Thomas Steinbarger (1918 - 1981)

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

In 1918, in the year that Thomas Steinbarger was born, on November 11th, an armistice was signed between the Allies and Germany, ending the fighting on the Western Front in World War I. This meant a complete defeat of Germany although Germany never formally surrendered. It took another six months of negotiations to sign an actual peace treaty between the warring parties.

In 1925, he was only 7 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 1959, when he was 41 years old, on January 3rd, Alaska became the 49th state of the United States and the first state not a part of the contiguous United States. The flag was changed to display 49 stars.

In 1964, when he was 46 years old, in June, three young civil rights workers - Andrew Goodman and Mickey Schwerner from New York City, and James Chaney from Meridian, Mississippi - were kidnapped and murdered in Mississippi. Working with "Freedom Summer", they were registering African-Americans to vote in the Southern states. Their bodies were found two months later. Although it was discovered that the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, the Neshoba County Sheriff's Office and the Philadelphia, Mississippi Police Department were involved, only 7 men were convicted and served less than six years.

In 1981, in the year of Thomas Steinbarger's passing, 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".