William Sapp (1893 - 1982)

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

In 1893, in the year that William Sapp was born, on May 5th, a crash on the New York Stock Exchange started a depression that lasted 4 years. It was the beginning of the Panic of 1893.

In 1939, at the age of 46 years old, William was alive when in May, Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first full-length animated film, reached a total international gross of $6.5 million which made it (to then) the most successful sound film of all time. First released in December 1937, it was originally dubbed "Disney's Folly" but the premiere received a standing ovation from the audience. At the 11th Academy Awards in February 1939, Walt Disney won an Academy Honorary Award - a full-size Oscar statuette and seven miniature ones - for Snow White.

In 1945, at the age of 52 years old, William was alive when on March 12th, a riot erupted at a Japanese internment camp in Santa Fe New Mexico. Two days earlier, white shirts with the Rising Sun on the back had been confiscated and the prisoners objected. Three leaders of the protest were removed and sent to another camp. Guards at the Santa Fe camp were armed with submachine guns, shotguns, and gun masks. On the morning of the 12th, prisoners began throwing rocks at the guards. When the "rioters" wouldn't disperse, the guards were ordered to use tear gas and batons. Four men were badly injured as a result.

In 1969, by the time he was 76 years old, on January 20th, Richard M. Nixon became the 37th President of the United States. Previously the Vice President to President Eisenhower, Nixon was the only President to resign in office - in his second term.

In 1982, in the year of William Sapp's passing, on June 30th, time ran out on the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The Amendment had only received 35 of the necessary 38 state ratifications. First sent to the states in 1972, the Amendment stated that "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex".