Wilmuth Thompson (1880 - 1970)

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

In 1880, in the year that Wilmuth Thompson was born, on August 14th Cologne Cathedral, in Germany, was finally completed. Construction began in 1248, was halted in 1473, and then begun again in the 1800's - completed after 632 years.

In 1918, at the age of 38 years old, Wilmuth was alive when on November 1, an elevated train on the Brooklyn line of the subway - driven by an inexperienced operator because of a strike - tried to navigate a turn at 30mph. The limit on the curve was 6 mph. The 2nd and 3rd cars of the 5 car wooden train were badly damaged and at least 93 people were killed, making it the deadliest crash in New York subway history.

In 1929, this person was 49 years old when on October 29th (Black Tuesday), the stock market crashed in the United States. Billions of dollars were lost and some investors committed suicide as a result, having lost their fortunes. This ushered in the 12 year, worldwide Great Depression.

In 1932, at the age of 52 years old, Wilmuth was alive when on February 27th, actress Elizabeth Taylor was born in London. Her parents were Americans living in London and when she was 7, the family moved to Los Angeles. Her first small part in a movie was in There's One Born Every Minute in 1942 but her first starring role was in National Velvet in 1944. She became as famous for her 8 marriages (to 7 people) as she was for her beauty and films.

In 1970, in the year of Wilmuth 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.