William R Shaw (1900 - 1995)

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

In 1900, in the year that William R Shaw was born, the U.S. population exceeded 75 million, rising about 13 million from the 1890 census. 87.9% of the population was white, 11.6% was African-American, 0.7% was Hispanic, and 0.5% was Native American, Asian, and other minorities.

In 1927, at the age of 27 years old, William was alive when 10 years after the United States bought the U.S. Virgin Islands from the Danish government, the inhabitants were granted U.S. citizenship. While they can vote in congressional elections and presidential primaries, they cannot vote for President.

In 1937, he was 37 years old when on May 28th, the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge opened to cars. Taking 5 years to build, the 4,200-foot-long suspension bridge was an engineering marvel of its time - 11 men died during construction. The "international orange" color was chosen because it resisted rust and fading. To the present, it is the symbol of the City that is known throughout the world.

In 1952, when he was 52 years old, on July 2, Dr. Jonas E. Salk tested the first dead-virus polio vaccine on 43 children. The worst epidemic of polio had broken out that year - in the U.S. there were 58,000 cases reported. Of these, 3,145 people had died and 21,269 were left with mild to disabling paralysis.

In 1995, in the year of William R Shaw's passing, on September 3rd, eBay was founded in San Jose California. Beginning as simply a place for Pierre Omidyar's girlfriend (now wife) to share her Pez passion and collection online, the site has become a multibillion-dollar business and operates in 30 countries.