Thomas Sloan (1878 - 1963)

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

In 1878, in the year that Thomas Sloan was born, on September 12th, Cleopatra's Needle, built in Egypt in 1450 B.C. and transported to England, was erected in London. It had arrived in England on January 21st, having been towed by boat.

In 1884, Thomas was merely 6 years old when on December 6th, the Washington Monument was completed. Building began in 1848 but was stopped because of lack of funds and also due to the Civil War. It would be dedicated in 1885. At the time of its completion, it was the tallest structure in the world.

In 1916, by the time he was 38 years old, the Battle of Verdun was fought from February through December. It was the largest and longest battle of World War I, lasting 303 days. The original estimates were 714,231 casualties - 377,231 French and 337,000 German, an average of 70,000 casualties a month. Current estimates are even larger. The Battle of the Somme was also fought from July through September of the same year. Original estimates were 485,000 British and French casualties and 630,000 German casualties.

In 1949, he was 71 years old when on April 4th, NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was established. Twelve nations originally signed the North Atlantic Treaty - the United States, Great Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Iceland, Canada, and Portugal. Greece, Turkey, and West Germany later joined. Today, there are 26 nations in NATO.

In 1963, in the year of Thomas Sloan's passing, the British Secretary of War, 46 year old John Profumo ,was forced to resign when he lied about an affair with 19 year old Christine Keeler. Keeler was also involved with the Soviet naval attaché and charges of espionage were feared. No proof of spying was ever found.