Thelma Reeder (1906 - 1997)

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

In 1906, in the year that Thelma Reeder was born, abolitionist and suffragette leader Susan B. Anthony died, before women's right to vote nationally was realized (in 1920). She, along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, founded the National American Woman Suffrage Association which later became the League of Women Voters. She died at the age of 86 of heart failure and pneumonia in her home in New York.

In 1928, she was 22 years old when aviatrix Amelia Earhart, age 31, became the first woman to fly solo across North America and back in August. In June, she had been part of a 3 man crew that flew the Atlantic Ocean but since she had no instrument training, she couldn't fly the plane - she kept the flight log. The North American flight became one of her many "firsts" as a female pilot.

In 1969, when she was 63 years old, on July 20th, the first men walked on the moon. Apollo 11 astronauts Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. both walked on the moon but it was Armstrong who first stepped on the moon. They fulfilled the promise of President Kennedy's commitment in 1961 to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade.

In 1981, Thelma was 75 years old when on August 1st, MTV debuted. It was the first music video TV channel. The first music video played was the Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star" - the second was Pat Benatar's "You Better Run".

In 1997, in the year of Thelma Reeder's passing, on July 1st, Hong Kong was returned to China. In 1898, Great Britain was awarded Hong Kong for 99 years. In a subsequent agreement, China agreed to allow Hong Kong to remain capitalist. So the handing over of the area ended British rule but did not change the economic system of Hong Kong.