William Patrick Martin (1878 - 1920)

William's immediate relatives including parents, siblings, partnerships and children in the Martin family tree.

William's Family

Add a parent

Add a parent

William Patrick Martin Add a partner Add a child Add a partner Add a child

Add a sibling

Photos and snapshots taken of William Patrick Martin, his Martin family, and locations and places or events from his life.

Private William Patrick Martin gravesite

Add photo

What do you remember about William Patrick Martin? Share your memories of special moments and stories you have heard about him. Or just leave a comment to show the world that William is remembered.

Post

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

In 1878, in the year that William Patrick Martin was born, on September 12th, Cleopatra's Needle, built in Egypt in 1450 B.C. and transported to England, was erected in London. It had arrived in England on January 21st, having been towed by boat.

In 1881, at the age of only 3 years old, William was alive when on October 26th, the "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" happened in Tombstone, Arizona. The gunfight lasted only 30 seconds - the Earps and Doc Holliday on one side and the "Cowboys" on the other side. The McLaury brothers and Billy Clanton of the Cowboys were killed. Two of the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday were wounded.

In 1896, by the time he was 18 years old, on August 17th, the first pedestrian v car fatality occurred in Great Britain. Bridget Driscoll, age 44, was walking with her family on the grounds of The Crystal Palace in London when she was hit by a car driven by Arthur James Edsall. Edsall claimed to be going 4.5 mph and Driscoll's death was ruled an "accidental death" after an inquest.

In 1906, William was 28 years old when President Theodore Roosevelt received the Nobel Prize for Peace. The award was considered controversial at the time because many thought that he was an imperialist. But he had brokered peace between Russia and Japan a year previous and had allowed a dispute between Mexico and the U.S. to go to arbitration, resolving the issue peacefully rather than resorting to military conflict. For these two reasons, the Nobel Prize committee chose him for the Peace Prize.

In 1920, in the year of William Patrick Martin's passing, on November 2, radio station KDKA began broadcasting in Pittsburgh, PA. This was the first commercial radio broadcast in the United States. Westinghouse, a leading manufacturer of radios and the backer of the station, chose the date because of the Presidential election. People liked it because they could hear about the results of the election between Harding and Cox before the morning papers arrived. Four years later, there were 600 commercial stations broadcasting in the U.S.