On Saturday, my family and I laid my great grandmother Lois Bumstead to rest. She was born in 1921, so that made her 91 years old.  It was a beautiful ceremony. I played my violin at the church to honor her and to thank all who came to pay tribute to her. I was nervous because I wanted to do my best.  

The family met after the ceremony at Adiamo restaurant in Livonia, Michigan to reminisce about her life. I loved my great grandmother for her warmth and kindness. Today I learned so much more about who she was and gained an appreciation for the period of time she lived through.

To get a better understanding for the events that she witnessed, I did a little historical research on the web and put the following table together. She saw and lived through so much that I have to break the table up into two blog postings! This posting will cover years 1920 – 1977. My next posting will cover years 1978 – 2012.

My great grandmother lived through the greatest technology boom in human history. I can't even imagine a world without indoor plumbing, washing machines and computers, yet at one point in her life these things were all new.

Date	Event	US President
1920	Women earn the right to vote	Warren Harding - Rep.
1921	My great grandmother Lois Smith is born
1923	Frigidaire releases the first self-contained home refrigerator
1927	Lindbergh crosses the Atlantic	Calvin Coolidge – Rep.
1928	Amelia Earhart crosses the Atlantic
1929	Stock Market crashes	Herbert Hoover – Rep.
1930	Worldwide depression begins
1933	Franklin Delano Roosevelt begins "New Deal" program	Franklin D. Roosevelt – Dem.
1934	Adolf Hitler becomes Fueher of Germany
1935	Franklin D. Roosevelt introduces Social Security Act
1937	Dow Chemical invents plastic
1937	Hindenburg catches fire and explodes in New Jersey
1939	World War Two begins – Germany invades Poland
1940	Oldsmobile introduces first automatic transmission in cars
1941	Japan surprise attack on Pearl Harbor
1944	Normandy landings
1945	United Nations is formed	Harry Truman – Dem.
1945	U.S. Drops atomic bomb on Japan
1948	Cold War begins
1949	Soviet Union develops an atomic bomb
1950	Korean War
1952	First commercially available jet flight – BOAC - London
1954	Television overtakes radio in popularity	Dwight D. Eisenhower – Rep.
1954	U.S. Nautilus first nuclear submarine
1955	Black Americans boycott busses in Montgomery AL
1955	Supreme Court orders school desegregation
1955	CIA get involved in Vietnam
1957	Soviets launch Sputnik – first artificial satellite
1959	Soviets land the first manmade object on the moon
1960	Maiman develops and demonstrates first laser
1960	Civil Rights Movement begins
1961	President Kennedy launches Apollo manned moon project	John Kennedy – Dem.
1962	Cuban Missile Crisis
1963	U.S. President Kennedy is assassinated
1963	First McDonalds TV commercial airs
1965	U.S. begins sending troops to Vietnam	Lyndon Johnson – Dem.
1967	The Beatles release Sgt. Peppers album
1967	Texas Instruments builds a proto-type pocket calculator
1967	Amana introduces first countertop microwave oven
1968	Stanley Kubrick's 2001 Space Odyssey  hits theaters
1969	Apollo 11 first manned mission to land on the moon
1971	Pocket calculators become available retailing at $300
1970	U.S. Invades Cambodia	Richard Nixon – Rep.
1970	Home dishwashing units (dishwashers) become affordable
1972	Magnavox release the first home video game console
1973	BIC introduces its first disposable lighter
1974	Richard Nixon resigns over Watergate	Gerald Ford – Rep.
1976	United States celebrates its bicentennial
1976	Viking 1 & 2 land on Mars
1977	Atari release the Atari 2600 video game console	Jimmy Carter – Dem.
1977	Star Wars hits movie theaters

I would really love to hear from you, so drop me a note at actionheroeswanted@gmail.com and let me know how you are doing!

-B