was 39 years old, on August 8th, Hawaii became the 50th state of the United States. The US flag was changed to show 50 stars.

In 1961, at the age of 41 years old, Parker was alive when on May 5th, Navy Cmdr. Alan B. Shepard, Jr., made the first manned Project Mercury flight, MR-3, in a spacecraft he named Freedom 7. He was the second man to go into space, the first was Yuri Gagarin - a Soviet cosmonaut.

In 1974, in the year of Parker Ford's passing, 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.