Perdie Orr (1886 - 1976)

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

In 1886, in the year that Perdie Orr was born, on January 5th, Scottish novelist Robert Louis Stevenson's book the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was published. Immediately popular, the paperback book was sold for $1 in the U.S. - almost $25 today. Stevenson's stepson said that he wrote the first draft in under 3 days.

In 1905, this person was 19 years old when federal spending was $0.57 billion, unemployment was 4.3%, and the cost of a first-class stamp was $0.02. Current U.S. government spending is $4.268 trillion.

In 1927, Perdie was 41 years old when 10 years after the United States bought the U.S. Virgin Islands from the Danish government, the inhabitants were granted U.S. citizenship. While they can vote in congressional elections and presidential primaries, they cannot vote for President.

In 1959, by the time this person was 73 years old, on January 3rd, Alaska became the 49th state of the United States and the first state not a part of the contiguous United States. The flag was changed to display 49 stars.

In 1976, in the year of Perdie Orr's passing, on August 4th, a mysterious illness struck an American Legion convention in Philadelphia. Within a week, 25 people had died and 130 people had been hospitalized. It was the first known instance of what came to be called "Legionnaires Disease."