Willie Gillespie (1889 - 1985)

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

Willie's Family

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We currently do not have photos of Willie Gillespie. Below are potential family photos that share Willie's last name or surname. Pictures really do say a thousand words. Add photos of Willie during various points of his life

Dizzy Gillespie

Dizzy Gillespie

Dizzy Gillespie

Dizzy Gillespie

Dizzy Gillespie

Dizzy Gillespie

Dizzy Gillespie

Dizzy Gillespie

Dizzy Gillespie

Dizzy Gillespie

Dizzy Gillespie

Dizzy Gillespie

Dizzy Gillespie

Dizzy Gillespie (John Birks Dizzy Gillespie)

Kammie - High School

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

In 1889, in the year that Willie Gillespie was born, on April 22nd, at "high noon," about 50,000 people took off to claim open lands in the Land Rush of 1889. Called the "Unassigned Lands," part or all of 6 counties in Oklahoma were up for grabs. By the end of the day, Oklahoma City and Guthrie were created - each with about 10,000 inhabitants.

In 1917, when he was 28 years old, the NHL (National Hockey League) was established as a response to the demise of the National Hockey Association (NHA). The first superstar of the League was "Phantom" Joe Malone of the Montreal Canadiens, a leading scorer with records that still stand. The Canadiens won the NHL championship over the Senators.

In 1924, at the age of 35 years old, Willie was alive when on January 21st, Vladimir Lenin, a leader of the Russian Revolution and the first leader of the Soviet Union died. He had survived two assassination attempts but had subsequent physical problems, suffering 3 strokes. He was in such great pain, it is said that he asked Stalin to poison him. The circumstances of his death are still disputed. He did oppose Stalin as the next leader - nonetheless, Stalin won a power struggle and ruled as a Soviet dictator until his death in 1953.

In 1962, he was 73 years old when on February 20th, Lt. Col. John H. Glenn, Jr. became the first American to orbit the Earth. The Friendship 7 flew three times around the earth in 4 hours and 55 minutes. At age 77, Glenn returned to space - the oldest person to fly in space.

In 1985, in the year of Willie Gillespie's passing, on March 7th, the song "We Are the World" was released as a charity effort to alleviate the African famine. The song was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, and produced by Quincy Jones. They were joined by 37 other famous singers in the recording studio and a phenomena had begun