Willie Thompson (1890 - 1970)

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

In 1890, in the year that Willie Thompson was born, on October 9th, in Satory, France, the first fixed-wing, steam powered aircraft flew. "Ader Éole" flew, uncontrolled, for about 160 ft. at a height of just under 8 inches off the ground.

In 1919, at the age of 29 years old, Willie was alive when in Norfolk Virginia, the first rotary dial telephones were introduced by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), making it easier to make a call without an operator.

In 1949, Willie was 59 years old when comedian Milton Berle hosted the first telethon show. It raised $1,100,000 for cancer research and lasted 16 hours. The next day, newspapers, in writing about the event, first used the word "telethon."

In 1965, when he was 75 years old, 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.

In 1970, in the year of Willie Thompson's passing, on April 10th, Paul McCartney announced that he was leaving the Beatles. (John Lennon had previously told the band that he was leaving but hadn't publicly announced it.) By the end of the year, each Beatle had his own album.