1926 -- The Year Our House Was Built

The information from the seller's realtor says The Box House was built in 1928, making it eighty years old this year. But the Cook County Clerk's Office has it as 82 years old, putting the construction date at 1926. We'll have to do a little more investigating, but for now we'll assume the tax records are correct and it was built in 1926.

So, what else was going on the year our house was built?

First flight over the north pole (Richard Byrd).

First public demonstration of television.

First transatlantic phone call.

Henry Ford announces an 8 hour a day, 5 day a week work schedule (blame him!)

Hirohito becomes Emperor of Japan.

Walt Disney Studios is formed (Mickey Mouse himself is created in 1928).


George Burns marries Gracie Allen.

Joseph Stalin establishes himself as virtual dictator of the Soviet Union.

Hugh Hefner, Queen Elizabeth, Gus Grissom, Don Rickles, Miles Davis, Marilyn Monroe, Andy Griffith, Jerry Lewis, Alan Greenspan, John Coltrane, Chuck Berry, and Fidel Castro were born.

Bessie Coleman, the first African-American woman to become a pilot (and the first American woman to hold an international pilot's license), dies when she is thrown from her plane during an accident. Rudolph Valentino, Harry Houdini, Annie Oakley, and Claude Monet also died that year.

And, perhaps the most important event of 1926: Winnie-the-Pooh is published!

Images and random factoids courtesy Wikipedia.