Stephen A Gianoplus (1894 - 1995)

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

In 1894, in the year that Stephen A Gianoplus was born, on April 21st, a coal miners' strike closed mines throughout the central United States. The Panic of 1893, and the resulting depression, hit coal miners hard and the miners only struck for 8 weeks - they couldn't afford to live without their wages any longer.

In 1903, when he was merely 9 years old, the Harley-Davidson Motor Company was begun by two childhood friends, William Harley and Arthur Davidson - with help from Arthur's brother, Walter. Their first prototype - a "motor-bicycle" - couldn't climb hills without also pedaling, so they went back to the drawing board, and in 1904 their new version came in 4th in a race. Harley-Davidson and Indian Motorcycle Manufacturing Company were the only two major motorcycle companies to survive the Great Depression.

In 1931, by the time he was 37 years old, on May 1st, the Empire State Building opened in New York City. At 1,454 feet (including the roof and antenna), it was the tallest building in the world until the World Trade Center's North Tower was built in 1970. (It is now the 34th tallest.) Opening at the beginning of the Great Depression, most of the offices in the Empire State Building remained unoccupied for years and the observation deck was an equal source of revenue and kept the building profitable.

In 1970, at the age of 76 years old, Stephen was alive when on April 10th, Paul McCartney announced that he was leaving the Beatles. (John Lennon had previously told the band that he was leaving but hadn't publicly announced it.) By the end of the year, each Beatle had his own album.

In 1995, in the year of Stephen A Gianoplus's passing, on September 3rd, eBay was founded in San Jose California. Beginning as simply a place for Pierre Omidyar's girlfriend (now wife) to share her Pez passion and collection online, the site has become a multibillion-dollar business and operates in 30 countries.