William A Munroe (1922 - 2010)

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

In 1922, in the year that William A Munroe was born, from October 22nd - 29th, 3,000 men of Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party marched on Rome. (Mussolini waited in Milan, he did not participate in the March.) The day after the March Mussolini went to Rome and the King of Italy handed over power to Mussolini, in part because he was supported by the military, the business class, and the right-wing factions of Italy.

In 1945, he was 23 years old when on August 6th, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. On August 9th, an atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. At least 129,000 people were killed in the two bombings and they still remain the only use of atomic bombs in war. An invasion on mainland Japan had been planned but President Truman ordered the bombs dropped instead.

In 1965, at the age of 43 years old, William was alive when on March 8th, the first US combat troops arrived in Vietnam. The 3500 Marines joined 23,000 "advisors" already in South Vietnam. By the end of the year, 190,000 American soldiers were in the country.

In 1979, at the age of 57 years old, William was alive when on November 4th, Iranian militant students seized the US embassy in Teheran and held 52 American citizens and diplomats hostage for 444 days. They were released at the end of the inauguration speech of the newly elected Ronald Reagan.

In 1991, he was 69 years old when on November 7th, legendary basketball player Magic Johnson announced that he had HIV. In 1991, the public was confused about the difference between HIV and AIDS (HIV is a virus that can lead to AIDS) and there was little treatment for either. Most thought that Johnson would die within a year or so. Also, the transmission of AIDS wasn't understood so he had to retire from basketball. Magic Johnson is still alive and well.