William Lay (1881 - 1965)

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

In 1881, in the year that William Lay was born, on February 19th, Kansas became the first state to prohibit all alcohol - the prohibition lasted statewide until 1948.

In 1897, at the age of 16 years old, William was alive when on September 21st, editor and publisher Francis P. Church responded to a letter to the editor from Virginia O'Hanlon, 8 years old. Virginia's father had told her that "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." So she wrote to the Sun, asking if there was a Santa Claus. Church responded with the now famous editorial "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus".

In 1902, William was 21 years old when about 150 thousand United Mine Workers went on strike in eastern Pennsylvania for a wage increase and more suitable hours. They eventually got a 10% raise and their workday was reduced from 10 hours to 9. Because winter was coming and most people at the time heated their homes with coal, President Teddy Roosevelt arbitrated between the owners and the workers - the first time that the Federal government arbitrated in a strike.

In 1911, at the age of 30 years old, William was alive when the first use of aircraft as an offensive weapon occurred in the Turkish-Italian War. First used for aerial reconnaissance alone, planes were then used in aerial combat to shoot down recon planes. In World War I, planes and zeppelins evolved for use in bombing.

In 1965, in the year of William Lay's passing, 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.