William James Rout (1855 - 1923)

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

In 1855, in the year that William James Rout was born, on March 3rd, Congress appropriated $30,000 to create the U.S. Camel Corps. The idea was to use camels as pack animals in the Southwest and 34 camels were bought. But the Army wasn't enthusiastic about the idea and after the Civil War the Camel Corps was entirely abandoned.

In 1865, when he was only 10 years old, on March 4th, President Abraham Lincoln was sworn in for a second term. A little over a month later, he would be assassinated by a Confederate sympathizer - 4 days after the surrender of Lee at Appomattox, which had effectively ended the Civil War.

In 1883, when he was 28 years old, on June 16th, children at a children's variety show in Victoria Hall began rushing the stage area and lobby for promised prizes. In the stampede, 183 children of the 1100 present - most of them 3 to 4 years old - were crushed and asphyxiated.

In 1901, at the age of 46 years old, William was alive when Edward VII succeeded Queen Victoria. Queen Victoria of England had become Queen in 1837 and reigned until her death in 1901. Her 63 year reign was the longest in history prior to Elizabeth II who recently broke her record. The time during which she led the country was known as the Victorian era and she presided over great changes in the United Kingdom, including the expansion of the British Empire and the Industrial Revolution.

In 1923, in the year of William James Rout's passing, the A.C. Nielsen Company was founded in Chicago. It provided an audience measurement system that could provide radio station owners with information on their listeners and the popularity of their shows. Later, the Nielsen company became the basis for the fate of television programs.