Refresh this page to see various historical events that occurred during Robina's lifetime.
In 1894, in the year that Robina Florence (Henderson) Lawson was born, on March 12th, for the first time, Coca-Cola was sold in individual bottles as a drink for consumer consumption. Previously, it was sold as a syrup for upset stomachs - over the counter.
In 1904, she was only 10 years old when the United States acquired the Panama Canal Zone. Now an unincorporated territory of the U.S., the Canal Zone had been previously held by the French, who were constructing a canal. The U.S. took over the construction of the Panama Canal and it was finally finished in 1914, when it was opened to commercial shipping. The United States held the Canal Zone until 1979.
In 1929, Robina was 35 years old when on March 4th, Herbert Hoover became the 31st President of the United States. Early in his presidency, the October stock market crash - "Black Tuesday" - occurred, which lead to the Great Depression. None of his economic policies were able to make a dent in the Depression. This lead to one term and the election of Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt winning the 1933 election in a landslide.
In 1949, by the time she was 55 years old, on January 25th, the first Emmy Awards (for television) were handed out in Los Angeles. Shirley Dinsdale won for the Most Outstanding Television Personality and Pantomime Quiz Time earned an Emmy for the Most Popular Television Program.
In 1957, in the year of Robina Florence (Henderson) Lawson's passing, on September 24th, the "Little Rock Nine" (nine African-American students) entered Little Rock High School. Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus had previously prevented the students from entering the school at the beginning of the term with the Arkansas National Guard - they blocked the door. President Eisenhower ordered federal troops - the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army - to guard the students and allow them entry.
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