Walter John Sylvers (1886 - 1944)

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

In 1886, in the year that Walter John Sylvers was born, on October 28th, President Grover Cleveland officially dedicated the Statue of Liberty. A gift from France, the base for the statue had been built using donations from the American public. The unplanned but enthusiastic celebration after the dedication led to the first ticker tape parade.

In 1907, at the age of 21 years old, Walter was alive when the Monongah coal mining disaster occurred on December 6th, happening at the Fairmont Coal Company’s No. 6 and No. 8 mines.. Over 361 miners were killed. Because there was no breathing apparatus at the time to help rescuers, recovery efforts were greatly hampered. It is considered the worst mining disaster in American history and led to government oversight in mining practices.

In 1913, Walter was 27 years old when ratified in February the 16th Amendment, establishing a Federal income tax, became law. Previously, customs duties (tariffs) and excise taxes were the primary sources of federal revenue. With the passage of the 16th Amendment, incomes of couples exceeding $4,000, as well as those of single persons earning $3,000 or more, were subject to a 1% Federal tax (that would be about $98,000 and $74,000 now). Rates rose to 7% for incomes over half a million dollars. Less than 1% of the population was subject to income tax.

In 1920, when he was 34 years old, Italian born factory worker Nicola Sacco and fish peddler Bartolomeo Vanzetti were picked up by police on May 5th in connection with the April 15th murder and robbery of a guard and a paymaster at the Slater and Morrill Shoe Company in South Braintree, Mass. Although in later years they were thought to be innocent, they were anarchists and were convicted of the crime and put to death.

In 1944, in the year of Walter John Sylvers's passing, on June 6th, the largest amphibious invasion in history was launched - the Normandy landing (called D-Day). Soldiers from the United States, Britain, Canada, and the Free French landed on Normandy Beach and were later joined by Poland, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece, and the Netherlands. Almost 5,000 landing and assault craft, 289 escort vessels, and 277 minesweepers were involved. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on D-Day - Allied casualties on the first day were at least 10,000. 4,414 were confirmed dead.