Steven Kotelnicki (1916 - 1999)

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

In 1916, in the year that Steven Kotelnicki was born, the U.S. National Park Service - part of the Department of the Interior - was created by an act of Congress in August. The Park Service was charged with the dual role of "preserving the ecological and historical integrity of the places entrusted to its management while also making them available and accessible for public use and enjoyment". The resources managed by the National Park Service have often been referred to as the "crown jewels" of the United States.

In 1925, he was only 9 years old when gangster Al "Scarface" Capone took over the Chicago bootlegging racket at age 26. Previously right hand man to boss Johnny Torrio, Capone took over when Torrio was shot and severely injured and decided to resign. The bootlegging and brothel organization was massive and when asked what he did, Capone often replied "I am just a businessman, giving the people what they want".

In 1943, at the age of 27 years old, Steven was alive when on June 20th through June 22nd, the Detroit Race Riot erupted at Belle Isle Park. The rioting spread throughout the city (made worse by false rumors of attacks on blacks and whites) and resulted in the deployment of 6,000 Federal troops. 34 people were killed, (25 of them black) - mostly by white police or National Guardsmen, 433 were wounded (75 percent of them black) and an estimated $2 million of property was destroyed. The same summer, there were riots in Beaumont, Texas and Harlem, New York.

In 1956, by the time he was 40 years old, on May 20th, the U.S. tested the first hydrogen bomb dropped from a plane over Bikini Atoll. Previously, hydrogen bombs had only been tested on the ground. The Atomic Age moved forward.

In 1960, by the time he was 44 years old, on September 26th, the first televised debate for a Presidential campaign in the United States - Kennedy vs Nixon - was held. Seventy million people watched the debate on TV. The debate pre-empted the very popular Andy Griffith Show.