My father's oldest sister, Annie Jane Tapley Lampp, was born March 15, 1899. Let's see what was happening in America at that time.
March 15, 1899 was a Wednesday.
In the United States, the most popular baby name for girls is Anna. This name was given to 5,115 baby girls. For the boys, it is John. This name was recorded 6,990 times in the year 1899.
The generation born between 1890 and 1905 is called The Lost Generation. A large portion of the Lost Generation fought in World War I, and thus was named after those lost in the great war. Actually, The Lost Generation lived through both world wars, the Great Depression, Korea, and the Vietnam War.
The President of the United States was William McKinley. The Vice President was Garrett A. Hobart.
In the U.S., the 1890s were marked by a severe economic depression sparked by the Panic of 1893, as well as several strikes in the industrial workforce. The decade saw much of the development of the automobile. While most of the country was still rural, cities were growing at a fast pace.
The period was sometimes referred to as the "Mauve Decade" - because William Henry Perkin's aniline dye allowed the widespread use of that color in fashion - and also as the "Gay Nineties," referring to the fact that it was full of merriment and optimism. (However, the phase, "The Gay Nineties" was not coined until the 1920s.) This decade was also part of the Gilded Age, a phrase coined by Mark Twain, alluding to the seemingly profitable era that was riddled with crime and poverty.
1899 Prices
Bread: $0.03/loaf
Milk: $0.28/gal
House: $4,200
Average Income: $635/year
(So there were [almost] no cars [on the road] nor a minimum wage in 1899!)
Top Songs for 1899:
She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain
The Girl I Loved in Sunny Tennessee
Always
1916 - Harry James, Albany, Georgia, Trumpeter (married to Betty Grable)
1935 - Judd Hirsch, Bronx, New York, Actor (Taxi, Dear John, Ordinary People)
Literature of 1899
Anton Chekhov published Uncle Vanya
Kate Chopin published The Awakening
Joseph Conrad published Heart of Darkness
Historical Events
March 15, 1899 seems to have been a slow news day. However, there were some interesting events that happened over the entire month of March that year:
2nd: President McKinley signs bill creating Mt Rainer National Park (5th in the U.S.)
6th: "Aspirin" (acetylsalicylic acid) patented by Felix Hoffmann at German company, Bayer
17th: Windsor luxury hotel in New York City catches fire; 92 die
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