William Edward Ramage (1890 - 1955)

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

In 1890, in the year that William Edward Ramage was born, on October 9th, in Satory, France, the first fixed-wing, steam powered aircraft flew. "Ader Éole" flew, uncontrolled, for about 160 ft. at a height of just under 8 inches off the ground.

In 1900, by the time he was just 10 years old, when Floradora opened on Broadway. A huge success in London - opening in 1899 and running for 455 performances - the musical was even more successful in New York - running for 552 performances. The "Floradora girls" were the hit of the show - a "sextette of tall, gorgeous damsels, clad in pink walking costumes, black picture hats and carrying frilly parasols who swished onto the stage and captivated New York for no other reason than they were utterly stunning" ("tall and gorgeous" translated to 5'4"). A sensation, each Floradora girl was said to have married a millionaire.

In 1928, at the age of 38 years old, William was alive when aviatrix Amelia Earhart, age 31, became the first woman to fly solo across North America and back in August. In June, she had been part of a 3 man crew that flew the Atlantic Ocean but since she had no instrument training, she couldn't fly the plane - she kept the flight log. The North American flight became one of her many "firsts" as a female pilot.

In 1949, by the time he was 59 years old, 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 1955, in the year of William Edward Ramage's passing, on September 30th, movie star James Dean, 24, died in a car accident. He was headed in his new Porsche 550 to a race in Salinas California when, traveling at 85 mph, he collided with a 1950 Ford Tudor, also speeding, driven by a 23 year old college student. Dean died, his passenger and the other driver survived.