Virginia E Davis (1905 - 2004)

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

In 1905, in the year that Virginia E Davis was born, the first movie theater opened in the United States in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was the first theater to show nothing but movies - silent films. Two men, John P. Harris and his brother-in-law Harry Davis, opened the Nickelodeon on Smithfield Street - charging 5 cents for admission. The first day, 450 people watched movies at the new theater - on the second day, more than 1500 people stood in line to get in.

In 1917, when she was merely 12 years old, the NHL (National Hockey League) was established as a response to the demise of the National Hockey Association (NHA). The first superstar of the League was "Phantom" Joe Malone of the Montreal Canadiens, a leading scorer with records that still stand. The Canadiens won the NHL championship over the Senators.

In 1962, she was 57 years old when on October 1st, African-American James H. Meredith, escorted by federal marshals, registered at the University of Mississippi - becoming the first African-American student admitted to the segregated college. He had been inspired by President Kennedy's inaugural address to apply for admission.

In 1987, at the age of 82 years old, Virginia was alive when on October 19th, stock exchanges around the world crashed. Beginning in Hong Kong then spreading to Europe, the crash then hit the United States. It was called Black Monday. The Dow Jones fell 508 points to 1,738.74 (22.61%).

In 1997, when she was 92 years old, on August 31st, Princess Diana of Great Britain was killed when her car crashed into a pillar in the tunnel under the Pont de l'Alma bridge in Paris. The car she was riding in was trying to evade the paparazzi but it was also discovered later that the driver of the car, who was also killed, had three times the legal limit of alcohol which likely contributed to the accident.